Pensana plc (LON:PRE) has announced that, following the recent ground-breaking ceremony at the Saltend rare earths processing hub, the Company is pleased to announce details of the highly experienced Project Delivery Team which will be responsible for the delivery of the Saltend and Longonjo projects.
The eight person Project Delivery Team is leading a team of 134 specialist engineers from various disciplines, many of them experts in their field, dedicated to the execution and commissioning of both projects.
Key appointments to the Project Delivery Team include:
- Hamish Westwater as Project Director for Saltend. Hamish has over 30 years’ experience delivering complex projects in the chemical engineering sector for both contractor and client. He specialises in fast-track delivery and leading all project phases from FEED studies through to final commissioning and start-up.
- Kevin Botha as Project Director for Longonjo. Kevin is a qualified Electrical Engineer and Project Management Professional with over 45 years’ experience in the global mining industry. He has worked for blue-chip international companies and as a Director and Owner of companies providing engineering and project management services to the sector. Kevin’s global experience includes multibillion-dollar projects and related portfolios in Africa including Angola, Namibia, Botswana and South Africa.
- Jeremy Clarke as Project Sponsor for Longonjo. Having worked at executive technical level with Anglo American, Jeremy has over 35 years of experience in gold, uranium, copper, and diamonds. He was previously Consulting Metallurgist for De Beers where he was responsible for metallurgical excellence at their plants globally.
Full details of the Project Delivery Team are available on the Company’s website www.pensana.co.uk
Preparatory work is underway at both projects with the main construction scheduled to commence later in the year.
To date, engineering for over 70% of the equipment and services packages has been completed, with 100% of the critical path Tier 1 and 2 packages externally priced. To minimise onsite construction activity and streamline commissioning, certain unit processes have been modularised whilst all other process equipment has been selected as standard, off-the-shelf items to ensure robust and simple operability of the plant.
For Saltend, this includes:
- PX Global over-the-fence services
- Site infrastructure and services early works, commencing with the Yorkshire Water pipeline routing
- Solvent extraction mixer settler rig fabrication arrangements
For Longonjo, this includes:
- All infrastructure including power supply, water reticulation and construction camp facilities
- ROM handling and Comminution sections
- Floatation circuit columns
- Calciner (Kiln)
- Sulphuric Acid plant and gas cleaning circuits
- Thickening and tailings disposal
- Mining contractor selection
Under the direction of Chief Operating Officer Rocky Smith, Pensana’s main engineering functions have relocated from the Wood Group offices in Perth, Australia to the UK and South Africa, due to proximity to the respective projects.
- Wood Group Reading – detailed design and construction for Saltend operations, overseen by Paul Squirrel (Wood) and Hamish Westwater (Pensana)
- Wood Group Johannesburg – detailed design and construction for Longonjo operations, overseen by Henry Jonkers (Wood) and Kevin Botha (Pensana)
- Pensana Perth – metallurgical optimisation and piloting continues to be based in Perth overseen by Metallurgical Manager Roy Gordon (Pensana)
Pensana Chairman Paul Atherley commented:
“Breaking ground at Saltend was a major milestone for the Company marking the transition from design to construction for both projects. We are enormously grateful to the expert teams who have done such a great job in bringing the Saltend and Longonjo projects to FEED status in record time.
It’s now very exciting to announce details of our world class Project Delivery Team, which has the right combination of experience to execute and commission both projects, supported by a team of highly skilled and dedicated engineers.”
