BATEMAN intensifies focus
on technology
Steve Burks has been appointed to the position of Chief Technology
Officer of Bateman Engineering BV. This newly created role is designed
to strengthen and build on BATEMAN's reputation as a technology-focused
project house, both through growing the in-house process and technology
capability and ensuring that effective technology partnerships continue
to be developed with important players worldwide.
Process plants to upgrade raw materials invariably involve several
sequential circuits based on quite different technologies, and BATEMAN's
success as a reliable provider to the minerals and metals industry
has been maintained through the provision of specialist niche technologies
which can add value to its clients. In the context of BATEMAN's objective
of providing total project solutions, Burks will be promoting novel
flowsheets, proven but innovative unit-process technologies, applications
know-how and proprietary or other innovative equipment and engineered
systems, since all of these are contributors to the BATEMAN technology
suite.
BATEMAN develops and invests in new technologies as opportunities
arise, and also supports the commercialisation and implementation
of technologies owned by others, often through joint-venture arrangements.
Over the years, the company has built up an impressive array of technological
capabilities in which it is particularly strong and in some of the
applications can even claim world leadership. Some of the proven technologies
it now markets include advanced platinum-group metals (PGM) concentrator
and also mineral-sands and phosphates beneficiation flowsheets; modular
and other diamond processing plants; DC and AC furnaces for ferroalloy
production; pulsed columns for solvent extraction; secondary copper-sulphide
pressure-leach processes; leaching alternatives for gold recovery;
PGM-refining applications knowledge; and many items of proprietary
equipment and systems applicable to minerals processing, pyrometallurgical
and hydrometallurgical plants of all types.
"However, greater challenges are now facing the natural-resources
industry worldwide, such as the general decline in ore grades, profit
margins and numbers of skilled individuals entering the industry,
as well as the increasing complexity of the metallurgical and environmental
solutions now required. This, together with the increased pace of
technological change, has led to BATEMAN identifying the need to increase
its focus on further developing its technological edge in support
of its project-execution capability," says Burks.
Steve Burks is well known to the natural-resources industry having
spent the previous four years as Managing Director of Bateman Metals,
the globally-active business unit responsible for BATEMAN's services
to the PGM and ferrous and non-ferrous base metals industries. Steve
has a BSc (Eng) Minerals Processing from the University of Witwatersrand
in South Africa. Prior to joining BATEMAN in 1991, he gained invaluable
practical experience in the South African mining industry with Impala
Platinum and Rand Mines in plant-operations management, as well as
in projects and technical support functions.
For further information, please contact Steve Burks
on +27-11-899-2756 or email steve.burks@batemanengineering.com.
