Engineering and Consulting
Environmental compliance and mining development drives demand
The past year has seen a flurry of activity in the mining sector, which, coupled with increasing enforcement and voluntary adherence to high environmental standards, is driving demand for consultants and engineers. According to figures from IBRAM, Brazil is poised to receive over US$65 billion in inward mining investments in the coming five years. There is a resounding sense of optimism among the consulting and engineering companies that serve Brazil’s mining sector. According to Benício Júnior, Brazil manager for Klohn Crippen Berger: “The Brazilian mining sector is experiencing a recovery after a difficult period from 2016 to 2021. We see opportunities primarily in copper and iron ore projects, and there is optimism that upcoming regulatory changes will facilitate project approvals and foster growth.”
With over 500 employees in Brazil spread across client sites and the company’s headquarters, WSP Brasil is expecting 20% growth in 2024. Mining companies are approaching consultants and engineers with sustainability in mind. Lucila Telles, country manager of WSP Brasil, said: “For our Brazil operations, nearly 75% of our revenue is linked to global ESG targets.”
Another aspect of WSP’s growth has been the integration of services, allowing clients to engage with the company across a range of different issues. Telles commented: “Clients are looking for a onestop shop for consultations. Solutions across different disciplines must be interconnected and we provide integrated services in several areas, such as engineering services, tailing management, mine water, mine closure, risk assessment, social, environmental, permitting and remediation.”
GE21 Consultoria Mineral, a Belo Horizonte-based mining consultancy, is also experiencing rapid growth, aiming for 15-20% this year, and is expanding its reach geographically and into different industries. Bernardo Viana, partner at GE21, said: “We have opened new exploration projects and are setting up a new office in southern Brazil in collaboration with several service providers.”
Leveraging their experience in Brazil, GE21 Consultoria Mineral is expanding its operations across South America. Viana said: "Argentina presents a good business opportunity due to the new government's focus on mining investment. We anticipate a boom in Argentina for at least the next three years and are eager to start our business there.”
“We are ramping up our environmental team, especially in northern Brazil, as our clients prepare for COP 30. Additionally, we expect to see significant growth in Bahia, where we have mobilized commercial initiatives.”
Claudio Maia, CEO, Tractebel Latin America
Hidrogeo Engenharia e Gestão de Projetos, also based in Belo Horizonte, is working on greenfield rare earth projects and brownfield projects for phosphate and niobium. The company, which specializes in waste and effluence management and environmental impact assessments, is seeing growth in demand for its services in these areas as mining companies increasingly focus on reusing their tailings waste and disposing of waste responsibly. Flávio Vasconcelos, CEO, commented: "The most significant challenge among our clientele is managing the leaching of salts from rare earth mining operations, which can contaminate freshwater sources. This is incredibly challenging in Brazil due to heavy seasonal rainfall, which makes it difficult to contain the water within mining sites.”
Vasconcelos also commented on the regulatory component: "While the laws themselves have not changed, enforcement has increased. The government is now paying more attention to the mining sector, ensuring that environmental impact studies are thorough and compliance is strict.”
SRK Brasil is also experiencing significant growth and hiring new personnel to meet this new wave of demand. Thiago Toussaint, managing director of SRK Brasil, said: “We are seeing in Brazil a strong movement towards critical minerals. Copper and gold have been solid; lithium, rare earths and nickel are also very active.”
AtkinsRéalis has over 1,000 employees in Brazil, spread across offices in Belo Horizonte, Vitória, and Paraupebas. Discussing AtkinsRéalis' work with different Brazilian miners, Maria de Lourdes Bahia, VP of mining and metallurgy Latam for the company, commented: “We collaborated with Vale on the world's first briquette plant in Vitória, launched at the end of last year. We continue to support Vale in developing new briquette plants globally.”
As Brazil’s mining sector diversifies, AtkinsRéalis is establishing and growing its relationships with a wide range of miners, recently completing an NI 43-101 report for Lithium Ionic and working alongside Brazilian Nickel on their flagship Piauí project. Maria de Lourdes Bahia commented: “Our focus is on commodities essential to EVs and sustainable mining, including iron ore, lithium, rare earths, and copper.”
Environmental Resource Management (ERM), an environmental consulting firm, entered Brazil in 1993 and has nearly 500 employees in Brazil, with offices in São Paulo, Rio, Salvador, Belo Horizonte, and Porto Alegre, and works with major clients including Anglo American and BHP. The firm conducts ESG and climate risk assessments and risk assessments for contaminated sites. Ricardo Camargo, partner at ERM, said: “Investment banks increasingly seek compliance not just with local regulations but accordance with international best practices, as for instance the IFC Standards.”
One relative newcomer to the Brazilian mining scene is the DMT Group, a German multinational consulting business which entered the market through the acquisition of Saga Consultoria, a long-established player with over 90 years of history in this market. DMT Group has a presence across mining markets globally, and according to Jens-Peter Lux, CEO of DMT Group: "We saw great potential in Latin America and chose Brazil as our strategic hub, partnering with Saga Consultoria to solidify our presence and align with the continent's growing demand for mining and energy solutions."
“Brazil has the potential to become a key supplier of raw materials, particularly to Europe, which is increasingly focused on securing sustainable and reliable sources of critical minerals.”
Jens-Peter Lux, CEO, DMT Group
This year has also been busy at CLAM Meio Ambiente, the Belo Horizonte-based environmental consulting firm. The firm is active in projects across different commodities and is working with Vale on a forest regeneration project in northern Brazil. José Cláudio Nogueira Vieira, director of CLAM Meio Ambiente, discussed how the company uses advanced technology, including drones, in this task. In addition, Vieira mentioned how CLAM Meio Ambiente is developing environmental reports with the Brazilian Stock Exchange (B3). Discussing the increase in environmental standards in the industry, Vieira said: “We are helping our clients with GRI protocols and the new TSM Protocol that the Mining Association of Canada (MAC) introduced last year with IBRAM’s support.”
The importance of meeting international standards is highest for the various junior companies pursuing projects in Brazil and battling for financing. This demand has driven much business for Ausenco. Leonardo Pena, VP of Ausenco Brasil, said: “We focus on supporting junior companies in their early stages, not just from an engineering perspective but by understanding the business and signing off on necessary reports for the TSX.“
For Allonda, an environmental engineering services and consulting company, decarbonization commitments by mining industry players are driving demand. Leo Melo, CEO of Allonda, commented: “Following disasters like Mariana and Brumadinho, mining companies now focus on minimizing operational costs, adapting to climate change, and achieving decarbonization goals driven by investor expectations.”
Ana Paula Spolidoro Queiroz, general manager of Waterloo Brasil Consultoria Ambiental, an environmental consultant, added: “After these events, environmental agencies became more vigilant and started requiring extensive safety studies for mining operations. This heightened scrutiny has resulted in significant work for environmental consultants as companies strive to comply with these new requirements.”
Article header image courtesy of SRK