Environmental consultancy SLR Consulting asserts that integrated partnerships, multidisciplinary expertise and stakeholder engagement are essential to achieving the aim of sustainable mining.

The company says that a combination of local insights and global technical capability helps clients navigate evolving environmental, social, and governance (ESG) expectations.

SLR Consulting mining sector lead: Africa and the Middle East Angus Bracken explains that the company’s mining advisory model centres on its integrated structure of eight communities of practice aligned to the mining cycle. These span strategic advisory, resource development, ESG, climate change, water management, tailings and mine closure.

“Clients [want] teams who understand the whole value chain - from strategy and financing to environmental performance and community engagement - and who can walk with them from the earliest concept right through to closure,” Bracken says.

He notes that full cycle visibility strengthens technical decision-making and supports collaborative relationships. “Meaningful partnership is only possible when you understand what each stakeholder needs, including operators, investors, regulators, lenders and communities,” he continues. “That requires seeing the entire landscape, not just your own discipline.”

The company boasts 135 offices in 28 countries, including Morocco, Egypt, Ghana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Kenya, Namibia and South Africa, and it recently combined Africa, the Middle East and Europe into a single region. Bracken highlights that investors in the Middle East are increasingly focusing on African mining opportunities.

SLR Consulting international environmental and social impact assessment lead: Africa and the Middle East Dieter Rodewald stresses that building a mining project that is financially viable, operationally robust and socially responsible requires early and continuous alignment among all stakeholders.

“This is where SLR Consulting positions itself not just as a technical consultant, but as a strategic partner,” he says. “[Our work includes] helping clients navigate ESG imperatives from day one so that sustainability becomes embedded in decision-making rather than added as an afterthought.”

Rodewald notes that early partnership is increasingly vital as mining jurisdictions across Africa tighten and modernise their regulatory frameworks. At the same time, international financiers are imposing more rigorous ESG standards for funding approvals.

“If a client wants access to capital, they need to meet global good practice, not just national regulations,” he explains. “Financial institutions want assurance that the full range of project risks are understood and managed from the start.”

Bracken asserts that technology is opening new avenues for mining in Africa and points to renewable-energy integration as an area where early engagement allows independent power producers and mining operations to work together to reduce carbon footprints and secure long-term power supply.

“Digital innovation and artificial intelligence can transform monitoring and planning, through digital twins, predictive analytics and hyperspectral imagery, for example,” he adds. “Remote sensing and advanced satellite data can now support improvements in everything from exploration to tailings monitoring and biodiversity assessment.”

The company affirms that sustainability in mining requires strategic partnership, whole-of-value-chain insight and early engagement across a range of disciplines.