Can you provide some background information about Lycopodium, its company structure, and its vision for the medium term?

Lycopodium is a diversified engineering and project delivery group that was founded in 1992, and this year marks its 25th anniversary. The company listed on the ASX in 2004, and today it has offices in Australia, the Philippines, Canada, and South Africa. Although the company started in the mineral resources sector, it began to diversify its business in the late 90s with a view to offsetting the cyclical nature of the resource sector. In addition to exploring alternative sectors, such as process industries and infrastructure, Lycopodium also sought to broaden its clientele, commodity expertise, and geography to continue to develop. Currently, the company has over 650 people working in its offices and across sites worldwide.

Lycopodium Ltd is the parent company of a group of subsidiaries operating across various sectors. One of its subsidiaries is Orway Mineral Consultants (OMC), a metallurgical consultancy that specializes in process optimization, which the company considers an essential aspect of the resources sector moving forward. OMC is also currently working with OZ Minerals, providing the technology that will help them better exploit their Carrapateena project.

What are Lycopodium’s primary international focuses?

While headquartered in Australia, Lycopodium is currently most active in Africa, the Americas, and a few other regions. Historically, the company has had an equal focus on domestic and international markets, but currently, over 80% of its business is overseas working with a range of clients, both international and Australian, such as Perseus, who operate in international jurisdictions. Lycopodium is currently delivering six gold projects in West Africa and undertaking feasibility studies on projects in other parts of Africa, as well as Central and South America. It is also working on a number of other mineral-related projects, including onshore and offshore diamond projects out of its Cape Town office.

Can you mention a few of Lycopodium’s clients and highlight one of its current projects?

Lycopodium’s clientele is broad and varies in size, but its clients tend to be publicly listed on the TSX, ASX, LSE, or JSE. Lycopodium works for all scales of clients, from majors such as Rio Tinto, Newmont, BHP Billiton, Barrick, to mid-tiers such as First Quantum Minerals (FQM) and a host of junior and first project companies. Lycopodium’s single largest body of work is FQM’s Mina de Cobre Panama project, where it is completing the design, technical procurement, and engineering support. This project has a capital value of $6.5 billion, and will process upwards of 74 million tonnes per year of copper-bearing ore. It is a significant undertaking, and for Lycopodium, it is an indicator not only of its skills but of the strong relationship it has built with this client, given that this is its 6th project for FQM.

What company values have allowed Lycopodium to build long-lasting relationships with mining clients?

Lycopodium’s unwavering commitment over the years to fit-for-purpose quality and delivering value is the primary value that has allowed it to build long-lasting relationships with mining clients. One of the indicators of quality in the resources sector is how quickly it can help its clients reach commercial production, and Lycopodium’s plants have a solid reputation and track record in this regard. The company sees itself first and foremost as engineers, where its key focus is ensuring its clients’ satisfaction.