Andrew Bamber

   

Managing Director
Bara Consulting

BIO

Andrew is a Professional Engineer with over 25 years’ experience in mining and minerals processing in Southern Africa, the Americas, Europe and Australasia. His involvement has ranged as an engineer at operations through to the design of process solutions in a range of commodities including nickel, copper, chrome, gold and platinum.
He has extensive experience in process and process equipment design, plant design, cost estimation and project economics as well as project construction and operations management. Andrew has had extensive involvement in mining both at the consulting and R&D level, with specializations in the development and commercialization of innovative mining and process technologies.
He has worked as a Consulting Engineer on prefeasibility and feasibility studies across several commodities and has contributed as lead engineer or project manager in the completion of major capital projects in chrome, nickel, lead-zinc, copper, gold and platinum on time and under budget.
In 2009 he founded MineSense Technologies, a Vancouver-based mining technology company focused on the delivery of sensor-based grade control and bulk sorting solutions to the industry. Andrew joined Bara Consulting as Principal, Americas in 2017, and the UK office as MD in 2018, where he focuses on project acquisition and service delivery in Due Diligence, Feasibility Studies and detailed design.

Session 6
22 October 2025 / 11:00 - 13:00 | Lagoas hall

Geology, Geometallurgy and Metallurgy of the Arthrath Ni-Cu-Co Deposit, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

The Arthrath polymetallic sulphide intrusion is synorogenic and comprises a complex interleaved sequence orthopyroxene-rich xenolithic gabbronorites and mafic-ultramafic cumulates, with associated nickel-copper-cobalt mineralization. Originally explored in the 1960's by a JV between Goldfields and Rio Tinto, the project is now being developed by Aberdeen Minerals Exploration Limited. Part of the North Atlantic Igneous Belt, linking known deposits in Canada such as Raglan and Voisey's bay with deposits in Scandinavia including Sakkatti, Penikat, Suhanko and, ultimately, Norilsk, the intrusion is complex, with a range of mineralisation styles and sulphide associations including finely disseminated low grade polymetallic sulphides including pentlandites and chalcopyrites intimately associated with pyrrhotite. Metallurgy is therefore complex, with many challenges to economic extraction and beneficiation of the metals, hence novel approaches taken in this area. This paper presents key aspects of the geology, geometallurgy and metallurgy of the Arthrath deposit concluding with a presentation of novel flowsheet options presently identified.
Time required