Regional Focus: UK
The roots of the practice in the UK goes all the way back to 1965 when the company moved its Harare (then Salisbury) office to London due to the political situation in Rhodesia. In 1971, the office moved to Ashford to continue work in the newly independent African countries of Botswana, Swaziland, Zambia, Malawi, and later Kenya.
As the company expanded throughout the world, most of the operating companies were consolidated under Knight Piésold Holdings International Limited, while the UK practice was acquired by the Scott Wilson Group in 2002.
After a 10-year absence in the UK, Knight Piésold opened an office in the heart of the City of London in September 2013 to focus on the mining and construction industries in Europe, Russia, Central Asia, Middle East, and North Africa. The objective was to better serve clients based in the region and to engage with new clients headquartered in the UK, with London the focus of mine finance in Europe and Central Asia.
The Knight Piésold UK practice was re-established by Richard Elmer, who is the current Regional Manager, in partnership with Peter Jenner, who had previously acted as Managing Director of the Knight Piésold Ghana operations and Mining Section Head in Knight Piésold South Africa.
Starting out with partners in a small office, the practice has steadily grown since then to be the largest dedicated tailings team in the UK, with a group of 15 civil and geotechnical engineers as this anniversary year comes to a close. The office will be moving to a larger space in the near future overlooking the River Thames to accommodate this bigger team.
Since establishment, the London team has worked on projects in diverse geographies, covering over 40 countries from Armenia to Zambia, for more than 75 clients.
“The centenary anniversary is hugely important,” said Elmer. “It shows that we have staying power and have built our brand over the last 100 years through technical excellence and working collaboratively together. We look forward to growing our team even further and serving clients old and new as we expand our services through 2022.”
Office in:
Key Projects:
- Zinkgruvan Mine, Enemossen East TSF, Sweden
- Olovo Lead Mine, Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Cononish Gold Silver Project, UK
- Hemerdon Tungsten Mine, UK
- ArcelorMittal Global TMF
- Neves Corvo Mine, Portugal
- Los Frailes Mine, Spain
- Ferrexpo Poltava Iron Ore Mine, Ukraine
- Kryvyhi-Rih Iron Ore Mine, Ukraine
- Krumovgrad and Chelopech Mines, Bulgaria
- Sasa Mine, Macedonia
- Natalka Gold Mine, Russia
- Kaz Minerals, Kazakhstan
- Segilola Gold Mine, Nigeria
- Bisha Zinc-Copper TMF Mine, Eritrea
- Youga Gold Mine, Burkina Faso
- Las Truchas Iron Ore Mine, Mexico
- Peña Colorada Iron Ore Mine, Mexico