Mining Engineer Andy Birtles joins Wardell Armstrong
Article added 22nd March 2011
Mining Engineer Andy Birtles joins Wardell Armstrong
Wardell Armstrong International has further strengthened its Mining Services Group with the appointment of Andy Birtles as Director, Mining. A seasoned mining engineer with 30 years of international experience, he will help to lead business and strategic development as well as managing and delivering client projects.
Andy Birtles holds a BSc (Hons) in mining engineering from Nottingham University. He is a Chartered Engineer with the Engineering Council and a Professional Engineer with the Engineering Council of South Africa. Having started his career in the UK with the National Coal Board / British Coal, he has worked for Anglo American in South Africa on a number of their collieries and most recently for SRK Consulting, operating from the Johannesburg office. Here he provided coal related consulting services in southern and South Africa as well as being involved in projects in many countries outside Africa, including Australia, the Philippines, India, Turkey and Russia.
Andy has specialised in the field of coal mining since 1979. His areas of expertise include planning and design for underground and opencast coal mines, and the management of multi-disciplinary teams for due diligence exercises, competent persons’ reports, valuations, feasibility studies and technical support.
He has relocated from South Africa to take up his new role. This will involve leading a broad-ranging technical team based in Stoke-on-Trent to develop international services with particular emphasis on the energy minerals, geotechnics and hydrogeology.
“I’m relishing this new challenge,” said Andy. “Having worked in coal all my life, this is a great opportunity to extend and build even further on the excellent work carried out by Wardell Armstrong.”
The Mining Services Group of Wardell Armstrong International works worldwide and is one of the principal European-based providers of professional and technical services to the mining sector. Its expertise and services cover mineral resource evaluation, mining engineering, mineral processing and metallurgy, mine waste management, geotechnical engineering, water management, environmental and social management, mine closure and post-mining regeneration.
Extract taken from Coal International 22 March 2011