African Minerals Picks Aconex for Tonkolili Iron Ore Mining Project

PEPEL, SIERRA LEONE--(Marketwired - Jul 9, 2013) - Aconex, provider of the world's most widely used project collaboration solutions for the mining, construction, infrastructure, power, and oil and gas industries, has been engaged by African Minerals Limited (AML) to support rail, port and urban infrastructure development for the Pepel35 expansion of the Tonkolili Iron Ore Mining Project in Sierra Leone. AML and its team of contractors will use the Aconex Online Collaboration Platform to manage documents, drawings, correspondence, and other project information, as well as workflows for process control and audit records.

AML operates the Tonkolili project, with a Joint Ore Reserves Committee (JORC)-compliant resource of 12.8 billion net tonnage. The project has a mine life of 60-plus years and is being developed in phased expansions. Phase I operations are expected to produce 20 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) of iron ore, and AML plans to reach this target in the second quarter of 2013. The next phase of development, targeting up to 35Mtpa of 64% high-grade hematite concentrate, will include expansion of AML's existing port facilities at Pepel and rail network. The expansion, named Pepel35, is expected to begin later this year, with iron ore production increasing in 2016.

"After a very successful Phase I infrastructure build-out, we have decided to extend and enhance our relationship with Aconex," said Gareth Burton, group head of IT at AML. "This will enable us to coordinate the activities of a project team of more than 25 contractor organizations and keep stakeholders informed of our progress from a secure, neutral platform. All system users on Pepel35 will follow uniform processes for communications, document sharing, and review and approval tracking. The Aconex platform will improve AML's overall control of the project, while allowing contractors to retain ownership and control of their own information."

AML plans to use application programming interfaces (APIs) to integrate the Aconex platform with its internal document management, scheduling and costing systems, so that project-related data can be transferred between them as required.

"Pepel35 is an important project win in the global mining sector for us," said Hervé Hamelin, general manager of Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) at Aconex. "The deal expands our presence in the African market following significant traction in Latin America, Canada and Australia. We look forward to supporting AML's success as mine production increases and its supply chain grows."

About Aconex
Aconex provides the world's most widely used Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform for managing information, processes and people throughout the lifecycle of construction and engineering projects across multiple industries. The Aconex suite of solutions -- secure, neutral and centralized -- enables owners, contractors and project managers to reduce the cost and risk inherent in capital projects of all sizes and improve efficiency, productivity and accountability for all project participants. Aconex has served projects valued at more than US$800 billion, with over 430,000 users. Clients include many of the largest global mining companies, nine of the world's top ten engineering, procurement and construction (EPC/EPCM) firms, 23 of the 25 largest global design firms, and nearly all Fortune 500 construction and engineering firms. For more information and examples of Aconex in action, see www.aconex.com. Follow Aconex on Twitter at @aconex and on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/aconex.