SRK Consulting is an independent, international consultancy providing specialized advice and solutions to clients within the earth and water resource industries, with a particular focus on mining.
Company history
SRK Consulting was established in 1974 by Oskar Steffen, Andy Robertson, and Hendrik Kirsten, three geotechnical engineers. Over the subsequent five decades, SRK has developed into a globally recognized leader in mining consulting. From its origins, the firm has expanded into a multi-disciplinary, international organization with more than 40 offices in key mining jurisdictions. Over this period, SRK has contributed to more than 30 000 projects encompassing the full mining life cycle.
Throughout its history, SRK has worked across and contributed to the technical disciplines required in modern mining. Group CEO Tim McGurk articulated the firm’s evolving mandate, noting:
‘Because the projects we undertake with our clients are becoming increasingly complex, it is inevitable that we renew our commitment to innovation in our work, as we reflect on our past and future. Recent global leadership meetings have reaffirmed SRK’s collaborative model, anchored in local knowledge and supported by global technical depth. The firm remains focused on delivering practical, technically robust solutions that respond to the mining sector’s evolving needs.
Five decades after its founding, SRK continues to uphold the core principles that have defined its development: a commitment to technical excellence and practical, defensible advice.’
Services and expertise
SRK provides specialized services that support mining clients throughout the project life cycle. The firm’s technical capabilities span mineral exploration, mining project evaluation, geology and resource estimation, mine engineering, water management, geotechnical engineering, waste management, metallurgy and mineral processing, and civil and structural engineering. This multi-disciplinary foundation enables SRK to address complex challenges across diverse geological settings and regulatory frameworks, ensuring that clients receive solutions tailored to site-specific conditions and broader operational objectives.
In addition to its core technical services, SRK informs strategic decision-making through its corporate advisory services. These services include operational assistance, due diligence assessments, project reviews, and evaluations of mining-related risks. By integrating technical, financial, and social considerations, SRK helps clients navigate a complex mining landscape and plan confidently for long-term project success.
Operations
SRK operates more than 45 offices worldwide, covering North America, South America, Australasia, Asia, Europe, and Africa. The firm can quickly mobilize teams to fulfill specialized technical requirements, and its multi-disciplinary teams embrace new technologies and methodologies to deliver custom solutions for clients.
SRK’s client base includes the world’s major, mid-tier, and junior mining companies, as well as exploration firms, financial institutions, Engineering, Procurement, and Construction Management (EPCM) partners, and government agencies. This diversity reflects SRK’s reputation for technical excellence across a broad spectrum of geological, environmental, and engineering challenges.
Employees
With more than 1800 employees worldwide, SRK brings together a diverse team of specialists with experience across a broad range of environments, commodities, and technical disciplines. Our professionals have supported more than 10 000 clients and contributed to some of the world’s most complex and demanding mining projects. Our consultants have extensive industry backgrounds, ensuring advice is both technically robust and grounded in practical, real-world experience. As a 100% employee-owned firm, SRK is recognized throughout the international banking and investment community for its independence, objectivity, and commitment to high professional standards.
SRK’s long-term success is rooted in the strength of its people. We strive to be an employer of choice by fostering a workplace culture of collaboration and discovery to support continuous growth in our teams and individuals’ professional development. To attract and retain top talent, the firm has implemented a range of employee-focused initiatives, including structured mentorship programs, enhanced recruitment tools such as LinkedIn career pages, and technical communities of practice designed to promote knowledge sharing and collaboration across disciplines. In addition, SRK is expanding opportunities for staff engagement and knowledge sharing through SRK Voices, an external platform that amplifies employee perspectives and highlights the depth of expertise within the organization.
Together, these initiatives support a culture in which employees are empowered to grow, contribute meaningfully to client projects, and shape the future direction of the firm.
Case studies
Drawing upon global knowledge and decades of practical experience, SRK’s consultants add value to their clients’ projects by developing effective and economically sound approaches tailored to each client’s operational and financial objectives.
Mineral prospectivity study of the Arabian Shield
Between 2018 and 2026, SRK was commissioned by the Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Maaden) to undertake a comprehensive, mineral systems-based prospectivity study of the Arabian Shield. Most recently, this work integrated a new geodynamic model with newly available high-resolution datasets to reassess the Shield’s metallogenic potential across a wide range of deposit types.
The Arabian Shield has been the focus of decades of academic re-search and geological survey-driven exploration; however, renewed industry interest and improved data quality have revealed significant knowledge gaps regarding the distribution, preservation, and geological controls of key mineral deposits. SRK updated the geodynamic framework and provided new insights into the region’s tectonic evolution, incorporating evidence from juvenile volcanic and continental arc terranes, fragments of evolved Rodinian crust, and multiple orogenic and post-orogenic magmatic events. This refined understanding underpinned a reassessment of prospectivity for diverse mineralization styles, including, for example, arc-related porphyry-epithermal systems, volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits, and orogenic gold.
Conducted over an eight-year period, the study drew on multi-disciplinary expertise in structural and field geology, geochemistry, geo-physics, data science and machine learning, geochronology, and plate reconstruction. Subject matter specialists from SRK’s practices in the UK, India, North America, Australia, South Africa, and the Middle East contributed to both the technical development and the interpretation of metallogenic processes across the Shield.
The project followed a four-stage workflow designed to maximize the value of data coverage and to implement a systems-based approach to regional exploration:
Stage 1: Mineral systems framework
SRK developed an integrated geodynamic model and mineral systems framework that identified the key physical, chemical, and structural parameters controlling mineralization and preservation across the Arabian Shield.
Stage 2: Field validation
SRK and Maaden geologists conducted targeted field verification to confirm key spatial proxies, refine evidential layers, and ensure that mineral system criteria were appropriately represented across different terranes.
Stage 3: Prospectivity mapping
Both knowledge-driven (fuzzy logic) and data-driven (machine learning) methods were used to generate prospectivity maps for exposed and undercover regions. Approaches were tailored to data availability and the nature of each mineral system, enabling the integration of extensive geoscientific datasets into unified predictive frameworks.
Stage 4: Target generation
Prospective areas were identified and ranked at multiple spatial scales within a consistent evaluation framework. Targets were compared based on exploration maturity rather than geographic extent, supporting strategic prioritization across different mineral systems.
The resulting prospectivity maps and exploration targets represent the most comprehensive suite of mineral system-based assessments produced to date in Saudi Arabia. These outputs support diversification of exploration across the Arabian Shield and provided Maaden with a robust, modern framework for prioritizing follow-up work across a wide range of commodities, including precious, base, and critical minerals. By integrating multi-disciplinary datasets, expertise from multiple SRK offices, and advanced analytical methodologies, the study established a new foundation for strategic exploration in one of the world’s most prospective yet underexplored geological provinces.
Remediation of the Faro Mine Complex
The Faro Mine Complex, located in Canada’s Yukon Territory, was once among the world’s largest lead-zinc mining operations. Following decades of production, the mine ceased operations in 1998 when the operator became insolvent, leaving behind a substantial environmental legacy. The site contains approximately 260 million tonnes of waste rock and 57 million tonnes of tailings, both of which generate acidic drainage with increased metal content. Extensive water and mine infrastructure require long-term management. After closure, responsibility for the site reverted to the federal government, which initiated efforts to stabilize conditions and reduce offsite impacts while a comprehensive remediation plan could be developed.
SRK’s involvement at Faro extends back to the 1980s, when closure considerations first emerged during active mine operations. Early work focused on geochemical characterization, water management, and the technical foundations that would later inform broader closure strategies. During the initial post-closure phase, care and maintenance work was overseen by the court-appointed interim receiver, Deloitte & Touche Inc., with federal funding. By 2009, management of the project transitioned to the Yukon Government, which began preparing the project description and project proposal for submission to the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board (YESAB). SRK played a central role in advising on the scope and nature of the studies required to support those submissions.
Between 2009 and 2011, SRK provided leadership and technical expertise during the preparation of the official project proposal to YESAB for the long-term closure and remediation of the Faro Mine Complex. Key responsibilities included overall coordination of the submittal, preliminary engineering, closure planning, development and assessment of early remediation options, hydrogeochemical evaluations, water quality predictions, and detailed studies in hydrology, water treatment, and groundwater characterization. Important components of this work involved characterizing the open pits and mine waste, assessing groundwater conditions, and determining long-term risks associated with acid rock drainage (ARD).
SRK’s technical contributions continued beyond the preparation of regulatory documents. The firm supported ongoing groundwater investigations, ARD monitoring, waste rock cover trials and construction, and the design and implementation of groundwater interception and diversion systems. These efforts were essential in stabilizing site conditions and advancing understanding of long-term water and geochemical behavior.
Today, SRK leads a multi-disciplinary expert team responsible for developing the engineering designs required to implement the Faro Mine Remediation Plan through regulatory review, early implementation, and preparation for full-scale remedial works. This work integrates scientific disciplines—including geochemistry, hydrology, and revegetation—with engineering expertise in civil, geotechnical, hydrotechnical, water resources, and water treatment. A central focus of current planning is the need to address long-term environmental risks in the context of climate change and natural hazards, both of which have significant implications for infrastructure stability and water management.
SRK also provides ongoing advisory support to site management, including guidance on geochemical characterization, water management operations, and interim remedial measures. This work ensures that decisions made during the transition to full-scale remediation remain technically robust and aligned with long-term closure objectives.
Once the regulatory, environmental, and socio-economic assessments are completed and final project approval is granted, the major construction phase of the Faro Mine remediation is expected to span approximately 15 years. SRK’s continued leadership and technical oversight will remain central to advancing this significant reclamation effort and ensuring a stable, environmentally responsible future for the site.
The future
Discovery combined with technical excellence are central pillars of SRK’s strategy and culture, supporting technical advancement and collaboration across the organization. This commitment helps SRK innovate to meet the mining industry’s evolving needs and advance long-term sustainability by balancing economic, environmental, and technical priorities.
A key focus is leveraging technology to improve the quality and usefulness of client outcomes. Teams apply advanced tools such as artificial intelligence, satellite-derived data, and drone-based imagery to conduct robust analyses and to provide more efficient delivery of technical services.
SRK’s ability to adapt is strengthened by its global network and shared values that support collaboration across the organization. By drawing on collective technical skills, knowledge, data resources, and connectivity, SRK delivers solutions that are globally consistent and locally relevant. This collaborative framework is supported by shared platforms such as communities of practice, peer-to-peer networks, and structured knowledge-sharing initiatives.
For more information: Visit srk.com
