What are some key projects Ausenco has been working on during 2025?

One of our standout projects is our work supporting the PEA for U.S. GoldMining's Whistler Project in Alaska. Another notable endeavor is our collaboration with Perpetua Resources on their Stibnite project in Idaho, where we are providing support to the Integrated Project Management team, as well as detailed engineering and procurement efforts.

There is a market push to advance U.S.-based assets towards production, particularly around energy and critical minerals. For example, we have seen an increase in copper projects – such as our work in Arizona with Faraday Copper on the Copper Creek project. Additionally, we are noticing increased market interest in new areas, such as rare earth elements. Relating to this, we have been helping a key client at their mine in California while also exploring opportunities related to a magnet production facility in Texas.

Support from the current administration, particularly from a financial standpoint from institutions like the EXIM Bank, has played a significant role in driving demand for large-scale projects. This trend is expected to continue growing over the next three to five years with further opportunities emerging in the U.S. market.

What do mining clients across the U.S. need most from engineering and consultancy firms today?

Increasing ESG requirements have sharpened the focus on environmental performance, safety, and corporate governance on mining projects. Cost, schedule, and risk reduction also remain central priorities in a market where there is intense competition for permits, financing, and expertise. For instance, although current tariffs apply only to goods not services, they can still adversely affect production costs.

Regulatory bodies and investors are increasingly expecting closure plans that go beyond compliance to demonstrate long-term environmental and social responsibility. Our team guides our clients in developing a multidisciplinary closure approach early in the conceptual design and feasibility stages to facilitate more robust and consistent planning throughout the project lifecycle. We constantly revise our closure plans as projects progress, balancing environmental, social and economic objectives with technically feasible solutions that can be validated in the field.

How does Ausenco approach sustainability across the full project lifecycle?

We help our clients embed sustainability across the entire project lifecycle by aligning each project’s scope to corporate and community sustainability goals. Through early-stage workshops, we identify non-technical risks such as regulatory challenges, cultural considerations, and climate-related impacts. We reduce environmental footprint by decreasing material use and emissions, with carbon assessments integrated into project planning. We also promote the use of sustainability dashboards to track project-specific sustainability metrics and enhance information transparency.

Is Ausenco noticing a shift in how mining projects are being executed?

Traditionally, most mining projects in North America were brought into production under an EPCM model. However, the market appears to now be shifting from EPCM to an Integrated Project Management Team (IPMT) model in response to industry-wide staffing challenges. The IPMT model allows the burden of project resources to be shared between the client and contractor, with both parties contributing their expertise and experience as part of a collaborative, value-sharing framework. Ausenco has experience with both EPCM and IPMT models, and we will continue to identify opportunities where the IPMT model can add measurable value to our clients’ projects.

What makes the U.S. mining market particularly exciting for Ausenco right now?

I am really excited about the push for low-carbon energy alternatives, and how the whole mining industry is evolving to support this―from copper for electrification, to uranium for small modular reactors, to rare earth elements (REEs) for EVs and advanced computing. Our clients mine a wide range of these critical materials, and Ausenco is in a unique position to support them, especially as so many of these resources are domestically available. This presents a fantastic opportunity for growth.

Our Tucson office is strategically located to support copper and gold projects in the Southwestern U.S. and other commodities across the country. We are also expanding our presence in the country with our newly opened office in Denver, which, in addition to providing additional engineering services, is ideally positioned to serve the large number of mining clients in the Western U.S. The U.S. business is booming, and we are committed to being a key part of its future.