Envirosuite expands service solution to Latin America’s largest coal mine Cerrejon

Environmental management technology company Envirosuite (ASX: EVS) has taken a step in extending its footprint after receiving an order from Carbones del Cerrejon for continuous remote monitoring of groundwater pressure.

The additional service adds to a series of existing solutions already being supplied, although extending the deal is expected to serve as a springboard for Envirosuite to court additional clients.

Envirosuite has developed a platform that provides a range of environmental monitoring, management and investigative capabilities, through the use of proprietary algorithms built on more than 30 years of environmental consulting experience.

The company’s most significant client is Cerrejon – a joint venture owned by three of the world’s largest mining conglomerates, namely BHP Billiton (ASX: BHP), Glencore (LSE: GLEN) and Anglo American (LSE: AAL).

Onwards and upwards from Cerrejon

Currently, Cerrejon is the biggest coal mine in Latin America and the 10th largest coal mine in the world. The scale of operations means that Cerrejon must operate an integrated facility consisting of a large open cut coal mine, a railway to transport coal to its port, as well as a port to facilitate export routes.

Over the coming year, Envirosuite plans to further extend its addressable audience, if it can secure corporate multi-site licence deals with the major miners. One of its aims is to use Cerrejon as a proof of concept and an actual case study which other companies could emulate, according to Envirosuite chief executive officer Peter White.

“Cerrejon is a pivotal client for us as it showcases our full functionality for the mining vertical at one of the world’s largest mines owned by three of the world’s largest miners,” he said.

“Our relationship with Cerrejon has evolved over the past three years as they have implemented different Envirosuite solutions that have subsequently proved their value. I have recently been on-site at the Cerrejon mine and seen first-hand the integration of the platform into the Cerrejon operational systems.”

“Our team has done an excellent job in delivering solutions for Cerrejon and that is evident from the feedback I received from multiple Cerrejon team members in a variety of roles,” said Mr White.

In October last year, Envirosuite announced that Cerrejon had officially become its largest mining client with today’s supplemental order meaning that Cerrejon is also set to become its largest client when measured by annual recurring revenue (ARR).

Envirosuite confirmed that the new order amounts to a total of $84,000 in subscription revenue and also includes $240,000 in hardware.

On a broader basis, the past quarter has also been a successful one for the environmental technology company. During the March quarter, Envirosuite received new orders totalling $780,000 in annual recurring revenue (ARR), compared to $210,000 in the same quarter in the previous financial year.

Looking forward, Envirosuite said that it remains on course to achieve its $3 million target in new ARR for the current financial year and reach a total of $6 million by year-end.

One of the standout achievements in recent months was securing its first European industrial manufacturing win by signing multinational steelmaker Tata Steel to its platform.

Tapping into risk management

The Envirosuite platform is fully integrated into Cerrejon’s risk management, forecasting, and Triggered Action Response Plans (TARP) at the operational and environmental level.

In effect, this means dust management and continuous monitoring, enabling dynamic controls and the ability to target the highest risk areas of operations with greater confidence.

Furthermore, Envirosuite is also facilitating weather and air quality forecasting, thereby giving Cerrejon’s operations time to plan for expected conditions to minimise potential impacts and maximise productivity at all stages.

Additional benefits also include blasting and both surface water and groundwater pressure monitoring.

“Our relationship with Envirosuite has grown over time to the point where the platform is now an integrated part of our operations,” said Jon Evans, chief operating officer of Cerrejon.

“We use Envirosuite across our business to support the world’s best practices in our mining and port operations enabling continued improvement in terms of our environmental, community and financial outcomes. I would recommend to my peers in other mining operations globally to consider adopting the platform to enable the improvement of critical controls and performance metrics,” declared Mr Evans.

Morning trade saw Envirosuite’s share price gain 17% to $0.135.