Our News blog

IGS is pleased to announce the securing of a new World Bank-funded project in Cameroon. The work is part of the PRECASEM project which has the overall objective of improving efficiency, transparency and contributing to the sustainable development of the mining sector.

IGS are leading this project in partnership with the Council for Geoscience (CGS) of South Africa. The work will involve supervising the geological and geochemical mapping component of this project which is scheduled to be completed over two years.

Dr Peter Zawada, Managing Director of IGS, said “This contract is a welcome addition to IGS’s growing portfolio of projects in Africa and emphasises our strengths as a company in being able to win projects of this nature. We look forward to helping Cameroon increase its geological knowledge which will help attract new investment into the country.”

Our work in Afghanistan is part of a DFID-funded programme titled ‘Extractive Sector Support Programme’ (ESSP) which aims to improve Afghanistan’s ability to manage its natural resources for the benefit of all Afghans.

We have three projects operating in Kabul in the following areas:

1) Developing capacity in the environmental geology section of the Afghan Geological Survey (AGS) to support environmental management at the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum (MoMP) in the mining sector

2) Establishment of a construction materials testing laboratory at the AGS to support the small-scale mining sector

3) Development of mineral promotion services at the MoMP

Work on all three projects is progressing well. We have already started training our counterparts at commercial laboratories in Kabul to familiarise staff on techniques and equipment prior to installing new equipment and repairing older equipment already in place.

As the project continues we will be spending more time involved in hands-on training and mentoring of our counterparts to enable them to work more effectively on their own. In future years, it is hoped that staff will be able to undertake much of the tasks that other geological surveys and ministries carry out.

IGS, in partnership with CGS (South Africa) has recently completed a DFID-funded project titled “Institutional strengthening of the Department of Geological Survey of Malawi, in support of the mineral exploration and environmental sectors”.

The project’s objective was a scoping study of the Malawian Geological Survey and the Earth School Sciences of the University of Malawi (Chancellor College). The study was conducted by means of two visits to Malawi during which the task team interacted with the personnel of the two institutions and other stakeholders such as the Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy and Environment, the Chamber of Mines and the World Bank.

A comprehensive report was written in which the task team describe the current state of the Geological Survey and the Earth Science Department, and make recommendations regarding institutional strengthening. The implementation of the recommendations will form part of a second project which will commence later in 2015.

IGS recently exhibited at the Mining INDABA event in Cape Town from 9-12th February as part of the larger UKTI pavilion showcased as “Business is Great Britain”.

This is a very important event in the mining calendar which is attended by thousands of visitors including senior government representatives, development banks, and private investors, as well as hundreds of stands from service companies, equipment providers and major mining companies.

IGS also attended a meeting to discuss the African Minerals Geoscience Initiative (AMGI), sometimes known as the “billion dollar map”, together with the World Bank, African Union, DFID, and African Geological Surveys. IGS is committed to the AMGI and to working to help implement this ambitious and important programme for Africa.

This is the first exhibition attended by IGS since we rebranded from BGS International at the beginning of February. IGS will continue to attend Mining INDABA and many other similar events in the future to promote our brand and to engage with existing and new clients.

BGS International (BGSI) is the licenced trading name of IGS (International Geoscience Services) Ltd, used since the formation of the company as a spin out from the British Geological Survey. Under the terms of this licensing agreement, the company’s name was agreed to revert to the official company name of IGS Ltd after an initial period of successful trading.

We are therefore pleased to announce that from 1st February 2015 BGSI will now be known as IGS (International Geoscience Services) Ltd.

IGS will undertake exactly the same work as before and will continue to work with governments, development agencies and the World Bank to improve geological understanding and knowledge in support of the mineral exploration sector.

Dr Peter Zawada, Managing Director of IGS, said “I am pleased to announce the new name of IGS Ltd which will continue the work of BGS International, and we look forward to undertaking a significant phase of expansion in our business in the near future”.

BGSI is pleased to announce the appointment of Kathy Kavanagh who joins us as a Senior Minerals Geologist. Kathy has extensive overseas experience including work in Suriname, DR Congo, Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon and South Africa. Kathy joins us to work primarily on our DFID-funded Afghanistan project, but will also be assisting us on other projects, as well as helping to develop new proposals.

Peter Zawada, Managing Director of BGSI, said “I am pleased to welcome Kathy to the BGSI team and I am confident that that she will be able to work effectively in Kabul to help deliver our project to support the Afghan people.”

Kathy said “It is a great honour to be joining the highly experienced team at BGSI and I am very much looking forward to contributing to their future projects around the world, especially in Afghanistan”

BGSI recently returned from a visit to Tanzania where it supported the compilation of 18 1:100,000 scale geological maps of the country as part of its World Bank-funded SMMRP (Sustainable Management of Mineral Resource Project) through the Geological Survey of Tanzania.

BGSI are leading an international consortium for this work which includes the Council for Geoscience (South Africa), the University of Dar-es-Salaam (Tanzania), the University of Bergen (Norway), and Mintek (South Africa).

BGSI is involved in high-level discussions with the Ministry for Investment and Development (MID) in Kazakhstan and visited Astana recently as part of a UKTI trade mission. At the conclusion of this meeting, several memorandums were signed by the Minister of State for Trade and Investment, Lord Livingston, and Asset Issekeshev, the Minister for Investment and Development (both pictured here). These memorandums are designed to strengthen greater business ties between the UK and Kazakhstan in several fields, including mining. BGSI is in discussions with key organisations in Kazakhstan about helping to develop the mineral industry in the country and encourage greater foreign investment.

BGSI were one of three judges involved in a recent environmental science competition at the NEC in Birmingham. The event, part of a series of events held by the UK branch of World Skills, aims to encourage interest from students in various occupations and give an experience of what might be expected from them from future employers.

The environmental science competition saw six teams from across the UK seek to address the future energy needs of a fictitious island over the next few decades. Teams worked hard to try to balance the need to maintain an adequate power supply to the population with environmental and socio-political issues. Each team’s recommendations were then submitted as a written report before presentations were made to the judging panel who quizzed them on their ideas.

This is the second year BGSI have been involved as judging the competition and we are pleased to be associated with events such as these which seek to encourage enquiring younger scientific minds.

Staff from BGSI recently returned from a short visit to Kabul which marked the start of our DFID-funded Afghan project designed to help the Afghan Geological Survey (AGS) and the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum (MoMP). This visit was used to determine the current status of the AGS and MoMP and also, in discussion with both organisations, agree the strategy for the project over the next 3 years. The work plan for this project is currently being written and will be submitted to DFID for approval shortly. Once accepted, the implementation of the work will begin early in 2015.

BGSI is pleased to announce the securing of a major 3 year project in Afghanistan. The project, funded by the UK’s DFID (Department for International Development), will help improve the capabilities and resources of the Afghan Geological Survey (AGS) and the Afghan Ministry of Mines and Petroleum by providing equipment and training for AGS staff as well as promotional activities to advertise Afghanistan’s mineral resources to the wider world.

Dr Peter Zawada, Managing Director of BGSI said “We are thrilled to be awarded this contract from DFID which represents a significant investment by the UK government in Afghanistan. BGSI looks forward to starting this work soon and to help the Afghan nation realise the economic and social benefits of their mineral resources through managed sustainable development”.

BGSI is to commence work on a new project in Zambia titled ‘Institutional Strengthening of the Geological Survey Department of Zambia in support of mineral exploration and environmental sectors’. This project, which is funded by DFID and managed by the Council for Geoscience (CGS) in South Africa, will be led from the BGSI side by Dr. Frik Hartzer who joined BGSI at the beginning of September. Frik will initially travel to Zambia with other CGS personnel to understand the requirements of the Geological Survey before undertaking the capability strengthening work itself at a later date.