INTRODUCING: CHARLES AMIKIYA

Give us a quick introduction about you:
My name is Charles Ayingayure Amikiya, a Ghanaian citizen, a chemist and chemical engineer with over 18 years of professional work experience, of which 16 years have been with the mining industry, specifically in mineral assay and quality control. I had both my degrees, Bachelor of Science in Chemistry and master’s in chemical engineering, from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi-Ghana.

In a few words, could you describe your career path?
My early career started with the food & beverage industry where I worked for the multinational company in the capacity of Quality Control Chemist.

I have 16 years  in the mining industry where I started off in the Gold industry as a Shift Chemist in the Assay Laboratory, & then as a Project Chemist with ArcelorMittal Mining Liberia, where I led the team to setup and commission an Onsite Sample Preparation and Analytical laboratory facilities for Iron Ore analysis. My role was expanded to Head of Laboratory & Quality, where I managed the operation of the testing laboratory and product quality from the production plant through to shipment.

I embarked my journey with Bureau Veritas in 2018 as a Lab Manager, and I am a Business Unit Manager for our Metals & Minerals unit, which currently operates fully equipped bauxite testing onsite laboratory facilities for big mining companies in Guinea;

How could you describe your position and work at the Metals & Minerals team on BV?
My position as Metals and Minerals Trade Manager in Guinea mainly focuses on harnessing and supporting the technical and business development teams to make them resilient for the challenging and competitive market environment, key among the focal areas include, optimizing the operations of Onsite Laboratories and other technical resources, to ensure we adequately and efficiently support our mining clients.  

The Metals and Minerals team achieves the precision and accuracy required by commercial testing by using its unparalleled technical expertise and experience.  

I support the team to provide high quality customized Mine Site Laboratory Services, ranging from remote mobile prep lab setup to a full-service analytical laboratory at the production site. All our labs meet the requirements of ISO 9001 Quality Management Systems and use validated methods and processes which comply with global OH&S standards. Our Mine site laboratory services focus on the following key areas, Onsite Laboratory setup, Mineral Testing, Quality Control, ISO Accreditation, Training & Onsite support, Laboratory Audit, technical diagnosis, equipment service and repair. I ensure a comprehensive quality management system complaint with ISO/IEC 17025 is implemented and strictly adhered entirely.  

From the business development perspective, I have been involved in providing technical support to the expanding Bureau Veritas mineral services scope and presence locally and within the West African Subregion, which has resulted in the extension of our mineral services to many clients both in Guinea and Sierra Leone utilizing offsite analytical testing facilities to provide analytical data to various projects.

Local manpower development is a key element of my responsibilities, our site laboratories are largely run by national staff, who are mostly recruited from within the surrounding communities of our operations. Bureau Veritas Minerals comprehensive training programmes provides the necessary technical knowledge and skill sets required to deliver high quality analytical data using local work force. We drive a localization plan, where the national staff are empowered with the needed competencies to ultimately assume the management of our M&M site laboratories in Guinea.

The Metals and Minerals team achieves the precision and accuracy required for commercial testing by using its unparalleled technical expertise and experience. Health, Safety & Environment are topmost priorities for Bureau Veritas, and I champion the HSE policies and regulations ensuring our activities meet the objectives and are compliant to the Company policies and business guidelines. We endeavor to build a safety culture for our staff both onsite and offsite so effectively we achieve zero incidents, zero accidents, zero harm to people & environment, and zero equipment/property damage

Could you explain the M&M BV services alignment with sustainability goals? 
The metals & minerals services are key elements to Bureau Veritas’ suite of ‘GreenLine’ Sustainability services ensuring that mining operations fulfill ESG expectations of their stakeholders. The BV Green Line helps organizations implement, measure and achieve sustainability objectives, and enables us to support our clients in sustainably designing, building and operating their assets.

Bureau Veritas Minerals’ spectral service have developed our own FTIR services, that can predict a diverse range of mineralogical and metallurgical parameters. Normal sample preparation methods are used to produce a dried pulp and the IR spectra are collected without any additional preparation, thus eliminating chemical digestion and fusion processes resulting in the reduction of water requirement and chemical fume emissions.

In our operations, alternative source of carbon energy supply for the operation of our M&M laboratories is solar power, which is a renewable and infinite energy source that creates no harmful greenhouse gas emissions.

What do you enjoy the most about working in the M&M sector?
My educational background has equipped and offered me a comprehensive understanding of the scientific underpinnings of industry and is a source of joy to experience the practical application of these principles and techniques in the metals and minerals field.

The broad services provided by our M&M team forms part of the critical defining moments which distinguish between successful and failed projects, businesses, partnerships etc. It is exciting to be part of projects progressing through the different stages to completion.  

The readiness and availability of the global network of technical expertise, with extensive experience and knowledge within the Bureau Veritas Group, providing technical support in diverse ways when required is significant in the success of our onsite laboratory projects. This builds confidence in the local M&M teams and reinforces our global strengths

What would you say to someone considering a career at BV?
Bureau Veritas is a family with large multidisciplinary expertise in varied fields, which offers unique opportunities for knowledge acquisition and professional development. The in-house training programmes and career development planning within the Bureau Veritas Group are extensive mechanisms for personal capacity building. You will always grow professionally with Bureau Veritas, whether from entry level or advance/specialist stage.