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our people > grant nicholas
Career Summary
Grant Nicholas has a background in economic geology, computer science, risk analysis and finance since 1995. He accepted a scholarship from De Beers and graduated with a B.Sc. Honours Cum Laude from the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa in 1995 finishing top of his class.
Grant started his career as a production geologist on
the diamond fields of the West Coast of Southern
Africa in 1995 working for De Beers. He was
responsible for several re- estimation exercises and the
implementation of new evaluation methodologies that
extended the life of mine by several years. During this
period, he also completed a management diploma
(DPMM) through Maccauvlei and the University of
South Africa and passed with top class honours.
In 2000 he was invited to join the De Beers corporate
headquarters (CHQ) as technical assistant to the Group
Manager Mineral Resources. Grant’s main duties were to
assimilate and reconcile the group’s diamond resource and
reserve statements for inclusion into all public reports and
‘in-house’ technical reports for the executive committee.
He also formed part of the company’s Strategic Growth
Team reporting to the technical director to evaluate the
group’s potential to replenish diamond reserves and
meet forecasted market demand.
During this period, Grant was a member of a small team
that wrote the Technical Financial Report (TFR) that
enabled the privatization of De Beers from the
Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE) in 2001. The
deal was valued at over US$17 billion.
In 2003 Grant was selected to join the De Beers Mineral
Resource Management R&D group in Wells, UK to head
up the resource risk management project. The aim of his
research area was to evaluate the financial impacts of
resource and reserve related risks in NPV terms. He
established an expert panel with international specialists
in the areas of risk management, geostatistics, finance
and real option valuation.
The R&D group was tasked with reducing the time taken
(and overall costs) for developing a project from
discovery to an operating mine. Grant was also involved
in several evaluation audits, working with banks and
management consultancies to value projects and
compile reports for the sale of selected De Beers’
mineral assets to third parties.
Qualifications
B.Sc - The University of the Western Cape, South Africa. Graduated with a B.Sc. in geology and computer science in 1994.
B.Sc - The University of Stellenbosch, Cape Town, South Africa. Awarded Cum Laude with top class honours in geology in 1995. Thesis on a sedimentological study of diamond-bearing gravels at an alluvial mine.
DPMM (management diploma) - Technikon of the Witwatersrand, South Africa and Maccauvlei. Awarded a distinction with top class honours in 1999.
Ph.D. candidate (current) - The University of Adelaide, SA, Australia. Studies commenced in 2004 in the areas of geostatistics, risk analysis and financial evaluation. Thesis on developing an integrated evaluation model for mineral deposits.
Professional Affiliations
AMA - Association of Mining Analysts, UK
CIMM - Canadian Institute of Mining Metallurgy and Petroleum
SME - The Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration
Publications
Nicholas, G., Coward, S. and Ferreira, J., 2008. Financial
Risk Assessment Using Conditional Simulations in an
Integrated Evaluation Model – submission for the Eighth
International Geostatistics Congress in Santiago, Chile.
Nicholas, G., Coward, S., Rendall, M. and Thurston, M.,
2007. Decision-Making Using an Integrated Evaluation
Model Versus Sensitivity Analysis and Monte Carlo
Simulation. CIM International Conference, Montreal,
Canadian Institute of Mining Metallurgy and Petroleum.
Nicholas, G., Coward, S., Armstrong, A. and Galli, A.,
2006. Integrated Mine Evaluation- Implications for Mine
Management. International Mine Management
Conference, (The Australasian Institute of Mining and
Metallurgy: Melbourne).
Kleingeld, W.J. and Nicholas, G., 2004. Diamond
Resources and Reserves – Technical Uncertainties affecting
their Estimation, Classification and Evaluation. Orebody
Modelling and Strategic Mine Planning Conference, (The
Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Perth).
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Grant Nicholas
Principal Consultant
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