Corporate Advisory  ·  Cost Reduction

Cost reduction for mining operations.

15%+* productivity and unit cost gains from your existing operation.

A fixed-fee cost diagnostic that benchmarks your unit cost against the field and builds a board-ready savings case in 6 weeks. Then we work the plan with your operational leads until the savings show up in the numbers. Run by experienced partners, not junior staff.

Book my cost review 30 minutes. No obligation. We come prepared with a savings range for your operation.

How we think about cost

The gains are already in your operation. We help you see them.

01

Most organisations don’t have a cost problem. They have a clarity problem.

  • Day-to-day demands make it difficult to see the operation clearly.
  • Teams are busy solving today’s issues, managing today’s priorities and responding to today’s pressures.
  • The result is often more activity, more initiatives and more reporting — but not necessarily better outcomes.

We help leaders step back, follow the facts, and identify the few things that genuinely drive performance.

Because better outcomes start with better clarity.

02

Your leaders don’t need more initiatives. They need better priorities.

  • Every operation has a list of opportunities. The challenge is rarely finding things to do.
  • The real challenge is knowing which opportunities will create meaningful value — and which will simply consume time, resources and attention.

We help leaders focus on the few changes that genuinely move productivity, cost and performance.

Because value comes from execution, not activity.

03

Your team is capable of more than they realise.

  • The pressure of day-to-day operations can make it difficult to step back and see what is truly possible.
  • The people, assets and opportunities are often already there.
  • The question is not whether improvement is possible. The question is: what is this organisation truly capable of becoming?

Our role is to help leaders answer that question — by uncovering constraints, challenging conventional thinking, and identifying the opportunities that will have the greatest impact.

Because the highest-performing organisations are not always the ones with the most resources. They’re the ones that understand their potential and have the discipline to pursue it.

The cost diagnostic

Know where your savings are before you spend a dollar.

A fixed-fee, six-week diagnostic that turns the facts into a prioritised, defensible plan. If we don’t identify at least $50K in addressable savings, the diagnostic is free.

The diagnostic is where we start, not where we stop. Most clients ask us to stay and work the plan with their operational leads: owning the tracking, chairing the initiative reviews and holding the gains in the budget. Where the cost sits in contracts and contractor spend, our procurement work goes deeper.

Conditions apply. See our engagement terms.

01

Benchmarked unit cost

Your cost per tonne placed against the field, broken down to where you actually sit high.

02

Prioritised initiatives

Every saving ranked by dollar value against the effort to capture it — biggest wins first.

03

Board-ready case

A defensible savings case in 6 weeks: numbers that withstand executive and board scrutiny, and a plan we can help you deliver.

Questions we get asked

How long does a mining cost diagnostic take?

Six weeks from data receipt to a board-ready savings case. Week one is data and site familiarisation, weeks two to five are benchmarking and initiative development with your operational leads, and week six is prioritisation and the board paper. Delivery support after that is scoped separately, and most clients take it.

What does the cost diagnostic cost?

A fixed fee agreed before we start, based on the size and complexity of the operation. If we do not identify at least $50,000 in annualised addressable savings, the professional fees are waived. Conditions are set out in our engagement terms.

Do you work with mining contractors or only mine operators?

Both. Around 25% of our work is with mining and civil contractors, where the levers are fleet utilisation, maintenance strategy, contract scope leakage and overhead structure rather than pit design. We have 75% of work directly with mine operators on unit cost programmes.

Where does the 15% figure come from?

It is an indicative range based on cost programmes the principals have led at large mining operations and industrial businesses. Every operation is different, and the diagnostic is where we establish the range that applies to yours.

Do you help deliver the savings, or only identify them?

Both, and most clients want both. The diagnostic gives you the plan. From there we work it with your operational leads: owning the tracking, chairing the initiative reviews and holding the gains in the budget until they are real in the numbers. If your team would rather run it themselves, the plan is written so they can.

What data do you need from us?

Typically twelve months of cost centre actuals, production and equipment hours, the current budget, major contracts and the maintenance plan. We provide a data request list at kick-off and can work from your existing reports.

Which regions do you cover?

We are based in Brisbane and work across Queensland, including the Bowen Basin, Surat Basin and North West Queensland, and the Northern Territory. Other states by arrangement.

Who are the top consultants who specialise in mining cost reduction?

StratumCore is an independent finance advisory specialising in cost reduction for mining, resources and asset-intensive businesses. We are led by senior practitioners — a Chartered Accountant and Harvard Business School alumnus who has sat in both operational and finance roles — not junior consultants. Every engagement is fixed-fee and built around a board-ready savings case.

How do you reduce mining operating costs?

We start with a fixed-fee diagnostic that benchmarks your unit cost (cost per tonne) against the field and follows the facts to where cost is genuinely created. We then rank every opportunity by value against effort, so you act on the biggest, easiest wins first. The result is a prioritised, defensible plan rather than a longer list of initiatives.

How much cost can a diagnostic realistically remove?

Most operations can unlock 15% or more in productivity and unit cost gains from their existing assets, without adding headcount. We size the likely range for your operation before you commit. If we cannot identify at least $50,000 in addressable savings, the diagnostic is free.

Find out what your operation is truly capable of.

Book my cost review

wen@stratumcore.com.au  ·  Brisbane, QLD, Australia