APEM Group establishes North American presence as CSA Ocean Sciences joins the Group

APEM Group establishes North American presence as CSA Ocean Sciences joins the Group

APEM Group today announced that CSA Ocean Sciences, a US based marine environmental consultancy supporting energy transition and coastal infrastructure projects worldwide, has joined our Group.

Read more here.

APEM Group joins Applus+ forming new Environmental Services Division

APEM Group joins Applus+ forming new Environmental Services Division

APEM Group has now officially joined Applus+ following the necessary approvals that were pending when the transaction was announced in September. This marks the launch of a new Environmental Services Division led by APEM Group CEO Leah McGimpsey, who also becomes Executive Vice President of the new division.

Read more about this here.

APEM Group brings third Australian environmental consultancy into Group

APEM Group brings third Australian environmental consultancy into Group

– Increases Australian presence to over 275 employees based in 11 locations across eastern Australia

– Strengthens Group presence in Australia and supports core industries crucial to Australia’s future economic growth

– Brings another client focused, data and science-led environmental consultancy into APEM Group offering new rehabilitation capabilities

APEM Group today announced further expansion to our Australian business as AARC Environmental Solutions, one of Australia’s leading providers of environmental and rehabilitation services to the resources sector, joins the Group.

With 36 new colleagues joining the Group, our strengthening of our Australian business continues as we add another local team to our platform for growth. The Group now has over 275 experts able to provide local support to clients across a variety of key growth industries.

AARC provides expert environmental solutions to the resource industry, critical minerals, environment planning and development sectors. AARC has a proven track record in providing innovative, data and science-led insights to clients in Australia and throughout Asia to meet their environmental outcomes.

Leah McGimpsey, APEM Group CEO, said:

“As we evolve our platform for growth in Australia, I am delighted to welcome AARC Environmental Solutions, one of Australia’s leading providers of environmental and rehabilitation services to the resources industry, into APEM Group.

Our Australian business has already gone from strength to strength in 2024. Adding AARC to the Group further enhances our business in Australia and expands our ability to support clients across the Asia Pacific region.

Bringing more specialist experts into the Group, in combination with Biosis, Attexo and our Offshore Environment Team, means we now have over 275 colleagues on the ground in Australia, collaborating to deliver a wide variety of projects and showcasing the combined Group offering available to our clients.

With a technically diverse workforce throughout Australia, we are well placed to meet the growing demands of our clients across a wide variety of industries, bringing our unique perspectives and approach to projects critical for Australia’s future growth.”

Jim Fjeldsoe, Partner at Attexo, part of APEM Group, commented:

“This is a significant step forward for the Group’s business here in Australia. The team at AARC bring additional skills, expertise and capacity to the Group that will enable us to better meet the needs of our clients and tackle projects of greater scale and complexity.

Adding AARC to our existing Australian proposition will allow us to unlock new areas of growth for the Group, particularly across the key industries of resources and renewable energy.”

Gareth Bramston, Partner at AARC, commented:

“AARC is excited to be joining APEM Group. The shared values and cultural alignment between organisations make this a natural fit and logical next step for our business.

As part of APEM Group we look forward to offering an expanded set of services and technology. Greater opportunities for our people will ensure we continue to provide the best for our clients.”

Since 2021, APEM Group has completed nine acquisitions, supported by private equity firm WestBridge, cementing their strategy of growth and international expansion.

Thomas Dutton, Investment Director at Westbridge, said:

“APEM Group’s focus on growing and strengthening their Australian business is a key pillar of the Group’s strategy to further expand into Asia Pacific. Bringing another world class environmental consultant into the Group showcases how attractive a proposition APEM is for other consultancies looking to join a global group.

Bringing some of the leading names in the resource sector into the Group validates the leadership team’s ambition to scale the Australian business at pace. The acquisition of AARC offers immediate opportunity to cross sell services across the Group, unlocking commercial synergies and strengthening our client offering.”

ENDS

For further information, please contact:

Ruth Shearn

RMS

Ruth.Shearn@thisisrms.co.uk

+44 7881 772960

About APEM Group
With locations across the globe, APEM Group provide independent environmental consultancy and expert scientific advice to a wide range of industries including water, energy, infrastructure, power and utilities, ports and harbours as well as to regulators and governments around the world.

We provide a range of services to clients including our world leading digital aerial wildlife surveys, environmental impact assessments, marine, water & terrestrial ecology, geospatial insights, shipping and navigational risk assessments and landscape visualisation.

About AARC Environmental Solutions
AARC Environmental Solutions is one of Australia’s leading independent environmental consultancies, providing solutions to the resources industry, environmental planning and development sectors across Australia and Southeast Asia.

AARC offers a range of environmental services across the full project lifecycle, from planning through to approvals, operations and closure, incorporating environmental assessments, applications & approvals, environmental management and reporting, rehabilitation and closure as well as ecology, soil and GIS services.

Soil and Land Suitability Assessment

A Soil and Land Suitability Assessment (SLSA) documents the nature and distribution of major soil types in the target area and assesses their suitability for the land uses of cattle grazing and dryland cropping. The assessment establishes baseline environmental characteristics and values relating to land use and suitability and provides recommendations for the management of soil resources. Part of the assessment involves the collection of soil cores from the study area.

Positive PEA for Vendetta Mining Corp

AARC is proud to support our clients in acheiving great outcomes for their businesses.

AARC was involved in a recent Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for Vendetta Mining Corp. for their Pegmont lead-zinc Project in Queensland. A PEA is a study that includes an economic analysis of the potential viability of the targeted mineral resource.

Further details regarding this project can be found through the link below.

Canada’s Vendetta receives positive PEA for Australian lead-zinc project

BioCondition Benchmark Update

A recent review of the existing Queensland BioCondition Benchmarks has been published by the Queensland Herbarium. This review has resulted in additional BioCondition benchmarks for four Bioregions within Queensland and additional Ecological Condition Profiles for South East Queensland.

BioCondition Benchmarks are an integral part of the BioCondition vegetation condition assessment framework and form the basis of objective comparisons of vegetation condition states within and between regional ecosystems. Ecological Condition Profiles are a form of rapid evaluation/appraisal of broad ecological condition states of that are typical of a regional ecosystem. For more information on these updates and how they may impact upon your project(s) please contact AARC at: info@aarc.net.au or on (07) 3217 8772.

The Australian Coral Snake

A perfect example of the variability of colours and patterns between individual snakes. These two Australian Coral Snakes (Brachyurophis australis) are showing off their brilliant colours in a photo our ecologists captured on a trip to the north eastern Surat Basin in the Brigalow Belt Bioregion. The Australian Coral Snake is classed as ‘Least Concern’ under the Nature Conservation Act 1992.

This species is a nocturnal burrowing snake and is commonly found within a wide variety of habitats from coastal forests to open savannah woodlands and scrublands. During the day the Australian Coral Snake is usually found under logs, soil and other forms of shelter on the ground. Due to its nocturnal nature this species is seen above ground only at night.

AARC conducts all its fauna surveys in accordance with the latest version of the ‘Terrestrial Vertebrate Fauna Survey Guidelines for Queensland’ by the Department of Environment and Science.

Micro-bat Surveys

Micro-bats (Microchiropterans) form an extremely diverse group of wildlife and the identification of individual species requires the use of specialised survey methods due to the superficial similarity of many species, their small size, and largely inaudible calls. The Nyctophilus genus has several species in Australia and cannot be identified further then the genus level through bat call detection devices.

AARC staff are trained in conducting targeted micro-bat survey utilising equipment such as Harp Traps and Mist Nets in accordance with the ‘Survey Guidelines for Australia’s Threatened Bats’. This is a photo of a Lesser long-eared Bat (Nyctophilus geoffroyi) that was identified during field surveys conducted by AARC staff.

Regional Ecosystem Description Database Update

In December 2018 the Queensland Department of Environment and Science released the latest version of the Regional Ecosystem Description Database (REDD) (Version 11). Regional ecosystems and their subsequent statuses are regularly revised and refined as more information and a greater understanding is gained around their importance. The REDD was developed using data compiled by the State of Queensland as represented by the Queensland Herbarium.

The latest version is available for download from:

www.qld.gov.au/environment/plants-animals/plants/ecosystems/descriptions/download

Welcome Stuart Ritchie

AARC Environmental Solutions is excited to welcome the newest member of our Brisbane team. Stuart Ritchie is joining as our new Principal Scientist. Stuart is an environmental engineer with a career spanning over 30 years’ as an environmental professional. His experience is broad and extends through operational environmental management, implementing sustainability strategy, stakeholder engagement, climate change and energy policy, government relations, mine rehabilitation and mine closure.

Stuart holds a Masters of Environmental Management and brings experience in corporate environmental and sustainability roles across both national and multi-national mining and manufacturing companies. Stuart has an extensive environmental background with expertise in environmental risk and compliance management, mine rehabilitation and closure, environmental sustainability strategies, government and community engagement support and environmental project support.