Vsevolod Kobzar Discipline: cost engineering & project controls Rev 11 · 2026
Sheet 1 of 1 General arrangement · Mining & metals capital project Scale: NTS
Independent consultant · Cost engineering · Project controls

Defensible numbers for mining & metals projects

CAPEX and OPEX models, feasibility studies, integrated master schedules and equipment procurement — for owners and study teams of mining & metals projects. I work across every project stage, from the first estimate to the operating plant.

Discuss your project Track record
Stage 1 · StudyGeneral notes: services
N-1

CAPEX & OPEX estimation

Capital and operating cost estimates for new plants and expansions, from an order-of-magnitude estimate to a full-flowsheet model. When the flowsheet changes, the model is rebuilt, not patched.

N-2

Feasibility & economic evaluation

Flowsheet comparisons, the economic model behind the study, cost input for the study team. The early stage is the only place where cost can still be engineered out.

N-3

Project controls & scheduling

Level-3 integrated master schedules with full EPC logic, built in whatever planning environment the client runs. Such schedules have been adopted as project baselines.

N-4

Owner's PM & team support

Baseline control, coordination of EPC and construction contractors, schedule and budget risk assessment — plus the questions that live between the lines of the contract, from currency formulas to battery limits.

N-5

RFQ & procurement

Procurement from questionnaire to contract: technical specifications, shortlists of European, US, Chinese and CIS manufacturers, bid evaluation, negotiations.

N-6

AI-augmented workflows

My practice runs on multi-agent LLM pipelines and my own modelling software: they speed up estimate revisions, supplier screening and paperwork.

Stage 2 · ExecutionSection A-A: track record

Flagship engagement. Since 2023: cost engineering consultant to a major copper mining and processing project: supplier selection for the main process equipment, procurement cost analytics, and the integrated master schedule the client adopted as its baseline.

Metals portfolio. A pilot beryllium metal plant: equipment across the full flowsheet plus the CAPEX/OPEX model. A lead smelter, a tin plant and a hot-dip galvanizing facility in Kazakhstan: CAPEX estimates and supplier selection.

Trade-off studies. Side engagements included a freeze-prevention study for an Arctic mining railway: three ways to keep bulk cargo from freezing solid in transit, from stockpile pre-freezing with re-handling to anti-caking reagents to car insulation, costed as CAPEX plus a winter of OPEX; the cheapest robust option was adopted.

29Cucopper
4Beberyllium
82Pblead
50Sntin
30Znzinc

Cu · Be · Pb · Sn — mining and process plants.
Zn — process application: hot-dip galvanizing.
The metal changes; the method doesn't.

DetailsThree rules I don't break
Detail 1

Every number carries its source

Rates, quantities and quotes enter the model as traceable inputs. If I can't show where a figure came from, it doesn't go in. An estimate built on buried assumptions isn't an estimate, it's an opinion with decimals.

Detail 2

Deliverables stay auditable

Live Excel formulas and P6-compatible schedule logic, not a PDF of conclusions. Your bank, your board or your EPC should be able to trace any figure back to its input without me in the room.

Detail 3

Bad news arrives early

An optimistic estimate doesn't save money. It delays the correction to a stage where it costs more. I'd rather flag a gap at the study stage than watch it surface in execution.

Stage 3 · OperationsThe point of a good number

Tell me about your project

A couple of lines about the task is enough. I reply within a business day; the first call is free. We review the task together, then I propose a scope of work and a fixed price.

LinkedIn / vkobzar · Privacy

Name
Vsevolod Kobzar
Discipline
Cost engineering · project controls · procurement
Experience
18 yrs · since 2008
Practice
Independent · 2018
Sheet
1 of 1 · Rev 11 · 2026