Marshall Miller & Associates

What Marshall Miller & Associates does

Marshall Miller & Associates (MM&A) is a privately held consulting and engineering firm headquartered in Bluefield, Virginia, with additional offices in Blacksburg, Virginia, and Beckley, West Virginia. Founded in 1974 by Marshall S. Miller as Geological Consulting Services and rebranded in the 1980s, the firm delivers geological, engineering, hydrogeological, operations management, and permitting and compliance services to mining, aggregate, and energy clients across coal, metal ores, and industrial minerals sectors. Its technical platform centers on proprietary geological modeling techniques, wireline geophysical logging adapted from petroleum industry methods, advanced mining software including Vulcan, Carlson Mining, LaModel, NIOSH ARMPS, FLAC3D, Rocscience, and VNet PC, FAA-licensed drone aerial mapping, and a 160-week-validated Actively Managed Semi-Passive Biochemical Reactor technology for selenium treatment of mining-impacted waters, for which 45 systems have been designed. The firm has obtained eight distinct MSHA seal approvals in partnership with Minova USA.

MM&A serves more than 250 companies across North America, South America, Asia, Australia, Europe, and Africa, with a client base spanning private mining operations, entities going public, financial institutions, insurance companies, and government agencies. The firm operates on a project-based, quote-based consulting engagement model with no publicly disclosed pricing, and business development is driven by industry reputation and professional referrals rather than digital marketing. Leadership is held by the Keim family, with K. Scott Keim as CEO & Director and Steven A. Keim as President, supported by an executive bench that includes an Executive Vice President, Vice President, and senior principals across hydrogeology, geology, and engineering disciplines. The firm's competitive position is anchored in regulatory relationships with the U.S. EPA, Army Corps of Engineers, Office of Surface Mining, and Fish and Wildlife Service, and in a senior technical staff of registered professional engineers and credentialed geoscientists.

Name

Marshall Miller & Associates

Legal name

Marshall Miller & Associates, Inc.

Website

https://mma1.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1975

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Marshall Miller & Associates is a privately held consulting and engineering firm headquartered in Bluefield, Virginia, delivering geological, mining engineering, hydrogeological, operations management, and permitting services to more than 250 mining, aggregate, and energy clients across five continents.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Mining Engineering Consulting

NAICS

Support Activities for Mining (213), Support Activities for Metal Mining (213114), Environmental Consulting Services (54162)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Environmental, Permitting & Closure Services (EIA, Compliance Monitoring, Reclamation Execution) (IMAKAKAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Mine Operations Contracting (Open-Pit & Underground Development, Production, Load/Haul) (IMAKAKAD), Mine Surveying & Geospatial Services (Survey, Drone/LiDAR, GIS, Grade Control) (IMAKAKAK), Tailings & Water Management Engineering (TSF Design/Construction, Dams, Water Treatment) (IMAKAOAF)

Keywords

• Mining engineering consulting
• Geological exploration services
• Mine planning design
• Hydrogeological services
• Environmental permitting

Headquarters

HQ city

Bluefield

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Marshall Miller & Associates (MM&A) is a consulting and engineering firm providing professional geological, mining engineering, hydrogeological, environmental, and permitting services to the coal, metal ores, and industrial minerals and aggregates sectors. The firm delivers reserve evaluations, mine planning and design, geophysical logging, mine ventilation, coal preparation plant design, drone-based aerial mapping, selenium treatment, permitting and compliance, operations management, and expert witness and valuation services to mining companies, financial institutions, insurance companies, and government agencies across multiple continents.

Product overview

Marshall Miller & Associates (MM&A) is a diverse consulting and engineering firm that offers a portfolio of specialized services organized around core disciplines: Geology, Engineering and Design, Operations Management, Hydrogeology, and Permitting and Compliance. The firm provides specialized sub-services including geophysical logging, mine ventilation design, coal preparation plant design, drone-based aerial mapping, selenium treatment, mine planning using industry software (Carlson, LaModel, NIOSH ARMPS, Flac3D), and expert witness support. Services are delivered across industrial sectors including Coal, Industrial Minerals & Aggregates, Metal Ores, and Integrated Services. The company serves mining, aggregate, and energy industries with over 250 client companies across North America, South America, Asia, Australia, and Europe.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Geology Services Professional geological services delivered by geologists, geotechnical engineers, and hydrogeologists for mining clients, including mineral resource and reserve estimation, field exploration, geophysical logging, and geotechnical evaluation of roof and floor conditions.
• Engineering and Design Mining engineering services delivering technical plans and designs, including mine planning and design, rock mechanics analyses, mine ventilation design, geotechnical engineering, coal preparation plant design, drone services, and mine seal design.
• Operations Management Management services for mining operations including operations evaluations, mine cost and cash flow analysis, and process improvement facilitation delivered by engineers and scientists with over 25 years of industry experience.
• Hydrogeology Evaluation services for interactions between mining and hydrogeologic regime, including pre-mining assessment, subsurface condition evaluation, monitoring wells, aquifer testing, and selenium treatment services.
• Permitting and Compliance Surface and underground mine permitting services for coal, aggregate, and mineral mining industries, including environmental permitting, coal refuse disposal facility engineering, and regulatory agency liaison.
• Geophysical Logging Services Fully digital, state-of-the-art environmental, geotechnical, hydrogeological, and coalbed methane logging services including acoustic televiewers, borehole video cameras, gamma-gamma density, and various resistivity logs.
• Environmental Permitting NEPA compliance services including Environmental Impact Statements, Categorical Exclusions, Environmental Assessments, and coordination with EPA, Army Corps of Engineers, Office of Surface Mining, and Fish and Wildlife Service.
• Coal Preparation Plant Design and Optimization Coal preparation plant design, circuit optimization, and coal blending studies to maximize financial return from reserve base, with global experience in Africa, Australia, Canada, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Mozambique, South Africa, Turkey, and USA.
• Drone Services Remotely piloted aerial mapping services using FAA-licensed pilots and senseFly eBee Plus fixed-wing drones for survey-grade accuracy, including aerial surveys, topographic mapping, volumetric assessments, 3D modeling, and infrastructure mapping.
• Mine Ventilation Design Integrated mine ventilation system design and evaluation using VNet PC computer software, providing ventilation planning and computer simulation services for domestic and foreign mining operations.
• Selenium Treatment Services Actively managed semi-passive biochemical reactor technology for remediating selenium-impacted waters associated with mining, developed through 160 weeks of demonstration testing with designs for both underground and surface mines.
• Mine Planning and Design Mining project design services using Carlson Software, LaModel, NIOSH ARMPS, FLAC3D, NIOSH ARMPS-HWM, and Rocscience programs for conceptual layouts to detailed projections including timing, sequencing, and predictive tonnage forecasts.
• Expert Witness and Litigation Support Professional services including mining engineering, mining and petroleum geology, and related expert witness support for legal proceedings.
• Valuations and Appraisals Valuation services for banks, financial groups, mining companies, and insurance companies performed in accordance with Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) and Uniform Appraisal Standards for Federal Land Acquisition (UASFLA).
• Coal Consulting Comprehensive capabilities for international coal markets including reserve evaluations, coal-bed methane assessments, subsurface condition determination, coal refuse disposal facility design, and difficult seam mining.
• Metal Ores Consulting Multidisciplinary services for precious and base metals mining including silver, gold, iron, copper, chrome, and lead, delivered by industry-leading professionals using state-of-the-art science and technologies.
• Industrial Minerals and Aggregates Consulting Regional expertise for mining of phosphate, potash, limestone, heavy mineral sands, diamonds, uranium, granite, mica, and rare earths, with services tailored to address high transportation costs associated with these materials.

Quantifiable outcome

• Successfully developed selenium treatment technology with 160 weeks of demonstration testing and significant cost reduction over traditional systems
• +2 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Minova USA, Inc.notableStrategic or Co-development PartnerMM&A worked with Minova USA, Inc. to design seals made of Minova Tekseal cementious material to satisfy MSHA's Emergency Temporary Standard requirements following 2006 mine explosions. MM&A has assisted Minova in obtaining eight different seal approvals and works with clients to install Minova plug-type seals in difficult mining conditions.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Stantec: Global engineering, consulting, and project management firm with a sizable mining and environmental practice. Directly comparable to MM&A in mine planning, permitting, hydrogeology, and environmental services, but operates at far greater scale and geographic breadth.
• WSP Global: Large international professional services firm with a dedicated mining and environment practice following its acquisition of Golder Associates. Competes with MM&A across mine engineering, environmental permitting, and hydrogeology but with much larger staff and global delivery capacity.
• AECOM: Global infrastructure consulting firm with a mining and environment practice that delivers mine planning, permitting, and remediation services. Overlaps with MM&A's core capabilities but serves much larger projects and broader end markets.
• Tetra Tech: Engineering and consulting firm with strong water, environment, and mining practices. Competes with MM&A in hydrogeology, environmental permitting, and mine water treatment, including services to coal and metals sectors.
• GHD: Global engineering and consulting firm with mining, environment, and water practices serving coal, metals, and industrial minerals clients. Competes with MM&A on permitting, hydrogeology, and mine engineering across multiple geographies.
• Environmental Resources Management (ERM): World's largest pure-play environmental, health, safety, and sustainability consultancy with substantial mining sector work. Overlaps with MM&A's environmental permitting, NEPA, and mine closure services but with vastly broader scale and global footprint.
• Wood plc (Mining & Environment): Global consulting and engineering firm with mining, environment, and remediation practices serving coal, metals, and aggregates. Competes with MM&A on environmental impact assessment, mine planning, and water management.

Direct peers

• SRK Consulting: Independent mining-focused consulting firm offering resource estimation, mine design, geotechnical, hydrogeological, and environmental services globally. Closest direct peer to MM&A given its similar mining-only focus, multidisciplinary structure, and project-based consulting model.
• SLR Consulting: Independent environmental and engineering consultancy with a mining practice covering permitting, resource evaluation, and mine closure. Comparable mid-sized peer with similar horizontal service model and mining-industry focus.
• Piteau Associates: Specialized mining geotechnical and hydrogeological consultancy focused on rock mechanics, mine water, and slope stability. Highly comparable niche player to MM&A's geotechnical engineering and hydrogeology practices.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles16 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Marshall Miller & Associates