Civmec has secured the award of a major contract worth more than A$330 million for the Rio Tinto Western Range Project at their Paraburdoo iron ore site in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The iron ore project includes greenfields and brownfields scope with the construction of a new Run of Mine (ROM) pad, primary crushing facility, overland conveying circuit and modifications to the Coarse Ore Stockpile (COS) and downstream conveying system.
The greenfields scope includes a new primary crushing facility, discharge conveyor and transfer station and a 17 km overland conveying system that transfers the ore through to the existing Paraburdoo COS. The overland conveying system includes multiple conveyor flights, transfer stations and creek crossings to link the new primary crusher to the existing process plant.
To tie into the existing plant, the brownfields scope includes extensive modifications to the current Paraburdoo COS and downstream conveying system. This includes addition of new feed points at the COS, new ore transfer equipment, conveyor replacements, conveyor upgrades, drive replacements and a range of other general modifications to receive the new ore stream.
Civmec will complete a vertical package of work that will utilise most of the company’s in-house capabilities. From the Henderson facility, Civmec will carry out the heavy engineering requirement for the structural and platework fabrication and where viable will assemble modules for transportation to site. On site, the company will deliver the detailed earthworks, civil and concrete components as well as the structural, mechanical, piping (SMP) and electrical and instrumentation (E&I) installation.
The off-site works will commence immediately, while mobilisation to site is due to commence mid-2023. At peak, the project will employ over 400 people on site and is currently scheduled for completion in H1 FY2025.
Civmec’s Chief Executive Officer, Patrick Tallon, said: “We are very pleased to be awarded the Western Range project, which further enhances our long-standing relationship with Rio Tinto. The fact that we will be utilising our manufacturing facilities to supply our construction site teams, across several disciples, strongly aligns with our business model to provide multi-disciplined solutions for our clients. This allows us to start the new year with an order book in excess of A$1.150 billion.”