Tag Archives: Agrimin

Royal IHC to deliver automated wet harvesting equipment to Mackay potash project

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Agrimin has awarded Royal IHC the front end engineering and design (FEED) contract to provide automated wet harvesting equipment for the Mackay potash project in Western Australia.

Wet harvesting is currently used at the world’s largest sulphate of potash (SOP) operations and IHC is the world leader in the design and manufacture of dredging systems for wet harvesting solutions, according to Agrimin.

The Mackay potash project has been designed to use automated wet harvesters to collect and transfer raw potash salts from the solar evaporation ponds directly to the processing plant in slurry form. Inclusion of the wet harvesting technique in the definitive feasibility study (DFS) was supported by critical field data generated from Agrimin’s pilot pond operations between October 2018 and June 2020, the company said.

Application of the wet harvesting technique can provide significant operating benefits to Mackay potash project, including:

  • Significantly lower energy consumption to transfer raw potash salts from the evaporation ponds to the processing plant (ie raw potash salts will be transferred to the plant via pipeline as a slurry, thereby removing the requirement to truck dry salts);
  • Reduced labour costs as wet harvesters will be automated;
  • Increased overall potassium recovery with harvesting of two pre-concentration ponds to recover a portion of the potassium-bearing entrained brine; and
  • Reduced pond sizes due to harvesting occurring earlier in the evaporation cycle and not having to take ponds off-line for harvesting.

The wet harvester FEED work will be completed over the next eight months, building on the DFS level design work that was completed by IHC. IHC will deliver detailed construction design drawings for all key areas of the equipment including cutting tools and propulsion, slurry transport systems, hydraulics, electrics, field testing and a fixed cost for supply of the harvesting equipment, Agrimin said.

Production capacity at Mackay is designed to be 450,000 t/y of SOP over an initial 40-year mine life.

Newhaul Bulk JV to serve Mackay potash project in Western Australia

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Agrimin and Newhaul Pty Ltd have formed a 50:50 incorporated joint venture named Newhaul Bulk Pty Ltd to provide road haulage and maintenance services for the Mackay potash project in Western Australia.

Craig Mitchell, the Founder and Former Owner of Mitchell Corp, one of the largest suppliers of trucking and bulk logistics services to Western Australia’s mining industry prior to being acquired by Toll Group in 2011, has been appointed CEO of the new joint venture.

The JV will provide Agrimin with benefits, including:

  • The potential for cost savings over the project’s 20-year life through the elimination of management role duplication, sharing the benefits of innovation and maximising locally sourced labour;
  • De-risking product haulage by using a proven Western Australia bulk logistics operator, while retaining control of the logistics chain;
  • Greater transparency relating to a future haulage contract; and
  • Development of driver training programs in order to maximise the opportunity to use local and Indigenous truck drivers.

The establishment of Newhaul Bulk, in partnership with an experienced operator, represents a significant milestone in the risk management and reduction of costs in relation to Agrimin’s future product haulage, Agrimin said.

The contract terms relating to the provision of haulage services for the initial 20-year project life are to be agreed in due course and, pursuant to a future haulage contract, to be executed between Agrimin and Newhaul Bulk.

Newhaul Bulk’s haulage operation is planned to include a fleet of around 24 road trains to transport 426,000 t/y of potash from Lake Mackay to Wyndham Port, where Agrimin’s proposed shiploading facility will be located.

“Newhaul Bulk has been established with the clear objective of maximising the employment of local and Indigenous people involved with the haulage of Agrimin’s potash production,” the company said. “A plan to achieve this includes the development of driver training centres and job readiness programs in regional communities, including Kununurra and Halls Creek.”

Kerman to work on Wyndham Port facility for Agrimin Mackay potash project

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Having recently selected a suitable export site at Wyndham Port for its Mackay potash project in Western Australia, Agrimin has awarded Kerman Contracting the engineering design contract for the facility.

The Wyndham port facility is planned to include a truck unloading hopper, covered storage sheds, granulation equipment, workshops and offices, with Kerman selected on the basis that it has suitable experience and capabilities to undertake both the engineering design and subsequent construction of the above aspects of the facility.

Agrimin said it intends to engage a separate contractor for the design and construction of the associated barge loading facility, while geotechnical and topographic work programs had been completed at the site, with Kerman having commenced the engineering design for the definitive feasibility study.

A prefeasibility study for the Mackay project, 785 km south of the Port of Wyndham, envisaged the process plant having a capacity of 426,000 t/y of sulphate of potash as a dry granular product, with the same study assuming a product mix of 50% granular and 50% standard product.

Kerman, earlier this month, was awarded a contract by Albemarle Lithium on the greenfield lithium hydroxide production plant in Kemerton, Western Australia.

Primero gets the nod for process plant work at Core’s Finniss lithium project

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Primero Group has been conditionally awarded a multi-year build-own operate (BOO) and operations and maintenance (O&M) contract with Core Lithium at the Finniss project, near Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia.

In addition to this, Primero has also secured recent early contractor involvement (ECI) contract wins with Agrimin Ltd (Mackay sulphate of potash project) and Hazer Group (hydrogen commercial demo plant), both of which deliver strong follow-on potential for large-scale engineering procurement and construction (EPC) contract roles, the company says.

The agreement with Core, worth around A$100 million ($69.9 million) at Finniss, follows the company being named preferred EPC contractor status early this year. The contract also offers the opportunity for extension after the initial four-year term, Primero said.

Furthering Primero’s partnering contract model, the preferred contractor status has been extended to include conditional award of Primero’s first BOO contract for the crushing and screening circuit, the EPC and the complete O&M for the processing facility, Primero said.

Core’s development of Finniss is initially centred on production from the high-grade Grants deposit as an open-pit mining operation and construction of a 1 Mt/y dense media separation process plant to produce a 5% Li2O spodumene concentrate for export.

The prefeasibility study on the project envisaged a total capex of A$53.55 million and A$168 million in free cash generation over a period of 26 months based on a price of $649/t for its concentrate.

Primero Managing Director, Cameron Henry, said: “Primero is continuing to build a strong foundation and reputation for delivery. Current revenue run rates demonstrate our ability to concurrently manage growth and deliver on multiple projects, across various Australian and global jurisdictions. Our existing client relationships, and the repeat nature of large amounts of our business, provide a strong platform from which to drive and achieve our strategic goals.”

Primero starts engineering process plant for Agrimin’s Mackay SOP project

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ASX-listed Agrimin has awarded Primero Group the engineering design contract for the process plant at the Mackay potash project, in Western Australia.

With Agrimin’s process consultants at Novopro Projects having already completed the process modelling and flowsheets for the definitive feasibility study at Mackay, Primero has commenced the engineering design for the plant.

A prefeasibility study for Mackay, 785 km south of the Port of Wyndham, envisaged the process plant having a capacity of 426,000 t/y of sulphate of potash (SOP) as a dry granular product, with the same study assuming a product mix of 50% granular and 50% standard product.

The engagement of Primero, a multi-disciplinary engineering group which specialises in the design, construction and commissioning of global resource projects, is on an early contractor involvement basis, with the initial awarded stage being the process plant design works.

“This engagement follows a competitive process to select a contractor with suitable experience and capabilities to undertake both the engineering design and subsequent construction of the process plant and associated site based non-process infrastructure,” Agrimin said.

The 2018 PFS outlined a 20 year project at Mackay that came with a $409 million capital cost and an average SOP grade of 8 kg/cu.m.