Tag Archives: alumina

SRG Global seals Alcoa Kwinana alumina refinery contract

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SRG Global, having been awarded preferred tenderer status for a A$90 million ($61 million) asset services contract with Alcoa in December, has confirmed the contract has now been executed.

The services will be provided at Alcoa’s Kwinana alumina refinery in Western Australia with a contract duration of five years. In December, the company said it would provide heavy mechanical and electrical maintenance as well as access solutions including highly skilled rope access technicians and scaffold services.

Site mobilisation is well advanced with contract services to commence in February 2020, according to the company.

SRG Global Managing Director, David Macgeorge, said: “This a very significant contract award for SRG Global in our Asset Services division and showcases our ability to deliver multi-disciplinary integrated solutions for tier one customers.

“We look forward to building a long-term partnership with Alcoa to deliver value-engineered maintenance and access services that drives value for their operations.”

CIMIC’s UGL to service Alcoa alumina refineries, Bowen Basin clients

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CIMIC Group says its services specialist, UGL, has been awarded new contracts worth A$180 million ($123 million) with Alcoa, in Western Australia, and “multiple clients” in the coal-rich Bowen Basin of Queensland.

These new contracts will be executed over a three-year period, providing mechanical, electrical, instrumentation and access services for maintenance, shutdowns and sustaining capital projects, it said.

The work with Alcoa is across the Wagerup and Pinjarra alumina refineries and involves “multi-discipline services” over three years.

In Queensland, UGL is due to carry out maintenance, shutdown and project services across multiple sites and with multiple clients in the Bowen Basin.

UGL Managing Director, Jason Spears, said: “We are excited to be leveraging our 30 years of experience in the mining industry to support key organisations in the resources sector. Our strong working partnerships with leading mining organisations support UGL’s reputation for solid performance and safe delivery of maintenance and shutdown services.”

SRG Global wins contract at Alcoa’s Kwinana alumina refinery

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Australia-listed SRG Global has been awarded preferred tenderer status for up to a five-year multi-disciplinary asset services contract with Alcoa.

As part of this A$90 million ($61.4 million) agreement, SRG will provide heavy mechanical and electrical maintenance as well as access solutions including highly skilled rope access technicians and scaffold services, it said.

The services will be provided at Alcoa’s Kwinana alumina refinery in Western Australia with site mobilisation forecast to commence in early 2020.

The Kwinana refinery has an annual nameplate production capacity of 2.2 Mt and produces non-metallurgical alumina (15% of production) and smelter-grade alumina (85% of production), according to Alcoa.

SRG Global Managing Director, David Macgeorge, said: “This is a very significant announcement for SRG Global in our Asset Services division and showcases our ability to deliver multi-disciplinary integrated solutions for Tier One customers.”

Black & Veach to manage refinery build for PT Borneo Alumina in Indonesia

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PT Borneo Alumina Indonesia has appointed a Black & Veatch-led project management consortium (PMC) to develop an alumina refinery in West Kalimantan.

The facility, the first of its kind in Indonesia, according to Black & Veatch, will feature a 1 Mt/y smelter-grade alumina refinery, a 2 x 40,000 cu.m/h coal gasification plant and a 3 x 25 MW coal-fired power plant.

As the consortium leader, Black & Veatch will perform design review, equipment inspections, and provide power and coal gasification subject matter expertise. Consortium partner Progesys will be managing the alumina refinery process design scope, while another partner, Jaya CM, will be supporting the project with site construction engineers and inspectors.

Progesys is a minerals industry engineering company based in Canada, while Jaya CM is an Indonesia-based construction management company.

“As the project consultant, the consortium is responsible for evaluating engineering, procurement and construction bids and reviewing design engineering,” Black & Veatch said. The consortium will monitor major equipment supply and conduct factory acceptance tests. It will also oversee site construction and commissioning.

Jim Spenceley, Senior Vice President, Mining, Black & Veatch, said developing the downstream mineral processing industry will expand the Indonesia economy and create jobs. “Black & Veatch is ready to leverage our global expertise across business units to support as PMC overseeing our client’s Chinese engineering, procurement and construction contractor to ensure that the client realises the quality, safety and value they are seeking.”

Black & Veatch’s knowledge of international and country-specific engineering codes and standards, and contract structures systematically mitigates project cost and schedule risks, according to the company. “By serving as the interface between different engineering standards, Black & Veatch offers clients assurance that EPC contractors deliver on specific project commitments cost effectively.”

Woodside Energy to supply Worsley Alumina with gas

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Woodside Energy says it has entered into a long-term gas sale and purchase agreement with the Worsley Alumina joint venture (JV) for the supply of around 40 PJ of pipeline gas to the integrated mining and refining complex in Western Australia.

The gas is being supplied to the JV from Woodside’s portfolio of domestic gas facilities, including the North West Shelf, Pluto and Wheatstone, Woodside said.

The Worsley Alumina JV is held by South32 (86%), Japan Alumina Associates (10%) and Sojitz (4%), and includes bauxite mining operations, near the town of Boddington, 130 km southeast of Perth, and a refinery near the town of Collie. The alumina is then transported by rail to Bunbury Port, where it is shipped to smelters around the world, including our Hillside and Mozal aluminium smelters in Africa.

Woodside Executive Vice President Marketing Trading & Shipping, Reinhardt Matisons, said: “Over recent months, we’ve commissioned the Pluto pipeline gas and LNG truck loading facilities and started domestic gas production at Wheatstone, building on our foundation domestic gas business at the North West Shelf.

“Our agreement with Worsley Alumina, which makes a significant contribution to jobs and prosperity in its local community, is a further demonstration of Woodside’s commitment to supplying domestic gas to consumers in Western Australia from our diverse supply portfolio.”

SRG Global wins service contract at South32’s Worsley alumina operation

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Construction, maintenance and mining service group, SRG Global says it has secured a long-term contract with South32’s Worsley Alumina subsidiary in Australia.

The ASX-listed service provider will deliver a “complete suite” of engineered access solutions for the Worsley alumina operation, including scaffold services and highly skilled rope access technicians, it said.

The contract is for an initial three-year term with extension options for a further three years, SRG said, explaining that, if Worsley Alumina exercises the extension options, the total contract duration will be six years.

Works under this contract commence in June and are expected to generate revenues of circa-A$60 million ($41 million) over the six-year term or around $32 million over the initial three-year term, according to SRG.

“The contract requires minimal capital outlay and will increase SRG Global’s workforce by circa-100 full-time positions,” SRG said.

SRG Global Managing Director, David Macgeorge, said, “The opportunity to work with a world-renowned mining company like South32 at its long-established Worsley Alumina project in South West WA is a great achievement for SRG Global. The effort our team put in during the competitive tendering process is admirable and I commend them on a fantastic result.

“This contract also represents a significant advancement in the group’s long-term strategy to deliver recurring term revenue within the asset services sector.”

As part of the Worsley Alumina operations, bauxite is mined near the town of Boddington, 130 km southeast of Perth, Western Australia. It is then transported on the largest overland conveyor belt in the southern hemisphere, for more than 50 km, to a refinery near the town of Collie, where bauxite is turned into alumina.

Lycopodium to lead PFS for battery materials refinery project

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Queensland Pacific Metals (QPM) has appointed Lycopodium Minerals Pty as the Lead Engineer for the prefeasibility study on the Townsville Energy Chemicals Hub (TECH) project in Queensland, Australia.

Pure Minerals, the parent company of QPM, said: “With the acquisition of QPM being approved by shareholders and in the process of being finalised, Pure Minerals is excited to launch its planned battery materials refinery as the Townsville Energy Chemicals Hub.”

The TECH project will produce nickel and cobalt sulphate chemicals required for the battery energy storage sector, with QPM immediately commencing the PFS for a 600,000 t/y battery materials refinery producing approximately 25,000 t/y of nickel sulphate and 3,000 t/y of cobalt sulphate and other valuable co-products, Pure Minerals said.

The previous scoping study envisaged annual primary production of around 25,400 t/y of nickel sulphate and 3,000 t/y of cobalt sulphate (containing 5,760 t of nickel and 630 t of cobalt), alongside some 221,000 t/y of hematite, 8,700 t/y of alumina and 4,600 t/y of magnesium oxide. This came with construction capital costs of $297 million.

Lycopodium Minerals Pty is a subsidiary of well-regarded engineering company, Lycopodium, which has experience applicable to the TECH project, according to Pure.

This includes:

  • Being highly active in the battery metals space, having undertaken many feasibility studies for clients in nickel, cobalt, lithium and graphite;
  • Completing a feasibility study for Direct Nickel Projects Pty or a nominal processing plant using the DNi Process™ (a pilot plant example from CSIRO pictured), which the TECH project will be using, and;
  • Completing feasibility studies for other nickel projects incorporating downstream processing to produce battery chemicals, including BHP’s Nickel West project and Cleanteq’s Sunrise project.

The key responsibilities for Lycopodium under its contract with QPM are process, process services and utilities design and engineering; preparation of project capital and operating cost estimates; and compilation of the PFS report, including integration of studies relating to other work packages.

Lycopodium has also agreed to accept shares in Pure Minerals as consideration for around 20% of its estimated fees, according to Pure Minerals.

The PFS is expected to be completed in the September quarter.

Lycopodium Minerals Managing Director, Rod Leonard, said: “The outlook for battery metals is positive and Lycopodium is well positioned to carry out this body of work, having completed a wide range of studies for major, mid-tier and junior clients in this space.”

Emirates Global Aluminium nears first production at Al Taweelah alumina refinery

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Emirates Global Aluminium has entered the final stages of commissioning of what will be the UAE’s first alumina refinery.

The Al Taweelah alumina refinery has now begun hot water testing of the digestion section of the plant, with first production still on course for the first half of 2019.

Digestion is the first of four successive stages of the Bayer process through which bauxite ore is refined into alumina, the feedstock for aluminium smelters, and involves the heating of a slurry of crushed bauxite and caustic soda to 270ºC using steam.

Commissioning of the last process stage, calcination, was completed in December, and, earlier this month, EGA’s nearby Al Taweelah power plant started delivering steam to the refinery through new connecting pipelines.

“Supplying steam from EGA’s existing power plant, which was built to provide electricity and steam for EGA’s Al Taweelah aluminium smelter, improves the alumina refinery’s overall energy efficiency,” the company said.

Abdulla Kalban, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of EGA, said: “We are making good progress with the complex process of commissioning Al Taweelah alumina refinery, in line with the meticulous planning and preparations which began even before construction started. We are looking forward to beginning production and ramping-up of this project, which along with our Guinea mine will transform EGA into an integrated global aluminium producer.”

Al Taweelah, which has a total budgeted project cost of approximately $3.3 billion, will be the first refinery in the UAE and only the second in the Middle East.

The company said: “Al Taweelah alumina refinery and the Guinea mining project expand EGA’s business upstream in the aluminium value chain and internationally. The projects will create new revenue streams for EGA and secure the competitive supply of natural resources the UAE’s aluminium industry needs.”

Once production is fully ramped-up, Al Taweelah alumina refinery is expected to produce some 2 Mt/y of alumina and meet 40% of EGA’s alumina requirements, replacing some imports.

Commissioning Al Taweelah alumina refinery requires more than 80,000 separate actions to be completed. The new plant contains some 9,500 instruments, 222 tanks, enough piping to stretch from Abu Dhabi to Muscat, and cabling that would reach from Abu Dhabi to Cairo.

Emirates Global Aluminium achieves milestone at Guinea bauxite project

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Emirates Global Aluminium has loaded the first batch of bauxite from its under-construction Guinea mining project, with the tonnage travelling from its subsidiary Guinea Alumina Corp’s (GAC) mine to the coast.

Emirates, the largest industrial company in the UAE outside oil and gas, said the 80-wagon train carried some 6,800 t of bauxite ore from GAC’s mine to the company’s facilities at Kamsar. The ore will be used to begin building a base-layer of bauxite at GAC’s new stockyard, according to the company.

First bauxite exports from the project are expected during the second half of 2019.

With a budget of around $1.4 billion, the project is the largest greenfield investment in Guinea in the last four decades.

“GAC has completed rail loops, and spurs to connect its facilities to an existing nearby railway track that is used by other companies. GAC’s locomotives, which were made in the US, and Chinese-made wagons, arrived in Guinea last year,” the company said.

The train took just under three hours to complete the 90 km journey from the mine to the coast, the company noted. GAC is also building port facilities including the unloading yard and an export pier at Kamsar, a well-established bauxite port.

Once the GAC project is fully-operational, up to six loaded bauxite trains a day are expected to make the journey from the mine to the port.

Abdulla Kalban, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of EGA, said: “This milestone is the result of many thousands of hours of planning and teamwork in Guinea involving GAC, train operator Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée, the owner of the existing rail infrastructure ANAIM, and other rail partners.”

Guinea is the world’s largest bauxite resource holder, and EGA’s project is expected to contribute significantly to the country’s exports of the ore from which aluminium is derived. Bauxite from the GAC project will be sold to aluminium producers around the world.

Once full ramp up is achieved, the GAC project is expected to produce some 12 Mt/y of bauxite.

The Guinea project is part of EGA’s strategic drive to expand its business upstream in the aluminium value chain and internationally. The company is also building the UAE’s first alumina refinery at Al Taweelah in Abu Dhabi. This plant will refine bauxite into alumina.

Alcoa shores up gas supply for Western Australia alumina refineries

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Alcoa of Australia has secured three new gas supply agreements which, combined, will supply close to 25% of the company’s requirements in Western Australia from 2020.

The agreements with BHP, Woodside and Chevron, coupled with other gas supply contracts, including with Quadrant Energy and Santos, announced in 2015, complete Alcoa’s gas portfolio to fuel its Kwinana, Pinjarra and Wagerup alumina refineries for the mid-term, the company said.

President, Alcoa Alumina, and Managing Director, Alcoa of Australia, Michael Parker, said: “In securing these new gas contracts we are demonstrating to our employees, suppliers, customers and the communities where we operate our commitment to the state.

“Alcoa’s three WA refineries are the largest integrated source of alumina globally and an important source of economic activity. They provide jobs for more than 3,000 Western Australians, primarily in the state’s south west, and generate some A$1.4 billion ($1.01 billion) in expenditure with WA suppliers.”

Alcoa is Western Australia’s single largest user of natural gas, consuming around 25% of the state’s total domestic gas supply.

Alcoa of Australia is 60% owned by Alcoa Corp and 40% owned by Alumina Limited. It owns and operates two bauxite mines and three alumina refineries in Western Australia, and the Portland aluminium smelter (holding a 55% share) in Victoria. Each year the company mines around 36 Mt of bauxite, refines 9 Mt of alumina and produces 300,000 t of aluminium.