Tag Archives: GR Engineering

GR Engineering’s Mipac boosts process control expertise with Paradigm buy

Mining mergers and acquisitions, Mining services, , ,

GR Engineering Services Limited’s wholly owned subsidiary, Mipac Holdings Pty Ltd, has entered into an agreement to acquire Paradigm Engineers Pty Ltd, a provider of control systems and electrical engineering, automation and technology services based in Western Australia, in a deal worth A$9 million ($5.9 million).

This transaction enhances Mipac’s control system and electrical design capabilities and expands its existing footprint in Western Australia, the company said, adding that Paradigm has significant expertise working across a range of commodities, including iron ore, gold and battery minerals.

GR Engineering said: “Process controls have become increasingly relied upon as a platform to extract efficiencies and improve safety outcomes in processing operations through the adoption of technology and software solutions. Advances in control system design and product technologies and their adoption in operations are being mandated across the industry by leading industry participants to support the safe and optimised performance of assets.”

Paradigm, which states as having clients such as BHP, Rio Tinto and Newmont, is forecasting financial year 2024 revenue of A$16 million and an EBITDA margin percentage consistent with Mipac, GR Engineering says. The combined Mipac and Paradigm business is expected to generate revenue of approximately A$50 million on a pro-forma basis.

GR Engineering executes EPC contract for K92’s Kainantu gold mine process plant build

Comminution of minerals, Mining equipment, Mining services, Precious metals, , , , , ,

GR Engineering Services says it has executed engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts with K92 Mining Ltd, a subsidiary of TSX-listed K92 Mining Inc, for a 1.2 Mtpa process plant at the Kainantu gold mine in Papua New Guinea.

As announced on July 25, 2023, GR Engineering had previously received a Letter of Intent from K92 Mining Ltd. The contract’s sum is $81 million. Site mobilisation is expected to occur in January 2024.

Tony Patrizi, Managing Director of GR Engineering, said: “GR Engineering has a long track record of successful project delivery in the mineral processing sector. We see this contract award as a strong endorsement by K92 Mining Inc of GR Engineering’s proven process design record and EPC delivery capability.”

K92 Mining owns and operates Kainantu, a producing gold mine that has existing infrastructure at site. The EPC works are being performed as part of K92 Mining’s Stage 3 Expansion plans. It has successfully executed multiple expansions at the Kainantu gold mine, after restarting operations at the site in 2016.

GR Engineering wins EPC work on Evolution’s Mungari Future Growth project

Comminution of minerals, Mine operation news, Mineral processing, Mineral project development, Mining services, Precious metals, , , , ,

Evolution Mining has awarded a contract to GR Engineering Services Limited to complete the plant expansion works at its Mungari gold mine in Western Australia.

These works, part of an engineering, procurement and construction contract, are expected to total A$155 million ($100 million) and are within the project budget and schedule as part of the company’s previously announced commitment to invest A$250 million to increase the site’s processing capacity from 2 Mt/y to 4.2 Mt/y, Evolution says. It also includes required changes to process plant buildings and associated infrastructure, according to GR Engineering.

Initial engineering design and procurement works have commenced with site works commencing in mid-January 2024. The project has an estimated 30-month construction period including long-lead items and approvals, with commissioning expected by the end of the March 2026 quarter.

Targeting gold production of 200,000 oz/y for the life of the mine, this project is expected to reduce Mungari’s All-In Sustaining Cost by 18% to $1,750/oz and extend the mine life to 2038, Evolution says.

Evolution Mining’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Lawrie Conway, said: “The award of this contract is a major milestone for the Mungari Future Growth project. It secures the critical processing plant infrastructure within our budgeted costs, locking in over 60% of the project costs, and secures a delivery time within the approved project schedule.

“The feasibility study established a sound investment case with an internal rate of return for the project of between 19% and 28%, at a conservative A$2,400/oz and spot price of A$2,965/oz, respectively.”

Tony Patrizi, Managing Director of GR Engineering, said: “We are extremely pleased that Evolution Mining, one the world’s leading tier one gold producers, has selected GR Engineering to deliver the Future Growth project at Mungari. GR Engineering has a long track record of successful project delivery in the mineral processing sector. We see this contract award as a strong endorsement of GR Engineering’s proven process design record and EPC delivery capability.”

GR Engineering cements Yangibana rare earth project EPC contract

Energy minerals, Mineral project development, Mining services, , , , , , ,

GR Engineering Services has been awarded an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract with Yangibana Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hastings Technology Metals Limited, for a beneficiation plant and associated infrastructure for the Yangibana rare earths project in Western Australia.

As previously announced on May 3, 2023, GR Engineering had entered into a binding term sheet with Yangibana Pty Ltd for these works.

The contract sum, including the provisional sum, is A$210 million ($138 million) as previously disclosed. This is made up of a fixed price component of A$180 million for the beneficiation plant and a provisional component of A$30 million mainly for the plant and tailings storage facility earthwork.

GR Engineering has commenced early works up to an agreed capped amount. The EPC contract is conditional on GR Engineering being issued with a commencement notice, which is dependent on Hastings finalising funding for the project as well as a number of other pre-conditions standard for an EPC contract.

Construction is planned to be complete in the March quarter of 2025 with first concentrate on truck in the June quarter of 2025

Under the A$210 million contract, GRES will design and construct the Yangibana beneficiation plant and all associated infrastructure, including engineering, manufacture, supply, installation, dry and wet commissioning, and testing of the facility over a period of less than 18 months. When completed, the plant will have a feed capacity of 1. 1 Mt/y and a rare earth concentrate output capacity of 37,000 t/y, Hastings says.

GR Engineering gets to work on 2.25 Mt/y process plant design for Sorby Hills JV project

Base metals, Comminution of minerals, Mineral processing, Mineral project development, Mining equipment, Mining services, Precious metals, , , , , , ,

GR Engineering Services has been appointed preferred tenderer by Boab Metals Limited in relation to the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the processing plant and non-process infrastructure for the Sorby Hills lead-silver project in Kununurra, Western Australia.

GR Engineering and Sorby Hills Management Pty Ltd (the manager of the Sorby Hills joint venture) will execute an agreement shortly to commence detailed design and selected ordering of long lead items, prior to the award of an EPC contract, it said. The EPC contract will be subject to the achievement of final investment decision.

Boab said the scope of work includes a process plant with a capacity of 2.25 Mt/y, representing a 50% increase over that considered in the Sorby Hills prefeasibility study. This 2020 study envisaged a 1.5 Mt/y throughput rate over an initial 10-year mine life, with the PFS combining ore drawn from three open pits with a processing plant employing conventional milling and flotation with a beneficiation plant between the coarse crush (dry end) and the grind and flotation circuit (wet end).

The PFS indicated steady state annual production of concentrate containing approximately 50,000 t/y of lead and 1.5 Moz/y of silver.

The tendered price for GR Engineering’s EPC agreement is commensurate with the proposed capacity expansion and will form the basis of capital cost estimates for the definitive feasibility study, Boab said.

GR Engineering’s Acting Managing Director, Tony Patrizi, said: “GR Engineering is pleased to have been selected by Boab as the preferred tenderer for the delivery of the project. GR Engineering has a strong track record of successful project delivery in the base metals space. Aligned with GR Engineering’s core values, it is exciting to work on this important regional project that has already implemented tangible green initiatives. We look forward to working with the Boab team.”

Boab owns 75% of the Sorby Hills joint venture project, with the remainder owned by Henan Yuguang Gold Lead Co. Ltd.

GR Engineering bolsters EPC scope at IGO’s Cosmos nickel operations

Base metals, Mineral project development, Mining services, , , , , , , ,

GR Engineering Services says it has increased the scope of work related to the engineering, procurement and construction contract with Australian Nickel Investments Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of IGO Limited, for the upgrade of the existing nickel concentrator at the Cosmos nickel operations, in Western Australia.

The company has been awarded a variation by IGO to further increase the throughput of the nickel concentrator at the project from circa-750,000 t/y to 1.1 Mt/y. This will bring the contract sum to A$76 million ($49 million), it said.

Geoff Jones, GR Engineering Managing Director, said: “GR Engineering has a long history of working with the IGO management team and is pleased to be awarded with this variation. GR Engineering looks forward to safely and successfully completing this important project.”

IGO’s CEO, Matt Dusci, added: “IGO is pleased to be working with GR Engineering on the Cosmos project after the previous successful collaboration on Nova.”

Following the acquisition of Western Areas Limited on June 20, 2022, IGO commenced work toward developing a project optimisation strategy and plan designed to deliver higher production rates for the life of the operation and a more safe and sustainable mine plan at Cosmos. The increased plant throughput strategy was part of this.

IGO is currently developing the Odysseus underground mine at Cosmos, with plans to deliver high quality nickel concentrates into the global market.

Bellevue Gold tasks GR Engineering with process plant build

Mineral processing, Mineral project development, Mining services, Precious metals, , , , , , , ,

Bellevue Gold Limited has awarded GR Engineering Services Limited engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) work related to the 1 Mt/y gold processing plant and associated infrastructure for its namesake project in Western Australia.

GR Engineering will immediately commence design engineering services and ordering of long lead and design critical path equipment including the ball mill, crushing equipment, screens, agitators, leach and tailings thickeners, prior to entering into a formal EPC contract.

Geoff Jones, Managing Director, said: “GR Engineering is pleased to be working with the Bellevue team on this exciting gold project. This project further enhances GR Engineering’s reputation as the leading gold EPC contractor in Australia.”

Bellevue Managing Director, Steve Parsons, said GR Engineering knew the project well from its work during the study phase.

“Commencing manufacturing of these long-lead critical components of our 1 Mt/y processing plant de-risks the construction schedule and puts Bellevue on the pathway to first gold in the second half of 2023.

“The appetite among leading contractors and suppliers to be involved with our project speaks volumes about its strong future.”

Bellevue is forecasting production of 200,000 oz/y during years one to five at an all-in sustaining cost of A$922/oz ($653/oz) at its operation.

GR Engineering to build Thunderbird mineral sands processing plant

Comminution of minerals, Energy minerals, Mineral processing, Mineral project development, Mining equipment, Mining services, , , , ,

GR Engineering Services has been awarded an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract with Thunderbird Operations Pty Ltd (TOPL) for a mineral processing plant and associated facilities for the Thunderbird mineral sands project in Western Australia.

TOPL is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kimberley Minerals Sands Pty Limited (KMS), which is 50% owned by Sheffield Resources Limited (ASX: SFX) (Sheffield) and 50% owned by YGH Australia Investment Pty Limited. The contract sum is A$179.5 million ($134.3 million).

GR Engineering will commence limited work under the contract until being issued with a full notice to proceed, ahead of a final investment decision being made by KMS to pursue the development of the project, it said. The final investment decision is expected in mid-2022 with project delivery scheduled to occur over an approximate 18-month period.

In May 2021, GR Engineering restarted early engineering and design works for the project and has been progressing critical path design and procurement activities. The company has a long-standing relationship with the project since 2017.

Geoff Jones, Managing Director, said: “We are extremely pleased to have been engaged to perform a key role in the development of the world-class Thunderbird mineral sands project. GR Engineering has been associated with the project over a number of years and it is exciting to see this project progress to the next stage of development.”

In a bankable feasibility study released on the same day as this announcement, Sheffield Resources outlined a A$484 million Stage 1 project using a Single Mining Unit Plant that underpinned a 10.4 Mt/y mining operation and a processing plant design feed rate of 170 t/h. The Stage 2 project saw a duplication in year five of Stage 1 mining underpinning a 20.8 Mt/y mining operation and an increase in the processing plant feed rate to 290 t/h.

GR Engineering’s Mipac to complete Stage 2 work on Kyshtym copper electrolytic plant in Russia

Base metals, Mining equipment, Mining services, , , , , ,

GR Engineering Services’ wholly owned subsidiary, Mipac Pty Ltd, has received engineering and procurement orders from MESCO Inc to complete Stage 2 work on the Kyshtym copper electrolytic plant in the Chelyabinsk region of the Russian Federation.

As part of the work, Mipac will supply in-house developed specialised monitoring technology and software solutions.

MESCO is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the Mipac team has previously worked with MESCO on the project. All of the work, which will start immediately, will be performed remotely with personnel only travelling to site for commissioning and start-up, GR Engineering said.

As part of a 2017-2018 modernisation project, the Kyshtym plant’s production capacity increased to 140,000 t/y of copper cathodes and 140,000 t/y of copper rods, Russian Copper Company says.

This is a key contract award for the Mipac team and will contribute approximately 35% of Mipac’s forecast revenue for financial year 2022, it added.

GR Engineering’s Managing Director, Geoff Jones, said: “Mipac is a highly regarded controls systems and operations technology engineer and its business has been successfully integrated across the wider GR Engineering group post acquisition. We are pleased that Mipac will work collaboratively with MESCO on another important project.”

GR Engineering acquired Mipac, a leading global provider of control systems engineering, automation and technology services, earlier this year.

GR Engineering captures A$90 million of EPC contracts from Galena Mining

Base metals, Mineral processing, Mineral project development, Mining services, , , , , , , ,

GR Engineering Services has been given the notice to proceed with the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of a 1.2 Mt/y lead sulphide flotation processing plant at Galena Mining Limited’s majority-owned Abra base metals project in Western Australia.

The contract, which follows a conditional agreement from February 2020, comes with a value of A$79.5 million ($59 million) to be realised predominantly in GR Engineering’s 2022 financial year.

In addition, Abra Mining has also awarded GR Engineering an EPC contract to relocate, refurbish and commission the Abra Mining-owned Higginsville paste plant. The value of this contract is a further A$10 million.

Geoff Jones, Managing Director, said: “GR Engineering looks forward to continuing its solid working relationship with the Abra Mining team on the delivery of the project and supporting Abra Mining as it becomes the next Australian base metals producer.”