Tag Archives: GR Engineering

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.”

Peel Mining’s South Cobar preliminary flowsheet to factor in ore sorting

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

Peel Mining says positive results from ore sorting test work at the Southern Nights and Mallee Bull deposits, part of its 100%-owned South Cobar Project, in western New South Wales, Australia, provide encouragement for the inclusion of this pre-concentration technology into future process plant design.

So encouraged by this testing is Peel that it has engaged GR Engineering to integrate ore sorting technology into an updated processing plant technical report for the project.

At the same time as this, Peel announced that GR Engineering had recently completed a preliminary process plant technical report for South Cobar that considers crushing, grinding, gravity, flotation and cyanidation process stages for the recovery of gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc from the various mineralisation styles within Peel’s deposits.

Meanwhile, the recently received positive preliminary ore sorting test work results from work undertaken on diamond drilling samples shows there is potential for improvements in the flowsheet.

The ore sorting test work, completed in conjunction with ongoing metallurgical studies, was undertaken by Steinert and TOMRA.

Steinert ’s test work on Southern Nights mineralisation demonstrated strong recovery and upgrade potential with two size range samples returning, on average, circa-93% Zn, circa-91% Pb, circa-91% Ag, circa-87% Cu and circa-82% Au recoveries to an average of circa-54% of the feed mass (circa-46% of feed mass rejection) increasing the lead and zinc grades by 61% and 64%, respectively.

TOMRA’s test work on Mallee Bull mineralisation achieved significant waste mass reductions while maintaining very high copper recoveries (≥95% for the higher-grade breccia copper and massive sulphide copper samples), the company said. A lower grade breccia copper sample upgraded from 0.59% Cu to 1.05% Cu with 77% Cu recovery and 56% mass rejection, it noted.

“Positive results from ore sorting at Southern Nights and Mallee Bull deposits provide encouragement for the inclusion of this pre-concentration technology into future process plant design and, as a result, Peel has engaged GR Engineering to integrate ore sorting technology into an updated processing plant technical report,” the company said.

Peel’s Executive Director of Mining, Jim Simpson, said: “The completion of the processing plant technical report by mineral processing solutions experts GR Engineering is a critical first step in understanding the potential composition of the milling infrastructure required for the company’s development plans.

“The detail presented in the report by GR is impressive and the report will form the basis for ongoing preliminary studies for the refinement and improvement of the processing plant design as new information comes to hand.

“We are also very pleased with the potential of ore sorting as part of any future South Cobar project hub’s processing route with initial test work pointing to the amenability of both Southern Nights and Mallee Bull mineralisation to separation using 3D-XRT ore-sorting technology, allowing for the simultaneous rejection of barren or waste material whilst retaining the bulk of contained metal, and in the process, upgrading the value of the ore.”

Simpson added: “Apart from reducing the overall feed mass by the rejection of waste at early stage, other benefits of ore sorting include potentially upgrading lower-grade mineralisation and reducing the size of the processing plant offering potentially reduced capital, power, water and tailings storage needs.”

GR Engineering to refurbish Nullagine gold mill in Western Australia

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

GR Engineering Services has been awarded a contract for the engineering, procurement and construction works associated with the Nullagine Mill Refurbishment project, in Western Australia.

The contract, awarded by Millennium Minerals Ltd, a subsidiary of Novo Resources Corp, is worth A$8.3 million ($5.9 million) and will be undertaken on a reimbursable cost basis, GR Engineering said.

Millennium’s mine and processing plant were shut down in December 2019 and Novo is planning to restart the processing plant in early 2021. The scope of works includes the refurbishment and upgrade of the gravity circuit and associated facilities to enable operations to recommence.

Novo said: “GR Engineering Services are synonymous with gold plant construction and refurbishment throughout Australia and were selected based upon their experience and capacity to undertake these works safely, efficiently and cost effectively.”

GR Engineering’s Managing Director, Geoff Jones, said: “GR Engineering is pleased to have been awarded the contract for the Nullagine Mill Refurbishment project. We are looking forward to working with the Novo management team to successfully and safely deliver this project.”

Full speed ahead for Wiluna Mining sulphide gold project

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

Wiluna Mining’s board has approved the staged development of its sulphide project at the Wiluna gold operation in Western Australia, enlisting GR Engineering Services to build the 750,000 t/y concentrator required to process the ore.

The development will see the company transition from its current production profile of producing 62,000 oz/y from mining free milling ore through the current 2.1 Mt/y carbon-in-leach processing facility, initially producing 100,000-120,000 oz/y of gold and gold in concentrate.

This will be implemented using the current, recently refurbished crushing circuit, the previously expanded mill circuit and a new 750,000 t/y concentrator by October 2021, the company said. This forms Stage 1 of the project. Wiluna then intends to increase production of gold and gold in concentrate by, at a minimum, doubling the mining rate and the concentrator to produce circa-250,000 oz/y by the end of 2023/early 2024. This is Stage 2.

Of the A$81 million ($58 million) capital cost estimate of the sulphide project, of which around A$20 million has already been committed, the concentrator is expected to cost A$26 million, pre-production underground mine activities/infrastructure development is estimated at A$37 million, drilling comes in at A$9 million and the feasibility study had a A$2 million price tag. A 10% contingency of A$7 million was also calculated.

Wiluna said Murray Engineering has been contracted to supply and maintain mine fleet for current production associated development and stoping, while Byrnecut Contractors have been engaged to provide equipment and personnel for existing development rehabilitation and new development for resource-reserve drill out programs and production from new mine areas.

To complement the current equipment and development work, the first development crew from Byrnecut is expected to be mobilised in the December quarter with further development crews to be mobilised during June 2021 to maintain the required work program, the company said.

GR Engineering has been appointed as the engineering, procurement and construction contractor by Wiluna for Stage 1 works relating to the concentrator development, the engineering firm said, adding that it expects to commence work in early December with commissioning scheduled for October 2021.

GR Engineering to build paste plant at Saracen’s Thunderbox operation

Mine operation news, Mineral processing, Mining equipment, Mining services, Precious metals, , , , , , , ,

GR Engineering Services has been awarded additional work by Saracen Mineral Holdings at the Thunderbox and Carosue Dam gold operations in Western Australia.

The contract additions, which have a combined value of A$29 million ($19.9 million), include an engineering, procurement and construction contract for the Thunderbox Paste Plant project and an approved variation of the Carosue Dam Operations Plant Expansion project.

The Thunderbox paste plant work will involve the design, supply installation and commissioning of a new 150 m3/h paste backfill plant at Thunderbox. The project includes work at the existing Thunderbox operations’ (pictured) processing facility along with works at a new remote paste plant location. The contract price is A$22 million. GR Engineering says work will start immediately and is expected to complete in the first half of 2021.

At Carosue Dam, meanwhile, GR Engineering has been awarded a variation under the existing contract to install a paste pump at the Karari Paste Plant to distribute paste to the Whirling Dervish underground mine. The value of the variation is A$7 million.

These additions come on the back of being awarded a contract to carry out the engineering design, procurement and construction of expansion works on Saracen’s mineral processing plant at Carosue Dam, in November.

GR Engineering’s Managing Director, Geoff Jones, said: “GR Engineering has now worked with Saracen on three key projects in the last two years and we look forward to continuing our strong working relationship with one of Australia’s leading gold producers.”