Tag Archives: Iron ore

BHP Pilbara villages safety and accessibility upgrade complete

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BHP says work is complete on its A$300 million ($200 million) investment to improve safety and accessibility for residents and guests at its Pilbara villages in Western Australia.

The accommodation safety and security upgrade project began in 2020 and was completed earlier this year by the WA Iron Ore Non-Process Infrastructure (NPI), Engineering and Asset Projects teams.

Kate Holling, WA Iron Ore NPI General Manager, said the initiative involved a significant amount of work by a big number of people, however the results were outstanding.

“In total, 10,756 rooms were upgraded across our 13 WAIO villages with more than 10,000 doors, 8,000 lights, 1,500 CCTV cameras and 4.75 km of fencing installed,” she said.

“The work was delivered using 100% Australian manufacturers and local contractors, including many Traditional Owner businesses.

“Safety continues to be our number one priority and I’m happy to see this work complete to make our villages feel safer and more accessible for everyone who visits them.”

SRG Global builds out contract book with BHP, Rio Tinto maintenance work

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SRG Global says it has secured maintenance contracts in Queensland and an Aboriginal JV contract in Western Australia for clients including BHP and a subsidiary of Rio Tinto.

The contracts, valued at circa-A$65 million ($43 million), bring the company’s new contract wins since the start of the 2023 financial year (which ends on June 30) to A$1.2 billion.

The Queensland maintenance term contracts include contracts with Rio Tinto to provide engineered access services at Yarwun in Gladstone. This contract will start immediately and is expected to continue for a period of five years, including two one-year options to extend.

The Bugarrba Aboriginal JV term contract with BHP is to provide shut down engineered access services in the Pilbara of Western Australia. The contract will start immediately and is expected to continue for a period of five years, including three one-year options to extend.

David Macgeorge, Managing Director, commented: “These contract wins showcase our specialist skillset as a trusted partner to deliver maintenance services for our clients critical infrastructure in the marine, alumina, steel and iron ore sectors.”

Civmec, CPB Contractors, Primero and MACA receive work on Western Range iron ore development

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Western Australian businesses have so far been awarded contracts totalling A$1 billion ($670 million) as construction progresses at the Western Range mine in the Pilbara, a joint venture between Rio Tinto (54%) and China Baowu Steel Group Co. Ltd (46%), Rio says.

In September, the two companies agreed to enter into a joint venture with respect to the Western Range iron ore project in the Pilbara, Western Australia, investing $2 billion to develop the mine. Western Range’s annual production capacity of 25 Mt of iron ore will help sustain production of the Pilbara Blend from Rio Tinto’s existing Paraburdoo mining hub. The project includes construction of a primary crusher and an 18 km conveyor system linking it to the existing Paraburdoo processing plant. Construction was expected to begin in early 2023 with first production anticipated in 2025.

The aforementioned contract awards include:

  • Civmec: awarded a contract valued at more than A$330 million for the construction of a new run of mine pad, primary crushing facility, overland conveying circuit, and modifications to the coarse ore stockpile and downstream conveying system;
  • CIMIC Group’s CPB Contractors: awarded a contract valued at approximately A$250 million to deliver the main infrastructure bulk earthworks;
  • Primero Group: awarded a contracted valued at approximately A$54 million for the design, supply, construction and commissioning of the non-process infrastructure facilities on site;
  • MACA: awarded a contract valued at approximately A$60 million to construct a camp pad and access road as well as crushing and screening work; and
  • Pilbara Aboriginal Businesses: contracts totalling A$39 million.

Western Range aligns with Rio Tinto’s local procurement strategy which aims to increase opportunities for Pilbara, West Australian and Australian businesses to be a part of the company’s supply chain. Last year, Rio Tinto increased its spend with more than 2,400 suppliers in Western Australia to A$8.6 billion. Of this spend, A$618 million was spent with Pilbara-based businesses and a record A$504 million was spent with Indigenous businesses in Western Australia. This included A$439 million spent with Traditional Owner businesses – an increase of 45% on the previous year, Rio says.

Construction at Western Range, which will help sustain production from Rio Tinto’s existing Paraburdoo mining hub, commenced in the March quarter of this year and is expected to support approximately 1,600 jobs.

China Baowu said: “We are very pleased to see the Western Range project is progressing smoothly, with huge benefits brought to business and local communities in Western Australia. Baowu is committed to becoming a world-class international company. We will promote overseas projects following ESG standards, aiming to contribute to the localisation of the project and community development.”

Rio Tinto Iron Ore Chief Executive, Simon Trott, added: “Rio Tinto spends billions of dollars with local suppliers across Western Australia and the Pilbara every year, helping support thriving communities across the state by providing local jobs for local people. The spending of A$1 billion with Western Australian businesses at Western Range marks a considerable milestone for both the project and those local businesses we are partnering with.

“The connection between Rio Tinto and China Baowu in the Pilbara extends more than 40 years and we are pleased to be further deepening our relationship through our joint commitment to study opportunities for the production of low-carbon iron in Western Australia.”

Duratec banks Rio Tinto Western Australia work at Robe River and Dampier Salt

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Australian engineering, construction, and remediation contractor, Duratec Limited, has recently been awarded A$30 million ($20.4 million) in mining and industrial (M&I) segment work with Rio Tinto across the major miner’s iron ore and salt operations.

Key project awards within this total consist of the structural integrity remediation and Bins 3-5 life expansion works at Robe River’s West Angelas mine (A$19 million), which will commence
immediately and is due for completion by the end of the June quarter of 2025, and Dampier Salt’s Lake Macleod jetty structural integrity works bays 10 to 11 (A$6.8 million), which will commence immediately and is due for completion by the end of the calendar year.

Structural integrity projects consist of blast, protective coating and the structural remediation (including welding and steel strengthening) of a client’s assets. This, Duratec says, strongly aligns with the company’s remediation expertise and proven track record in delivery of similar packages through the company’s M&I segment. The A$30 million in M&I segment work since mid-May 2023, including these two key project awards, demonstrates Duratec’s ability to strengthen its annuity style contract awards with key strategic clients, which remains a key focus and growth area of the company.

Duratec’s Managing Director, Phil Harcourt, said: “I am elated with the company’s efforts in converting tangible opportunities to our orderbook and with the ability of our company to present itself as the contractor of choice with our key clients. The M&I segment currently represents 25% of our overall orderbook, and the outlook for this segment remains very strong, which Duratec is well positioned to capitalise on – in line with the business strategy.”

K2fly and BHP extend Ground Disturbance solution agreement

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K2fly Limited says BHP has extended its existing one-year contract related to K2fly’s Ground Disturbance solution covering its Western Australian Iron Ore (WAIO) operations in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

The new three-year agreement comes with a total contract value of A$1.99 million ($1.35 million), according to the ASX-listed company, and follows an initial one-year engagement signed in May 2022.

BHP’s WAIO is an integrated system of four processing hubs and five mines, connected by more than 1,000 km of rail infrastructure and port facilities in the Pilbara region of northern Western Australia. It produces over 245 Mt/y of iron ore, making it one of the top five producers of iron ore globally.

Sitting within K2fly’s Natural Resource Governance area, K2fly Ground Disturbance solution is a cloud-based Software as a Service platform for applying, approving, tracking, reporting and submitting closure of permits and rehabilitation commitments surrounding ground disturbance activities, K2fly explained.

Nic Pollock, CEO of K2fly, said: “Our Ground Disturbance solution is the only commercial off-the-shelf solution available in the market globally and speaks to how our customers are increasingly attributing value to the importance of proper resource governance on land and protecting their license to operate. We are delighted to extend our contract into a three-year term with another global Tier 1 client.”

BHP completes autonomous haulage milestone at South Flank iron ore mine

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South Flank’s fifth Autonomous Operating Zone (AOZ) has gone live, marking the completion of the original project scope for implementation of autonomous haulage at the major miner’s newest iron ore mine, BHP says.

The project has been safely delivered ahead of schedule and under budget, testament to the hard work and dedication of the embedded project teams from Western Australia Asset Projects, IPRO (Integrated Production and Remote Operations) and TROC (Technology Remote Operations Centre), Komatsu technical support, and South Flank’s Mining Production and Mobile Equipment Maintenance teams, it added.

Through their coordinated efforts, South Flank is now fully autonomous for its primary haul fleet, with 41 Komatsu 930e haul trucks converted and around 185 pieces of ancillary equipment able to operate safely around them in the site’s five Autonomous Operating Zones (AOZs).

“The carefully phased approach we took to bringing autonomous haulage online has ensured a safe transition through the complications of a mixed operation,” Steve Campbell, General Manager of South Flank, said.

“With our on-site IPRO facility at full capacity and both primary crushers accepting autonomous dumping, we can now start to bed in the productivity, cost and maintenance improvements that autonomous haulage delivers through the increased truck hours and more consistent cycle times. I am confident that more improvements will be realised as we optimise autonomous haulage across South Flank.”

South Flank committed to transitioning to autonomous haulage in January 2022, less than a year after first production, and began converting the first trucks in April that year, as well as recruiting and training for the new roles required for autonomous haulage operation. Many of the mine’s existing employees have been upskilled, BHP added.

The first AOZ went live in June 2022, and project scope has been steadily progressed since then, including construction of the temporary on-site IPRO facility, upgrades to network infrastructure and the delivery of almost 3,000 training modules to enable people to work safely in and around the autonomous fleet. The project team continue to support Autonomous Haulage at South Flank during optimisation and ramp up.

South Flank is 156 km northwest of Newman and 9 km south of BHP’s Mining Area C facility in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. It is Australia’s largest new iron ore mine in more than 50 years. When it merges with the neighbouring Mining Area C operation, it will form the largest operating iron ore hub in the world, producing 145 Mt of iron ore each year.

Metso to deliver Larox pressure filters to Tosyali iron ore concentrator plant expansion in Algeria

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Metso says it has signed a contract with Sinosteel Corporation for the delivery of seven Larox® FFP2512 pressure filtration units to Tosyali’s iron concentrator plant expansion in Algeria.

The contract value, which exceeds €10 million ($10.9 million), is booked in Minerals’ June quarter 2023 orders received.

Xun Fang, Head of Minerals Sales, Greater China at Metso, said: “This is a repeat order from Sinosteel, which operates as the EPC contractor for the Tosyali II Iron concentrator. According to our end client and the contractor, Metso was selected for our wide reference base in iron concentrate and tailing applications. We have previously supplied filters for Tosyali’s phase I project, and they successfully met the set performance targets.”

Metso’s filtration portfolio consists of 15 different filter types and comprehensive services for hundreds of applications. The Larox® FFP pressure filters, Metso says, provide a reliable and optimised dewatering solution with high-volume processing for concentrates, tailings and bulk applications.

Over 80% of the Metso filters – including the Larox FFP pressure filters – are part of the company’s Planet Positive portfolio, primarily thanks to their efficiency in the recovery and reuse of water. Metso says it has carried out more than 14,000 filtration tests and has delivered more than 5,000 filters for various applications worldwide.

SpectraFlow NIR technology helping Vale with iron ore analysis

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Vale, one of the world’s biggest iron ore producers, has approved the SpectraFlow Crossbelt Analyzer for online measurement of iron ore material at its ports and mines, the technology provider says.

After a rigorous trial that tested the stability of the hardware and measurement accuracy of the analyser, SpectraFlow Analytics is now the chosen provider for Vale’s online iron ore analysis, it says.

Vale’s Guaíba Island Terminal (TIG) is a port that receives raw material from a large number of variable iron ore sources by train and loads the material onto ships for export. Global demand, local supply and heightening climate change and sustainability pressures necessitate stricter quality assurance and control measures from the world’s largest iron ore producer, SpectraFlow says. Also, as one of the largest logistics operators in Brazil, Vale has impetus to manage train and ship loading schedules with ever smaller margins for delay. Online analysis has the potential to address all these concerns through real time chemical and mineral analysis, according to SpectraFlow, which is providing its online near infrared (NIR) technology to the company.

Minute by minute measurements for iron and other key chemical constituents from an installed Crossbelt Analyzer were compared with sample measurements by Vale’s laboratory. Accurate moisture analysis is of particularly high importance at TIG, as there is risk of ships capsizing if the moisture levels are not strictly controlled.

“Fortunately for Vale, SpectraFlow’s online measurements of moisture and all other critical chemical constituents were found to be well within the strict delta limits set by Vale’s quality control protocol,” it said. “In fact the analyser’s measurements have already been used to eliminate unplanned stoppages at TIG, helping Vale reduce downtime and deliver value timeously. Now that the technology is proven, the SpectraFlow analyzer can also be used to blend material to reach optimum grade and gangue targets at the port and even sooner in the value chain, at Vale’s mines.”

The SpectraFlow online analyser measures dry raw material composition at key points in mining, processing and refining value chains. Usually placed over a conveyor belt, or in an airslide, the analyser can measure fine deviations in the moisture, grade or gangue composition of the material in real time. By using the measurements from the analyser that are exchanged directly with the control room PLC or from SpectraFlow’s database and monitoring user interface, bulk mineral, precious metal and cement producers can create automated control loops for quality control and assurance of their final product, the company says.

SpectraFlow’s summarised benefits of its online NIR analyser are:

  • The analyser is free of any radioactive sources, neutron generators or any hazardous components. This means the SpectraFlow analyser does not require any permits or licences regarding importation, operation or maintenance. This also means that the SpectraFlow analyser is completely safe, with maintenance able to be carried out by the plant personnel;
  • Real time, short acquisition time measurements of the complete flow of material gives the customer the opportunity to provide high resolution feed forward information to downstream processing or make value-based ore sorting control decisions on the material; and
  • The Crossbelt Analyzer reduces the need for frequent belt cuts or manual sampling of the material for quality control, and instead gives the user the user large amounts of accurate composition data for real-time feedback on upstream quality delivery like ore block control and stockpile blending.

SpectraFlow says it has installed more than 75 analysers in 28 countries worldwide.

Austin makes inroads in India with customised ULTIMA truck tray order

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Austin Engineering says it has received purchase orders for four haul truck trays from a major iron ore producer in India, potentially opening up a substantial new market opportunity for its Asia Pacific business.

Austin has not sold truck trays into India before.

The truck trays in this order will be used in iron ore operations to demonstrate the benefits of the Austin design, however there is no commitment at this stage from the customer for further orders, the company said.

The customer’s full order requirement is for up to 165 trays across its various iron ore and coal mines. Iron ore truck trays are expected to have a service life of around four years before they will be required to be replaced.

The orders follow nine months of engineering work with the customer to develop a customised ULTIMA tray designed to be used without a steel wear liner and can, therefore, outperform the OEM unit in this application. The Austin tray is designed to deliver an additional circa 66,000 t/y of ore per truck with less downtime for maintenance to replace wear liners. This equates to a significant lift in overall tonnage delivered across the full operation per year, and additionally leads to a reduction in fuel and tyre usage, thereby reducing carbon emissions per tonne of ore delivered.

Austin’s Mainetrack condition monitoring software will be used to monitor the performance of all Austin trays deployed at the sites allowing wear rates to be accurately evaluated, the company said. Austin added the digital wear monitoring system to its service offering through its acquisition of Mainetec in 2022. Initially used on Mainetec’s excavator and dipper buckets, Austin has now configured it for deployment on its truck tray range.

The four trays are being manufactured in Austin’s facility in Batam, Indonesia, and are expected to be ready for delivery in the next six weeks. Austin has established a small team on the ground in India to oversee the delivery and assist with the use of the Mainetrack digital monitoring system.

The order for the four trays is expected to be completed by the end of July and will be settled ex-works Batam. The customer will organise transport from Batam to India using its own logistics system.

Austin CEO and Managing Director, David Singleton, said: “We are very excited to have this entry point into India as we continue to broaden our customer network across the Asia Pacific region. India is the world’s third largest iron ore producer, and we are pleased to have secured an order with one of the country’s major miners. It presents an important opportunity for Austin to market its customised equipment and the potential advantages it could bring the country’s iron ore sector. We also see India as a logical market expansion opportunity given our existing experience in the Australian iron ore sector.

“The Australian Government has vastly improved business access and trade opportunity with India through an elimination, reduction or phase out of tariffs, and we see a long-term future potential for Austin in this market.”

Metso receives repeat order from iron ore processing plant in Europe

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Metso has received a repeat order for an iron ore processing plant in Europe, for a replacement chain for its iron ore pelletising system.

The OEM’s complete chain package delivery consists of more than 6,000 high-quality grate plates, chain links, through rods and side plates supported by comprehensive maintenance and full services to maximise production uptime.

The order valued at €9 million ($9.9 million) has been booked in the Minerals’ segment March quarter orders received.

“We are honoured that the customer has chosen Metso to provide critical components for this important project,” Roar Vasboe, Vice President of Sales and Services Nordics for Metso, said. “Our team is dedicated to providing high-quality, reliable products that meet the needs of our customer. We are committed to sustainability and continuous improvement, and we are confident that our solution will help them to achieve their production goals safely and efficiently.”

Metso says it is the only supplier in the world that has both the straight grate and the grate kiln process for pelletising.

The company has designed and supplied the most modern and largest grate kiln systems in the world, with these plants having the highest outputs with the lowest fuel usage and lowest emissions.