Tag Archives: mine engineering

Birimian charges DRA Global with flowsheet optimisation at Goulamina lithium project

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ASX-listed lithium hopeful, Birimian, says it has selected DRA Global to provide engineering services to optimise the process flowsheet for the Goulamina lithium project in Mali.

The scope of work will include the following deliverables, Birimian said:

  • Review and interpretation of the metallurgical test work;
  • Process design criteria;
  • Mass and water balance;
  • Block flow diagram;
  • Process flow diagrams, and;
  • Mechanical equipment list.

Birimian said the work is key to developing and optimising the design of the process plant for Goulamina and to the subsequent production of a capital cost estimate to the +/-10% level of accuracy required for the definitive feasibility study (DFS). The DFS is due for completion in the March quarter of 2020.

DRA has recently been involved in the execution of number of lithium studies and projects, with the key personnel assigned to Birimian having played an integral role in the design and commissioning of three lithium projects in Western Australia in the last 12 months, Birimian said.

“[They] will contribute an unrivalled combination of knowledge and experience in an area which is crucial to the success of the Goulamina lithium project,” the company said.

The recommended development scenario as outlined in a 2018 updated prefeasibility study showed an open-pit mining operation and a 2 Mt/y mineral concentrating plant, able to produce 362,000 t/y of 6% Li2O spodumene concentrate. The maiden ore reserve came in at 31.2 Mt at 1.56% Li2O, which was derived from an indicated mineral resource of 43.7 Mt at 1.48% Li2O, supporting a 16-year operating life at 2 Mt/y.

Xinhai adds management and operation services to EPC mining mix

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Xinhai Mining Technology & Equipment is expanding its turnkey mineral processing plant solutions in order to help manage and operate the projects it helps construct for mining clients, it said.

Xinhai has proposed a mineral processing EPC+M+O (engineering, procurement, construction and management and operation) service as part of this plan, which, it says, “can provide clients a complete mineral processing turnkey service to solve all the problems about mine management and operation”.

“Specifically, Xinhai mineral processing EPC+M+O service is a customised service through the actual condition of plant,” the company said.

Xinhai said it found that many clients were in urgent need of services including mining engineering before the dressing plant, construction engineering, tailings pond management, and even the plant management and operation. Therefore, this new service was proposed to solve such problems.

“So far, Xinhai accomplished over 2,000 mine design, research and equipment supply projects, over 500 EPC+M+O service around the world, and exported products to over 90 countries and districts,” it said.

“Briefly, Xinhai EPC+M+O service contains every single link of modern mine cooperation construction. The essence of EPC+M+O service is to consider each link of mineral processing project service in a more comprehensive and detailed way.”

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.”

SIMPEC wins more work from MSP Engineering, Iluka Resources

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SIMPEC says it has been awarded more than A$5 million ($3.46 million) in scope extensions to its current contracts in Western Australia.

WestStar Industrial’s engineering contractor business said the bulk of this work is either underway or will commence imminently and was built on the original awards from MSP Engineering (for the Tianqi Lithium Kwinana processing plant, pictured) and Iluka Resources (for the Cataby mineral sands project).

This news comes hot on the heels of SIMPEC announcing major contract awards, the most recent being the A$10 million win from ATCO to supply and install the electrical, communications and dry fire systems for an 800-room mine camp at Fortescue Metals Group’s Eliwana iron ore mine site in the Pilbara, Western Australia.

SIMPEC said its team has grown substantially over the past six months with nearly 150 personnel and contractors now working across all of its current contracts.

SIMPEC Managing Director, Mark Dimasi, said: “These scope extensions are a direct result of our strong performance on site. With safety at the forefront of everything we do, SIMPEC is performing very well across all projects and working very closely with our clients.”

Monadelphous adds ‘inflow’ infrastructure work to BHP South Flank iron ore package

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Engineering company Monadelphous Group says it has been awarded a second construction contract, valued at A$104 million ($74 million), at BHP’s South Flank iron ore project in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

The contract includes structural, mechanical, piping and electrical and instrumentation works associated with the project’s inflow infrastructure and brings the total value of work secured by Monadelphous on this project to A$212 million, the company said.

The company’s previous contract – awarded last month – includes structural, mechanical, piping and electrical and instrumentation works associated with the project’s outflow infrastructure.

Work under the inflow infrastructure contract is expected to start immediately and be completed by March 2021, according to Monadelphous.

Monadelphous Managing Director, Rob Velletri, said the award of a second contract at South Flank enables Monadelphous to realise efficiency synergies between the two packages of work, and underlined the strength of its long-term relationship with BHP.

BHP is targeting first ore extraction at the operation in 2021 and expects to ramp up to 80 Mt/y of output. This will replace production from the existing Yandi mine, which is reaching the end of its economic life. The company carried out the first blast at the project in September.

MRC Graphite drafts in Mondium for Munglinup ECI and FEED contracts

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Mineral Commodities’ wholly-owned subsidiary, MRC Graphite, says it has executed a professional services agreement with Mondium to undertake early contractor involvement (ECI) and front-end engineering and design (FEED) for the Munglinup graphite project, in Western Australia.

MRC Graphite is in the final stages of completing a definitive feasibility study (DFS) for Munglinup, which will provide the pathway to a final decision to commence construction. In addition, environmental permitting is ongoing and the current schedule, cognisant of regulatory processes and south coast seasonal variation, offers the opportunity to engage an engineering and construction firm to deliver additional value to the project through a purposeful ECI and FEED programme, the company said.

Mondium is an incorporated joint venture between Monadelphous Group and Lycopodium, which leverages the skills of both companies to provide technical and delivery solutions to its clients, Mineral Commodities said.

Mineral Commodities Executive Chairman, Mark Caruso, said: “Given the current tightening of resources in the mining project space, MRC is very pleased to have formed this relationship with a highly regarded engineering and construction firm. This will enable MRC to undertake significant value-add for the Munglinup graphite project through ECI and FEED stages, leading into construction later in the year, subject to approvals and a decision to mine.

“Mondium and its owners, Monadelphous and Lycopodium, are extremely well qualified and experienced in flotation design and construction and MRC looks forward to developing the Munglinup graphite project as safely, quickly and cost effectively as possible to ensure MRC emerges next year as a low cost, high quality graphite producer.”

According to a prefeasibility study, Munglinup will produce, on average, 54,800 t/y of high-purity graphite concentrate at a life of mine production cash cost of circa A$531/t ($377/t) graphite. Initial capital costs were estimated at A$52 million including 15% engineering procurement and construction costs (A$5.5 million), 15% contingency (A$6 million) and all owners’ costs (A$3 million).

Codelco terminates SNC-Lavalin contract at Chuquicamata

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Codelco has terminated its contract with SNC-Lavalin following a dispute related to a copper project the engineering firm was working on for the mining company.

SNC-Lavalin, which confirmed the news in a press statement, said Codelco had also initiated a drawdown on its approximately $42 million in bank guarantees.

News of a problem with one of SNC-Lavalin’s mining and metallurgy contracts came to light earlier this year, when the Canada-based company said an unfavourable cost reforecast related to a project would affect its 2018 financial results.

The two parties were unable to agree on a way forward for the project and, following further discussions, agreed to settle the dispute through an accelerated arbitration process. SNC-Lavalin said at the time that it expected to make significant recoveries in the future, but it would in the meantime continue to work on the project, which it expected to complete by the end of the June quarter.

Codelco said the $260 million engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the building of two new acid plants at the Chuquicamata smelter, in Chile, had been terminated due to a serious breach in the contract milestones.

“Among the non-compliances, are the delay in payments to its subcontractors, delays in the execution of the project and problems in the quality of the works, among others,” Codelco said in a news release translated from Spanish.

SNC-Lavalin, which earlier this year stopped bidding on all future mining EPC projects, said it was “appalled and surprised” by the decision taken by Codelco.

“We had reached an agreement in good faith on February 1, 2019, regarding the full completion of the project and a process for a fast track dispute resolution of previously announced unresolved issues through accelerated arbitration.”

The company said as it was nearing the end of the project completion, Codelco’s actions would put the completion and commissioning date further at risk.

“We believe that this termination is unwarranted and in breach of good faith agreements reached by the parties. It should be noted that Codelco has reached this decision after SNC-Lavalin openly informed Codelco of the status of the execution of the works, as requested by Codelco, which showed delays caused by site conditions that were the responsibility of Codelco, and the poor and unjustified acts by the main construction subcontractors,” SNC-Lavalin said.

SNC-Lavalin said it was now demobilising the job site and assessing the legal and financial impact of Codelco’s decision and preparing the dispute resolution actions to “recover as much as possible of the previously announced losses that are due directly to our client and to poor sub-contractor performance”.

Fairport and Saloro bring Barruecopardo tungsten mine closer to production

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Saloro is gearing up for first production at its Barruecopardo tungsten mine, in Spain, with plant equipment being run through its paces, Fairport Engineering has reported.

Fairport, which has been supporting the re-opening of the historic tungsten mine since 2014 in the plant design and engineering aspects, said the multi-stage crushing and screening plant was the first part of the flowsheet to be tested, with the main concentrator following closely behind. The mine’s steady-state output rate is 260,000 metric tonne units of tungsten oxide.

“The state-of-the-art production facility, that combines both modern day technology and traditional minerals processing systems, will treat a scheelite ore mined at site to produce a tungsten-rich concentrate that will account for around 13% of non-Chinese global supply of tungsten concentrates,” Fairport said.

The Barruecopardo mine has a history dating back almost 100 years. It is located in the Salamanca Province of western Spain, an area of substantial historic tungsten production. For the majority of its operating life, Barruecopardo was the largest tungsten mine in Spain, producing a high-quality tungsten concentrate from open-pit mining and related processing operations, according to Fairport. Activities ceased at the old mine in the early 1980s.

“Since Saloro’s inception, in 2004, it has diligently advanced studies, permitting and funding activities related to its project for the re-opening of the Barruecopardo mine,” Fairport said.

Fairport was awarded the Construction Management Contract for Barruecopardo last year.

Chaarat and Turkey mine contractor sign Tulkubash, Kyzyltash JV agreement

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Chaarat has signed a binding term sheet to enter into a joint venture with Turkey-based mining and mine construction contractor Çiftay İnsaat Tahhüt ve Ticaret AS, to collaborate on the Tulkubash and Kyzyltash projects in the Kyrgyz Republic.

Çiftay, a partner since 2017, which mobilised equipment to the Tulkubash site in the Chatkal Valley last year, will be appointed as construction and long-term mining contractor for the Tulkubash project, Chaarat said.

The company has extensive experience as a mining and civil engineering contractor at multiple mine sites in Turkey including two major gold mines, according to Chaarat. Definitive agreements for the joint venture are expected to be concluded next quarter.

Under the agreement, based on an agreed valuation of $252 million (post money) for the two assets, Çiftay will progressively invest $31.5 million for a 12.5% equity stake in Chaarat’s Tulkubash and Kyzyltash assets.

Chaarat said: “Çiftay’s investment provides a significant amount of the required equity for the Tulkubash project. Total capital expenditure for the project is between $120-$130 million and, after the Çiftay equity investment, the vast majority of the remaining capital expenditure is expected to be debt funded, thus avoiding substantial dilution to Chaarat’s shareholders.”

Chaarat is in the process of securing the remaining project financing which is targeted to close in the September quarter of 2019. Çiftay will commence earthworks in anticipation of this, negotiated at “arms-length rates”, which represent an improvement to the terms indicated in the 2018 feasibility study, Chaarat said.

Construction is ongoing at Tulkubash and the first gold production remains on schedule for 2021.

The company continues to advance detailed engineering and has finalised several project components for immediate construction readiness, it said. Çiftay has earthworks equipment at the mine site and constructed a temporary construction camp this winter to be ready for an early spring start to major earthworks.

Chaarat said: “The recent resource update continues to suggest the emergence of a significant new gold district.”

An updated feasibility study for Tulkubash will be published in the June quarter, but a previous study from April indicated a 95,200 oz/y mine operating at an all-in sustaining cost of $831/oz could be built for $132 million of upfront capital. This was based on a 500,000 oz reserve comprising 16 Mt at 0.91 g/t Au and 1.13 g/t Ag.

Wood Group receives Pensana Metals Longonjo rare earth PFS gig

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Following the recent mineral resource upgrade at the Longonjo NdPr project in Angola, Pensana Metals says it has appointed international engineering company Wood Group to execute a prefeasibility study (PFS) for expedited development of the asset.

The study will focus on the delivery of a low capital cost open-pit mining operation and exporting flotation concentrates to customers in China, via the recently upgraded Benguela rail line and the Atlantic deep‐water port of Lobito, Pensana said.

Discussions with potential financiers have commenced and it is expected that a financing package will be finalised to coincide with the completion of the PFS (scheduled for September 2019), according to the company.

Pensana said the company was of the view that, given the work that has been completed to date and the relative simplicity of the operation, it should be possible, after the PFS publication, to move immediately to a front-end engineering design contract and, then, secure an engineering procurement construction and management agreement.

Pensana Metals Chief Operating Officer, Dave Hammond, said: “The development concept is very straight forward. We are looking at a low capital cost, shallow open-pit and flotation operation producing a high-grade concentrate for export to China via the adjacent major rail and port infrastructure.

“Last month’s substantially increased mineral resource estimate has enabled us to bring forward the PFS.” This saw the company declare an inferred resource of 240 Mt at 1.60% rare earth oxides (REO), including 0.35% NdPr for 3.85 Mt of REO including 840,000 t of NdPr.

Wood Group previously undertook the scoping study for Longonjo and has an experienced rare earth mining and development team, according to Pensana.

Studies that will be part of the PFS include additional drilling, optimisation of the flotation process and comminution testwork, mining optimisation studies, a revised mineral resource estimate and detailed cost studies based on engineering design work.