Tag Archives: P680 Expansion Project

Pilgangoora-PilbaraMinerals

Primero to work on next phase of Pilgangoora P680 lithium expansion project

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NRW Holdings Limited’s wholly owned subsidiary, Primero Group Limited, has been awarded a contract for Structural, Mechanical, Piping, Electrical and Instrumentation Construction by Pilgangoora Operations Pty Ltd (POPL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Pilbara Minerals Limited, for the next phase of the Pilgangoora P680 Expansion project, 120km south of Port Hedland, Western Australia.

The award follows a formal Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) phase to determine construction methodology, cost and schedule.

Under the contract, Primero is responsible for the construction of the crushing and ore sorting facilities. Primero will also assist with providing commissioning, integration and shutdown support. The contract at award has an approximate value of A$64 million ($40.7 million), with the contract scheduled for completion in the September quarter of 2024 with the works commencing immediately.

Primero’s Managing Director, Michael Gollschewski, said: “It is pleasing for Primero to be awarded this contract following the combined efforts of Primero and POPL teams in the successful delivery of the first stage of the P680 Expansion. We look forward to building on what is already a strong partnership with the POPL team.”

NRW’s Managing Director, Jules Pemberton, added: “This award continues to build on the long association between Pilbara Minerals and Primero that began with the design and construction of the original Pilgan Plant and continues with the delivery of the P680 Expansion Project. We look forward to the successful completion of these works.”

The P680 Expansion project could see Pilbara Minerals step-up its production run-rate at the operation to a total of circa-680,000 t/y of spodumene concentrate across the combined Pilgangoora operation.

TOMRA Mining tech to be used for the world’s largest lithium sorting plant

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TOMRA Mining says it is in the process of installing what will be the world’s largest lithium mineral ore sorting plant at Pilbara Minerals’ Pilgangoora project in Western Australia.

The installation has already started and is expected to reach completion in late 2023.

Pilbara Minerals says it owns the world’s largest, independent hard-rock lithium mine, producing a spodumene and tantalite concentrate. Through its P680 Expansion Project, the company has plans to step-up its production run-rate at the operation to a total of circa-680,000 t/y of spodumene concentrate. The sorting plant is part of this project.

Dale Henderson, Managing Director and CEO, Pilbara Minerals, said: “This new facility to be constructed at our Pilgangoora Project will be the world’s largest lithium mineral ore sorting plant. TOMRA’s experience in large global sorting installations, innovative technology and ability to provide local support were significant factors in our decision to work with them. From the start, the TOMRA team has been working side by side with us and our engineering partner DRA Global to deliver this important project.”

As part of this expansion project, Pilbara Minerals turned to TOMRA Mining for assistance to address the key industry challenge in the processing of spodumene feed ore contaminated with barren host rock.

TOMRA has 50 years’ experience in sensor-based sorting technologies and has designed and built 90% of the world’s large-scale mining sorting plants with a capacity above 300 t/h, it says. These include plants such as the Ma’aden Umm Wu’al project, which is operating at 1,850 t/h and the Lucara diamond operation which runs 15 sorters.

Specifically for the Pilbara Minerals project, TOMRA Mining highlighted that it offered effective ore sorting solutions with high sensor resolution and ejection accuracy that ensure high lithium recovery and waste removal with a stable and consistent performance at high capacity.

The TOMRA Mining team conducted a geological assessment of sample ores supplied by Pilbara Minerals. It revealed the pegmatite deposit did have non-lithium bearing host rock intrusions. Some of these minerals have a high density like that of spodumene, which means that it is also concentrated when using heavy media separation (HMS). This reduces the efficiency of the downstream flotation and contaminates the final product. Sensor-based sorting technologies, on the other hand, can measure the colour, density and mineralogical variations in individual particles, enabling the accurate detection and removal of this barren material, the company explained.

Working closely with the Pilbara Minerals metallurgical team, TOMRA conducted extensive test work at the TOMRA Test Center in Sydney, Australia, to check all the options and answer any questions arising during the tests.

The samples were run at capacity on production sorters and included repeatability and variation testing. The test work benchmarked the expected performance of the sorters and was used to establish the sort quality on each of the ore types that will be fed through the plant.

Primero Group, which was awarded the contract for construction of the project, has now started bulk earthworks for the sorting plant.

The TOMRA team was involved not only in the testing and supply of equipment, but also provided assistance with the plant layout and understanding of the implications of sorting on the upstream mining and downstream process of the ore. This involvement throughout the development process will add to efficient operational ramp-up and technical optimisation.

TOMRA’s capability to support the project with a dedicated Australia-based team and a global support structure has been a significant factor and is an important part of de-risking the installation of this new technology. The team is working closely with Pilbara Minerals through the installation process, commissioning and start-up, and will continue to provide on-site support once the sorting plant is up and running.

NRW’s Primero to work on Pilgangoora P680 Expansion Project

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NRW Holdings subsidiary, Primero Group, has been awarded a contract by Pilgangoora Operations Pty Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pilbara Minerals Limited, for work at the lithium processing plant that is part of the wider Pilgangoora operation, in Western Australia.

The works to be performed under the contract include upgrading the existing Pilgan lithium processing plant through the construction of a new primary rejection facility and preliminary work in connection with a new crushing and ore sorting facility.

Under the contract, Primero will be responsible for detailed earth and concrete works associated with both the primary rejection and crushing and sorting facilities, together with structural, mechanical, piping, electrical and instrumentation installation associated with the primary rejection facility. Primero will also assist with shutdown, brownfield’s integration and commissioning support to tie the facility into the existing Pilgan plant.

The contract is scheduled to run for approximately eight months, commencing in January 2023, and has an approximate value of A$62 million ($44 million).

NRW Managing Director, Jules Pemberton, said: “This contract builds on a long-term association between POPL and Primero that began with Primero’s involvement in the design and construction of the original Pilgan plant. We look forward to the successful completion of these works.”

The construction activities due to take place on the plant are part of the wider P680 Expansion Project Pilbara Minerals is working on. This could see the company step-up its production run-rate at the operation to a total of circa-680,000 t/y of spodumene concentrate across the combined Pilgangoora operation.