Tag Archives: PNG

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 receives LoI for EPC process plant build at K92’s Kainantu gold mine

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GR Engineering Services has received a Letter of Intent from K92 Mining Ltd, a subsidiary of TSX-listed K92 Mining Inc, for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) works associated with a 1.2 Mt/y process plant at the Kainantu gold mine in Papua New Guinea.

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.

K92 Mining has successfully executed multiple expansions at the Kainantu Gold Mine, after restarting operations at the site in 2016.

In addition to the award of the contract, all process plant long-lead item contracts have already been awarded on a fixed price (excluding freight), to CITIC HIC Australia Pty Ltd for the SAG and ball mills, Jord International Pty Ltd for the filter press and Metso for the tank flotation cells, flash flotation cells and high-rate thickeners, K92 says.

The contract sum for the EPC contract is $81 million, with GR Engineering having commenced engineering works on an agreed scope and cost basis. The contract is expected to be finalised by the end of August 2023.

Tony Patrizi, Managing Director, said: “GR Engineering is a leading gold EPC contractor and has previous experience on PNG projects through our Brisbane office. We are looking forward to assisting K92 Mining achieve their expansion plans and to delivering a safe outcome for the project.”

K92 says commissioning of the 1.2 Mt/y Stage 3 Expansion process plant is targeting the end of the March quarter of 2025.

Newcrest’s Lihir operation boosts safety with latest Olitek Anako Sense solution

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Newcrest Mining’s Lihir operation in Papua New Guinea has commissioned an improved Temperature Measuring Unit (TMU) that, it says, further enhances safety for personnel working at its geothermally active open-pit operations.

This second generation TMU, called Anako Sense, follows the commissioning of the Anako 13 prototype on March 6, 2018, at Lihir. The unit engineers out the risk of personnel exposure to geysering events during drill hole measurement activities, according to the technology developer Olitek Mining Robotics (OMR).

Anako 13 allowed geothermal technicians to operate a mobile arm from the vehicle remotely, while simultaneously lowering or raising a probe safely to measure and record temperature, water level and depth within blastholes. It was designed to mechanise this quality monitoring process in the open pit, removing operators from danger and putting them in the safety of an air-conditioned cabin.

The Mark 2 machine just delivered to Lihir provides faster than manual cycle times, while eliminating fatigue, repetitive strain injury and exposure risks, according to OMR. It also provides real-time data capture of borehole quality measurements.

Newcrest teams collaborated with several business partners to deliver the Anako Sense unit early this year, allowing geothermal technicians to continue carrying out their work safely as Lihir’s mining pit phases extend deeper and further north into Kapit orebody, the miner said.

Lihir Manager – Mine Technical Services, Ben Likia, thanked various Newcrest teams and business partners for delivering the project safely and ensuring a timely site deployment of Anako Sense, including training sessions for key personnel.

“I also congratulate our national employees who completed their training sessions,” he said. “We have competent geothermal personnel who are now operating the new TMU, and several mobile maintenance personnel who will assist in ensuring the TMU is regularly maintained and fit for purpose.

“The safety of our people in Lihir is our number one priority, and this improvement is testimony to that. We are committed to ensuring everybody goes home safe and healthy every day.”

While Anako Sense has obvious applications at mine sites with geothermal hazards like Lihir, the technology’s appeal is much broader, according to James Oliver, OMR’s Managing Director.

“Anako Sense could be used and applied at any mine operating in freezing cold conditions, at high altitudes, located in inland deserts, or around voids,” he said. “The quicker we get people off the bench and into safe vehicle cabins, the better off the industry will be. The development of Anako Sense will help that transition.”

Lihir Superintendent – Geothermal Operations, Kaipale Pano, said the enthusiasm and feedback from the project team and personnel had been heartening.

“The project is a success for Newcrest Lihir because we (Newcrest) encourage employees to experiment with new ideas to improve safety and production performance,” he said. “We displayed Newcrest’s practice – ‘Bottom-up Innovation’ – and values – ‘Working Together’ and ‘Innovation and Problem Solving’ – through this project.

“We are proud to have the best people and outstanding operators, mostly Papua New Guineans, who constantly team up to deploy safe and latest mining technologies at Lihir.”

The name Anako was inspired by an incident at Lihir nine years ago. In 2013, Samuel Ayata, a Geothermal Technician from Eastern Highlands and Morobe, sustained injuries from geysers when collecting blasthole data. His father, Ayata Anako, collapsed upon receiving news about the incident and was bedridden for almost three weeks, pleading with his son to quit his job.

Ayata said: “The scars on my body were a drive for our team to take on this safety initiative and continue improving it; we named the TMU after my father. I thank Newcrest for supporting our commitment to work safely for our families.”

Clough’s e2o Asset Services to carry out shutdown work at Newcrest’s Lihir mine

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Clough’s recently launched asset services business, e2o Asset Services, has been awarded a shutdown scope at Newcrest’s Lihir gold mine on Lihir Island, Papua New Guinea, it says.

The scope awarded includes support shutdown maintenance activities, with the asset services team working with Newcrest to prepare, plan, schedule, execute, close out and improve the site’s grinding and flotation major planned shutdowns.

The shutdown execution works include – but are not limited to – planned maintenance work, corrective work and project improvement works, Clough said.

The site’s grinding and flotation major planned shutdowns are completed every March and September and form part of the site’s larger “smart shutdown” schedule, the company explained. Work will commence immediately with the first shutdown planned for March 2022.

Peter Bennett, Clough CEO and Managing Director, said: “Clough has over 40 years of experience delivering projects in PNG and this contract will continue to bring opportunities to local talent, businesses and the community at large.”

Brent Maas, Clough Vice President Services for Queensland and PNG, said: “Our history in PNG is extensive and this award ensures we continue to make a positive impact in the PNG community while working with Newcrest to maximise the value of their assets.”

Freeport senses PNG exploration opportunity with Minerva’s DRIVER AI solution

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Freeport Resources has signed a contract with Minerva Intelligence Inc that will see the artificial intelligence focused company deploy its DRIVER AI solution at the Star Mountains project in Papua New Guinea.

Freeport recently acquired Quidum Resources, which, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Highlands Pacific Resources Ltd, controls the Star Mountains project. The company thinks applying Minerva’s technology to the project will enhance its next phases of surface and sub-surface exploration of the extensive property, which is located close to the Ok Tedi mine.

“Freeport is committed to embracing new technologies to enhance the understanding of our portfolio of projects beginning with Star Mountains,” Nate Chutas, Senior VP of Operations at Freeport, said. “We believe that the advances in technology that DRIVER brings will provide deep insights into our project data and provide a better understanding for the development and prioritisation of high-quality exploration targets.”

DRIVER delivers these insights by evaluating all elements typically returned by modern laboratories, not simply the elements of direct economic interest, Freeport says. The work this requires is too time-consuming and complicated to be carried out by project geologists, according to the company.

Minerva’s cognitive reasoning platform is able to compare identified geochemical exploration vectors with its database of hundreds of past and present mines around the world, identifying those most similar to the explored target using the company’s proprietary AI technology.

The resulting similarity rankings can then provide reliable, explainable models upon which geologists can build their exploration strategies, Freeport says.

Gord Friesen, President and CEO of Freeport, said: “Despite having identified a very significant resource already, it is our assertion that Star Mountains is still vastly under-explored. We believe that utilising AI-based, deep-thinking tools such as DRIVER will exponentially hasten our understanding of Star Mountains’ true potential.”

The data analysis will involve three studies, the first two being 3D studies focused on the drilling results from the Olgal deposit where there is a current inferred resource, using a 0.3% copper cutoff grade, of 210 Mt grading 0.4% Cu and 0.4 g/t Au, for 2.9 Moz of contained gold and 840,000 t of contained copper.

The third study will be a combined 2D and 3D analysis of data collected from the remainder of the Star Mountains claims. All these studies will be integrated with interpretation of available airborne geophysics data, according to Freeport.

The first 3D study will be a geochemical cluster analysis to identify the lithogeochemical characteristics of the logged drill holes to use as a comparison against the interpreted logging, and for comparison with the lithogeochemistry of drilling results for other Star targets.

This will be followed by a second 3D study involving the use of Minerva’s DRIVER software to examine multi-element zonation patterns throughout the Olgal dataset.

The third study will apply Minerva’s SOLACE workflow to a combination of the surface and drilling data available for the rest of the Star Mountains claims for incorporation into Minerva’s Target target generation system.

Worley out to help miners on their open pit to underground mining transition

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As open-pit mines reach their economic end of life, mine owners are considering the viability of transitioning their open-pit operations to underground.

Drawing on its deep level mining expertise in South Africa, Worley helps mine owners around the world to explore the feasibility of underground life of mine extensions and identify the most efficient and safe underground mining methods.

Among the driving factors in the transition to underground mining are declining ore grades, deeper ore deposits, and an increase in demand for minerals required for the global energy transition, such as copper, lithium, manganese and nickel, Worley says.

“Worley’s centre of excellence for copper in Chile has been supporting open-pit copper mine customers for nearly three decades,” the company said. “The company is gearing up its underground capability as these mines shift their operations to below surface to access deeper ore reserves.”

Going deep in South Africa

Worley’s South Africa operations is one of the company’s mining centres of excellence with niche experience in deep level mining.

Mining has been the mainstay of South Africa’s economy for well over a century, and a major source of employment as well as foreign investment. Consequently, Worley has grown its South Africa mining team in one of the best mining environments in the world, with a collective experience of over 120 years in deep level mining and process expertise.

Robert Hull, Vice President for Mining, Minerals & Metals in Africa, says Worley’s South African operation is recognised for its deep level shaft experience, and the company also has experience across most commodities including base metals, coal, platinum, gold, diamonds and ferrous metals.

Hull says Worley has a strong global workshare philosophy and culture of collaboration. The specialist skills in South Africa gained from working on some of the biggest underground projects in the world are an integral part of Worley’s mining, minerals and metals global project delivery offering.

Deep level mine skills

Some of South Africa’s specialist deep underground skills include shaft design, ventilation and refrigeration shafts, high pressure pumping, and deep level hoisting.

Worley says it is one of the few companies in the world that has the expertise to design hoisting systems for mass hoisting, such as at the Venetia Underground Project, which will hoist approximately 6 Mt/y of rock.

The De Beers Venetia Mine in South Africa is the biggest source of rough diamonds in the country, according to Worley. The mine is in the process of transitioning from open pit to underground, to extend its life by some 25 years.

As engineering procurement and construction management contractor for South Africa’s largest mining execution project, Worley is using 3D designs for the project infrastructure to provide 3D models for the entire project’s surface and underground infrastructure, it said.

Intelligent mines

Hull says Worley is leading the way in developing digital solutions for the planning, design and execution of mining projects, with the South Africa office having played a key role in the design and development of much of the group’s digital technology in mining and minerals processing.

Hull (pictured) cites the Wafi-Golpu (owned by Harmony Gold Mining and Newcrest Mining) feasibility study update, in Papua New Guinea, where the South Africa team drew on SmartPlant design technology, which uses rapid prototyping and Building Information Modelling. The technology allowed the entire project team to visualise project objectives as never before, greatly improving operational efficiency in a dynamic time and cost-saving environment, according to Worley.

The Wafi-Golpu project is ranked as a world-class deposit in terms of its size and the grade of gold and copper within it. If developed, it will be the largest, deepest and most complex underground mine in Papua New Guinea, with a mine life of 28 years, Worley says.

Integrated project delivery teams

Worley’s South Africa team is also supporting its Australia counterparts to project manage the delivery of the deepening and expansion of an underground gold mine. This includes construction of a 1,460 m shaft, additional capacity in the processing plant, and supporting infrastructure to enable profitable recovery of ore at depth to 2 140m below surface. IM understands the project in question is the Newmont-owned Tanami Expansion 2 project, in the Northern Territory of Australia.

Mega machines for mega mines

Hull says every underground project Worley has executed has drawn on the company’s large material handling capabilities.

“In South Africa, we have a dedicated materials handling department that has the latest tools including discrete element modelling and finite element analysis, and advanced simulation tools for conveyer design,” he said.

Coenie Mynhardt, Winder Engineering at Worley, adds that mine payloads have increased dramatically in the last two decades in pursuit of higher productivity rates. Mines such as Impala and Phalaborwa, in South Africa, with an approximate 12-t per skipload, were considered ‘mega mines’ in their day. The mines of the future are more than double that size.

“The mega mines of the future need mega machines to be able to handle such big payloads,” Mynhardt says. “Materials handling technology for such deep, high tonnage operations will test current technology for capacity and reliability to bring the ore from the production levels to surface. We have the skills and expertise to find the solutions to these challenges.”

Global project delivery

“Countries such as Chile have immense potential for transitioning from open pit to underground if the geology supports it,” commented Hull. “With the wealth of experience across locations and over 4,000 staff in our mining, minerals and metals business line, we can safely and successfully deliver our customers’ underground mine assets through collaborative development of the mine and associated infrastructure anywhere in the world.”

RCT teleremote tech to improve dozer operator safety at PNG gold mine

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RCT says it has completed a project to commission its ControlMaster® technology on dozers at a major gold mining operation in Papua New Guinea.

The Australia-based automation specialist has installed and commissioned its ControlMaster Line-of-Sight solution on two Komatsu D275 dozers at the Ok Tedi copper and gold mine.

The technology packages will enable the mine operator to clear landslip in the mine’s central pit, RCT said.

Going forward, the site’s machine operators can stand at a safe distance and direct the dozers to operate beneath the pit’s highwall.

RCT Account Manager, Wayne Carrington, said the solution is an integral part of safe mine operations.

“Mine management are pleased that they can undertake necessary activities within the central pit while ensuring dozer operators are safe,” he said.

RCT says it will provide training to machine operators and ongoing after sales support as required.

Fortescue to evaluate green hydropower opportunities in PNG

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Fortescue Metals Group’s Fortescue Future Industries Pty Ltd has signed an agreement with the Papua New Guinea Government and wholly-owned corporation, Kumul Consolidated Holdings Ltd (KCH), that could lead to the development of PNG’s hydropower resources to support ‘green’ industrial operations.

Under the deed, the parties will promptly investigate the feasibility of these green projects for both domestic and export markets, a move Fortescue says is consistent with its record of delivering both capital growth and yield to its shareholders while sharing the benefits of sustainable development and employment with local communities.

KCH is the entity which holds in trust, the Papua New Guinea government’s non-petroleum and non-mining assets.

“Fortescue Future Industries shares Fortescue’s commitment to a green industry future and will work closely with local people and communities to establish training and long-term careers,” the company said. “This is fully aligned with Fortescue’s approach from its inception that the communities in which we operate will benefit from our growth and development.”

Subject to the completion of feasibility studies and approvals, individual projects will be developed by Fortescue Future Industries with ownership and project finance sources to be separately secured without recourse to Fortescue, the company explained.

“Execution of studies and approach to capital investment will be consistent with Fortescue’s track record of developing multi-billion dollar projects in the Pilbara, at an industry leading capital intensity,” it added.

(Pictured above is the Warangoi Hydropower Station in East New Britain, PNG, operated by PNG Power)

DynaEnergetics and Newcrest Mining devise new blasting initiating system

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DynaEnergetics, a business of DMC Global Inc, has introduced Igneo, an “intrinsically safe initiating system designed for high temperature mining applications”.

The Igneo system is based on DynaEnergetics’ patented IS2™ initiating system, which is used by the oil and gas industry in well perforating operations, it says.

Igneo was developed in collaboration with Newcrest Mining, one of the largest gold mining companies in the world.

The company explained how the collaboration began: “Newcrest approached DynaEnergetics for assistance in developing an initiating system that would perform safely in the extreme conditions of its Lihir mine, located in the crater of the dormant Lihir volcano off the coast of Papua New Guinea. The active geothermal and geochemical environment makes Lihir the hottest open-cut gold mine in the world.”

The core of the Igneo system is the HTD150, an electronic detonator designed to withstand temperatures up to 150°C (302°F) for up to 48 hours. The device is encased in a specially coated copper shell, making it resistant to highly corrosive mining environments, according to the company. Like IS2, the HTD150 is immune to radio frequency interference, stray current and stray voltage, DynaEnergetics said.

The full system consists of the Igneo Digital Firing Panel, the Igneo Programming and Testing Device, and a specially designed Igneo booster charge. The system enables rapid programming, testing and simultaneous initiation of up to 1,000 HTD150 detonators, and also eliminates the need for sensitised booster emulsions, the company said.

Liam McNelis, Vice President of Research and Development for DynaEnergetics, said: “Igneo is the result of three years of close collaboration with the Newcrest team, led by Darren Francis, Principal for Drill and Blast.

“The outcome of our efforts is a highly intuitive and reliable system that has been proven effective under the extremely challenging conditions of the Lihir mine. We look forward to continuing our partnership with Newcrest as the multi-year Lihir project progresses into areas with even higher temperatures.”

Ian Grieves, President of DynaEnergetics, said: “Our development of the Igneo system opens the door to an important new market for DynaEnergetics. There are many large mining operations throughout the Pacific Rim that operate under high-temperature conditions. As we have done in the oil and gas industry, our objective is to work with leading operators to improve the safety, performance and profitability of their projects.”

K92 Mining continues to add new equipment at expanding Kainantu gold mine

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K92 Mining, despite the onset of COVID-19, has made significant progress on its plans to increase production at its Kainantu gold mine in Papua New Guinea.

In March 2020, Kainantu achieved a major milestone, commencing the first long hole stope using the modified AVOCA method. This method is ideal for narrow vein/lens higher-grade stopes and can provide higher tonnages through continuous fill and blasting, as well as improved dilution control, according to the company.

The commencement of this new mining method is significant since previous mining has been exclusively from lower productivity and higher-cost development and cut and fill stoping, K92 said.

The first stope was from the K1 Vein and, to date, long hole stoping activities have performed in-line with design and have been increasing, providing a notable positive impact on operational flexibility, the company added.

Mining operations, which have been expanding in line with the 2019 decision to expand throughput to 400,000 t/y, from 200,000 t/y, have also benefited from further additions to the mining fleet.

The Papua New Guinea COVID-19 State of Emergency declared on March 20, 2020, saw limited impact to freight, with the arrival of a third Sandvik LH517i underground LHD loader with AutoMine® capabilities, a third CAT AD45B 45 t underground truck and two Terex Articulated surface haul trucks, since its declaration. The Government of Papua New Guinea ended the COVID-19 State of Emergency on June 16, resulting in a further easing of some of the restrictions, particularly around domestic movement.

“The equipment joins a significantly expanded and modernised fleet since the decision to proceed with the Stage 2 Expansion on March 13, 2019,” K92 said.

Back in January, the company said it expected a Sandvik DS421 cable bolter to arrive this quarter, alongside a modular batching plant. The company said earlier this month that this unit (pictured), as well as three new and high powered diamond drill rigs were in transit to the mine.

Twin incline activities have recently recommenced at Kainantu with the easing of restrictions from the state of emergency. Ground support for the portal is also underway, with portalling and the installation of steel sets expected to commence in the first half of the September quarter, the company said.

The process plant, meanwhile, has achieved multiple daily throughput records during the June quarter, significantly exceeding the 200,000 t/y, or circa-550 t/d nameplate capacity, with over 700 t/d achieved on multiple occasions.

“The strong performance of the process plant and underground mine to date are expected to result in gold-equivalent production exceeding March quarter output,” the company said.

The March quarter saw K92 produce 19,240 oz of gold, 339,993 lb (154 t) of copper and 6,937 oz of silver for a total of 19,934 gold-equivalent ounces, representing the second highest quarter on record. Gold-equivalent production in 2019 was 82,256 oz, with 115,000-125,000 oz of gold-equivalent scheduled in 2020.

Preparations are also being made to recommence Stage 2 process plant commissioning in the near term, to double plant throughput capacity to 400,000 t/y. All the equipment is installed, and commissioning is expected to commence in first half of the September quarter, with completion targeted at the end of that three-month period, K92 said.

John Lewins, K92 Chief Executive Officer and Director, added that a Stage 3 Expansion preliminary economic assessment is planned for July.