Hail Creek Coal’s coal handling and preparation plant (CHPP) has received the RAMBO treatment enabling practical project completion one month ahead of its contractual date.
The Pacific Coal project, 160km west of Mackay in central Queensland’s Bowen Basin, was negotiated and executed by the Thiess Sedgman Joint Venture (TSJV). The total market value of the whole development was $460m, while TSJV’s current project value is $87m.
Pacific Coal’s parent company Rio Tinto asked the JV to adapt its RAMBO process design philosophy to the project. This meant that criterion of reliability, accessibility, maintainability, build-ability and operability were applied to each design drawing.
Project manger of Hail Creek CHPP, TSJV, Grant Fraser said the RAMBO process enabled a more thorough and robust design where any shortcomings were met at the early design stage. The process also made a huge difference to project time, cost and safety.
“Through the construct-ability and build-ability side it has enabled [the CHPP plant] to be quicker and safer to build,” Fraser told Australian Mining.
“And the reliability will be seen down the track by the operations people. I’ve got no doubt that [Pacific Coal] will receive a state-of-the-art facility just by the use of the [RAMBO] process.”
Fraser said coal ran through the plant as early as July 15. “That is 16 months after we commenced design, which is pretty good going.
“We’re now running a 24-hour operation. And we are on target to commence acceptance testing, which would give practical completion a month earlier than contractual date.”
The CHPP and associated coal handling equipment is designed to receive and handle ROM coal at a nominal rate of 1200tph. It is also designed to reclaim coal at a nominal 5000tph from the product coal stockpile.
Although the project was awarded and executed as a fixed sum design and construction project, the broader team of Hail Creek Coal (owner/operator), Hatch (owner’s project manager) and the TSJV has worked in a collaborative manner to ensure the focus remained on “best for project” outcomes.
The plant is designed to process the two Hail Creek seams, Hynds and Elphinstone – to produce 8.5% and 11% ash (adb) coking coal components from each.
Fraser said the CHPP is the heart of what the joint venture brings to the table.
“The total footprint of the plant was reduced substantially as a cost saving to the client. We’ve optimised the size of the plant to enable the use of less structural material,” he said.
Fraser said the plant also had a high degree of maintenance accessibility built into it.
“This was achieved by building a lot of extra structure, including mezzanine floors, allowing good maintenance access to plant areas, rather than the typical use of direct scaffolding.”
Large amounts of the structure were pre-assembled on the ground and lifted in one move, rather than stick building, which would have meant erecting each part separately and having people work at heights.
“So through design we have increased safety.”
The conceptual scope of the project is as follows:
A dual 200t capacity ROM dump hopper and primary sizing station of 2000t struck total capacity for reducing ROM coal to a nominal size of 250mm at a design rate of 1600tph (air received). Having the dual dump hopper is a cost-effective way of allowing a move away from having a surge bin in the raw coal system. “Effectively it’s a bit of smarts to allow us to feed the plant without having a surging capacity in the bin,” Fraser said
A 1600tph (ar) raw coal conveyor complete with metal detector, weightometer and tramp iron magnet
A sizing station which includes a secondary sizer, roller screen and tertiary sizer capable of processing primary crushed coal at 1600tph (ar)
A sized coal conveyor complete with cross belt sampler
A 1200tph (ar) minimum capacity coal preparation plant (CPP) comprising two single stage DMC modules for processing the minus 50mm + 1.4mm(ww) fraction and a mid size Teetered Bed based process for the minus 1.4mm (ww) + 0.25mm material. The minus 0.25mm fraction will report to a flotation circuit incorporating Jameson flotation cells and horizontal vacuum filters (dewatering of flotation product)
A 1400tph (ar) product coal conveyor complete with cross belt sampler and through belt on-line ash analyser
A 170,000t direct stacked product coal stockpile fed by a 1400tph (ar) luffing boom stacker
Product reclaim via seven vibrating stockpile activators and coal valves onto the train load-out conveyor
A 5000tph (ar) train load-out conveyor feeding a batch weigh style load-out bin
A rejects and tailings co-disposal pumping system incorporating a rejects sump and an emergency rejects bunker.
The project has received a National Safety Council of Australia (NSCA) 5-Star Rating.
Thiess and Sedgman have worked together before but this is their first JV since Thiess took out a 50% stake in the company.
Fraser fully recommends equal partnership where both companies have a stake in the project. He said it produced a far superior working relationship to that of prime contractor and sub-contractor.