Pasminco Limited century zinc mine central infrastructure

Pasminco Limited is the largest integrated Zinc Mining and Smelting Company in Australia with international operations across Asia Pacific, Europe and the USA.

OBJECTIVES

Pasminco contracted Wiley to design, construct and project manage the main infrastructure facilities at the Century Mine site in far north-west Queensland.

The $14 million project required Wiley to deliver 13 buildings within a tight timeframe of only 11 months.

Adding to the challenge was the fact the site was remote and difficult, with initially no water, telephone or electricity, and was located 250 kilometres away from Mount Isa, the nearest town of any size.

CHALLENGES

• Working with a lack of facilities and services on a remote site
• Completing the project to a critical timeline
• Meeting environmental requirements.

SOLUTIONS

Advice

• Development of a logistics plan for materials to be ordered and delivered progressively throughout construction
• Tracking of all materials Australia-wide from pick-up to delivery to avoid delays
• Provision of staff to meet the fast track schedule: 140 staff members permanently on site, four permanent site managers and a site clerk on a rotating roster, and weekly visits by the project director
• Careful coordination of the installation of water, fibre optics, sewerage, electricity and  fuel services on site.

Design

• Design and positioning of all buildings to create the optimal working environment in a harsh climate
• Design of a mining contractors’ compound (comprising a mine administrative centre, heavy vehicle workshop, heavy vehicle wash bay with settling ponds to meet environmental requirements, tyre change facility (with a 700-tonne portable hand-operated jack), and oil storage and distribution facilities
• Design of a ‘go line’ complex for truck refuelling and shift changeovers (comprising lunchroom, meeting facility, amenities and truck fuelling facilities)
• Design of a two-level boarding platform to make it safe for drivers to board and disembark from high truck cabins
• Design of an ammonium nitrate storage facility (comprising office and amenities, workshops for trucks, a safety ring road, and special facilities).

Construction

• Construction of all facilities to the 11-month fast track schedule
• Construction of one kilometre of reticulated fuel and oil lines from the main storage to the truck fuelling facilities of the ‘go line’ complex
• Double encasing of the fuel and oil lines to meet environmental requirements.

RESULTS

Wiley successfully overcame the challenges of a remote and difficult location to deliver the Century Mine site’s initial infrastructure on time and within budget.

A perfect example of the Wiley’s ability to design, construct and project manage projects from the ground up.