Sino Water CaseStudy

Industrial Water

PROJECT OVERVIEW

The Sino iron ore project is the largestmagnetite mining and processing operationunder construction in Australia. The project isfocused on delivering a world class magnetiteiron ore development which will add valueto the Western Australian economy. Onceoperating, the project will mine about 140million tonnes each year and the processingplant will handle approximately 80 milliontonnes of material.

UGL supported CITIC Pacific Mining in thedelivery of a number of essential piecesof infrastructure for the project includinga desalination plant.

THE CHALLENGE

The challenge for CITIC Pacific Miningwas to find a supplier who could deliver acomprehensive mining infrastructure solutionto provide a platform for its immediateand future growth objectives. CITIC PacificMining required an integrated solution froma desalination plant transmission lines to theconstruction of a complete power station.

CITIC Pacific Mining recognised the essentialneed to construct a large scale desalinationplant to provide process water for use intransporting iron ore slurry from the minesite to the out loading facility. For the plant tobe successful, it would require sophisticatedfiltration technology to supply process water

Contract Value:

$130 Million

Project Duration:

Designed:2009

Built:2010/2011

Commissioning:2011/2012

Location:

Cape Preston,Western Australia

CASE STUDY:SINO IRON ORE DESALINATION PLANT FOR CITIC PACIFIC MINING

The first large desalination plantfor a resources project in Western Australia

at a capacity of 140 megalitres per day,equivalent to the water contained in56 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

This was the world’s first desalination plantof its size to be constructed from precastmodular sub-elements which included:

• 5,000 m3 of concrete

• 3.5 km of underground piping

• 60,000 man hours

• The installation of 450 precast elements

THE SOLUTION

UGL’s in-house engineering resources,expertise across multiple technical disciplinesand our niche completions capability havebeen key to our engagement on this project.

UGL was engaged in a number of capacitiesincluding the construction and commissioningof a 51 gigalitre desalination plant whichhas a similar capacity to Perth’s Seawaterdesalination plant.

UGL’s scope of work in achieving thissolution included construction services,and management of the site which includedthe responsibility of safety, quality andenvironment and industrial relations,commissioning and performance testing.UGL was also called upon for engineeringsolutions as required and the completionof plant manuals and quality assurancedocumentation.

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UGL also constructed the desalination plant concretefoundations, designed and built an operations workshopand installed underground Glass-fibre Reinforced Plastic(GRP) pipes.

KEY OUTCOMES AND BENEFITS

UGL’s step-by-step collaborative approach to the projectgave certainty in achieving the necessary outcomes.

The project demonstrated UGL’s ability to successfullydeliver a project in this remote region, overcomingcomplex mechanical, electrical, instrumentation andcontrol challenges. UGL’s project team transferred valuableknowledge and lessons learnt while constructing the plantto the operations team.

UGL’s extensive experience enabled the project toovercome key environmental challenges through successfulhydrocarbon, chemical and waste management within thebounds of a highly sensitive marine environment known forits biodiversity.

Our strong history of delivering complex mining projectsthrough the utilisation of our fabrication, construction andelectrical capabilities together with our project managementexperience has put the Sino iron ore project on track for itsfirst shipment of iron ore.