EC Projects make headway

This year has flown by and, as we head into the second half, we can be proud of the impressive progress on several major Engineering and Construction projects with many now on the home stretch to completion.   

Liontown Resources Kathleen Valley lithium  

Construction of the wet plant at Kathleen Valley northwest of Kalgoorlie Western Australia is in full swing with a peak workforce of over 270 people onsite as we reach handover milestones. This is a major contract for integrated structural, mechanical, piping (SMP) and electrical and instrumentation (E&I) work.  

We recently handed over the Sag Mill to commissioning with the first systems going live.  

Our E&I team is well into the construction verification stage and are set for a strong finish.  

The next period will see increased commissioning activity, working with Liontown and their specialist vendors to bring the remainder of the plant on line and begin demobilisation.   

Lynas Rare Earths Mt Weld   

Works on the stage 1 SMP scope are nearing completion at Mt Weld near Laverton, Western Australia. The last of the heavy lifts has been completed with the installation of the overhead travelling crane into the filter press building. The building itself is taking its final shape. The piping, punchlist works and handover will be the team’s final focus before demobilisation from site.   

The team at Mt Weld continues to deliver in a similar fashion that they have done throughout the project, with safety and customer satisfaction at the forefront.  

Fortescue Christmas Creek   

We’re on the home stretch to complete the supply and construction of an overland conveyor and transfer station at the Fortescue’s Christmas Creek mine in the Pilbara, Western Australia. The scope included civil, structural, mechanical, piping, electrical and instrumentation works.  

The team are now finishing the commissioning and punchlisting, which introduces several additional hazards with power being introduced into the systems. Using a methodical energisation and commissioning process with vendors, the team has successfully achieved first ore which, is a huge milestone. We are confident of a safe, successful completion to the project.  

Talison CGP3   

Mobilised in late November 2023, the CGP3 project at Greenbushes is ramping up, with plenty of opportunities for people in the South West region of Western Australia. The scope encompasses structural steelwork installation, installing mechanical, electrical, and instrumentation equipment, and integrating essential piping systems.  

Lycopodium, the Engineering, Procurement & Construction Management partner, oversees the procurement of structural steel and mechanical components. Melchor, our civils business, manages ongoing earthworks and essential foundation works.   

The site recently received our first batch of ‘Plug and Play’ buildings.  We are trialling a generator-battery hybrid system on the office buildings, which is another step towards Monadelphous’ net zero target.  

Albemarle Kemerton Expansion Project   

This project in the south west of Western Australia has experienced an unprecedented shift due to the change in commodity price.  Monadelphous construction contracts at Kemerton include the front-end pyromet works associated with new lithium processing trains and the utilities and reagents scope. Monadelphous also recently signed an agreement with Albemarle to execute the hydromet. This provides an opportunity to work collaboratively with Albemarle to be the preferred contractor on the project to execute SMPE&I work in its entirety.  

We are working on the tailings and filtrations Train 3 and have agreed to maintain resources to execute this scope in 2024. Monadelphous recently mobilised the 300T heavy lift crawler crane to install the belt filters, switchrooms and mag filters.  

The project team are staying positive and continue to focus on the safety of our people and customer’s needs.  

Fortescue TUL Project   

We are working with Fortescue to expand the iron ore export capacity of their stockyard facility in Port Hedland, Western Australia by managing nine SMPEI shutdowns. We are also managing conveyor and shuttle extensions, chute replacements, install of a dual conveyor drive arrangement and strengthening existing transfer stations to support larger mechanical equipment. The workforce has fluctuated between 30 and 100 over the past seven months. Our E&I team at Port Hedland’s Anderson Point are in the final stages of construction for the new sample station. They will then move into the planning phase for a shutdown scheduled for July 2024.   

BHP Car Dumper 3 (CD3)   

The recommencement of the CD3 project in April marked a significant milestone, with the first shut down outage to commence at the end of May. The 1600t crane is now fully commissioned and ready for mobilisation. This heavy-lifting equipment is critical in mitigating risks associated with the ageing CD3 cell, significantly enhancing our operational capabilities.