Flying Fish?

Non-process infrastructure (NPI) is a growth area for our business as our customers continue to invest in new and expanded mine sites and associated facilities. Historically, we have predominantly been awarded and worked on fixed plant maintenance contracts (work on the primary processing plant). Over the years, we have increased our capability in the NPI space (facilities and utilities that support the mine operations including camps, workshops, roads and power stations).  

At the end of last year, our team was engaged by Fortescue Metals Group (Fortescue) to work on their NPI panel on a three-year contract. This has brought many opportunities for us, one of which is the Flying Fish Project, which is Fortescue’s next major expansion project.This has created the opportunity for many NPI scopes such as refurbishing and expanding its camps prior to ongoing on-site facility construction and infrastructure modifications. 

Since then, we have completed the refurbishment of 348 camp rooms at Solomon Castle Camp, a huge achievement given each room requires slightly different upgrades as per the report provided. This can include anything from adjusting the layout of the room and modifying existing internal finishings such as associated plumbing, communications, electrical, air conditioning and other carpentry related fixings.  

Following completion of the refurbishment phase at Solomon site, our team relocated to Eliwana to complete the installation part of the project. This involved our team moving 100 rooms to Eliwana Kartajirri Village, which were transported to site via triple road trains from Solomon to Eliwana, around a two- and half-hour journey from one location to the other. 

At the new location, the team has designed an optimal layout for the 100-room camp including all associated earthworks and common in ground service trenches to prepare for the buildings. Post installing the buildings all key services ties ins, landscaping, walkways, verandas and commissioning are conducted. The project will reach practical completion later this year.  

Area Manager, Aidan O’Reilly, said he had been really pleased with the team's progress and looked forward to closing out the project soon.  

“The team has worked incredibly hard, making their way through a remarkable number of bespoke refurbishments,” he said.  

“Opportunities like this one are the perfect way to display the value a tier one contractor can add to a NPI project, professionally managing moving parts of a multi-disciplinary project, filtering the varying trades in and out as required. The focus is to continue performing, and through performance will bring a long-term partnership with our customer.”