The copper, uranium, gold and silver wealth of Olympic Dam, discovered by Western Mining Corporation (WMC) geologists, brought one of Australia's largest mining/metallurgical projects into being. The original plant, built in the late 1980s, included a 4,500-ton-per-day underground mine, a concentrator, a hydrometallurgical plant to separate uranium yellowcake, a copper smelter and a refinery where gold and silver were recovered.

When WMC announced its plan to increase its refined copper output from 84,000 tons to 200,000 tons annually, it selected Fluor to handle much of the task.

For Fluor, this was an encore engagement. We had already worked with WMC at Olympic Dam, providing the original project's feasibility study, engineering, procurement and construction management for the hydrometallurgical plant, copper smelter and refinery, and the procurement and construction management for all surface processing facilities.

We also provided technical input to the concentrator and smelter design, as well as procurement and construction management for all metallurgical plants.

In two subsequent optimizations, we provided engineering services to increase copper output.