North Kalgurli Mines Fimiston Leases Expansion
Client: North Kalgurli Mines Ltd
Location: Kalgoorlie, WA, Australia
Business Segment: Urban Solutions
Industry: Mining & Metals
Executive Summary
The Fimiston Project was part of the "Big Pit" development on the famous Golden Mile. We provided the overall project management along with a comprehensive scope of services.
The Fimiston expansion comprised three major capital projects: the Fimiston Mill, the Gidji Roaster and the Saline Water System.
We provided procurement, construction and commissioning management of all facilities, along with the design engineering of the saline water system.
Client's Challenge
The Fimiston Expansion project was sanctioned to allow the client to achieve a major reduction in operating costs and drive a corresponding increase in profits. The physical distance between the three construction sites, along with the remote location and harsh weather and environmental conditions, added to the project's complexity.
Fluor's Solution
Fimiston Mill
Located on the eastern edge of the Golden Mile, the main gold milling process plant included coarse ore crushing, fine ore crushing, screening, milling, flotation, filtration, tailings leach, carbon-in-pulp gold recovery and peripheral reagents, water management and tailings disposal systems.
Saline Water System
Saline process water was extracted from 15 bores in the Gidji Paleo Channel stretching 25 km northeast from the roaster site. The borefield delivered saline water to a holding dam at the roaster and a transfer system pumped the water 20 km to a storage dam at Fimiston.
Gidji Roaster
The satellite roaster plant, located 20 km north of Kalgoorlie, received gold concentrate filter cake by road transport from the Fimiston mill. It included a circulating fluid bed roaster, which calcined the concentrate to eliminate sulfur, calcine leach, carbon-in-pulp and peripheral reagents, water management and tailings disposal systems.
Loaded carbon from the leach circuit was transported back to Fimiston for elution and gold recovery. It was the first commercial gold circulating fluid bed roaster in the world. An identical second roaster unit was constructed at Gidji.
Conclusion
The Fimiston Expansion project was successfully commissioned with both the mills and roaster sites achieving their design throughput capacity. This enabled the client to achieve a major reduction in operating costs and a corresponding increase in profits.
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