Industrial Water PROJECT OVERVIEW The Sino iron ore project is the largest magnetite mining and processing operation under construction in Australia. The project is focused on delivering a world class magnetite iron ore development which will add value to the Western Australian economy. Once operating, the project will mine about 140 million tonnes each year and the processing plant will handle app roxima tely 80 million tonnes of material. UGL supported CITIC Pacific Mining in the delivery of a number of essential pieces of infrastructure for the project including a desalination plant. THE CHALLENGE The challenge for CITIC Pacific Mining was to find a supplier who could deliver a comprehensiv e mining infrastructure solution to provide a platform for its immediate and future growth objectives. CITIC Pacific Mining required an integrated solution from a desalination plant transmission lines to the construction of a complete power station. CITIC Pacific Mining recognised the essential need to construct a large scale desalination plant to provide process water for use in transporting iron ore slurry from the mine site to the out loading facility. For the plant to be successful, it would require sophisticated filtration technology to supply p rocess 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 plant for a resourc es project in Western Australia at a capacity of 140 megalitres per day, equivalent to the water contained in 56 Olympic-sized swimming pools. This was the world’s first d esalination plant of its size to be constructed from precast modular sub-elements which included: • 5,000 m 3 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 disciplines and our niche completions capability have been key to our engagement on this project. UGL was engaged in a number of capacities including the construction and commissioning of a 51 gigalitre desalination plant which has a similar capacity to Perth’s Seawater desalination plant. UGL’s scope of work in achieving this solution included construction services, and management of the site which included the responsibility of safety, quality and environmen t and industrial relations, commissioning and performance testing. UGL was also called upon for engineering solutions as required and the completion of plant manuals and quality assurance documentation.