A nickel processing plant built in Africa by Osborne Park company Western Minerals Technology has won the top prize at Engineers Australia’s annual engineering excellence awards.
A nickel processing plant built in Africa by Osborne Park company Western Minerals Technology has won the top prize at Engineers Australia’s annual engineering excellence awards.
Listed mining company LionOre Mining International played a big part in the project.
It is the majority shareholder in both WMT, which developed the technology over the past six years, and Tati Nickel, which is commissioning the $15 million ($US10.5 million) demonstration plant at its Phoenix nickel mine in Botswana.
The innovative plant is designed to make nickel processing cheaper, safer and more environmentally friendly.
It bypasses the traditional smelting process in the production of nickel metal and therefore does not use acid, and operates at lower temperatures and pressures.
The project was judged the outstanding winner ahead of major resource and infrastructure projects worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
“The Tati project combined the challenges and skills of problem solving, creativity, invention, design and construction,” Engineers Australia director Rupert Grayston said.
“The judges agreed that this project, though small by comparison with some of the other award entries, was a worthy champion and representative of the engineering profession.”
WMT said the design of the demonstration plant was as complex as any full-scale venture and the project was equally complex to manage.
An innovative aspect of the Tati project was the decision to pre-assemble and test the plant in Perth and transport it in skid-mounted modules to Botswana.
This allowed the company to utilise expertise in Perth and save time.
Site installation began in Botswana in March 2004 and commissioning started just two months later.
LionOre’s latest report to the Australian Stock Exchange said commissioning of the plant was substantially completed in the June quarter.
It produced copper cathodes in July and is expected to produce nickel cathode during the current quarter.
WMT managing director Gary Johnson said the full handover to operating staff in Africa would be completed by the end of the year.
Future plans involved construction of a full-scale commercial plant at the Tati mine and conversion of the former Bulong laterite nickel plant, bought by LionOre earlier this year, to a sulphide nickel plant, he said.
Other successes at the engineering awards included Fluor Australia, which won two categories.
Its joint venture with Sinclair Knight Merz won the resources award for work on BHP Billiton’s $1 billion Area C mine and PACE port expansion projects in the Pilbara, while Fluor also won in the infrastructure and building category for its work on the Area C railway.
The Water Corporation also won two awards. It teamed up with John Holland and Burns Roe & Worley for the $30 million Subiaco wastewater treatment plant upgrade, and with Environmental Solutions International for the Dalyellup water treatment plant.
Engineering Awards
- Overall Winner: Western Minerals Technology – Tati Demonstration Plant.
- Resource Development: Fluor Australia and Sinclair Knight Merz – Area C and PACE expansion project.
- Infrastructure and Building (joint): Fluor Australia – Area C railroad.
- Infrastructure and Building (joint): BG&E, Dept of Housing and Works, Multiplex, Wood & Grieve, Vector Lifting – Australian Marine Complex common user facility.
- Products, Manufacturing & Control Systems: Matilda Products – Cable Gate.
- Environment: Water Corporation, John Holland, Burns Roe & Worley – Subiaco waste-water treatment plant upgrade.
- Engineering for Regional Communities: Environmental Solutions International, Water Corporation – Dalyellup Water Treatment Plant.
- Management of Engineering: City of Perth, GHD, Works Infrastructure – Lake Vasto.
- International Projects and Exports: Clough – Sawan Gas Field Development.
- Small Company Projects (joint): UWA Motorsport, Formula SAE racing car.
- Civic Award: Capital House Australasia, LotteryWest Federation walkway.
