A mining and industrial services provider won a major contract for a Pilbara ‘killer’ project.
TAKRAF Group recently secured the primary tender for crushing and conveying systems at Rio Tinto’s $26 billion Simandou mine, 526km southeast of Conakry.
The successful bidder is responsible for designing, fabricating and delivering the following:
- a complex conveyor system with transfer stations including a technically sophisticated long downhill conveyor between the stockyard and secondary in pit secondary crushing and conveying system
- two primary in-pit crushing and conveying systems incorporating two TAKRAF X-TREME class sizers to crush extracted ore received by truck
- a secondary in pit secondary crushing and conveying system incorporating four TAKRAF sizers for further ore processing
- electrical and control equipment and stockyard auxiliaries
- two rail mounted reclaimers for ore reclaiming
- two rail mounted stackers for ore stockpiling
- two wagon loading stations with buffer silos.
When complete the crushing system will have a capacity of up to 13,200 tonnes per hour.
The same contractor previously received a technical assistance tender for installing and commissioning the system, as well as maintenance and spare parts supply.
The mine is home to one of the world’s “best undeveloped” mineral deposits. It is widely speculated to be resource-rich enough to devalue, compete against and possibly replace Western Australia’s Pilbara exports.
The project requires constructing a railway, associated infrastructure and both mine and port facilities before the end of 2024. On completion the operation will produce up to 150 million tonnes a year of “world class” product from a combined 2B tonnes at 65 per cent grade. It could also create an estimated 45,000 jobs.
Rio, the Simfer joint venture, Winning Consortium Simandou and Republic of Guinea earlier agreed to jointly build a 670km long railway line between the mine and domestic ports.
The decision was reached despite the longer, cross-country route costing more than US$800M (A$1.2B). Proponents had wanted to build a railway line to the nearest port in neighbouring Liberia. This shorter route would be covered in the original US$12B (A$17.7B) to US$20B (A$31B) infrastructure expenditure.
“We are proud to have been selected as important partners to this project and look forward to our engineered solutions delivering upon their promise,” TAKRAF CEO Thomas Jabs said in a public statement.
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