Mining contractors WorleyParsonsTWP and Stefanutti Stocks have handed over a medium- and long-term haul truck maintenance facility valued at more than R1billion last month to iron-ore producer Kumba Iron Ore, a business unit of mining major Anglo American.

The 8 700 m2 life-of-mine (LoM) facility was built at the Sishen mine, in Kathu, in the Northern Cape, to correctly, safely and efficiently maintain the mine’s extensive fleet of ultra-class mining equipment, such as the Komatsu 860E and 960E range of haul trucks, which were previously serviced outside the workshop using mobile cranes, where exposure to the elements was a factor.

Kumba Iron Ore manager of projects Rocco Adendorff says the facility aims to improve the haul truck fleet availability from the current 88%, while also increasing the haul truck fleet from 75 to 156 units, as well as the size and load-carrying capacity of the haul trucks.

The new 28 m × 52 m and 28-m-high building has a total floor size of 8 758.6 m2, comprising the 7 600 m2 workshop, which features 16 working bays of 416 m2, an administrative building with 20 offices, six workshop offices, eight workshop storage areas and a waiting area.

The workshop has two overhead cranes on either side of the facility, including one 60 t and three 30 t cranes.

The project took two years of planning and 17 months to build, says Adendorff, adding that the facility is expected to cater to the needs of the mine for the next 15 to 20 years before needing to be replaced.

The establishment of the LoM maintenance facility was undertaken after a review, conducted in 2010, revealed that the maintenance facilities and outside storage capacity were insufficient for current equipment needs.

In line with this finding and the company’s strategy to optimise the value of the operation by increasing its stripping ratio and exploiting deeper reserves, the company embarked on the maintenance facility project, Sishen mine GM Johan van Schalkwyk said at the handover ceremony last month.

A Sishen ramp-up strategy, which aims to provide the necessary infrastructure and resources, was subsequently developed and a portfolio of projects, including the establishment of the haul truck maintenance facility, was launched.

The strategy was launched to ensure that the mine was appropriately resourced and equipped with new equipment and infrastructure to successfully achieve its production plans and requirements.

The new permanent medium- and long-term haul truck maintenance facility was established to replace an existing temporary bucket and bowl workshop, which was established at the mine in mid-2012 and was the first major infrastructure project in terms of the ramp-up of Sishen.

The 2 000 m2 workshop, which has four undercover bays and six apron bays outside, will now be used as an earthmoving bucket and bowl-repair and welding facility, says Kumba senior project manager Lourens Mostert.

Also part of the maintenance complex at Sishen is a 28 600 m2 tyre storage yard, with the capacity to store up to 300 tyres; a tyre workshop, with a 450 t tyre press; and a manual wash bay with four bays, three water delivery pumps and 24 washing guns.

The complex also features a 16 900 m3 pollution control dam; a lubrication facility, with transmission, engine, hydraulic and waste oil; a water systems area, with service, fire, drinking and rainwater storage; a sewerage system; an electrical laydown area; a contractors camp; and haul, gravel and asphalt roads throughout the complex.

Adendorff boasted at the handover that the project was successfully completed ahead of schedule, within budget and with a ‘world-class’ safety record.

There were no lost-time injuries (LTIs) during the course of this project, with 540 LTI-free days recorded and just below two-million LTI-free work hours achieved.

Meanwhile, 540 zero-harm days and an LTI frequency rate of 0.06 were achieved, which is testament to the emphasis Kumba and the Sishen leadership team place on zero harm.

This safety record was achieved through several safety initiatives, including incentives and safety awareness campaigns using visual and printed media.

Visible felt leadership also played a role in the way in which management contributed to the safety programme.

WorleyParsonsTWP CEO Digby Glover says, while the project team faced challenges, including wind and dust storms, brownfield interface challenges and labour-related challenges, the project successfully delivered on its mandate to provide a safe and controlled environment for efficient maintenance and additional capacity to maintain ultra-class mining equipment, as well as to significantly reduce space constraints.

Former Sishen mine GM Andrew Loots, who is also the head of the steering committee, says the new facility is aligned with the LoM plan for the operation, which will continue until the final block of ore has been extracted.

“The new contractor-built and -maintained facilities will drive efficiencies at the operation, as they provide additional maintenance capacity for the existing haul-truck and tyre-handling workshops. This project has also helped to create several new jobs.

“We are confident that these new facilities will cater for the additional service demands, which will add to the mine’s sustainability and productivity,” he states.