Simberi gold plant expansion
- Project: Simberi gold plant expansion & infrastructure
- Client: Simberi Gold Company
- Sector: Mining & resources
Delivered by Fraser Osborn, now Fraser-Lever, the Simberi Gold project involved engineering across marine infrastructure, mineral processing and supporting services in Papua New Guinea. The work ranged from early feasibility engineering for wharf and berthing infrastructure through to EPCM delivery of a major expansion of the existing oxide gold treatment plant.
Project overview
Fraser-Lever’s involvement at Simberi Island extended across both early infrastructure planning and expansion of the operating gold treatment plant.
Early feasibility work included preliminary design and capital costing for marine infrastructure associated with the proposed island gold mine. This included a land-backed wharf for vessels up to 5,000 tonnes and berthing and service infrastructure for a proposed floating ore-treatment plant.
Fraser-Lever subsequently undertook the EPCM component of a major expansion of the existing oxide gold treatment plant. The expansion incorporated new materials handling and grinding infrastructure together with additional leaching, elution, electrowinning, tailings, utility and electrical systems.
Fraser-Lever’s role
Fraser-Lever’s early-stage marine infrastructure scope included:
- Preliminary wharf design and capital costing
- Land-backed wharf for vessels up to 5,000 tonnes
- Steel piles and steel-framed wharf structure
- Concrete wharf deck
- Provision for wharf loads up to 100 tonnes
- Preliminary design of berthing facilities
- Supporting infrastructure and power supply for a proposed floating ore-treatment plant
The subsequent plant-expansion EPCM scope included:
- New mine material-sizing plant
- Stockpile conveyor and large live stockpile
- Reclaim tunnel and apron feeder
- New grinding circuit
- SAG mill and SER unit
- Feed conveyor and cyclones
- Integration with the existing ball mill
- Two additional leach tanks
- Conversion of existing tanks to pulp tanks
- Carbon safety screen and tails box modifications
- Revised elution arrangement
- New pregnant-liquor tank
- Two additional electrowinning cells
- Tailings thickener
- Cyanide-destruction circuit
- Reagent-mixing facility
- High and low-pressure air systems
- Process and raw-water pumps
- Fire-protection system
- Electrical-system upgrade
- New motor control centres, transformers and low-voltage distribution
- Commissioning and performance testing
The engineering challenge
Development on Simberi Island required engineering across both supporting marine infrastructure and the mineral processing operation.
For the plant expansion, extensive new materials handling, processing, utility and electrical infrastructure needed to be integrated with the existing oxide gold treatment plant. The new grinding circuit also needed to retain the ability to use the existing ball mill in series when additional throughput was required.
Engineering in practice
The early feasibility work developed the marine infrastructure required to support the island operation. The proposed land-backed wharf used steel piles, a steel frame and concrete deck and was designed for vessels up to 5,000 tonnes and wharf loads up to 100 tonnes.
For the later plant expansion, the new materials handling arrangement incorporated a stockpile conveyor, live stockpile, reclaim tunnel and apron feeder feeding the new grinding circuit.
The grinding circuit incorporated a SAG mill, SER unit, feed conveyor and cyclones, with provision to operate the existing ball mill in series. Downstream modifications extended through leaching, elution, electrowinning and tailings management.
The electrical upgrade accommodated the new 11 kV SAG-mill drive, together with new motor control centres, transformers and low-voltage distribution, while retaining the same control system as the existing plant.
Project outcomes
The early engineering established preliminary designs and capital costs for the marine infrastructure associated with development of the island operation.
The subsequent EPCM expansion progressed through to commissioning and performance testing, integrating new materials handling, grinding, gold-recovery, tailings, utility and electrical systems with the existing treatment plant.
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