Infrastructure capabilities. Cluroe comments:

“This includes building power plants,

transportation, camps, and all the things that

surround a project and maybe aren’t

considered ‘mining’, but are also vital to

getting things up and running successfully.”

Two key projects are Koniambo and

Esterhazy. The Koniambo Nickel project in New

Caledonia is a joint venture between Xstrata

Nickel and Société Minière du Sud Pacifique.

The greenfield site will see the development of

one of the world’s largest and highest-grade

nickel laterite deposits. Hatch is working as

part of a joint venture to construct a

metallurgical plant, coal-fired power station,

ore preparation plant, conveyors, a port and a

construction camp for nearly 5,000 workers.

Hatch is also working with Mosaic, the

world’s second largest potash producer, on

several projects in Saskatchewan. Hatch is

providing full EPCM services to complete the

K2 site expansion at the Esterhazy potash

operation, which includes ground freezing and

shaft sinking. It has already completed full

EPCM services for the K2 Compaction project

and is currently providing FEL-4 EPCM services

for expansions to the K1 and K2 mills.

For the Colonsay mine, Hatch completed

FEL-2 and FEL-3 studies, and is now applying

EPCM services to complete the expansion of

the potash mill. The mandate includes the

process plant, new main substation and all

other surface supporting facilities. Hatch also

developed a discrete-event simulation model to

determine optimal capital investments requiredin the material handling and storage systems in

the mine. Mosaic’s Belle Plaine mine is the

world’s first and largest potash-solution mine.

Hatch is providing EPCM services there for a

FEL-2 study of the Stage 2 expansion. The

scope includes upgrades for additional

processing capacity, product storage, loadout

facilities, surface infrastructure and utilities.

Finally, at Vale’s Onça Puma nickel project in

Brazil, which is considered by Vale to be the

benchmark for project safety in Brazil, Hatch,

in joint venture with its Brazilian project

partner, Progen, provided detailed engineering,

procurement assistance, construction and

management services through to

commissioning and start-up.

Technip

Technip’s contribution to the development and

implementation of projects is based on 50

years of research, development, engineering

design and plant construction experience.

Technip believes that its contribution addresses

the technical, financial and schedule challenges

of a project at all stages of the development.

The group typically provides its services in a

series of phases, which may be modified to

suit the complexity of process development

and to suit customer requirements.

Fields of activity include preliminary project

evaluation; scoping studies; preliminary and

bankable feasibility studies; third party due

diligence; process development; process

engineering and plant design; equipment

design, fabrication and construction; plant

construction assistance; plant precommissioning

assistance; personnel training;

plant start-up assistance; and continued

technical support such as optimisation studies

and process audits.

Technip also has specific experience in

dealing with a broad range of financing

instruments or structures which can be used to

fund a capital expenditure programme. Technip

usually provides financial engineering to help

clients to fund scope of works it is involved

with and states that it can be a key player in

making a project financing success issue.

Technip states that it focuses on the project

merits in order to optimise the financing

structure, and recommends to its clients the

financing institutions which can deliver a

global financing and handle successfully all the

facets of the financing.

Existing customers by commodity terms

include uranium, nickel, alumina, phosphate,

subsea-minerals and iron ore. Technip has been

and is involved in world class projects in

bauxite (Sangaredi and Bauxilum), nickel

(Koniambo and Weda Bay) and uranium

(Trekkopje, Imouraren), for the most part from

the implementation stage. Technip is also

recognised as a world leading contractor in

subsea mining with Nautilus Minerals, Neptune

Minerals and JOGMEC. Technip has entered

into a long-term partnership with Areva to

develop exclusively major mining projects

worldwide. To execute these projects, Technip

and SGN, Areva's engineering subsidiary

specialised in the nuclear fuel cycle, have

created a joint venture under the name TSU

Project.

Eramet has also awarded Technip a contract

for the engineering studies and the general

contracting services for a nickel laterite

treatment plant on the island of Halmahera, in

Indonesia. The contract covers the treatment

plant and associated infrastructures from PFS

to EPCM. Technip’s operating centers in Paris

(France), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) and Jakarta

(Indonesia) will execute this contract from early

studies until commissioning.

AMEC

AMEC states that it has a reputation and

experience base in projects with technically

challenging logistics and extreme design

conditions such as Arctic projects in gold, base

metals, diamonds, projects with difficult access

logistics, or one-off situations that require

unique problem solving and analysis. A key

focus growth area is underground EPCM. The

company told IM: “This is a natural extension

of our strong underground mine design

capabilities, coupled with our logistics and

planning skills, engineering design and

project/construction management.Technologically, we also have excellent depth

in materials handling expertise both as design

engineers and as design/supply contractors

through our wholly-owned subsidiary Terra

Nova Technologies.”

The Victor diamond project (approximately

C$1 billion capital cost) was completed for De

Beers in northern Canada and is an example of

AMEC’s front-end study capability transitioning

into EPCM, as well as its extreme climate,

remote site design and logistics capabilities, in

addition to environmental and socio-economic

assessment and permitting. The project is

located west of James Bay, and includes an

open-pit mine, 7,250 t/d diamond processing

plant, workshops, warehouses, offices, fuel

storage, pit dewatering systems,

accommodations complex and airstrip.

South America is a an important market,

and AMEC has more than 1,000 people in

Santiago, Chile, and more than 400 people in

its Lima, Peru and Belo Horizonte, Brazil

offices. Current EPCM projects include CAP

Mineria’s $575 million Cerro Negro Norte

project in Chile, a 27,000 t/d operation. When

completed, the mine will produce 4 Mt/y of

iron ore concentrate over a period of 19 years.

In the last three years, AMEC has been

awarded EPCM responsibility for six potash

projects, ranging from C$100 million to more

than C$1.5 billion in capital cost, and the

group is in the earlier study phases of several

more. The Picadilly potash project expansion

for PotashCorp is located in New Brunswick.

AMEC is in the early stages of EPCM services

for the mine and ancillaries associated with the

new 2 Mt/y underground potash mine and 1.2

Mt/y expansion of the nearby Sussex milling

operation.

AMEC has also been selected by Crazy

Horse Resources to act as study manager and

process plant consultant for the Taysan coppergold

project in the Philippines. This study

includes the provision of process plant scoping

level designs, costings and implementation

strategies over a six-month period and will be

executed in Australia with support from value

engineering centres in Asia, including the

Philippines. AMEC is also currently providing

engineering and procurement services for the

Ban Houaxyai gold-silver project in Laos for

PanAust, and is providing feasibility study

phase work at ArcelorMittal’s Western Range

iron ore project in Liberia. IM