instalec-group

Specialist High Voltage mining industry people resources

justine@captovate.com.au (Justine David) — Tue, 29 Aug 2023 01:20:37 GMT

Client

Mining sites in Australia’s Northern Territory and surrounding regions

Context and Scope

At Instalec Group we are a team of experienced operators , including licensed electricians, with substantial infield and onsite High Voltage electrical experience in the mining, oil, and gas industry in Australia.

Through this industry experience and knowledge of mining site High Voltage electrical infrastructure, our team is versatile and will approach any challenge in line with our business values of trust, integrity, flexibility, understanding and teamwork . This approach allows us to bring our High Voltage mining industry expertise into a range of roles to support our clients’ needs.

We have successfully helped clients with specialist resourcing and expertise via secondments, consulting, and people resourcing arrangements.

Project Overview

On this project, our High Voltage Electrical Engineer was seconded into an electrical superintendent role at Ranger Mine for Energy Resources of Australia. During this role they provided infrastructure knowledge and technical expertise for design and specification development for a range of projects. This leads to more efficient delivery through constructability input, accurate material take-offs and refined scope of works. Thus, ensuring projects can be completed within timeframes, minimising installation interfaces issues with other infrastructure, reducing scope changes and cost variations for our clients.

Over at South32 for Groote Eylandt Mining Company (GEMCO) our electricians have delivered planned/preventative maintenance and capital works . With their comprehensive understanding of mining sites and the plants electrical infrastructure including isolations and operational site procedures, they have also been able to backfill GEMCO operational roles to help cover vacancies and leave commitments.

Likewise, our team has provided people resources for general electrical works at Newmont Tanami for shutdowns.

Safety and Technical Excellence

Our team has the expertise, assets, and site intellectual property knowledge to assist major capital project scope and development in the early stages of design – such as for Hatch and Worley (both global engineering consultants) for a range of projects across the Ranger Mine. This ensures constructability, installation and maintenance aspects are incorporated into the design and scope, which improves safety in operations, installation efficiencies and maintenance outcomes in the final product.

More recently our Operations Manager and Electrical Engineer travelled to Adelaide in South Australia, to undertake a factory test of the Osmoflo Brine Squeezer (OBS) technology . The OBS upgrade at Ranger Mine will double the size of the water treatment plant, assisting with site rehabilitation and the eventual mine closure.

The factory test refines the manufacturing of the equipment. This ensures the installation will be compliant to mining industry standards, Australian Electrical Standards, and ERA/Rio Tinto site standards.

In summary

Our team uses their expertise and experience of the mining site to inspect and test the equipment in the factory . They create a punch list for rectification and provide the manufacturer with advice that avoids unnecessary rework on site. Importantly it means the installation meets critical electrical safety standards and manages operational interfaces ensuring the plant can be commissioned and safely operated as intended.

High Voltage infrastructure construction and installation

justine@captovate.com.au (Justine David) — Tue, 29 Aug 2023 01:20:35 GMT

Client

Energy Resources of Australia (ERA)

ERA is part of the Rio Tinto Group, and this project saw us work on site with

operational teams from ERA and engineering consultants Worley.

Context and scope

The team at Instalec Group have delivered a significant number of specialist High Voltage construction and installation projects . This has included the Brine Concentrator (BC3) Fan upgrade which was completed over nine months in 2019-2020 and cost approximately $3M to deliver.

The BC3 Fan upgrade was a key water treatment system upgrade project as part of the pre-works for the rehabilitation program at Ranger Mine for Energy Resources of Australia. The Brine Concentrator is a critical asset as it is the biggest water treatment plant on site. This was a brownfield project with the intent to increase the Brine Concentrator capacity by 20% by upgrading the third train of the Brine Concentrator.

Project overview

The upgrade project required the Instalec Group team to:

Work with the Worley engineering team, in the design phase on constructability aspects of the upgrade and how to integrate the installation into existing infrastructure.
Procure cable, support systems, cable trays, conduits and all materials and equipment required.
Install High Voltage 11kV supply and 6.6kV vapour compression fan motor.
Install substation, undertake civil works between power station and support rack.
Install various heat exchangers, upgrade various pumps, transformers, and the switch room.
Install associated Electrical, Instrumentation and Control infrastructure and communication (fibre optics) assets.
Testing and commissioning of all equipment and instrumentation, including High Voltage testing, and Low Voltage instrumentation, control, and communication infrastructure.
Handover package which included inspection and test reports (ITRs), as-constructed plans, and master data register for the project.

Operational complexity

To successfully deliver the upgrade, our team mapped out the stages of project delivery, managed procurement, and provided the people and equipment resources to complete the works to the required milestones, ERA site standards and Australian Electrical Standards. Our team applied their comprehensive understanding of mining High Voltage infrastructure including High Voltage isolations and operational site procedures. This means we could shut down parts of plant whilst in operation so that there was minimal impact on water treatment output and critical time frames could be met .

The project was delivered in six phases including:

Pre-works with the procurement of materials and mobilisation to site.
Pre-shutdown Electrical and Instrumentation Construction works.
Shutdown 1 with isolations/de-commissioning of existing equipment for disconnection.
Shutdown 2 of the entire Brine Concentrator facility for final tie-ins, installation of required equipment, associated works, testing and commissioning.
Post Completion with defects/punch listing, test documentation, redline drawings and Product Data Sheet/manuals.
End of construction commissioning to assist site engineers in bringing the plant into operation and provide ongoing technical support.

In summary

Our specialist High Voltage Electricians and Supervisors managed the interface of the upgrade with the ERA operational and mechanical teams . The unique service Instalec Group provides to such projects is that electrically we can offer all electrical life cycle aspects and technical trades in house. From High Voltage electrical switching and isolations which requires specialist qualifications, experience and switching procedures, to our High Voltage diagnostics, testing and commissioning.

Ranger Mine Rehabilitation Project

emeline@captovate.com.au (Emeline Laurent) — Fri, 11 Aug 2023 04:24:04 GMT

Client

Energy Resources of Australia (ERA)

ERA is part of the Rio Tinto Group, and this project sees us work on site with operational teams from ERA, Veolia, and Bechtel.

Instalec Group has an established and experienced team working on the Energy Resources of Australia (ERA) Rehabilitation Project at Ranger Mine. Located near the remote community of Jabiru in the Northern Territory, this is one of the biggest mining closure sites in the world.

Environmental Context and Scope

Adjacent to World and National Heritage sites and Aboriginal land, the mine is subject to some of the world’s strictest environmental protection regulations. From an electrical services perspective, we undertake construction and installation projects on the mine’s infrastructure that help convert contaminated wastewater to water suitable for environmental release. This forms part of the rehabilitation activities being undertaken by ERA.

Project Overview

The project requires the Instalec Group team to undertake the supply, installation, commissioning, testing and maintenance of a range of electrical assets (High Voltage, Low Voltage, Extra Low Voltage), and electrical instrumentation and control systems. A broad range of assets are involved, from electrical supply feeds, water treatment plants, tailings transfer systems, power generators, flow metres, pumping system installations and refurbishments to motor installations, brine concentrator plant upgrades and the electrical aspects of the Osmoflo Brine Squeezer (OBS). Associated with these projects are minor civil construction, refrigeration, building refurbishment and management of fabrication works. Projects delivered by Instalec Group range in cost from $10,000 to $5M.

Safety and Technical Excellence

Our team is responsible for identifying hazards, ensuring isolations and controls are in place to manage safety and technical risks, testing and commissioning to ensure assets are operational, and identifying improvement works .

The team at Instalec Group (and previously as JLB Contracting) have provided project, maintenance and installation work under a specialist services and multidisciplinary maintenance contract at Ranger Mine since 2012. As a result, our team has an in-depth knowledge of the mine’s infrastructure and familiarity with ERA/Rio Tinto systems . This can include health and safety work procedures, cardinal site safety rules, permits and isolation requirements along with project documentation requirements, including Inspection and Test Reports (ITRs) for a range of assets on site.

Operational Complexity

Being an active production site whilst undergoing decommissioning and rehabilitation adds complexity. Our team works closely with the site operators to manage mining specific risks and technical challenges. This means we aim to keep the plant running whilst work is done . We map out the timing of stages and develop work methodologies to safely deliver the work within required shutdown windows and effectively control hazards so that the assets can be online and treating wastewater as intended.

Our overriding priority is ensuring everyone goes home safely, every day . On this project we apply our expertise, technical capability, safe work methodologies, qualifications, training, inductions, and safety equipment to ensure we can implement and deliver on what we say we will do.

We have a proven track record in the safe delivery of works at Ranger Mine hazardous areas, managing the risks and technical challenges presented by the operational context and interfaces of mining operations. Our team consistently receives positive feedback from ERA Project Managers and Electrical Superintendents for safe and productive work.

Community Commitment

Our team travels to this remote location and rotates through rosters whilst living on site. This means we can effectively and efficiently plan with the operators on site the construction and installation projects to hit key milestones and outcomes for the rehabilitation of Ranger Mine.

We also undertake minor civil construction, refrigeration, and management of fabrication works to complement the specialist electrical services we provide at Ranger. This sees our team operating our excavators or hydro excavation/vacuum truck to dig trenches to lay electrical and fibre optic cable around existing infrastructure. We also construct buildings, such as the Tailings Storage Facility, that protect assets from the weather and unauthorised access which is important given the hazard High Voltage electricity presents.

The carpenters and trades assistants in our team are also helping deliver the Jabiru Housing Rectification Package of works . This building refurbishment program includes air conditioner installations, kitchens, bathrooms, cabinetry, tiling and plastering. These works see mine industry workforce housing that is no longer required, refurbished for transition to Jabiru Kabolkmakmen. This facilitates social and economic development for Jabiru, Kakadu, and West Arnhem communities. Our team is proud to play a part in creating this positive legacy for the local community .