BHP marks milestone in $130m upgrade at Olympic Dam operations in SA
A five-year upgrade of essential infrastructure at the Olympic Dam mining operations in SA has met a major milestone as it gears up for further maintenance works on site.
A $130m, five-year upgrade of BHP’s Olympic Dam refinery has hit a major milestone, improving stability and reliability of the remote SA copper-gold mining operation.
A new 95-tonne, electro-refinery crane is now being used to submerge 360kg copper anodes into the refinery’s 768 individual electrolytic cells, which extract the purified final copper product that Olympic Dam exports to global customers.
With dual lift capability and automatic laser positioning, the crane has the capacity to carry over 20 tonnes at a time, at a maximum travel speed of three metres per second, the company said.
The crane is a key element of the upgrade works that began with engineering plans in 2016 and started construction in 2018, creating 130 jobs during construction.
Pending works at the refinery include installing a new automated cathode stripping machine, which separates pure copper sheets from stainless steel cathode mother plates, refurbishing the anode preparation machine used to smooth the edges of the anodes to optimise surface contact within the refinery cells, and refurbishing the agitator tank that ensures gold and silver, which sink to the bottom of refinery cells during the electrolytic process, remain in liquid form to be recovered and turned into bullion.
“The new refinery crane will improve operational stability and reliability in our refinery, allowing us to operate more safely and efficiently, and support increased production volumes over the long term,” BHP Olympic Dam asset president Jennifer Purdie said.
She was appointed to the position in February this year.
“Copper cathode from Olympic Dam is sought-after for its quality and purity, and will be increasingly in demand as an essential product for global decarbonisation,” Ms Purdie said.
“This project shows BHP’s commitment to our long-term future in South Australia by continuing to make significant investments, creating local jobs and opportunities for regional businesses.”
Olympic Dam copper production increased by 25 per cent to 155,000 tonnes for the nine months to March 31, reflecting improved smelter performance and stability.
Quarterly production came in at 55,000 tonnes, the highest quarterly production rate in five years.
Guidance for the 2021 financial year remains unchanged at between 180,000 and 205,000 tonnes, with volumes expected to be in the upper half of the guidance range.
Production in the 2022 financial year is expected to be lower as a result of the major smelter maintenance campaign planned for this year.
Earlier this month, BHP’s maintenance contractor ASX-listed Boom Logistics said it had been awarded a new contract for the smelter works, which will start in August and be completed by November.
For global mining giant BHP, Olympic Dam has struggled with profitability in a portfolio of assets delivering strong returns.
In October last year, BHP shelved a $3.7bn Brownfields Expansion Project that would have increased production from the current capacity of 200,000 tonnes of copper per year to as much as 300,000 tonnes.
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