REMOTE MINE SERVICES
activities can be performed within schedule and budget.
“ We truly appreciate Fortescue having selected us and are looking forward to our collaboration at Chichester Hub. Mammoet has long-standing experience servicing operational mining sites and refineries in Australia, Europe and Canada. We will be able to bring this experience to the table for Fortescue to ensure we deliver safely and promptly on all the maintenance and shutdown requirements,” said Wouter Mink- Mammoet Australia’ s MD.
The Chichester Hub is located in the heart of the Pilbara region in Australia and produces approximately 100 Mt / y of iron ore. Mammoet mobilised its first equipment and personnel in March 2017.
Finally, the Aurora Mine in Alberta, Canada is one of the largest combined oil sands mining and refinery facilities in the world. Mammoet was asked to relocate two of its process trains, which meant moving the complete trains from the bottom of an open mine to their new location at the top. The operation involved transporting loads in excess of 3,000 t over 2.5 km up a 6.4 % grade hill. Through the application of a range of tailor-made equipment and techniques, Mammoet completed the dangerous relocation without incident and five days ahead of schedule.
Bolloré makes sure new mines on schedule in West Africa
Burkina Faso’ s 10th mine officially began its construction phase in July 2016. Operated by Houndé Gold Operations, a subsidiary of the Canadian Endeavour Mining group, the Houndé site is one of the largest mining projects in West Africa. With a proven track record in supporting the mining sector in Africa, Bolloré Transport & Logistics was appointed to coordinate and manage the international transport, customs transit formalities and delivery of all of the mines’ construction equipment, through its subsidiaries Antrak Logistics Australia, Bolloré Transport & Logistics Ivory Coast and Bolloré Transport & Logistics Burkina Faso.
“ Houndé Gold Operations boasts an integrated door-to-door logistics solution made possible by the strong global presence of Bolloré Transport & Logistics and its extensive integrated logistics network. It was decided that the Group ' s local branch in Bobo-Dioulasso, which was less than 100 km from the mine site, be established as the project office. Ideally located within close proximity to Bobo-Inter, Customs and Cotecna ' s offices the decision to boost resources in Bobo Dioulasso proved to be a key factor for the groups’ appointment for the construction contract. The project team consists of six dedicated personnel, who are responsible for the clearance and delivery of goods to site. Bobo-
Dioulasso also allowed the project team to visit site for regular meetings with the client team and significantly reduced transport costs in the process, ensuring that operational deadlines and stringent KPIs were achieved.”
Bearing in mind that the ontime / on-budget principle is of paramount importance in the industry it is therefore a major milestone that the project to date is ahead of schedule. Up to mid- July 2017, Antrak Logistics has consigned 147 t of airfreight, 1,375 TEUs and 9,750 freight tons of project cargo for the Houndé Gold project, and all without any work accidents being reported.
Having established a close working relationship with both the EPCM contractors Lycopodium Minerals, and the project owners, Endeavour Mining on previous construction contracts, Bolloré Logistics and its subsidiaries“ were able to understand critical paths, extremely tight construction schedules and pre-empt seasonal influences affecting the availability of trucks during the country export season.”
In this case, Bolloré Transport & Logistics Ivory Coast was able to launch dedicated block trains through Sitarail, one of the Group ' s railway concessions, to transport containers via rail from Abidjan port to Bobo-Dioulasso Inter. So far, Sitarail has dispatched nine dedicated blocktrains each consisting of up to 50 TEUs per train.
“ Communication and pro-activity have been one of the key strategies which will ensure that the Houndé Gold Operation will meet the principals ' delivery schedule. Antrak Logistics & Bolloré Logistics are pleased to have been a contributor to this project.”
In another major contract, since May 1, 2016, Antrak Logistics Australia and SOGECO, the Mauritanian subsidiary of Bolloré Transport & Logistics, are responsible for providing global logistics services to Kinross Gold Corporation, the seventh largest gold mining company in the world, based in Toronto, Canada, for a three-year contract duration.
Since 2010, at the Tasiast mine site, the Canadian multinational has operated an open-pit mine located 300 km north-east of Nouakchott. With its state-of-the-art facility, this significant employment generator can process up to 8,000 t of ore daily and makes a substantial contribution to the country ' s economic development.
The primary-contract sponsor, Antrak Logistics Australia, has been awarded the global international freight forwarding services of the Tasiast project. Antrak Logistics Australia is a Bolloré Transport & Logistics subsidiary, dedicated to the mining industry, and is specialised in handling international freight
Antrak Logistics Australia and SOGECO, the Mauritanian subsidiary of Bolloré Transport & Logistics, are responsible for providing global logistics services to Kinross Gold Corporation for its Tasiast gold mine
forwarding and mining project management.
Antrak Logistics is in charge of shipping the equipment from hubs in Perth, Paris, Antwerp and Las Palmas and also manages storage, preshipment inspections as well as road transport to the designated ports / airports of loading. Antrak Logistics, in coordination with SOGECO, ensures that all prerequisites and formalities to adequately plan OGG shipments are met.
On-shore, SOGECO organises the unloading, manages the customs clearance process and coordinates the final road transport and delivery of the equipment for the extension of the mine –‘ Tasiast Optimisation Project( TOP).’
“ This challenging mining project requires both a swift coordination of our global teams as well as specific transport equipment for the special OOG road freight such as dump trucks and stators weighing over 100 t; it also involves taking routes across the Mauritanian desert that are not easily accessible and often not tarmacked.”
An experienced team of 70 SOGECO employees, including 12 employees on site, coordinates all on-shore activities.
ALE transports stacker reclaimers to RBCT
UK-based global heavy lifting specialist ALE has successfully transported 30 components making up two new Sandvik bucket wheel stacker reclaimers inside Richards Bay Coal Terminal, South Africa in June 2017. The components weighed between 16-139 t and ranged in dimensions, with the widest measuring 10 m, the highest measuring 18.9 m and the longest measuring 63 m.
ALE received the components with the ship’ s gear at Richards Bay Coal Terminal and transported them 1.2 km to the laydown area using 28 axle lines of SPT in a configuration of 4 file 14. The lighter components were staged at the quay and loaded with a reach stacker or mobile crane onto eight axle lines of conventional trailer.
There were two heavylift items, the tripper car
14 International Mining | SEPTEMBER 2017