MINING EPCM
WSP has been fully integrated into the Jimblebar iron ore beneficiation project , in Western Australia , from prefeasibility contractors because they worry about providing an unfair advantage during procurement ,” he said . “ However , in our experience , this fear is unfounded and far outweighed by the benefits .”
Some mining companies are now building on these themes of collaboration and integration as they look to develop a project delivery ecosystem comprising in-house project delivery teams , multi-disciplinary consultants and contractors . Australia is leading the way here , with Chapman , based in WSP ’ s Perth office , “ often hearing the word ‘ partnership ’ from clients , who want to work with a single team from study to construction .”
It ’ s an approach BHP took at the Jimblebar iron ore beneficiation project , in Western Australia , where WSP has been fully integrated into the project from prefeasibility . This project involves the delivery of the first major wet processing facility for BHP ’ s Western Australian Iron Ore Operations in four decades .
On a related theme , both Chapman and Dutrisac noted growing interest among mining clients in alternatives to the traditional EPCM model , with Australia again appearing more progressive .
WSP says involving a cross-disciplinary team early can provide the best shot at navigating the complex path to production as smoothly and efficiently as possible . What that looks like for a specific project will “ vary depending on the abovementioned factors ”, Dutrisac concluded , “ but adopting this collaborative philosophy will likely save costs and time throughout the project journey .”
Integration and innovation
Steve Rusk , Vice President of Mining , EPCM , for Stantec , has been noticing this same increase in integration across project teams .
“ Many mining consultants already see a high degree of integration , so it ’ s not necessarily new , but we are seeing a lot more of it ,” he said . “ Right now , it ’ s seen as a good practice to hacker … think of the consequences of that !”
Rusk says the talk of needing to innovate has recently translated into actual implementations , with more project teams working through how to apply innovations to make processes more efficient .
He shared two examples about innovation in mining to reinforce this observation .
“ Stantec recently developed a digital application that can decrease construction costs , reduce earthworks and increase the energy production of solar farms ,” he explained . “ While the tool , Stantec Beacon™ , was developed for solar farms , the same principle can also be used integrate project teams , but it ’ s going to become in the mining industry for reducing the amount of more necessary due to demographic trends and a earthmoving in construction projects . We ’ ve yet lack of people coming into the mining industry .” to see the tool used this way for mining , but this
Rusk says the sector is already seeing a lack of type of thinking is what innovation is all about .” qualified people to populate full owners ’ teams , Stantec also recently partnered with Removr to designer teams , construction teams , OEM teams , deliver what it says are innovative carbon capture etc , explaining , “ We ’ ll need to start seeing more solutions . This partnership sees Stantec provide OEMs in the rooms where EPCM decisions are industry knowledge like large-scale ventilation , made , and people who are doing the actual renewable energy , logistics for large-scale construction also being involved earlier on in the projects , site infrastructure and modularisation , planning .” as well as preassembly and preconstruction Such integration will help teams cover more of services for complex projects . The large-scale the bases in one working group , according to ventilation and large-scale project management Rusk , allowing for more innovations to be brought in early .
“ While team integration is happening , data integration is also a critical component to consider ,” he added . “ With how much data we have now , we need new data management tools and data security to keep up with the inundation of data . There ’ s a constant need to mature in data
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NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2024 | International Mining 41