Project Management

When tasked with a major repair to one of their leaching tanks, personnel at Carpentaria Gold, Ravenswood enlisted the assistance of Orana Engineering to develop a solution that would allow process operations to continue whilst leaching tank TK102 was out of service. A site visit and discussions with the client suggested a bypass line be installed around TK102. By utilising site information, Orana Engineering designers were able to detail a new bypass line through the existing processing plant area. This involved minor modification of existing structural steel and addition of pipe supports for the new HDPE bypass pipeline. Bypass piping was successfully installed during normal operation with only tie-ins needing to be installed during a single shut down.

At Glencore’s Oaky No.1 underground coal mine, transportation of vast quantities of coal over long distances requires significant power. Often drive-head power is insufficient or constrained by allowable belt tension and an additional drive/power source is required to meet operating capacity. Additional power is commonly sourced from a driven conveyor tripper installed along the conveyor with appropriate excavation for the tripper. Using the client’s existing mine plan to position the new tripper chamber, Orana Engineering design drafting personnel worked with site engineers to assess required chamber dimensions while simultaneously minimising the excavation of material. Orana Engineering used AutoCAD to produce a drawing set detailing the mining required, and an overlay showing future equipment installations within the new chamber.

Engineers at Glencore’s Oaky No. 1 underground coal mine engaged Orana Engineering to determine civil work requirements to install tripper equipment on the MG32 longwall conveyor. On completion of chamber mining, finished surfaces (rib and floor) may require modification for the installation of conveyor tripper equipment. The civil design must determine concrete grades for drainage, safe access and reinforcing for conveyor equipment, while minimising trimming and concrete required. Manipulating “as-cut” survey data using AutoCAD, Orana Engineering design staff could accurately determine where tripper equipment could be installed with minimal trimming and concreting. A drawing set was produced detailing civil aspects of the tripper design, including chamber trimming, equipment mounting locations, configuration of reinforcing and relative concrete levels for drainage.

Orana Engineering was engaged by Glencore to design and install a detailed arrangement of tripper drives, brakes, pulley frame and load station for the MG32 conveyor at its Oaky No.1 underground coal mine. Mechanical design considerations included operating capabilities, unimpeded travel road access and minimum belt curves. The design was dependent on the civil installation previously detailed by Orana Engineering. Often equipment is simply re-located from previous installations with minor modifications. Orana Engineering has developed unique methods for completing this type of design efficiently and at reduced cost to our clients. AutoCAD was used to develop a mechanical design, from which a drawing set was produced that detailed out the mechanical aspects of the tripper installation

Mining millions of tonnes of material requires significant infrastructure and planning. Orana Engineering has been engaged on multiple occasions at Glencore’s Oaky No. 1 underground coal mine, to design new conveyor drivehead chambers to install equipment for longwall mining. Using the client’s existing mine plan, Orana Engineering design drafting personnel worked in tandem with engineers to assess required chamber locations and dimensions, with consideration to the size and orientation of equipment to be installed and minimising the material to be excavated. An AutoCAD drawing set was produced detailing the extent of mining required along with an overlay showing future equipment installations, enabling the client to efficiently complete chamber mining with a design suitable for future installations and minimal rework.

Engineers at Glencore’s Oaky No. 1 underground coal mine engaged Orana Engineering to determine civil work requirements to effectively utilise drive-head equipment in newly mined chambers for conveyor installations. On completion of chamber mining, finished surfaces (rib and floor) may require modification for installation of the conveyor drive-head equipment. The civil design must determine concrete grades for drainage, safe access and reinforcing for conveyor equipment, while minimising trimming and concrete required. Manipulating “as-cut” survey data using AutoCAD, Orana Engineering design staff could accurately determine where equipment might be installed with minimal trimming and concreting. A drawing set was produced detailing civil aspects of the conveyor design, including chamber trimming, equipment mounting locations, configuration of reinforcing and relative concrete levels.

Due to expanding operations, Oaky North underground operations saw benefit in having an underground workshop and refuelling stations to reduce vehicle travel times and increase efficiencies. Orana Engineering was engaged to provide concept design and estimating assistance for project approval. From communications with our client, Orana Engineering prepared concept general arrangement drawings for consideration. Based on these concept design drawings, a project capital estimate and project schedule were prepared for Oaky North underground operations. From the information presented by Orana Engineering, Oaky North could accurately consider whether the underground workshop was feasible, and ensure that appropriate budgets and project planning was completed at the concept design phase to improve confidence in the project prior to execution.

BHP Billiton Cannington Mine is a significant underground silver and lead mining operation in Western Queensland. Following completion of ore extraction from each stope, paste backfill is used to fill the open void and stabilise the area. This is achieved by constructing a fill wall which provides stability for areas being back filled, eliminates intrusion, and allows a higher density of back fill. Wall constructions kits supplied to Cannington contained no documentation detailing the kit components. BHP Billiton engaged Orana Engineering to confirm the components in these kits. Using measurements and sketches obtained from site, Orana Engineering design drafting personnel utilised AutoCAD to create a drawing set detailing the components required and fabrication details for each construction kit.

BHPB Cannington’s Port Storage Facility operates a water polishing plant for treatment of stored water. The system requires regular maintenance for replacement of plant filtration rods, however with maintenance ports inaccessible from the ground, work platforms had to be arranged. To simplify this task and improve safety, BHPB Cannington identified the need for a permanent access platform. Orana Engineering was engaged to design a platform that allowed easy access to the maintenance port, while ensuring access to existing services was not compromised. Orana Engineering utilised AutoDesk Inventor to model a platform that would not impact on the existing structure, services or access routes while ensuring safety for maintenance workers. Following model verification, shop detail fabrication drawings were produced.

Since 2005, Orana Engineering has provided 24/7 support for Oaky Creek Coal control systems. At the coal handling and preparation plant, a Yokogawa DCS installed in 1998, is used as the primary control system. With existing CentumCS Unix software no longer supported by Yokogawa, it was essential to complete an upgrade to the CentumCS3000 system. Orana Engineering developed conversion tools to allow configuration data to be extracted from the CentumCS Unix platform and imported into the CentumCS3000 environment. These tools provided efficiency and accuracy for the conversion and delivered a significant cost saving. The quality of conversion tools and simulation programs developed by Orana Engineering resulted in highly efficient site commissioning, completed without plant downtime.