Iron ore production is an extremely important industry in Australia as it provides opportunities for international exportation and valuable usage within the country. One of the leading iron ore producers is Fortescue Metals Group that's established itself as a world supplier of iron ore and sea-borne trading. They have holdings that exceed 85,000 km2 in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, which makes it the largest tenements in the state. With that said, Fortescue is less than a decade old and needed a reliable engineering services company to commission and oversee the development of the iron ore processing infrastructure.
UGL Limited was contracted by Fortescue to develop and construct the initial workings of their flagship mine operation site named Cloudbreak. The project was originally commenced in early 2006 where UGL engineered the tail and port infrastructure and needed to deliver heavy haul locomotives to handle their desired output needs. The project set high and new benchmarks for the industry as it was of a large and ambitious goal but UGL was able to achieve their needs within a two year timeframe.
Delivering Assets & Infrastructure
UGL has a team of highly experienced and talented engineers that delivered 3D computer detailing and modeling to formulate an efficient and safe mining site that included animated fly through views for the creation of mining conveyors and transfer stations. Since all mining companies in the Pilbara area experience labor shortages and accommodation restrictions, some operations may be constrained, so with that in mind, UGL was able to design modular solutions that were to be pre-assembled in Perth. This allowed the pre-assembled major structural works to arrive on-site and ready to be places onto their foundations – speeding up construction time and increasing site startup efficiency.
Additionally, UGL provided modeling assistance to WorleyParsons who was a part of the T155 phase of the project. This lead to the fast tracking of the design process for the modeling of trusses, low level modules, trestles, transfer stations and chutes. And through UGL's end-to-end comprehensive delivery model and a partnership with GE Transportation, Fortescue's Cloudbreak site was supplied with 15 high performance heavy hauling GE Dash 9 locomotives.
The Benefits
With the contracting of UGL, the Cloudbreak iron ore production site was able to begin operations within 2 years of commencement. This allowed for the project to efficiently get underway in a relatively short amount of time with the amount of goals that were set in place and it reduced overall costs by speeding up the process. Within the first year of operation, the site was able to achieve a rate of 35 million tonnes per annum and by four years, it was hauling more than 116 million tonnes of iron ore. By April 2010, Fortescue was recognized for being the heaviest head end power railways in the world due to their high performing locomotives and impressive hauls.
UGL Limited was contracted by Fortescue to develop and construct the initial workings of their flagship mine operation site named Cloudbreak. The project was originally commenced in early 2006 where UGL engineered the tail and port infrastructure and needed to deliver heavy haul locomotives to handle their desired output needs. The project set high and new benchmarks for the industry as it was of a large and ambitious goal but UGL was able to achieve their needs within a two year timeframe.
Delivering Assets & Infrastructure
UGL has a team of highly experienced and talented engineers that delivered 3D computer detailing and modeling to formulate an efficient and safe mining site that included animated fly through views for the creation of mining conveyors and transfer stations. Since all mining companies in the Pilbara area experience labor shortages and accommodation restrictions, some operations may be constrained, so with that in mind, UGL was able to design modular solutions that were to be pre-assembled in Perth. This allowed the pre-assembled major structural works to arrive on-site and ready to be places onto their foundations – speeding up construction time and increasing site startup efficiency.
Additionally, UGL provided modeling assistance to WorleyParsons who was a part of the T155 phase of the project. This lead to the fast tracking of the design process for the modeling of trusses, low level modules, trestles, transfer stations and chutes. And through UGL's end-to-end comprehensive delivery model and a partnership with GE Transportation, Fortescue's Cloudbreak site was supplied with 15 high performance heavy hauling GE Dash 9 locomotives.
The Benefits
With the contracting of UGL, the Cloudbreak iron ore production site was able to begin operations within 2 years of commencement. This allowed for the project to efficiently get underway in a relatively short amount of time with the amount of goals that were set in place and it reduced overall costs by speeding up the process. Within the first year of operation, the site was able to achieve a rate of 35 million tonnes per annum and by four years, it was hauling more than 116 million tonnes of iron ore. By April 2010, Fortescue was recognized for being the heaviest head end power railways in the world due to their high performing locomotives and impressive hauls.