Construction activities are in full swing with more than 2,500 people working on site. Recent highlights include:
â— Power station construction is rapidly progressing with the installation of gas and steam turbine generators, heat recovery steam generators and the cooling tower. Construction has moved to height with the exhaust stacks standing at 30 metres above ground level. Austrian Energy & Environment Australia is managing construction work.
â— Excavation of the four crusher pocket slots in the mine pit is underway. The steelwork for the crushers is being pre-assembled in China and mechanical components are coming from Europe.
â— Civil works have started for the 51-gigalitre desalination plant and module fabrication is progressing well in China. The first major module is due to arrive early in the New Year.
â— The first of 12 grinding mills for the magnetite concentrator has been built in China by CITIC Pacific's sister company CITIC Heavy Industries, and mill foundations are under construction on site. Contracts will be awarded soon for other construction activities including the primary crushed stockpile and tailings storage facility.
â— North/South road and permanent causeway construction has progressed to enable the transport of the first two grinding mills from the port to their foundations at the concentrator area early in the New Year. Thiess and Georgiou are constructing the road and causeway.
â— Three accommodation villages are operational to house more than 1,800 people. More rooms are becoming available by the day. Construction of a fourth accommodation village by VDM has started and will become the permanent village for the project's long-term operations employees. This village will also temporarily house more than 1,100 construction employees.
â— The gas pipeline to feed the power station has been built by KT Pipelines and will soon receive gas through the Dampier-to-Bunbury natural gas pipeline.