Location
Pilbara, Western Australia
Client
Pilbara Minerals
Contact
BG&E Resources (BGER) has completed the detailed design of the Wet High-Intensity Magnetic Separation (WHIMS) Plant for Pilbara Minerals, which forms part of the P1000 Expansion Project (P1000 Project). We delivered multidisciplinary services spanning mechanical, structural, and electrical engineering.
Our team added significant value to the project spanning structural design, smart modelling of steelwork and piping, modularisation, and mechanical equipment layout and design. This included consolidating bypasses and overflows, simplifying the launder arrangement, and reducing quantities of valves.
We leveraged our experience – gained from delivering the detailed design for the Roy Hill Ultrafines Iron Recovery WHIMS 1.5 Expansion – to overcome unique challenges such as vibration minimization, access requirements, and modularisation.
The P1000 Project aims to increase total spodumene concentrate production capacity at the Pilgangoora Operation to up to 1 Mtpa. It involves a series of upgrades to the Pilgan Plant’s concentrator and a range of supporting infrastructure.
About the Pilgangoora Operation
The Pilgangoora Operation is located 120 km from Port Headland in Western Australia’s Pilbara region and is one of the world’s largest hard-rock lithium deposits.
The operation consists of two processing plants, the Pilgan Plant which produces ~360,000 to 380,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) of spodumene concentrate and the Ngungaju Plant which has a production capacity of 180,000 – 200,000 tpa.
Images: Pilgangoora Operation – Courtesy of Pilbara Minerals, copyright 2023
