$6million mine tailing contract awarded for Australian coal mine
A $6 million engineering, procurement and construction contract has been awarded to provide a tailings and dewatering facility at a coal mine in Queensland.
Stanwell Corp, a government-owned corporation and the largest electricity generator in Queensland, has awarded the major contract to Sedgman, a leading provider of mineral processing and associated infrastructure solutions to the global resources industry.
The contract will see Sedgman construct a tailing dewatering facility at the Meandu Mine coal handling and preparation plant in South Burnett region of Queensland.
Sedgman Managing Director Michael Carretta said: ‘New methods for handling and storing tailings are evolving worldwide, and Sedgman works actively with technology providers to improve the economics of these solutions.
‘Our expertise in this field means that we are able to deliver further value for our clients.’
The Meandu Mine
Located in South Burnett, the Meandu Mine is a coal mine that was first worked on back in 1978. Over the coming years, the mine was operated on by Rio Tinto, Tarong Energy and now Stanwell.
The mine has five working pits and is capable of supplying a local power station with up to 7 million tonnes of coal per year.
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The coal reserves originally showed a life of mine of around 25 years, but following significant studies and work, including a new excavator, a new mine plan and the tailings and dewatering facility, the Meandu Mine looks set to continue to provide coal for well beyond 25 years.
This is not the first involvement of Sedgman connected with the Meandu Mine. Back in 1986, Sedgman was involved in the design and commissioning of the original coal processing plant/
The existing tailings dam is approaching full capacity and Sedgman’s dewatering solution uses centrifuges to reduce the moisture content allowing Stanwell Corporation to dispose of the fine tailings with coarse plant reject.
Works as part of the contract are expected to be complete by November 2017.
