Fortescue’s Solomon Hub in the Hamersley Ranges is located 60km north of Tom Price and 120km to the west of their Chichester Hub. It comprises the Firetail and Kings Valley mines which together have a production capacity of 70 to 75mtpa.
In 2015 Primero was awarded the turnkey HME Maintenance Facility project comprising the EPC delivery of a three-bay workshop and associated diesel storage infrastructure.
SCOPE
The Solomon HME precinct project comprised three distinct separable portions including a HME workshop and two fuel facilities. A new three-bay workshop with 30T overhead travelling gantry crane provided additional floor space to allow the servicing of Fortescue’s mining fleet. The workshop design allowed for jacking of Komatsu 930E vehicles and full extension of the tray.
The Kings and Firetail fuel facilities are used for refuelling of both autonomous and manned heavy haul trucks. Fuel is stored in 110kL horizontal storage tanks with the ability to dispense filtered fuel at multiple refuelling points. The facilities are filled via pipeline to maintain diesel supply, with all fuel metered and reporting to a Banlaw fuel management system for reconciliation purposes.
Project delivery included concept approval, detailed design, procurement, installation and commissioning. By way of self-performance, Primero was able to offer additional value to the client which resulted in facilities much greater in scope and quality than originally planned.
Innovation though constructability, process improvement and industry leading safety in design also underpinned the successfully delivered, turn-key solution.