Mine Winder Upgrade

MINING & MINERALS | COBAR, NSW

Our Electrical and Engineering teams completed the electrical and control installation for the Men and Materials mine winder upgrade. The project was at a lead and zinc mine in Cobar, New South Wales.

In summary, the existing control system was no longer sustainable and did not comply with the current mine regulations. As such, the upgrade was responsible for installing a new control system that ensured the long-term functioning and viability of the plant while also ensuring its processes complied with laws and regulations.

Due to the nature of the site and plant operations, safety was a key priority when designing and installing the upgrade. To explain, we had to ensure the plant was safe to use by operations personnel while also making it safe for our team.

Overall, cost and performance targets were not only met but exceeded. For instance, our teams completed their scope in significantly less time than allowed. That is, within three days of actual downtime. This quick turnaround not only saved time but also imporved the bottom-line as loss of production time was minimsied.

Scope

  • Installation of the new control panels and interconnecting cabling.
  • Supply and fitting of the underground control panels and field devices.
  • Design and lay the fibre optic network.
  • The allocated time for the installation work was six (6) weeks while the mine was still fully operational.
  • Cutover and commissioning phases allocated time was only one (1) week which would also be a shutdown period.

Control systems

  • Allen-Bradley Logix 5000 & Logix input/output (I/O) modules.
  • Allen-Bradley Powerflex DC Drive.

Deliverables

  • Our teams completed their scope within three (3) days during the actual shutdown. As stated, this is significantly less than the allocated time. 
  • In addition, installation and cutover were ahead of time and on budget.
  • Overall, cost and performance targets were all met.