BHP Billiton – Blackwater Mine
- Owner: BHP Billiton
- Project: Coal Preparation, Storage and Reclaim Facility
- Location: Blackwater Mine, Bowen Basin, Australia
- Scope: Engineering, Procurement and Construction
Project Background
Feasibility study, engineering, procurement and construction of a 1,800 TPH coal preparation, storage and reclaim facility.
R&S completed a feasibility study for BMA for a new coal preparation plant at their Blackwater Mine. The results of this coal preparation plant study were combined with requirements for the coal handling and tendered on an EPC basis.
R&S Company in Joint Venture with Barclay Mowlem (now Laing O’Rourke) was awarded the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contract by BMA for the coal handing and coal preparation for the Blackwater Mine in Australia’s Bowen Basin.
R&S scope in particular included the design, procurement, and construction and commissioning of the coal handling system and the coal preparation plant.
- 2,200 tph material handling system
- 1,800 tph (2 x 900tph) CPP
- Heavy media cyclones (50mm x1.4ww)
- Spiral circuit (1.4ww x 0.3mm)
- Column Flotation Circuit ( 0.3 x 0) Microcells
- Disc Filter – fines dewatering
Coal is delivered by a variety of haul trucks (belly dumps, rear dumps or 8 triple side dumps) to either of 3 X 600-tonne ROM hoppers. Coal is fed from the ROM hoppers, via apron feeder through three stages of crushing where it is reduced from a maximum of 1200mm to 50mm x 0. A series of conveyors and transfer stations can direct the coal to circular storage and reclaim for the preparation plant feed = 60,000 tons, or direct bypass to product stockpile. ROM coal is reclaimed via a circular stacker reclaimer to the CPP. The product stockpile consist of 2 stockpiles of 225,000 tons each, and the coal is stacked via 2 X travelling stackers that are capable of stacking on either stockpile. Coal is reclaimed from the product stockpile via 2 off portal reclaimer to a batch weigh rail loadout station that is capable of loading 10,000 ton trains under 2 hours.