Inspire - Amazon Web Services

Issue 05 | November 2012
CEO message
People and
progress
Ingenious
solutions
Collaborate,
inspire, learn
News from around
our teams
Read how we’ve
overcome challenges
with new solutions
Read about the new
Technical Centre
A message from the CEO
Are you
travel–ready?
To help stay safe and healthy, follow these
simple tips whenever you travel.
Be informed
Be ready
Be smart
• Learn about travel health and
security risks, and how to avoid
them before you leave. Log onto
the International SOS portal
(link on the HSEC Hub) for a
pre-travel briefing specific to
your location.
• Get any required vaccinations
or medicines in advance. If you
need any vaccinations, make
an appointment with the travel
doctor or your family physician
at least six weeks before your
departure date.
• Prepare or obtain a complete
travel itinerary. This should
include the names of the cities
you will be visiting, how long you
will be staying in each city, and
the types of activities you have
planned. Some activities may
alter the level of health risks
associated with a location.
• Consult your physician if you
have any existing medical
conditions that may require
special precautions and/or
if you are taking prescription
medications that may need to
be refilled.
• Carry your International SOS
membership card at all times
and download the International
SOS membership app in case of
emergencies. The app gives you
access to medical and security
alerts, country guides and a
one-click dial for help from one
of SOS’ 27 assistance centres.
• Get an up-to-date record of your
immunisations. Some countries
have immunisation entry
requirements.
• Carry a first-aid kit with the
essentials to treat basic
conditions such as traveller’s
diarrhoea, insect bites,
dehydration, cold-like symptoms
and small cuts and bruises.
• Contact an SOS 24-hour
assistance centre for advice
or assistance if required on
your trip. A complete list of
International SOS worldwide
assistance centres is available
on www.internationalsos.com
• Make a copy of all important
documents such as your
insurance policy, passport photo
page and medical records, and
place them in a safe place in
case you need someone at home
to access this information.
Plans on track for 2013
In October and November I had the privilege of visiting a number of our offices
in North and South America, meeting with a number of you in each location and
spending quality time with members of our management teams.
While I have visited our
offices before, I am always
inspired by these visits and
the opportunities to talk to
people on their home ground.
One of the reasons for my
visit to Santiago was for the
Ausenco Board meeting.
The visit was a great success
and I would like to thank Dave
Lawson and all members of
the team in Santiago for their
hospitality. There is no doubt
that our Board members were
impressed not only by the
work being done by our teams
in Santiago and other parts
of South America, but also by
your genuine enthusiasm
for Ausenco and the future.
Our South American offices,
particularly Santiago, Belo
Horizonte, Argentina and the
Minerals & Metals team in
Lima have grown significantly
over the past 12 months, and
importantly, the services, type
and size of projects these
teams are working on have
also increased.
The other main reason for
my trip was to spend quality
time with members of the
management teams. Over a
day and a half in Vancouver
and also in Santiago, we talked
about the corporate strategy
and its direction, some of
our challenges, and how the
leadership group can help
drive the achievement of our
goals over the next three years.
A similar workshop is planned
for Australia.
Over the past month I have
also spent time with each of
our Presidents workshopping
their business line plans for
2013. It is fair to say that each
of the business lines has set
themselves challenging, but
achievable goals for next year.
If we are able to deliver on these
plans, it should be an exciting
time of growth.
Our strategy alone, however,
will only continue to be
successful with your help.
It is all of us who need to
continue doing great work for
our clients; generating repeat
work for existing clients by
developing close, productive
relationships; developing and
marketing a broad range of
services; and focusing on HSEC
and the development of our
people. If we do all these things
exceptionally, we can adapt to
changing market conditions,
achieve our goals and enjoy
the challenges of our work.
If you have any questions or
feedback at any time, please
talk to your manager or any
member of the Ausenco
Leadership Team.
Regards
Zimi Meka
CEO
The Board and our management
teams are confident about our
ability to continue growing in
2013. While there is still a lot
of uncertainty in the industry
and economic marketplace,
our strategy of diversification
across geographies, services
and target clients means we
are well placed to deal with
the peaks and flows that are
becoming the standard in
our industry.
Information courtesy of International SOS
Inspire | 02
People and progress
Children enjoy themselves at the Children’s Day party in Brazil
Brazil employees celebrate Children’s Day
in needy communities
Our Belo Horizonte team celebrated Children’s Day in mid-October with children in
less-fortunate communities in Minas Gerais and Amapá.
During the weeks leading up to
the party in Baldim district in
Minas Gerais, our team came
together and supported the
cause in any way we could.
“It is very satisfying to see
the commitment of all
employees who have
contributed—with money,
donations, and volunteers to
help at school—so everything
could be done right,” said
Maicon Jesus, HSEC technician.
The team raised R$5,241
(nearly US $2,500) which was
used to buy toys, snacks and
treats, and hire entertainers.
The celebration is in its fifth
year and nearly 80 children
from the community came
03 | Inspire
along. The party was a huge
success and the children
enjoyed games, a magic show
and snacks.
On 26 October, another party
for children was held at Pedra
Branca in Amapari district,
near the Tucano Project.
Part of the money raised by
this party will be invested in
the community. Thank you to
everyone involved.
Ausenco’s party in Baldim also
opened the newly-refurbished
library. Supported by employees’
donations from last year,
the library was equipped
with new computers as well
as new educational and literary
resources. To show their
appreciation, the children
made posters thanking
Ausenco for their support.
“Seeing the smiles and
gratitude of the children with
our action is priceless,” said
Marcela Corrêa, Engineering
Technician Assistant.
Welcome to the Ausenco Rylson team based on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia.
A new team joins
Program Management
in Australia
In September we expanded our Program
Management business by acquiring a
shareholding in the Rylson Group.
Ausenco Rylson Perth team members, John Ellis and John Glanville.
Ausenco Rylson, as it is now
known, is a global provider of
business improvement and
asset management solutions
based on the Sunshine Coast,
Queensland.
Belo Horizonte team members Pedro Costa, Marcela Corrêa,
Daniel Resende, Silmary Xavier, Thaís Seixas, João Paulo Souza
and Maicon Oliveira.
Simon Cmrlec, President
of Program Management,
said, “This acquisition is an
important step forward for
the growth of our business.
We’ve built a strong working
relationship with the Rylson
team through our work together
on the Tonkolili, Marampa,
Hidden Valley and Isaac Plains
projects. Formalising our
partnership will allow us to
provide integrated solutions
to our clients, helping them to
optimise their operations and
maintenance activities.”
The team consisting of around
50 people based in offices
on the Sunshine Coast and
in Perth will continue to be
led by Technical Director,
Richard Johnson who said
the acquisition is an exciting
development for the company.
“The Ausenco Rylson team are
excited to have joined Ausenco
in becoming a global leader
in engineering and project
management services. The
Sunshine Coast and Perth
teams are very much looking
forward to the opportunities
that come from the acquisition.
We see this as a positive and
strategic evolution for the
Rylson Group and each staff
member. We look forward to
being involved in Ausenco’s
growth and in the coming
months fully integrating into
the Ausenco business.”
We’d like to welcome the
Ausenco Rylson team.
Inspire | 04
People and progress
Become
involved with
the Ausenco
Foundation
Through the Ausenco Foundation and the generosity of our
people, we want to help communities develop. We plan to
use our skills and resources to partner with communities to
improve their outcomes rather than providing short-term fixes.
The involvement of our people and
the local community are essential
elements for Ausenco Foundation
activities. We want to ensure that
we help communities secure skills
and resources to continue the
initiatives long after we’ve completed
our initial work.
Initial activities
The Foundation Board has already
approved a number of initiatives in
2012, including education programs
for disadvantaged children, improving
the health and safety of community
child care centres, a Habitat-forHumanity home build and supporting
the clinical trials for a leading medical
research institute.
Become involved
Many of our people are passionate about
a wide number of causes and making
a difference. Through the Ausenco
Foundation we hope to harness some of
our collective enthusiasm to benefit our
chosen initiatives.
Talk to the North America, South
America and APAC/Africa regional
working groups, led by Lily Louie,
Dave Lawson and Tony Harrington,
respectively, to find out just how you can
become involved. This could be through
nominating a potential initiative for
funding, volunteering your time and/or
co-ordinating an application for funding.
For more information on the Ausenco
Foundation, please visit The Hub or
contact one of your regional working
group members.
Anglo American recognises Minas Rio Project
Ausenco employees have been recognised for their exceptional performance
at Anglo American’s Applause Awards held in September.
The 35-person Ausenco Minas
Rio project team based in
Belo Horizonte is responsible
for field engineering,
complementary designs
engineering and quality
assurance for phase 1 of
Anglo’s Minas Rio pipeline.
Claudio Alvim (Construction
Manager and Assembly),
Jeferson Moreira (Coordinator
Engineering, Quality and
Construction) and Marcelino
Barros (Project Coordinator,
Pipelines and Earthwork) were
awarded for their work involving
crossings, variants, tunnels and
directional holes.
Anglo commended Ausenco
for providing ingenious
solutions that helped reduce
capital expenditures.
Congratulations to the
project team!
César (Anglo), Marcelino Barros (Ausenco), Carlos Henrique (Anglo), Rodrigo (Anglo), José Dias
(Anglo), Bernardo (Anglo) and Jeferson Moreira (Ausenco).
Ausenco Chile enhances its services by
implementing new slurry and water laboratory
Near the main Ausenco office in Santiago, Chile, our new slurry and water laboratory is
now operating, executing tests for clients such as Minera Antamina and Minera Relincho.
For our hydraulic team in Chile,
this laboratory represents
a great step forward in the
optimisation of our services,
increasing our capacities
in line with other Process
Infrastructure offices around
the world.
Currently, the laboratory
has the capacity to perform
a large variety of analysis
tests, such as: solids specific
gravity, rheology, particle
size distribution sub sieve,
settling tests, penetration
tests, angle of slide / repose,
corrosion slurry test,
corrosion water tests, and
water chemical analysis.
Our specialists in Chile have
collaborated with specialists
in other locations, and
created a contact network
to exchange knowledge. The
slurry and water laboratory
implementation in Chile is led
by Jorge Martínez and Cynthia
Eggeling. The project has also
been supported by Charleston
Dias from Brazil, who has
provided great help during this
process, thanks to his vast
experience in Ausenco.
Particle size distribution sieve.
Putting slurry into the oven.
Inspire | 06
People and progress
People and progress
Denver team
experiences
significant growth
Ausenco’s team in Denver, Colorado,
United States, recently celebrated a
major milestone, having expanded from
seven employees to 31 over the course
of the last eight months.
The team assigned to lead the process includes: Emmanuel Nicolás (Quality Advisor), Leticia Alfredsson (P&P), Martin Mosso (Project Cost
Coordinator), Anelisa Ragusa (Contract to Cash), Diego Idañez (Project Engineer), Walter Tejerina (Project Manager- Environment area),
Pedro Alcaraz (Project Manager- Environmental area) and Pamela Martin (Manager – Environmental area).
Argentina offices on the path
to quality implementation
To improve the productivity and competitiveness of Ausenco operations
in Argentina, a project began five months ago to implement a quality
management system and it is now starting to show results.
Quality management is a
proven way to increase the
value of our services to clients,
and to demonstrate our core
value, “The client is our focus.”
The scope of the system
includes all key, strategic and
support processes, including:
Marketing Planning, People
& Performance, Business
Opportunities Evaluation,
Proposal Preparation, Execution
of Services, Billing and
Collection, and Procurement to
Pay. These procedures will be
standardised and used across
all Ausenco’s Argentina offices
in Mendoza, San Juan
and Salta.
07 | Inspire
The team assigned to lead the
process includes: Emmanuel
Nicolás (Quality Advisor),
Leticia Alfredsson (P&P), Martin
Mosso (Project Secretary),
Anelisa Ragusa (Contract to
Cash), Diego Idañez (Project
Engineer), Walter Tejerina
(Project Manager- Engineering
area), Pedro Alcaraz (Project
Manager- Environmental area)
and Pamela Martin (Manager –
Environmental area).
The team has faced challenges,
mainly because implementing
a new system always requires
changing routines, in this case:
work meetings, processes
reviews, generation of new
documents, instructions
and register, and obtaining
everyone’s commitment.
Emmanuel Nicolás,
implementation lead, said,
“It is important to understand
that the documentation
generated is not the main goal
itself, but it is the support of the
system, focused on planning,
executing, controlling and
improving the main processes
within the organization, with
the overall goal of ensuring the
quality of the services provided
to our clients.”
The implementation has
started with some team
training activities and meetings,
and the project is expected
to be finalised in one year.
The first area addressed was
Administration, and they have
already seen the benefits of
having improved procedures
and records. The next areas
to implement the system are
engineering and environment.
This new tool will help support
the implementation of global
Ausenco procedures and their
ongoing use in the region.
The growth comes as the
result of an influx of new
work from existing and new
clients, including several
new projects in Mexico
(a new market for Ausenco),
combined with continued
project work in South America
and Southeast Asia.
“Our growth supports the
vision established in early
2012 to establish Denver as a
Centre of Technical Excellence
for geo-environmental and
hydrogeology services for
Ausenco worldwide,” said Harry
Kim, General Manager, E&S, for
North America. “We anticipate
Some members of the growing team in Denver, Colorado,
United States.
continued growth as we further
expand our client base in
North America and enhance
our service offerings to include
environmental services.”
The Denver office currently
provides a mix of geotechnical
and hydrogeology services to
offices worldwide including
front end studies such as
pre-feasibility studies,
bankable feasibility studies,
tailings design, hydro modelling
and Construction Quality
Assurance (CQA). The group
is also exploring recurring
revenue streams in GIS-based
data management.
Ausenco Chile and Universidad Católica
del Norte join to promote engineering
development and research
Ausenco Chile has joined forces with the Universidad Católica
del Norte to develop more advanced biotechnology. Located in
Antofagasta, an important mining centre, the university’s Biology
Centre is a world leader in research and development related to
copper heap bioleaching and gold bi-oxidation.
As part of the agreement,
Ausenco will provide
specialist consultants and
advice as well as manpower
to develop engineering
solutions in different phases
such as startup, operational
assistance, and control of
pilot plants.
The Biology Centre will research
and develop biotechnology as
it applies to mining processes
and Ausenco projects.
The university will also provide
advice on biotechnological
products, training and technical
assistance with biotechnology,
as well as lab services, tests
and studies related to bio-heap
leaching.
This alliance will give our
engineers new opportunities
to participate in development
and biotechnology projects.
Our clients will also benefit
from new and more advanced
technology in the execution of
our projects. This partnership
will allow Ausenco to maintain
our leadership in heap leaching
technology, while also allowing
us to participate in modeling,
instrumentation, irrigation, and
control projects.
We would like to recognize the
efforts and commitment of
Danny Castillo which made this
joint venture possible.
Danny Castillo, Process
Manager, M&M - Chile
Inspire | 08
People and progress
Ausenco’s team in Toronto, Ontario, Canada is growing thanks to increased project work.
Toronto team on growth path
Ausenco’s team in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, has expanded from seven employees to
more than 35 in less than three months due to increased project work.
The team, which is
dominated by Minerals &
Metals personnel, is mostly
comprised of process,
mechanical, electrical and
civil/structural engineers.
The location also has a fully
functional design office capable
of delivering 3D modelling
as part of Ausenco’s global
Engineering Design Systems
(EDS) implementation platform
and has recently established
a project delivery group to
help enhance an Engineering,
Procurement, and Construction
Management (EPCM)
deliverables-based culture.
“The Toronto team’s growth
reflects Ausenco’s commitment
to invest in the development
of our region over the next two
to three years in line with our
global strategy,” said Andrew
Boushy, General Manager for
Ausenco’s Toronto office.
“To meet those goals, we will
be working to broaden our
client base with new business
and to deliver year-over-year
growth by leveraging cross
selling and recurring revenue
opportunities in concert with
other business lines.”
Much of the growth has been
related to the engineering
and procurement support the
office is providing as part of the
multi-office team for HudBay’s
Constancia project in Lima,
Peru. However, the team also
has a number of smaller local
projects underway including a
feasibility study for the Torontobased Royal Nickel Corporation.
Project briefs
Program Management secures AU$66 million
operations contract renewal at Isaac Plains
Congratulations to the Program
Management team at Isaac
Plains who will continue
providing operations and
maintenance services to the
coal handling and preparation
plant (CHPP) at the Isaac Plains
Coal Mine in Queensland,
Australia until the end of
2016. The team has been
responsible for the operations
and maintenance of the CHPP
for the past five years, during
which time the plant has been
lost time injury free.
09 | Inspire
The contract renewal is a
reflection of our high level
of service, strong safety track
record and the continuous
improvement initiatives
implemented, which enable
the plant to regularly exceed
nameplate capacity.
It’s a great example of our
ability to add value to clients’
operations and generate
recurring revenue for Ausenco.
Important milestone for Constancia project
Construction work commenced
in September on the Constancia
Project in Peru marking a
significant milestone in the
development of this important
project for Hudbay and
Ausenco. It also represents
Minerals & Metals’ first
construction effort in Peru,
and the start of many more
projects to come as we
continue to expand our M&M
team in Peru to more than
100 team members.
The earthworks design was
completed by both the Brisbane
and Lima teams (including
both M&M and E&S civil design
teams) and required significant
interaction and communication
between offices to deliver
the designs on schedule. The
earthworks contract for
the project represents a
significant portion of the
capital expenditure and was
tended and awarded from
the Lima Office. Works have
commenced on schedule with
rigorous safety audits of the
contractor completed, and
support provided to them
during their mobilization.
The construction team on
site consists of around 30
team members, and as further
construction effort increases
so will the size of our team.
The team has great experience
in civil earthworks projects in
South America at high altitude
and is very enthusiastic about
managing this first contract
and construction effort well.
Oracle was successfully implemented in our Australian
operations and global recruitment function in October.
This was a major achievement
for all involved and a
significant milestone for our
business as it marked the start
of the journey towards one
business solution for Ausenco.
The Oracle go live was
supported by a large training
effort (more than 700
people) during September
and October. In addition, a
targeted communication
program was delivered to
ensure those impacted by the
implementation understood
the key changes and what they
needed to do to get ready.
Phase 2 is underway in Canada.
The ABS Program includes
team members from Phase 1
and a number of colleagues
from our operations in Canada.
Implementation in Canada
is scheduled for Q2 2013.
In parallel, preparations have
commenced for the Phase
3 implementation to our
operations in Brazil, Chile and
Peru. This rollout is scheduled
for later in 2013.
If you have any questions about
the ABS Program and what it
means for you and your team,
please email the team at
[email protected]
Ingenious solutions
New Project Optimisation service offers
innovative solutions
Our Technical Solutions team
has aligned with AMDAD
(Australian Mine Design
and Development), Whittle
Consulting and engaged a
respected geometallurgist to
offer a new service of Project
Optimisation.
The non-exclusive
memorandum of understanding
with AMDAD allows us to
provide a complete “mineral
resource to operations”
solution. AMDAD’s strength
is providing practical mine
engineering solutions which
recognise that mining problems
require realistic, cost effective
and timely solutions. We will
work with AMDAD early in the
project definition process
contributing to key decisions
that can affect the outcome
of evaluation studies.
A holistic approach to
project definition is a critical
component of our new service.
We will also work with our
strategic alliance partner
Whittle Consulting to evaluate
the options for clients through
Enterprise Optimisation, to
provide defendable financial
outcomes from studies.
The key component to
improving the data supplied
to the different engineering
disciplines is geometallurgy.
We have strengthened
our own team through the
appointment of Simon Michaux,
a well-known and respected
geometallurgist, who recently
joined the Technical Solutions
team in Brisbane.
By aligning these services
we can integrate design
steps across the whole
mining process, where the
flow of information between
disciplines, e.g. geologist,
geometallurgist, mine and
process engineer, is more
effective. Therefore, offering
the best possible optimised
outcome for our clients.
The diagram below outlines
the integrated flow of
information to achieve the best
possible optimised outcome.
The different services will also
be available separately.
Concord Controls Team completes SCADA
for net-zero energy building
Project Optimisation
block model geomet data
(mill, float, leach test data)
AMDAD/Ausenco LiteO
PFS
Whittle/Ausenco EO
pit design, production plan & schedule
design criteria, flowsheet, mass balance etc
Best possible optimised outcome
An innovative Ausencodesigned supervisory control
and data acquisition (SCADA)
system is slated to assist the
David and Lucille Packard
Foundation in reducing energy
demand by 50 percent at
their new net-zero energy
building in Los Altos,
California, United States.
The Foundation’s innovative
new headquarters is
intended to have zero net
energy consumption. It was
also designed to meet the
Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design (LEED)
Green Building Rating System™
Platinum standard.
option and scenario analysis
11 | Inspire
An exterior shot of the David and Lucile Packard green building in California. Image courtesy of David and Lucille Packard Foundation
FS
To help the client achieve
their goal of net zero energy
consumption, Ausenco’s
Process Infrastructure controls
team in Concord, California,
United States, developed a
sophisticated automation
system that manages the
building’s many complex
systems and minimises energy
usage, simplifies operations
control and allows monitoring
and trending across systems.
The SCADA system not only
monitors energy generated
onsite by the rooftop solar array,
but also performs overwatch
on a number of automated
features that reduce the
building’s energy usage.
These include:
• Automated blinds that open
to maximize use of natural
light and minimize use of
artificial light
• Automated external shades
that open and close to assist
with temperature control
while still allowing natural
light to filter through
• Automated temperature
control system based on
occupancy sensors that
limit heating and cooling
to only those areas that
are occupied.
By combining all of these
automation systems under
one SCADA system, building
managers can control the
building from one central
server. Without this system, this
complex building would require
up to ten computer systems
for monitoring and building
control, which would prove a
challenge for a single operator
to efficiently manage and which
would require more energy to
run.
As an added benefit, the
centralised SCADA system
allows users to trend systems
together to make comparisons
across the building’s different
control systems. For example,
energy consumption can be
tracked in comparison to blind
settings, or external shade
usage can be tracked against
internal temperatures to
monitor building performance.
In addition, the SCADA system,
which is based on a web-based
SCADA application called
InduSoft, allows users with
access credentials to view
system performance over a
secure connection, enabling
remote monitoring.
The project was subcontracted
through owner’s representative
RhodesDahl, building on a
relationship that dates back
to 1992 and includes many
unique projects, such as work
with SCADA systems at the
Monterey Bay Aquarium, South
Carolina Aquarium and Mystic
Marinelife Aquarium.
The David and Lucile Packard
Foundation is a private family
foundation created in 1964 by
David Packard, cofounder of the
Hewlett-Packard Company, and
Lucile Salter Packard.
Inspire | 12
Ingenious solutions
Ingenious solutions
Turning slurry into
clean energy
Ingenious solution saves 700m³ of concrete
Ausenco employee Antônio
Torres embodies our core
values by providing an
ingenious solution to a
key client.
The Process Infrastructure hydraulic team in Chile is always focused on finding
the best solutions for our clients. With these objectives in mind, a very interesting
idea came up: why not improve the current systems of slurry transportation by
recovering the energy they dispel?
This innovation consists
of improving the existing
design to recover part of the
dispelled energy inside the
choke stations. This would
generate huge savings, as
this clean energy could be
used in the mining process,
reducing the consumption of
conventional energy.
Currently, there is no
technology in the world that
can recover energy from the
choke stations in high pressure
transportation systems in an
efficient and cost-effective way.
The existing solutions involve
installing pumps and running
them backwards to generate
power from the tailing stream,
which is inefficient and costly.
For this reason, an Ausenco
team led by Jorge Martínez,
supported by García-Huidobro
and Rodrigo Hills, is evaluating
the feasibility of improving
the hydraulic design of choke
stations by including a turbine
specially designed to work
with slurry. This is a challenge,
because the turbine would be
exposed to a highly abrasive
and corrosive environment.
The goal of our team is to
find the best solution to
this problem.
If successful, this project will
increase energy efficiency and
help prove that the industry
is serious about reducing our
carbon footprint. It would also
mean a significant competitive
advantage for Ausenco by
showcasing the innovative
nature of our designs.
Currently, the project is at the
technical-conceptual analysis
stage, and we are in the
process of gathering relevant
data. We are evaluating the
possibility of obtaining funding
from the Chilean Production
Development Corporation
Senior Engineer Antônio
Silvério Torres, from the Process
Infrastructure group in Belo
Horizonte, was appointed to
lead the review.
(CORFO). Ausenco has also
started conversations with
some mining companies
interested in developing this
type of technology.
Developing these types
of innovation projects is a
testament to the expertise
and creativity of our engineers
at Ausenco. Their knowledge
about the design of slurry
transportation systems and
their understanding of state-ofthe-art technology ensure that
Ausenco is constantly seeking
ingenious solutions.
Stay tuned for more details as
this exciting project progresses.
Since August 2011, Ausenco
has worked with Mineração
Usiminas (MUSA) providing
studies and logistics projects
such as pipelines, railway
yards and terminals for mining
in the state of Minas Gerais,
Brazil. Our strong relationship
with this client, formed by
consistently providing good
services, led our team to
recommend a review of the
integrity of the mill foundations.
During initial earth
investigations, the team found
a problem with the soil in the
mill’s foundation. In order to
investigate the issue further,
the team requested the original
geotechnical investigations,
acting loads, suppliers’ design
and the executive project of the
foundations from MUSA. They
then visited the site to support
their research and evaluate the
onsite conditions.
The analysis and field
investigation revealed the
opportunity to streamline the
project. Antônio, or “Toninho”
as he is known, found that it
was possible to save 700m³
of concrete on the original
estimate, reflecting a work cost
saving of $1 million.
Congratulations to Toninho not
only for the results he achieved
for our client, but also for
reflecting our core value and
seeking ingenious solutions.
Antônio Torres.
M&M Peru and Tech Solutions teams partner
on challenging gold project
The Minerals & Metals team
in Peru has successfully
completed the Pampa Verde
Project for Gran Colombia Gold
(GCG). This project consisted
of the basic engineering design
of a 1 Mtpa processing plant
for a gold mine in Colombia.
The services also included
recommendations for award
of 90% of the mechanical
equipment value and CAPEX
and OPEX estimates.
The work was managed with
the Technical Solutions team
in Australia assisting with
key reviews and providing
input on items such as mill
sizing, tendering strategy
and plant layouts.
To meet the demanding project
schedule, with very limited
base project information,
an unconventional project
delivery strategy was required
and approved by the client.
With no previous feasibility
study available, the majority
of the process design criteria
information was determined
after studying the client’s
existing 300 tpd processing
plant, currently in operation
in the area.
Moving forward with the
key process design criteria
information, a large percentage
of the plant design came
directly from previous project
designs. Each area of the plant
was carefully analysed and
an appropriate comparison
was made to a previous
project that most suited to
the requirements. The ‘pieces
of the puzzle’ were then put
together. Key personnel from
the Technical Solutions group
were involved throughout this
process. Their experience and
guidance gave the Lima team
the confidence to progress
quickly. This approach allowed
the design team to significantly
reduce the time taken for
designing and detailing the
process plant, and allowed
the Engineering team to
quickly complete design basis
documents, flow-sheets, P&IDs,
and equipment packages.
Despite the demanding
schedule, the work was
completed on time and to
the satisfaction of the client.
Achieving this outcome for
a first-time client in a new
country for Ausenco was a
great accomplishment for the
Lima team, and opens the door
for us to continue working with
GCG in the future.
Key project team members:
Project Manager: Steve Dawson / Alan Sexton
Engineering Manager:
Nicholas Myers
Lead Process Engineer:
Clint Donkin
Senior Project Engineer:
Nicolas Samardzich
Lead Designer:
Gary Hall
Lead Procurement:
Marisa Paz
Inspire | 14
The technical centre aims to encourage innovative thinking by
providing a forum for our technically-minded people to share,
collaborate and inspire each other. We welcome your innovative
stories to inspire others. This is an interactive site aiming to
capture Ausenco’s technical capabilities.
Visit the Technical Centre today
http://thehub.ausenco.com/EN/technicalcentre