Housing brought in as Amrun build steps up
THE arrival of accommodation modules at Weipa has signalled the ramp up in construction of the $2.6 billion Amrun bauxite project.
Seventeen trailers of accommodation modules for the long-term village have been delivered by trucks from Rio Tinto’s iron ore operations in Western Australia.
Amrun project general manager Marcia Hanrahan said initial project construction activity this year included site clearing for the accommodation village and the establishment of early accommodation.
“Our focus is to get the accommodation established so we have facilities ready to finalise accommodation and commence site works when the wet season ends,” she said.
Construction of the Hey River-Boyd Rd and barge/ferry facilities on the Hey River to allow access to the area begins in the first half of next year.
The construction phase is expected to last three years, with employment peaking in late 2017 at about 1100 people.
Company technology and innovation group executive Greg Lilleyman told an investors’ presentation in London that using second-hand accommodation from iron ore expansion camps, and other changes, had led to savings of more than $62 million.
“In terms of capex (capital expenditure) timing, about 70 per cent of the capital spend will occur in 2017 and 2018 which is also when construction activity will peak,” Mr Lilleyman said.
“The project timeline takes into account the wet season in Cape York which runs from January to March.
“Time will be saved through the use of modular construction across various facilities including the wharf and jetty.
“We have managed to reduce the original schedule by six months and we will see the first shipment commence in the first half of 2019.”
Site establishment are already under way.
“The team is currently working on awarding critical path contracts including for the river dredging and construction of the ship loader, stacker and reclaimer, wharf facility, main access road and accommodation village,” Mr Lilleyman said.
Amrun includes a new mine, processing plant, port and associated infrastructure such as roads, river barge facility and power facilities.
Rio will use existing Weipa infrastructure, such as central offices, and mining equipment will be moved from the East Weipa operations to Amrun.
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