Effective business relationships and focus on innovation have
been fundamental in Regis Resources’ development of the
Duketon area of WA, where they have built three major plants
over the last five years. Fiona Morgan, Business Strategy
Manager for the engineering firm involved, Mintrex Pty Ltd,
discusses Regis’ collaborative approach and the innovations
behind these projects.
Regis efficiently leverage outside services to enable them to work
faster and smarter, Ms Morgan told
Minesite
. “
Their longstanding
connection with our company, for example, meant we had an
excellent understanding of each other’s businesses and culture
when we commenced work on the design of the first of the three
plants, Moolart Well, in July 2009.”
Working closely with Mintrex, Regis brought their commercial
insight and operating expertise to the project and promoted
design for integration between operation and construction.
“
Our understanding of the way Regis operates meant we were
prepared to work with them in unconventional ways, which
is something we welcome,” Ms Morgan says. The plant was
commissioned in August 2010, and included the innovative design
of the stockpile as both dead and live storage.
Further innovation followed after work began on the study for
the Garden Well treatment plant six months later. The now proven
stockpile design was again incorporated but with the inclusion
of a scrubber instead of a SAG mill. In addition, Regis requested
the pebble crusher be sized as a tertiary crusher and secondary
cycloning be utilised to enhance leach time and gravity gold
recovery for the coarse ore fraction. Mid-stream oxygenation is
also installed.
Following the successful commissioning of this plant in
2012,
Mintrex commenced design on the third Duketon plant at
Rosemont. As a result of continued Regis innovation, the design
uses standard quarry industry crushing plant modules instead of
a bespoke plant and the Rosemont ground ore will be pumped to
Garden Well for gravity and leach recovery of gold. The plant is
expected to be commissioned this year.
The first two plants are currently operating above design
nameplate capacity. It highlights how a client’s willingness
to innovate, assess and accept risk can enhance the skills of
the engineers they work with, according to Ms Morgan. “We
design for our client’s requirements, not our own, and we also
adopt our client’s innovations where we see them add value.
Regis innovates and understands risk extremely well, and their
thorough questioning of our assumptions and design continually
stretches our capabilities, as does our joint commitment to youth
and energy.”
Demonstrating that the future lies in youth and new ideas,
Ms Morgan explains that “Regis has welcomed our initiative to
put a young engineer on site at Rosemont and, as he supports the
project manager, he builds on his understanding of operations
and strengthens our design team. Regis allowing us the ability to
leverage the long-term, deep cultural fit relationship we have with
them combines with our organisation’s senior expertise for the
benefit of all new clients in various industry segments. In addition,
Regis has been very generous showing the world what they’ve done,
all of which makes them an outstanding client to work with”.
Working faster and smarter
Fiona Morgan
Business Strategy Manager
Mintrex Pty Ltd
Regis Resource’s Garden Well treatment plant designed
by Mintrex and commissioned in September 2012
Engineering a competitive advantage
An illustration of the final design for the Garden Well treatment plant
Minesite 2013
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