Bengalla Coal Project

Environmental challenges were met beyond community and regulatory expectations as Sedgman designed and constructed this plant to produce high-grade export thermal coal. Sedgman undertook the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of the original 600 t/h coal handling and preparation plant (CHPP) in 1999, then upgraded it to 1,200 t/h in 2002.

Included in the original project was the installation of a 4.2 km long curve conventional overland conveyor (OLC). Continuing our successful long-term relationship with Bengalla Mining Company, we upgraded the raw coal handling plant including ROM hopper in 2009. In 2011, as part of the Thiess Sedgman Joint Venture, we increased the feed rate to 1,700 t/h and improved operational flexibility by converting the processing plant from single to two-stage dense medium cyclone processing.

The plant was designed with safety and high productivity in mind and is capable of processing up to 17 individual coal seams concurrently. Each seam has unique coal quality characteristics, and variations within the short and long-term mining sequence present unique challenges.

Sedgman continues to produce materials handling and processing systems to meet quality requirements of a high-grade export energy coal. As well as unique environmental challenges of the location being met, productivity and safety have been well above industry averages.

Sedgman used extensive computer modelling and production simulations during design to optimise plant configuration. Upgrades have included tailings dewatering, single stage DMC and spirals, and two-stage DMC conversion. The CHPP upgrade included sizing infrastructure to allow improvement to the product produced, as well as an improvement to stockpiling capacity.