MT WEBBER PROJECT

CLIENT
Atlas Iron

PROJECT
Mt Webber Project

LOCATION
230 kilometres south east of Port Hedland, Western Australia

STATUS
Current 

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The Mt Webber project is currently being delivered by NRW Contracting (formerly BGC Contracting).

Atlas Iron’s Mt Webber project is a greenfield mine located roughly 230 kilometres south east of Port Hedland in Western Australia, the world’s premier iron ore province.

CONTRACT SUMMARY

NRW was awarded two contracts for the development of the mine site in 2013 – the design, installation, and commissioning of a mineral processing plant designed to produce 3 million tonnes per annum (upgradeable to 6 million tonnes per annum), and mining operations over five years including ownership.

In August 2019, NRW was awarded an extension to the contract through to May 2022. This will be a Life of Mine contract extension which will see NRW providing services up to the end of operations at the Mt Webber mine site, including upgrade of processing plant to deliver 7.2 million tonnes per annum.

NRW GROUP CAPABILITY

NRW Holdings subsidiary, Primero joined NRW at Mt Webber in late 2021 as the site’s mineral processing experts. They proved their capability of providing an updated and efficient Ore Handling Plant, designed to carry the project through to life of mine. Having demolition begin mid-November, Primero was able to safely dismantle and dispose of half of the pre-existing NRW OHP which then allowed for continued processing of ore. And even though it was at a reduced rate, NRW was still able to meet client set targets.

In late November (as phase 1 was completed), excavation of a new ROM wall begun, with the new Primary Crusher Module and Secondary Crusher/Screening Module landing onsite 2 weeks later.

At the beginning of 2022, Primero had installed a range of required services and rapidly progressed the construction of the new plant, all whilst maintaining a high safety standard and continuous communication with NRW and Atlas. Final commissioning of Primero’s new plant is expected in late January 2022 with the role of processing at Mt Webber officially passed on for the remainder of the project.

The Mt Webber team manages a production rate of 1,000 tonnes per hour in a three stage crushing and screening circuit, sampling station and two radial stackers that can stockpile up to 180,000 tonnes of final product. The open pit mining operation involves conventional drill, blast, load and haul techniques in three pits. The operation mines approximately 3.9 million bank cubic metres of material per annum.