Hatch has led both the study phases and the implementation phase of the Ravensthorpe and Yabulu projects. The process involves production of nickel/cobalt hydroxide intermediate product at Ravensthorpe in Western Australia, which is shipped to the QNI Yabulu Refinery in Townsville, on the east coast of Australia, for further refining. The total capital value of the projects is approximately A$3 billion.
Hatch performed detailed engineering, procurement and construction management for the Ravensthorpe nickel project. The processing plant includes High Pressure Acid Leaching (HPAL), Atmospheric Leaching (AL), Tailings Neutralization and Mixed Hydroxide Precipitation, while the infrastructure includes a seawater pipeline and desalination plant, an acid plant, a camp and a power plant.
Hatch performed a review of previous studies and recommended a path forward that focused on capital value and technology selection. Hatch (in joint venture) proceeded with a feasibility study, basic engineering and project implementation. RNO was a major technical success, ramping up to full capacity in 15 months. This achievement was a record for the ramp up of a HPAL Nickel plant and set the benchmark for future plants. Another significant achievement was a classified injury frequency rate of 2.8, which was recognized by BHP Billiton to be the best safety outcome for a major metallurgical project in their history.
This project included both prefeasibility and feasibility studies as well as the EPCM implementation of a complex expansion of the Yabulu Refinery to increase nickel capacity from 29,000 tpa to 75,000 tpa. The scope of this heavily brownfield project included mixed hydroxide receival and leaching, upgrades to ammonia stripping and ammonia recovery, a completely new solvent extraction circuit, upgraded cobalt processing facilities, a new basic nickel carbonate nickel filtration, calcinations and reduction plant, and upgrades to all the associated utility systems and controls. The hydrometallurgy plant ramped up to full production in 5 months and achieved record production that exceeded its production target. The plant also achieved a 31% decrease in recordable injuries in the same year as the construction effort was at its peak.
The project adopted the latest 3D smart systems designed to minimize unscheduled delays for critical brownfield tie-ins. The project included more than 600 brownfield tie-ins and was delivered with no unscheduled loss of nickel production and zero safety incidents. Of the 600 plus tie-ins, only 12 required minor site modification.The expansion project was part of a long-term effort to modernize the plant and resulted in improvements to the efficiency of many of the major unit operations and a net decrease in unit production costs.
