Gina Rinehart’s $10 billion Roy Hill mine in Karratha WA is Australia’s largest iron ore mine – and Ms Rinehart is Australia’s richest person.

Roy Hill had a problem with the dam liner in their 100 megalitre processing dam.

We introduced them to a clean, green, organic solution – at a cost of just 20% of their $10 million repair budget.

This was our solution

ROY HILL DAM LINER REPLACEMENT

Karratha | Western Australia

stakeholders

Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting is the majority stakeholder in the $10 billion project with a 70% interest.

The remaining 30% stake is held by a consortium comprising POSCO (12.5%), Marubeni (15%), and China Steel Corporation (2.5%).

mission critical

Un-interrupted operations are Roy Hill’s number one priority

The worst thing water management can cause is a delay in mining operations.

the challenge

The challenge is to propose a solution that will ensure the dam contains water.

The solution shouldn’t require extensive plant downtime, or the construction of a new dam.

The solution is anticipated to be one of the following:

A permanent solution that prevents the dam from leaking for the remaining life of the mine (20 years)
An interim solution which delays the requirement for relining the dam or constructing a new dam
A solution to “patch” cracks and/or tears in the liner

An Introduction to Bentonite

Bentonite is sometimes called the ‘mineral of thousand users’

It is characterised by properties such as its ability to swell in water, to act as a ‘natural glue’ or ‘bond’, special rheological properties when added to water (e.g thixotropy), high surface area and exchangeable cations.