Client name: Newmont Boddington Gold

Location: Boddington, Western Australia

Duration:  2011 – 2022

Services provided:

• Crusher vault spray water upgrade
• Primary crusher hydroset beams structural review
• Hydrocyclone building Jameson cell installation structural assessment
• Residue disposal pipeline design
• Primary crusher concrete chute
• Kiln exhaust upgrade
• PC Apron Feeder upgrade detailed design

Expansion Project:

• Power distribution
• Pumping
• Slurry pipelines
• choke stations
• control values
• decant water return
• associated supporting civil works

Boddington Gold Mine Project

Boddington Gold Mine is the largest gold producing mine in Western Australia, producing approximately 22 tonnes of gold in 2019 alone.

Over a period of 10 years Tetra Tech Proteus have completed a number of sustaining capital studies and projects to improve the efficiency of the plant. These have covered all areas of the processing operation ranging from crushing circuits to milling, elution, leaching and water infrastructure.

Building on that 10 years of work Tetra Tech Proteus will now also conduct the feasibility study and cost estimate for an expansion of the slurry distribution and deposition system.

Residue Disposal Project

Boddington Gold Mine’s residue disposal system consists of a pair of 5km poly-lined steel pipelines, delivering residue to the detoxification system, designed at a throughput of 5,634tph.

Proteus provided detailed EPCM (engineering, procurement and construction management) services for the installation of the residue disposal system. All aspects of design were included, from civil, structural, mechanical to electrical, instrumentation and control (EIC). Installation and commissioning activities were overseen by our lead engineers at the completion of the construction phase.

The project incorporated a Caro’s Acid cyanide deconstruction process at the inlet of the residue storage tank, followed by a slurry pump and piping system for distribution. hydrogen peroxide and sulphuric acid storage, receival and additional distribution facilities were also incorporated into the design.

A key feature of the electrical works delivered was a dedicated 33kV substation with both HV/LV drive control and an emergency diesel generator backup.

Water Management System

Tetra Tech Coffey undertook the front-end engineering design (FEED) and subsequent EPCM works for the seven-pump station water management system. Services provided included:

• Project management
• Total concept development across all aspects of engineering (concrete, structural steel, electrical, mechanical, piping, EIC)
• Project scheduling
• Capital cost estimate and control
• Contracting, commissioning and reporting

Having been tasked with total concept development, the final design that Tetra Tech Proteus and the client settled on included a total of 40km of pipelines that deliver up to 3,000 cubic metres of water per hour to the gold-processing plant from the Hotham River to numerous water storage dams.

The project was completed on budget in a high-demand market, a skill that Tetra Tech Proteus has demonstrated repeatedly for clients.

Project Leads:  Rod Siviour, Ben McGrath, Graham Clarke and Shane Dixon