Sedgman Project Announcement
Cosira awarded complete SMP contract at Xstrata Coal’s Atcom plant
15 November 2010
The Cosira Group has been awarded the structural, mechanical and platework contract for the supply and installation of the Run-Of-Mine (ROM) upgrade to Xstrata Coal’s existing Atcom coal handling and preparation plant in Witbank, Mpumalanga.
According to John da Silva, the Cosira Group CEO, the contract was awarded to the Group by Sedgman, a resource-sector services company which has secured the construction contract for the upgrade of the Atcom plant.
“Sedgman has given us an order to supply some 1 688 tonnes of steelwork and platework. Our contract has commenced and we expect to finish at the end of the year,” notes da Silva.
The Cosira Group is contributing significantly to the project, and once Atcom is upgraded, the facility will have a capacity of 1700 tonnes an hour. This means that the total annual production capacity of saleable thermal coal would be over five million tonnes.
“After the upgrade at Atcom, Xstrata is aiming to produce two main coal products: a domestic grade thermal product and an export thermal product” says Roger Bester, a Project Manager at the Cosira Group.
Bester adds that the Atcom plant is expected to be in operation for 20 years from the time of the upgrade completion. In order for the plant to run for this time period, the upgrade project requires significant work.
Bester notes that the changes in the existing coal handling and preparation plant include the replacement of the coal preparation plant’s wet sizing and screens; changing the deck aperture on the de-sliming, drain and rinse screens; the replacement of the de-sliming, dense medium and product-thickening cyclones; the replacement of the spirals; the installation of new fine and coarse coal centrifuges; the modification of the tailings thickeners and the upgrades of numerous pumps.
In terms of the challenges of the project, da Silva explains that before the project work begins, the plant needs to be shut down, which is a complex process. “However, the Cosira Group is working in close partnership with Sedgman in order to ensure the project is successful,” says da Silva.
He adds that Sedgman’s awarding of the contract to the Cosira Group is extremely important for the Group from a strategic business development perspective. “We hope that the Sedgman contract is indicative of a long-term alliance between the two companies. There is much work to be completed on the Atcom site and other potential projects, and we are pleased to be a part of this milestone infrastructure development project – a project that has local and international significance,” concludes da Silva.