CHPP Operations

Today, an ever increasing number of mining companies are realising that significant efficiencies can be achieved by outsourcing the operations of facilities to Sedgman's highly skilled Plant Operations team.

Plant Operations Services:

Sedgman's Plant Operations Support Group offers the following services to client-owned mines through operation contracts or through BOO/BOOT (Build Own Operate or Build Own Operate Transfer) financial arrangements:

  • Operation and maintenance of processing plants
  • Operations Safety Management
  • Environmental Management
  • Planned Maintenance
  • Asset business management

The Key Benefits offered by Sedgman Plant Operations

  1. Excellent safety record - Sedgman Plant Operations safety record is one of the best in the industry with each plant under Sedgman operation having an outstanding track record. We are committed to maintaining this record through the use of our safety systems and operator training provisions.
  2. The ability to conduct post-construction fine tuning to maximise the efficiencies that can be gained from the design.
  3. Increased throughput. Sedgman's Plant Operations Team has played a key role in almost doubling the Coppabella plant throughput capacity from 450 tonne/hour to 600 tonne/hour and now to 800 tonne/hour...
  4. Maximum uptime. With many years experience, our senior plant managers and operators are the best in the business when it comes to maximising uptime and maximising yield. They also provide a superior bank of knowledge for training our newer operators and are especially useful when the time comes to commission a new plant or commission upgrades or modifications to existing plants.
  5. Better control of consumables. Our plant operators and managers are well practiced in identifying potential sources of economy in consumables. Our systems for monitoring plant performance allow us to quickly identify areas where intervention would be beneficial and alternative control strategies would be found useful. With the assistance of our Operations Support and Engineering Groups, alternative strategies and possible solutions are quickly identified and may be quickly and economically implemented.
  6. Lower costs, higher safety, less injuries, less downtime and increased yield mean the costs of running the plant are much lower for the client. In most cases, it is much more cost efficient for mining companies to tap into our vast accumulated operating experience than operating the plant themselves.

Enhanced productivity. Efficiency gains. Less waste. Higher throughput. Fewer breakdowns. Lower facilities costs...

These are just some of the outcomes that Sedgman's Plant Operations Group continually produces for the plants we are engaged to manage, including:

  • Blair Athol (Rio Tinto)
    • Presently operating at over 250 tph, this small plant is economically producing low ash coal for blending with the other products from our client. Since the initial commissioning of the plant, we have fed over 5 million tonnes of raw coal to the plant. This plant is owned and operated by Sedgman. The plant was designed and constructed by us in 1999. The plant was placed in to care and maintenance mode for a time because of water shortages and has been back in operation since 2003.
  • Moorvale (Macarthur Coal)
    • The Moorvale Plant operates at over 450 tph. Sedgman designed and built the plant in 2003. Since then the plant has processed over 8 million tonnes of raw coal. To account for expected future production, the original design incorporated provision for additional process equipment and additional stockpiling facilities to be simply added, individually, at a later time. In mid-April 2005, the product stockpiles were extended to include an additional stockpile whilst maintaining provision for further individual stockpiles to be added later.
  • Coppabella (Macarthur Coal)
    • This plant was designed and built by the Sedgman team in 1999. The plant was originally designed to operate at 450 tph and, through a series of upgrades and additions to the process equipment and the stockpiling facilities, has been running at a nominal capacity of 800 tph for some time. The plant is able to process coal at a higher rate than this, depending on the coal type. Since the initial commissioning of the plant, over 35 million tonnes of raw coal have been processed. Similar to Moorvale, the original design of this plant incorporated the flexibility required to allow upgrades to be done with minimal downtime and cost.

Operations Support

As part of the Operations Group, our Support team assists our clients to optimise their existing plant operations.

Our Operations Support team has extensive, specialty experience in their fields of expertise. Coupled with "cutting edge" monitoring systems, our team offers the best operations support service anywhere in the coal industry today.

Of course, our clients also have the comfort of knowing that the Operations Support Group can tap into the vast reserves of experience, resources and 'know-how' of the other groups within Sedgman.

Operations Support Services:

Some of the ways we assist our clients is through:

  • Coal Quality and Resource Analysis;
  • Routine Metallurgy Inspections/Site Visits;
  • Value Management Reviews - Efficiency, Costs, Operating Practices, New Technology;
  • Metallurgical process audits, troubleshooting and de-bottlenecking investigations;
  • Relief supervision;
  • Electrical & Controls System Support;
  • Training of client operators to Coal Competency standards;
  • Developing and implementing safety systems.