Roy Hill Project
1
ROY HILL PROJECT
Technology, innovation and investment in people are driving the largest mining construction project currently underway in Australia The Roy Hill Project is an iron ore mining, rail & port project to be developed in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, the only independent iron ore project with West Australian majority ownership. It is a world-class, low phosphorus, Marra Mamba iron ore deposit located in the Pilbara – one of the world’s premier iron ore provinces situated approximately 115 kilometres north of Newman. The Roy Hill Project has a defined mineralisation of more than 2.4 billion tonnes of +55% Fe iron ore, enough to sustain a mine life of more than 20 years, with Roy Hill aiming to load its first shipment of ore for export in 2015.
Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd is the majority owner of Roy Hill Holdings Pty Ltd, the holding company of the Roy Hill Iron Ore Project, with a 70 per cent equity interest. The remaining 30 per cent equity interest is held through consortia comprising Marubeni Corporation, POSCO and China Steel Corporation, with Marubeni Corporation holding a 15 per cent equity interest in the company, POSCO holding 12.5 per cent and China Steel Corporation holding 2.5 per cent. As part of the ownership agreement the various consortia partners have also secured their proportionate share of iron ore production from the Roy Hill Project, representing a combined 28.75Mtpa of iron ore at full production.
PROGRESS
At the end of July 2014, Roy Hill advanced past the 50% completion stage following the successful completion of the US$7.2b loan facility in Singapore in March 2014. More than 4,700 people are currently working on the project, with over 3,800 workers on site across the project and with this number set to increase to 4,500 later this year, the $10b Roy Hill project is on track for the 2015 shipment date.
OPERATIONS
The Roy Hill Project is intent on producing low cost, reliable, sustained iron ore known in the market for its quality and grade.
Civiltest Pty Ltd Geotechnical Consultants has been in business for approximately 25 years, and employs a
range of dedicated staff across their ofďŹ ces and NATA accredited Laboratories. The company provides civil
engineering testing services for both small and large civil engineering projects.
Civiltest Pty Ltd, 10 Latham Street, Mornington 3931 VIC T (03) 5975 6644 F (03) 5975 9589 www.civiltest.com.au
To ensure this, operations will apply cutting edge technology, remote operating control, high levels of automation and cross industrialised methodologies.
Operations will include:
• 55 Mtpa mine, processing plant, airport and permanent accommodation village
• 344 kilometre heavy haul railway linking the mine and port • Port stockyard and two-berth export facility in Port Hedland
• Corporate Headquarters and Remote Operations Centre based in Perth
The Corporate Headquarters and Remote Operations Centre (ROC) of Roy Hill will be based in
Perth, introducing a significant new dimension to the mining industry.
Roy Hill will amalgamate its operations, marketing and corporate services functions, creating an integrated business that will deliver optimisation of production throughput, quality and reliability across the entire business.
This end-to-end integration of Roy Hill’s mining operations will set new standards for the industry. It will enable the integration of critical valueadding planning and scheduling between all aspects of Roy Hill’s operations. This significantly reduces cycle times, and in turn provide diagnostic information to facilitate timely and informed decisions in every aspect of the business.
“The ROC will be a custom built, hightechnology, central automation hub,
which will provide a coordinated and integrated approach to the planning, operation and overall management of Roy Hill’s mining, processing, rail and port operations,” Roy Hill states.
TECHNOLOGY
Roy Hill will use state-of-the-art, hightechnology systems, automation and processes throughout the project. It is not only intent on utilising this technology, but taking technology to a new level in the industry.
“The use of technology and the application of innovative thinking will be a defining feature of Roy Hill and its operations. We are expanding on Western Australia’s reputation for mining technology and innovation and taking it to new levels of efficiency and focus,” it says. “All Roy Hill employees are empowered to use the wealth of experience, knowledge and insight that they bring with them and apply it to developing and using proven technology in innovative ways to streamline operations and
ensure that Roy Hill exports 55Mtpa as cost-effectively as possible.
“Employees are encouraged to use innovative thinking to not only solve problems they encounter in their roles, but to also use this thinking to continually design and develop improvements to business processes and systems in all areas of the organisation.”
INVESTING IN PEOPLE
Roy Hill knows that the key behind its success will be the people at the core of the company and wants to
a ‘thinking organisation’ where the inherent knowledge and wisdom of staff will be collectively nurtured.
It is also intent on providing a training and development framework that maps an individual’s career aspirations and provides them with the opportunity to works towards realising their career goals. “Every employee will be able to influence continuous improvement from within their role,” says Roy Hill.
Oliver Moy Publisher
For enquiries email okm@aubusinesscoverage.com
African Business Coverage Issue 9