The team at Survey Group has been busy finishing up on a recent project—The Robe Valley Sustaining project. Also known as the Robe Valley iron ore mine expansion, this major mining project is located in the Robe Valley area within the Pilbara region of Western Australia. For reference, the site location is a two-hour drive south of Karratha.
As we are now proud to be wrapping up another successful project, we invite you to have a read below as we further discuss what the project involved and some of the challenges our team encountered along the way.
The RVS Project: From Start to Finish
Throughout this major project, Survey Group provided several services including audit surveys to Calibre for the project. Offering guidance to management and survey personnel, our team provides expert advice on safety and survey standards.
Well-equipped to facilitate and commence major resource construction projects, our ability to manage whole site client audit surveying of sub-contracts for conformance and compliance enabled us to take on this large-scale project.
Gathering, recording, and keeping accurate survey record information at the mine operations, our five full-time surveyors have been working at both sites.
What has been completed?
Taking on the following workload, the team has so far completed:
Mesa A:
This site of the project included the complete construction of a new wet plant. This also extended to the successful development of two new orebodies, along with the much-needed development of a production hub.
Here’s a summary of what was achieved on Mesa A:
- Construction of a new wet plant
- Tails storage facility
- Development of 2 new orebodies: Mesa’s B and C
- Completion of haul road construction requirements
- Successful development of a production hub
Mesa J,H,K:
Applying our skills to the development of Mesa J,H,K, our surveyors also competently performed upgrades on two existing processing plants (PP1 and PP2). Working on upgrades to the train load as well as the development of the Mesa H orebody, our skills and experience enabled us to work on haul road construction, a production hub as well as required workshop extensions.
Spread over two sites, the Robe Valley iron ore mine expansion involves the development of three open pits on three new deposits namely Mesa B, Mesa C, and Mesa H. The project also includes the construction of supporting infrastructure for continued operations at Mesa A and Mesa J.
The three new open-pit mines will make use of existing infrastructure facilities including the rail network, port facilities, and power stations. In addition to this work, the project involves the construction of new haul roads, a wet processing facility and waste fines storage facility.
Offering industry-leading survey consulting for Western Australia, Survey Group has played a pivotal role in the Rove Valley sustaining project. A large-scale operation that has taken place over several years, the RVS project is now beginning to wind up. It is predicted Survey Group will stay working on Mesa J until August of this year.
Project challenges: The COVID 19 pandemic
The Robe Valley project took place during the pandemic. Much like every other workplace across the globe, COVID had a significant impact on our operation. At times challenging to our personnel, many workers needed to live away from their families to complete their work during the pandemic. As a company that is committed to the completion of every project, this was at times incredibly difficult, but a challenge we were able to navigate for the good of the project—once again proving our reputation for success.
Looking to the future
As a leading survey consulting group, Survey Group help to manage even the most challenging projects. Boasting an extensive portfolio of work across a wide range of sectors, from minerals and energy to construction and civil engineering, our experienced survey consultant group has the expertise to provide specialist advice and exceptional surveying services.
Find out more about Survey Group’s service range and past projects online. Or drop in and chat through more detail regarding your next project. We’re located at 59 Walters Drive, Osborne Park. We’re available on the phone at 0407 479 686 or via email .