THE GFR Group has completed construction of the 150km Grey Mare bore-field pipeline in Western Australia.
The pipeline, commissioned by Minara Resources, is the longest large-bore plastic pipeline ever built for mining operations in the state.
The builders say the pipeline will carry water from the client’s bore-field at the historic Grey Mare Station to their mine at Murrin Murrin.
Minara Resources is one of the top ten nickel producers in the world. It invested over $60m into the project, which also included environmental protection planning as well as the construction of an access road and a power transmission line.
According to the construction firm, the first stage involved laying out sections of the pipeline across the whole route. This ‘stringing’ process saw 6000t of pipe progressively set down.
The work crews then manoeuvred each section into place with hydraulic equipment and heated up each end with an electric hotplate. As the pipes were made from polyethylene, this softened each end. Hydraulic actuators then pushed the softened ends together to effect ‘butt fusion welding.’
The company says 7000 sections of the 630mm diameter pipe were produced in lengths of 21.5m. The welding teams worked 12 hour daily shifts in temperatures which sometimes reached over 50 degrees Celsius.
A section of the pipeline was buried to a depth of two metres approximately every kilometre. This allows access for stock and native fauna to cross the area. It also protects the pipeline from being washed away in the wet season.
The company connected 20 bores and pumps from the Grey Mare bore-field so the average pipeline volume of 12ML of water per day could be met. Two major pumping stations were also constructed to maintain pressure over the entire system.
To meet the water standards required for high grade nickel production, the client uses its large reverse osmosis plant to process the raw bore fluid.
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