RIO Tinto is rebuilding ship loading infrastructure at its Dampier Salt operation in Port Hedland.
The new ship loading circuit will allow ships to be loaded faster and reduce the environmental impacts of port operations. The upgrade project started in 2008 and will be completed following the arrival of the new ship-loader in October 2009.
In 2001 Rio Tinto subsidiary Dampier Salt acquired the Port Hedland operation which now has a production capacity of 3.2 million tonnes per annum of high quality salt. The port operations are adjacent to the Port Hedland Port Authority and Rio Tinto's infrastructure loads ships berthed at the public wharf. Since the 1960s salt has been a major commodity exported from the town's public port.
General Manager Operations Tom Lukeman claims the upgrade would replace the original ship loader which was built 40 years ago by Leslie Salt.
Lukeman says the new ship loader will allow the same number of tonnes to be loaded over a shorter period of time. This means at current production rate less hours will be spent loading, and there will be less of an impact in terms of noise and energy use. The facility also sets us up for the future, providing the potential to support future expansions in capacity of the operation.
The new conveyor systems are fitted with low noise idlers and are significantly quieter and faster than the existing conveyors. It will allow loading at 3500 tonnes per hour, as opposed to the old ship-loader which ran at 1500 tonnes per hour.
Other advantages of the new ship loader include the capability of remote operation, which allows the operator to have greater visibility and more accurate operational control. Remote control will allow the operator to control the ship loader from the deck of the ship or from other parts of the wharf.
The ship-loader was built in China by Shanghai Zhenhua Port Machinery and was delivered to Port Hedland by ship and transferred onto the wharf. All other components including electrical systems and the feed conveyors have been built in Western Australia.
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