Construction Under Way on McArthur River Mine Power Station

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources Australia (Perth, Australia)--Construction has been completed on about 25% of the McArthur River Mine power station project, and Energy Developments Limited (EDL) plans to finish it by end of this year. The plant will provide an additional, 53-megawatt (MW) power supply to the McArthur River Mine's expansion. The power station is being constructed in close proximity to the existing station; when completed, it will be linked to the existing power plant.

Early in 2011, McArthur River Mining Pty Limited (MRM) (Darwin, Northern Territory) a company wholly owned by global mining group Xstrata plc (Zug, Switzerland), proposed expanding the existing power station at McArthur River Mine to facilitate the mine's expansion.

In 2011, MRM selected Milestone Engineers and Project Managers as the engineering, procurement, and construction management contractor for the entire expansion project, including the McArthur River Zinc/Lead Mine and Processing Plant.

In 2012, MRM signed an agreement with EDL to build, operate, own and maintain the expansion power plant. EDL also was awarded a 20-year term contract to extend the power supply agreements to Xstrata's expanding mine. The new agreement will be valid for the next 20 years from the date when the power plant is operational, which is expected to be in 2014.

In September 2012, Energy Developments Limited selected Electrical Construction & Maintenance Australia & Parsons Brinckerhoff as additional contractors to work on this project.

The power plant will consist of six internal combustion engines, supplied by Wartsila (New South Wales, Australia) with capacities of 9 MW each. Along with the existing power plant, a total capacity of 68 MW will be supplied to the mine and its facilities, and the remainder will be supplied to the local grid. Natural gas for the combustion engines will be supplied by Xstrata from the Daly Waters to the McArthur River natural gas pipeline.

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