Unprecedented cooling for Bauxite mine helps avoid shutdown

A bauxite mine in Queensland, Australia, was exporting more than 23 million tonnes per year. This level of productivity required high levels of efficiency across the entire mine process. Downtime was not an option.

Drought season had left its mark on the nearby dam serving the mine site and its operations – the dam was projected to run dry by the end of the calendar year. This would leave production curtailed or at worst – stopped altogether.

The artesian water that sprang naturally could not be used as it leaves the ground at a scorching 80 degrees centigrade. This temperature would degrade the existing poly piping system so much that it would need to be replaced in a year, rather than its expected lifecycle of 50 years.

Rio Tinto needed a solution to not only cool the artesian water thoroughly, but they needed that solution delivered and deployed quickly. There aren’t any cooling specialists that can offer such a mobile, modular and rapid answer.

Aside from Aggreko.

Rio Tinto and Aggreko have been partners before so there was no hesitation in making the call. Our experts got to work devising what solution would drive down the water temperature to an acceptable level for use. A total of 66.9 MW of heat rejection would fit the bill for the five artesian bores.

From a preliminary enquiry in May to deployment in December, the timescales this solution was delivered in was unprecedented. Our mobile and modular heat exchangers and cooling towers are perfect for when the unexpected occurs and the extraordinary is required, but our reliability and efficacy in giving customers exactly what they need to continue their core business is unrivalled too.

The benefit of partnering with Aggreko is threefold.

Firstly, our equipment is designed in such a way that you can have the solution that fits your need, and you can have it quickly.

Secondly, our technicians and sales engineers have a wealth of knowledge and are backed by the latest cutting-edge equipment. But they prioritise collaboration with customers, so no stone is left unturned.

Last but by no means least is our experience. We’ve worked on all manner of mines across the globe. And every project has taught us something that we can use in our next project.

All the above meant that we kept the customer’s bauxite mine efficiency as high as it was before – and downtime was avoided.