We have now been in PE for 9 months and thought it was about time that Pete explain in a little more detail about the project he is working on, and hence why we are in PE!
The PE manganese export terminal when built in the 1960's was considered state of the art. With a capacity of 4 million tonnes per annum it was the biggest export facility for manganese in the world (manganese is used in the refining process of various alloys to improve it's qualities, ie. manganese is needed to make stainless steel). South Africa is a very resource rich country. Along with large reserves of platinum, gold and diamonds it also has large reserves of manganese (I've heard 80% of the world reserves but this is not verified!).
Due to the demand for manganese spiralling to record highs 1 year ago (thanks to manufacturing in China and India) the terminal was in desperate need of refurbishment. Ships were literally queuing in Algoa Bay to get access to the terminal. The plant was 40 years old and had been neglected for some time for various reasons (will insert 10,000 word essay on RSA history here later!) and was running at less than half its original capacity, supporting unsafe working environs and causing environmental issues mainly involving dust...
Our project was to restore the working capacity of the plant with a view to increase export capacity where possible, automate many of the older manual parts of the machinery and reduce dust pollution. Needless to say there have been various ups and downs on the project but a major milestone was reached recently when the new reclaimer (the 'thing' center of picture with an orange bucket wheel) was erected from components manufactured off site and then moved into position.
The basics of how the terminal operate are-
IMPORT:
1. The ore arrives via railway, in wagons from the inland mines.
2. The wagons are tipped using a 'Tippler'- a huge machine that literally takes one wagon at a time and turns it upside down tipping its contents into a series of underground bins, tunnels and conveyors.
3. The conveyor system then takes the ore, via tunnels and shoots, to stackers that move along the open ore bins.
4. The stackers throw the ore into the bins, creating the stockpiles and separating the different grades of ore from the mines where it sits ready for export.
EXPORT:
1. The ore sitting in the bins is then reclaimed or picked up by the reclaimers and put back onto the conveyor system and routed via a number of shoots and gantries to the ship loaders.
2. The ship loaders have retractable arms that have conveyors running along them that hang out over the docked ships. The ship loaders pour the ore into the opened hulls of the docked ships.
General features are that the stackers, reclaimers and ship loaders are all mounted on their own rail systems and have conveyors running through them. This interface between the conveyors and machines is where the majority of the blockages, bottlenecks and engineering challenges arise.
My role specifically lies in the management of the procurement process and team. This includes overseeing all tendering and awarding of contracts, administration of the contracts, payments to contractors along with a swag of other reporting, budgeting and forecasting that goes along with a project of this size (about AUD$100m.)
I was brought on board mid-way through the project to streamline the procurement process. Thankfully with increased team members on board and a lot of sweat and tears from all involved, the project is now running well with an estimated completion date in the early new year.
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