WHAT WE DO
Know what condition your assets are really in, and what to do about it.
Mining infrastructure works hard, in dust, water and vibration, and much of it is older than the people running it. IMEC inspects structures, equipment and services so that owners know what condition their assets are really in, what the risks are, and what to do about them, with the same engineers available to design the fix.
Structural integrity inspections
Our structural inspections follow local legislation and standards or the client’s own requirements, and always cover:
- Pre-site preparation: drawings, history, access and isolation planning.
- Defect identification across buildings, conveyors, bins, headframes, tanks, platforms and support structures.
- Risk-matrix classification of each defect by probability and consequence, so remediation is prioritised by risk rather than by what was noticed first.
- Preventative maintenance and remediation recommendations.
- Reporting and records: photographs, defect registers and remedial action lists the site can track.
Where a high-risk defect is found, the in-house design team can move straight to structural condition analysis, temporary propping or bracing design, and the drawings for permanent repair.
Sites inspected include CBH’s Geraldton grain silos; the Cornish Metals headframe at South Crofty in the UK; Glencore’s George Fisher and Lady Loretta operations in Queensland (batch plant, process plant, crushing circuit and power stations); Red 5’s Darlot gold mine process plant; the Shark Bay Salt process plant, ship loader and site infrastructure; Gorgon’s Barrow Island and Wheatstone LNG facilities including offshore platforms; St Barbara’s Gwalia camp; and Mincor’s Long operation. Structural Integrity Inspections
Condition assessment for reuse
When a structure is to be brought back into service, inspection becomes assessment. For the reopening of South Crofty, IMEC assessed the existing headframe with on-site material sampling, point-cloud scanning to verify the as-built geometry, and structural modelling and analysis against the loads it will carry. South Crofty Headframe Assessment
Equipment, services and pumping systems
- Equipment inspections and condition monitoring of mechanical plant.
- Pumping system audits: a walk-through and measurement of the dewatering system, its sumps, pumps, pipelines and controls, feeding the hydraulic model and optimisation work described under Mine Dewatering Design.
- Mine services audits of raw water supply, dewatering and compressed air systems. IMEC audits raw water supply, dewatering and compressed air systems as well as designing them. We model the system as it is, find the bottlenecks and the issues, and develop a rolling plan of improvements so upgrades happen in the right order and on the mine’s schedule rather than after a failure.
- Materials and NDT: material assessments, coordination of non-destructive testing and materials testing laboratories, and corrosion, wear and fatigue analysis.
- Failure investigation and root cause analysis, remaining-useful-life assessment, reliability analysis and asset management strategies.
- Compliance audits against safety and regulatory requirements.
What you receive
An inspection report with photographs, a risk-classified defect register and a prioritised remedial action list; condition ratings and remaining-life estimates where assessed; NDT and materials results; and, where needed, repair or strengthening designs ready for tender or fabrication.
Book an inspection or an audit: contact IMEC.
