Download PDF - Hatch

Premier Issue | July 2011 

in this issue 

25 % 

energy 

savings 

35 % 

fewer 

electrodes 

$15 million 

Saved in budget, 

schedule and process 

Safety has 

a dollar value 

Safe workers produce 

more, better 

Koniambo: 

A mine life of 25 years 

from 62.5 million tonnes 

of saprolite ore 

Our band of principles 

Nils Voermann 

Hatch engineer wins PEO 

Award for Engineering 

Excellence – designing and 

installing world’s largest 

furnaces since 1999

We have only our employees to thank. 

To become a best-managed company, you hire the best people. 

It’s that simple. 

Hatch’s 9,000 people — in 65 offices around the world — 

set the standard in delivering value to our clients in the 

mining and metals, energy and infrastructure sectors. 

We’re project and construction managers. 

We’re engineers. We’re business consultants. 

And we’re part of Hatch’s legacy of excellence. 

Learn more about us at www.hatch.ca 

Metals • Energy • Infrastructure 

AUSTRALIA • BRAZIL • CANADA • CHILE • CHINA • INDIA 

PERU • RUSSIA • SOUTH AFRICA • UAE • UK • USA

Premier Issue | July 2011 

4 | Welcome 

5 | Award-winning project 

no surprise to client 

Port of Durban expansion, winner of the 

South African Institute of 

Civil Engineering Award for 

technical excellence 

6 | Madagascar Minerals: 

Patience pays dividends 

Rio Tinto's ilmenite project in Madagascar 

is one of the world's most honored 

resource projects of all time 

8 | Xstrata proud of new mine 

Nickel Rim mine in the Sudbury basin 

shows a modern face in its design of 

surface infrastructure 

10 | An incredible journey 

The design, manufacture 

and global transportation of 

the world’s largest pressure vessels 

14 | QIT’s UGS, the third 

and best expansion 

International Project of the Year Award 

16 | Adelaide Desalination plant 

on schedule despite delays 

Playing catch-up: $1.83-billion Adelaide 

Desalination plant remains on schedule 

for completion by December 2012 

17 | Impala Platinum, 

a milestone project 

New furnace achieved “astonishing 

performance indices" 

18 | Dalrymple Bay 

Seventh award-winning coal terminal 

expansion makes it world’s largest 

20 | AltaGas wind project, 

first on BC power grid 

Enough wind power 

to serve 26,000 homes 

21 | Welland Ship Canal 

An opportunity to generate electricity 

using spill water 

22 | Koniambo: 

A world-class resource 

World-class resource base provides mine 

life in excess of 25 years 

24 | Mosaic expands mines 

Three major mines expanding 

to meet growing demand 

25 | Hatch engineer honored 

Nils Voermann wins PEO Medal of 

Engineering Excellence 

26 | Bruce Power: 

Two awards for restarts 

Schreyer and Project of the Year 

28 | Commendations 

Client feedback 

29 | Our band of principles 

Safety, Quality, Sustainability 

and Innovation 

29 | Improved safety programs 

lead to improved productivity 

Economics of safety and quality 

30 | Transnet, focus 

on infrastructure 

The redevelopment and 

expansion of ports and railways 

Cover photo: Koniambo metallurgical 

plant lights up the night 

Hatch Advantage July 2011 | 3

Welcome 

to Hatch 

Advantage 

This is a new publication from Hatch that 

will tell readers how clients receive direct 

benefits and added value beyond the 

expectations of the project team. 

Our clients wanted the 

immediate expansion 

of reliable and low-cost 

production facilities. 

For more than 50 years Hatch has 

established itself as a preeminent 

supplier of engineering and construction 

management in the Metals, Energy and 

Infrastructure sectors. 

As the global population grows the demand 

for commodities grows and prices rise. 

Our clients are committed to the urgent 

expansion of reliable and low-cost facilities. 

In this new environment of sustainability, 

safety management, and high quality, our 

legacy of excellence and our experienced 

staff have demonstrated that we can deliver 

to meet our clients' needs. 

This publication shows many examples of 

exceptional value delivered on projects. 

In one example (p14) client Rio Tinto 

completed a 15-percent production boost 

three months ahead of schedule and 

$15 million under budget. 

QIT’s UGS project was the winner in 2008 

of the International Project Management 

Institute Project of the Year Award. 

Kurt Strobele 

Chairman and CEO 

Hatch 

4

Awardwinning 

project 

no surprise 

to client 

The Port of Durban, the largest 

in Africa, was deepened and 

expanded to accommodate 

bigger ocean-going vessels 

carrying commodities in and out 

of Africa. 

BY THE NUMBERS 

The project was a component 

of the infrastructure program 

that won the 2009 Technical 

Excellence Award of the 

South African Institute of Civil 

Engineering. 

‘…ahead of schedule, 

under budget and 

with an excellent 

safety record…’ 

Hatch and its joint-venture 

partners, Mott MacDonald and 

1,000,000+ 

work-hours without a lost-time injury 

19 - m - deep 

approach channel 

8−11 % immediate 

traffic increase 

Goba Engineering, provided 

all engineering, procurement, 

and project and construction 

management. 

Moira Moses, Group Executive, 

Transnet Capital Projects, on 

hearing the project won the 

award said, “For many years 

skeptics were doubtful that 

the Durban Harbor Entrance 

Channel project would ever get 

off the ground. 

"Not only did we complete it 

ahead of schedule, under budget 

and with an excellent safety 

record, we scooped one of the 

most prestigious awards in 

the industry.” 


Madagascar Minerals: 

Patience pays dividends 


85 

of workforce sourced 

% 

and trained locally 

3,900 

personnel, Madagascar's 

largest project ever 

12,500,000+ 


6

Rio Tinto's 

ilmenite project in 

Madagascar is one 

of the world's most 

honored resource 

projects of all time. 

It was at the time also the largest 

project ever undertaken in 

Madagascar, an island state that 

is home to 200,000 species of 

animals of which 150,000 exist 

nowhere else on the planet. 

Hatch was most proud of the fact 

that it could recruit and train 85 

percent of the workforce from 

Madagascar and amass 12.5 

million work-hours without a 

lost-time injury. 

The project established 

precedents for very careful and 

incremental development, and 

still began production 

on schedule. 

Rio Tinto's approach to the 

novel development was one 

of sensitivity to Madagascar's 

unique ecology, and a singleminded 

determination at Rio 

Tinto's director level to respect 

the company's commitment 

to sustainability. 

After several years of discussions 

with local communities and 

national regulators about 

how the ilmenite sands could 

best serve one of the most 

ecologically sensitive regions in 

the world, Rio Tinto drew up a 

plan to create a dredging mine, 

much like Rio Tinto & BHP 

Billiton’s successful facility at 

Richards Bay, South Africa. 

Using a conventional cutter/ 

suction dredge, a floating 

concentrator in the dredging 

pond, a land-based minerals 

separation plant, and associated 

infrastructure (including a new 

port facility, a power generator, 

a 20-km-access road, and a water 

supply), Rio Tinto developed 

"a model for future projects 

in Africa and elsewhere in the 

developing world," said Rio 

Tinto's Chief Executive Officer 

Tom Albanese. 

Despite its remote location 

and the need to educate and 

mobilize the local workforce, 

the construction was completed 

in three years and the overall 

project in five years. 

AN OUTSTANDING PROJECT 

• Winner, Rio Tinto's Chief Executive Safety Award 

• Winner, The Bentley Innovation in Mining Award 

• Winner, The Nedbank Capital Green Mining Award 

• Winner, The South African Steel Association 

Export Award 


Xstrata proud of new mine 

B Y T H E N U M B E R S 

15 contracting firms on site 

5,000,000+ 


25 km of lateral mine shafts 

125 km of diamond-drilling 

8

Nickel Rim, a new 

nickel mine in the 

Sudbury basin, 

shows a modern 

face in its design and 

project execution 

Xstrata Nickel assigned the full 

EPCM scope for engineering, 

procurement, and construction 

management to Hatch in jointventure 

with a local partner. 

The Hatch EPCM team peaked 

at 120 members managing five 

design groups and up to 15 

contracting firms on site at the 

same time. 

Strict access rules and 

performance standards were 

imposed on all site personnel, 

contractors and suppliers to 

guarantee that safety protocols 

were obeyed to the letter. 

When the project was completed 

more than seven million hours 

were expended including a run 

of five million without a 

lost-time injury. 

The project’s scope included 

all surface and underground 

infrastructure, a ventilation shaft 

sunk to 1,685 metres, and a 

production shaft sunk to 

1,750 metres. 

The underground infrastructure 

includes 25 km of lateral mine 

development, and, to prove ore 

body geometry, mineral grades 

and tonnage some 125 km of 

diamond-drilling. 

Nickel Rim is now producing at 

1.2 million tonnes per annum; 

however hoisting infrastructure 

is designed to extract up to a 

maximum of 1.7 million tpa of 

combined ore and waste rock, 

when required. 

The project was completed 

safely, three percent below 

budget with first production 

ahead of schedule. 

Meet the Specialists 

Environmental Services Group 

Permitting can be a long and tedious step in 

the development of a mine, port or power 

generation facility. 

Protecting the environment, engaging aboriginal 

groups and controlling energy costs require special 

expertise and knowledge. 

Corinne Boone 

Global Director 

Environmental Services Group 

Benchmark: We can show you where you are…and where you should be. 



$2.3 billion 

capital cost 

four 780-tonne 

brick-lined Hatch-designed autoclaves 

transported from Malaysia in Southeast Asia 

to the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean 

One of four 780-tonne 

pressure vessels on the 

way to Barricks's new 

Pueblo Viejo mine site 

10

An incredible journey 

The design, manufacture 

and global transportation 

of the world’s largest autoclaves 

Each 780-tonne autoclave 

took 18 days to be 

transported just over 

120 kilometres from 

the port at Samana, 

Dominican Republic, 

to the Pueblo Viejo 

operation. 

The Pueblo Viejo gold operation 

in the Dominican Republic is on 

track for its first gold pour in the 

first quarter of 2012. But getting 

to this point has not exactly 

been easy sailing. Because 

the ore is double refractory, in 

order to access it, the project 

had to commission the largest 

autoclaves ever built and 

transport them halfway across 

the world from Malaysia to the 

Caribbean. 

Accessing gold 

Pueblo Viejo, a joint venture 

between Barrick Gold 

Corporation and Goldcorp Inc., 

boasts gold reserves of 

approximately 23.7 million 

ounces. Barrick owns 60 per 

cent and is the managing 

partner. The sulphidic refractory 

gold deposit is being constructed 

to a 24,000 tonne-per-day design 

capacity. In the first five years, it 

will produce an average of 1.042 

to 1.125 million ounces annually 

(100 per cent basis). 

Hatch Autoclave Technology 

Group has been on the project 

since 2006 with the engineering, 

procurement, construction 

management (EPCM) contract 

for the core part of the refractory 

process, namely, the autoclaving 

facility and supporting oxygen 

plant. “It’s a double refractory 

gold ore, associated with two 

mineralogical issues: sulphides, 

in the form of pyrite and minor 

base metals such as silver, 

copper and zinc, which prevent 

cyanidation from directly 

recovering the gold; and a 

natural carbon component to the 

ore, which causes issues with the 

recovery under a conventional 

system,” explains Hatch project 

manager Kevin S. Fraser. The 

incorporation of autoclaving 

in the processing of the ore 

addresses these challenges. 

In the autoclaves, all sulphides 

are oxidized, producing 

sulphuric acid as a by-product. 

The iron, copper and zinc 

dissolve into the solution; then 

the acid is washed out in a 

counter-current decantation 

(CCD) circuit leaving free 

microscopic gold to allow 

for leaching in cyanide. The 


underflow slurry is pushed to 

a carbon-in-leach circuit. Also 

in the autoclaves, the carbon 

contained in the sedimentary 

materials is oxidized with the 

combination of oxygen and high 

temperatures. 

Within the autoclaves, oxygen 

is the primary reagent. During 

design of the autoclaves, Hatch 

included a heat recovery circuit 

that, combined with the nature 

of the exothermic reactions 

that produce heat within the 

autoclaves, makes the heat 

autogenous by design. “Without 

the heat recovery system, we 

would need some external 

heat source,” Fraser adds. 

“This way, we keep the energy 

needs down.” The Pueblo 

Viejo autoclaves are the largest, 

by weight, refractory-lined 

autoclaves built to date globally, 

with an onhook weight of 780 

tonnes when shipped lead lined. 

The massive structures are each 

5.6 metres by 34.8 metres, and 

will nominally operate at 230 

degrees Celsius. There are four 

in total. 

The grand voyage 

Hatch designed the autoclaves 

and provided quality assurance 

during fabrication. They were 

built by KNM Process Systems 

Sdn Bhd in Gebeng, Malaysia. 

“We had two full-time quality 

assurance inspectors on site 

throughout the 33-month 

fabrication,” Fraser recalls. 

The autoclaves were then 

shipped approximately 

10 kilometres to the Kuantan 

Port using a 24-line, selfpropelled 

modular transporter 

(SPMT) heavy-haul unit. At the 

port, they were loaded on the 

Beluga Bremen, a P2-class ship 

owned by Beluga Charters out of 

Germany, for its maiden voyage. 

The autoclaves were transported 

in two shipments of two 

autoclaves each on the Bremen, 

which used both of its 750-tonne 

cranes and needed six hours 

to load the autoclaves from the 

SPMT into the cargo hold. 

“We had two full-time 

quality assurance 

inspectors on site 

throughout the 

33-month fabrication” 

The ocean voyage took four 

weeks one way, heading 

through the Panama Canal to 

reach Samana in northeastern 

Dominican Republic. “Samana 

is basically an old and unused 

former cruise ship pier that 

was refurbished for the Pueblo 

Viejo project, including the 

autoclaves,” Fraser explains. 

There, the autoclaves were 

transferred from the Bremen 

onto a 4.9-metre-wide 22-line 

Goldhofer heavy-haul trailer unit 

to transport the autoclaves over 

120 kilometres to the Pueblo 

Viejo site, a trek that took about 

18 days, and had to be repeated 

for each of the four autoclaves. 

“I think I’ve walked every 

kilometre of that route – I’ve 

definitely driven it many times,” 

says Fraser. “The Goldhofer 

moves at an average of two 

kilometres per hour and can only 

operate during the daytime.” 

Prior to the autoclaves arriving 

in the Dominican Republic, the 

project of readying the route to 

get them to site took about 

16 months. Due to the sheer 

size of the autoclaves, there 

were a lot of interference issues 

to deal with: trees, power lines, 

communications lines, signs in 

villages that had been modified 

so they could rotate, and bridges 

(some had been temporarily 

reinforced to support the excess 

weight of the load; others had 

metal ramp structures added 

along each side to allow the 

Goldhofer to drive over them). 

The actual trek across the land 

with the autoclaves required 

a number of teams. Heavy 

lifting and transport specialist 

Mammoet Caribbean Inc. was 

responsible for driving the 

Goldhofer. A crane and ramp 

team moved the ramps – the 

team would go ahead, ramp 

up a bridge, and then once the 

Goldhofer crossed, dismantle 

the ramp, move ahead of the 

Goldhofer and ramp up the next 

bridge. A safety team acted as 

an escort and ensured all were 

well-fed and hydrated, while 

also providing necessary crowd 

control near towns. 

Upon reaching the massive 

gates at Pueblo Viejo, which 

12

is situated on a mountain, the 

autoclaves were transferred 

from the Goldhofer to an SPMT 

trailer unit, as it can rotate 

and manoeuvre tightly, using 

hydraulics for better accuracy. 

The autoclaves were transported 

to the north bench area of the 

project and negotiated into the 

autoclave building, where a 

jack-and-slide process was used 

to lift the large items to be slid 

sideways onto piers and lowered 

down onto two six-metre bearing 

plates and sixteen 70-millimetrediameter 

anchor bolts. “The fit 

was perfect,” Fraser says. 

By August, the first two 

autoclaves were on site, and the 

remaining two were there by 

mid-November. 

Brick by brick 

The autoclaves are constructed 

of carbon steel, with the vessel 

shell made of 100-millimetrethick 

plate. A lead lining was put 

in during fabrication to protect 

the vessel shell from corrosion. 

A team of 12 lead burners from 

JL Goslar GmbH & Co. KG 

welded approximately 60 tonnes 

of lead into each autoclave. 

Currently, at site, a refractory 

brick lining is being put in the 

autoclaves by Koch Knight LLC 

to thermally insulate the process 

and protect the vessel from the 

challenging conditions. The 

lining will be 300 millimetres 

thick, comprising four layers of 

brick. A team of 12 masons is 

working on site laying 98,000 

bricks in each autoclave. 

“Bricking the autoclaves takes 

talent – there are many nozzles, 

openings for pipes, agitators, 

internal structural components 

and so on,” Fraser says, “all 

with specific designs to ensure 

they are protected thermally 

and chemically and perfectly 

fit. The brick work started at the 

beginning of September 2010 

and will finish at the end of 

June 2011.” 

Article from CIM Magazine, 

March/April, 2011 

Reprinted with the kind 

permission of Canadian Institute of 

Mining, Minerals and Petroleum 

www.cim.org 


Consulting 

From asset audits to maintenance management 

Hatch helps clients to set realistic improvement 

targets, monitors equipment, trains personnel, 

develops strategic operating plans and provides 

technical support. 

Mary Ann Crichton 

Global Practice Director 

Hatch Consulting 




QIT’s UGS, 

the third and 

best expansion 

525,000 


3 months 

ahead of schedule 

$15 million 

under budget 

400+ 

piping, mechanical and 

elecrical tie-ins required 

Every objective was met with the 

highly successful third expansion 

of Rio Tinto's UGS to 375,000 

tons per year. 

The project was fast-tracked from 

the outset and was completed 

three months ahead of schedule 

and $15 million under budget. 

During the 525,000 work-hours 

dedicated to the expansion 

project in a facility operating 

at full capacity there was not a 

single lost-time injury. 

Rio Tinto had concluded 

that a 15-percent increase 

of production could best be 

accomplished with two new 

production lines. 

15 % production increase 

14

The project won the 

Project Management 

Institute Project of 

the Year Award in 

Québec. UGS is 

at Sorel-Tracy, 

Québec, on the 

St. Lawrence River. 

The project was then entered 

into the International Project of 

the Year competition, against 

competitors from more than 60 

nations, and Rio Tinto captured 

that honor as well. 

It was a global project: 

• All the main production 

equipment was designed at 

Hatch Mississauga in Canada; 

• The preliminary design studies 

were completed in Hatch 

Montréal and Hatch Sorel- 

Tracy; and 

• The structural engineering 

and steel detailing of the 

Slag-Preparation Plant were 

assigned to the team at 

Woodmead, South Africa. 

Hatch's scope of services were 

engineering, procurement and 

construction management, i.e. 

the “full EPCM.” 

Hatch also designed the process 

equipment including the 

reactor, dryer, and classifier; and 

programmed the controls. 

More than 400 piping, 

mechanical, and electrical tie-ins 

were needed. 

A dozen major pieces of 

equipment were installed. 

Through it all, production 

continued without interruption. 

The Acid-Leach Plant was on 

stream after two days. The 

Slag-Preparation Plant was 

operational in a week. 


572549738 


Adelaide 

Desalination 

plant on 

schedule 

despite 

delays 

Despite delays caused by ground 

conditions under the seabed, 

inclement weather, safety 

investigations on site, and delays 

in the supply and installation 

of electrical infrastructure, 

the $1.83-billion Adelaide 

Desalination plant remains on 

schedule. 

Hatch is a member of the 

design and construction 

multidisciplined consortium, 

Hatch/SMEC Joint venture, that is 

developing the facility. 

$1.83 billion 

capital cost 

100 gigalitres 

total expanded capacity 

1.1 kilometres 

of undersea tunnel bored 

16 

AdelaideAqua advised 

the South Australia 

government that 

the overall project 

completion date, 

incorporating the 

100 gigalitre-expanded 

plant, remains within 

the Government’s 

approved schedule. 

Milestones include: 

• Completion of the 

transfer pump station and 

transfer pipeline system to 

Happy Valley 

• Completion of significant 

marine works for the intake 

and outfall pipelines 

• All site structures, including 

process buildings and 

chemical storage buildings 

• All site civil works 

• Tunnel boring machine 

reached its destination 1.1 

kilometres from shore. 

“ 

The first 50 gigalitre 

plant can start producing 

desalinated drinking 

water by the end of 

July 2011 and will reach 

capacity by the end of 

October 2011. 

“ 

— John Ringham, 

SA Water Chief Executive 

• Power supply infrastructure 

ready to meet the needs of the 

50-billion-litre facility 

• The energy recovery system. 

“We are continuing to work 

closely with AdelaideAqua to 

ensure safety, quality, durability 

and environmental compliance 

remain at the highest levels,” 

John Ringham South Australia 

Water, Chief Executive Officer, 

said. 

AdelaideAqua reassured the 

government that “safety 

remains a key priority on the 

construction site.”


Impala 

Platinum, 

a milestone 

project 

Hatch developed an efficient 

electric furnace for Impala 

Platinum. Power needs were 

slashed by 25 percent, and 

electrode consumption was 

reduced by 35 percent. 

Impala Platinum had a clear 

objective when it asked Hatch 

to expand its smelter and that 

was to increase production 

while cutting costs per unit of 

production. 

Hatch designed a single smelting 

furnace designed to operate at 

40MW, equal to the combined 

power of Impala’s 

previous four furnaces. 

The single furnace 

throughput is now more 

than the total of the other 

four furnaces. 

When the new furnace 

was commissioned, it 

achieved “astonishing 

performance indices,” says 

Bert Wasmund, Executive 

Director, Hatch. 

The new furnace uses 

25 percent less power per tonne 

of feed, and has 35 percent 

lower electrode consumption. 

Impala used Hatch’s proprietary 

refractory cooling and highvoltage 

technologies. 

Hatch’s specialized team of 

furnace technologists designed 

all components of the new 

furnace including the innovative 

35 % fewer electrodes 

25 % power savings 

three-dimensional (3D) structural 

binding arrangement as well 

as mechanical and electrical 

systems for the 40-tonne 

automated Soderberg electrodes 

that deliver power to the furnace. 

The Impala furnace No 5 in 

South Africa was designed in 

1991 by Nils Voermann, Hatch’s 

Global Managing Director, 

Technologies. He also led the 

team that commissioned the 

furnace. Nils was the winner 

of the 2011 Professional 

Engineers of Ontario Engineering 

Excellence Medal. 


Technologies 

Original ideas from Hatch often lead to research 

and development, technology audits, intellectual 

properties and tax concessions that provide clients 

with continuing income from improved and exclusive 

processes and equipment. 

Nils Voermann, 

Global Managing Director 

Technologies 




Dalrymple Bay: 

Award-winning 

terminal 

expansion 

$1.26 billion capital cost 

56 % increase in capacity 

85 Mtpa 

upgraded terminal capability 

When the award-winning 

Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal’s 

(DBCT) seventh expansion 

concluded, the capacity of the 

terminal was increased by 

56 percent from 54.5 million 

tonnes per annum (mtpa) to 

85 mtpa, making it one of the 

largest export terminals in the 

world. 

Under Hatch’s leadership the 

Aurecon Hatch JV provided 

full engineering, procurement, 

construction and project 

management services. The 

$1.26 billion project had a total 

of 5.5 million hours worked 

and more than 21,000 audits of 

safety protocols. 

The DBCT project won the 

2010 Queensland Engineering 

18

Excellence Award. A year earlier 

the project captured a Facilities 

Excellence Award. 

Engineering design excellence 

produced: 

• Automated wagon vibrators 

that eliminate manual handling 

and noise-related occupational 

health and safety hazards 

• Jetty widening on a single row 

of vertical piles to ensure the 

benefits of lower capital cost, 

smoother constructability and 

easier maintenance 

• Further expansion 

accommodated by the jetty 

widening and the vertical 

pile structure 

• Processes that allowed full 

production being achieved 

within days of startup 

• An enhanced working 

environment that is cleaner, 

provides good maintenance 

access and is less constrained 

for operational personnel. 

At program completion, a 

distinguishing operational feature 

of DBCT was the technology of 

two reclaimers simultaneously 

feeding each outloading 

conveyor/shiploader. This feature 

enables DBCT to efficiently 

blend cargoes out of the 

stockpiles which have enhanced 

terminal users' commercial 

positions in global markets. 

The DBCT 7X project scope of 

work included the introduction 

of 3D anti-collision technology 

that increased the advantage 

of cargo blending. In addition 

to the innovative higher bund 

walls in the stockyard, greater 

capacity, efficient blending and 

simultaneous machine operation, 

is only part of the engineering 

components that have placed 

DBCT as the highest throughput 

coal export terminal in the 

southern hemisphere 



34 turbines 

Enercon prototype WTGs 

40-metre-long 

turbine blades 

102 MW electricity 

generated 

26,000 homes powered 

AltaGas 

wind project 

first on BC 

power grid 

The Bear Mountain wind project 

in the Peace River Country of 

British Columbia generates 

102 MW of power, enough 

to serve the needs of 

26,000 homes. 

To appreciate the scale of the 

project, consider that nearby 

Dawson Creek, a community 

in the northeast corner of the 

province, has a population of 

about 11,000. 

Hatch provided full EPCM 

services for the design, 

construction and commissioning 

of access roads, turbine pads, a 

substation, a 34.5-kV collection 

system and 138-kV transmission 

system. 

The project was completed on 

schedule and on budget. 

The Bear Mountain project 

features 34 Enercon prototype 

wind turbine generators. 

The Enercon wind generators 

hub height is 80 metres. Each 

is capable of producing 3 MW, 

making them the largest wind 

generators in Canada. 

The Bear Mountain project was 

the first wind farm to be tied into 

the BC power grid. 

Sea, rail and road were all 

used to transport the turbine 

components. The blades of Bear 

Mountain’s 102 wind turbines 

are 40 metres long. 

“ 

Construction 

management was 

very efficient, and 

site supervision was 

focused on safety 

and results. 

“ 

— MARC BOUCHER, 

AltaGas project manager 

20


Water spills 

generate electricity 

for historic 

Welland Ship Canal 

25 GWh 

of green energy 

generated 

16,000 tonnes 

of CO 2 offset annually 

The Welland Ship Canal was 

first constructed in 1824 to 

help cargo vessels ascend and 

descend the escarpment between 

Lake Erie and Lake Ontario in 

the Great Lakes system. 

Today more than 

40 million tonnes of cargo 

move freely each year through 

the canal avoiding the famed 

Niagara Falls. 

But the St. Lawrence Seaway 

Management Corporation saw 

another opportunity in the canal: 

the generation of electricity. 

Today the spill water from 

Locks 1 and 2 generates 25 

GWh of green energy and offsets 

annually 16,000 tonnes of 

carbon dioxide. 

Hatch was retained to design 

two water-power facilities 

within the locks. There are eight 

locks in the canal between 

Port Colborne (Lake Erie) and 

Port Weller (Lake Ontario), 

compared with 40 in the first 

Welland Canal. Hatch’s scope 

was to ensure the designs were 

constructible within the tight 

and variable confines of the 

canal and that the construction 

activities could be completed 

during the icy months of January 

to March when the canal was 

closed. The objective was ‘no 

interference with shipping’ in 

this critical waterway. 

Hatch was up to the challenge 

and for this novel project 

received the Canadian 

Consulting Engineering 

Award of Excellence. 


Systems & Process Control 

Hatch’s Systems & Process Controls business practice is 

a key differentiator for Hatch. We offer a full spectrum 

of services from instrumentation and automation to 

operational information management in order to ensure 

our clients' facilities operate at the highest reliability 

and efficiency. 

Bruce MacKay 

Global Director 

Systems & Process Control 



Koniambo: 

A world-class 

resource 

Koniambo, Xstrata’s nickel mine 

in New Caledonia, benefits 

from a world-class resource 

base, and will have a mine life 

of more than of 25 years from 

62.5 million tonnes of saprolite 

reserves grading 2.40% nickel at 

a 2.0% cut-off grade. 


142.1 million 

tonnes of saprolite reserves 

50+ years 

economic production life span 

22

This major resource has the 

potential to extend mine life 

beyond 50 years of economic 

production. 

The Koniambo Nickel project, 

a joint-venture partnership 

between Xstrata Nickel and 

Société Minière du Sud 

Pacifique (SMSP), is a greenfield 

pyrometallurgical facility in New 

Caledonia designed to develop 

one of the world’s largest and 

highest-grade nickel laterite 

deposits. 

The project will process ore 

in a 60,000-tonne-per-annum 

ferronickel smelter. The 

smelter will use a standard 

pyromettallurgical process and a 

new technology to confine dust. 

Because of the scale of the 

project and its remote location, 

the metallurgical plant was 

constructed in 15 separate 

modules in Qingdao, China, 

then shipped to site. The 

modules, weigh up to 

3,500 tonnes each and can 

be more than 50 metres tall. 

They arrived in New Caledonia 

between October and 

December 2010. 

Hatch, in joint venture with 

Technip in an integrated 

owner’s team, is constructing a 

metallurgical plant; a 

350 MW coal-fired power 

station; an ore preparation plant; 

an 11.5-kilometre ore conveyor; 

a port; and a construction camp 

for more than 4,800. 

Hatch’s Systems & Process 

Control group was responsible 

for the project’s fully integrated 

systems-and-automation 

approach, which includes 

state-of-the-art communications 

infrastructure, operational 

systems, fibre optics and 

networks, security systems, 

management systems and all 

automation. 

“ 

Koniambo represents the opportunity to develop an outstanding 

nickel operation with cash costs in the lowest quartile and 

exciting, low-cost growth potential from its vast resource base. 

The project is based on very strong valuation metrics. 

— Mick Davis, Xstrata Chief Executive 

“ 



50 % increased 

production capacity 

5.3 million 

tonnes shipped per annum 

Mosaic expands mines 

Mosaic is the world’s second 

leading producer of potash with 

mines and mills in the USA and 

Canada. Mosaic’s facilities in 

Saskatchewan, Canada, are in 

the first phase of expansion of 

their production capacities. 

Hatch has completed a series of 

studies at all Mosaic sites within 

Saskatchewan and is providing 

prefeasibility and feasibility 

studies, as well as engineering, 

procurement and construction 

management (EPCM) services for 

the expansion program. 

The capacity of facilities near 

Esterhazy, Saskatchewan, the 

world’s largest potash mine, 

will increase to seven million 

tons per annum (Mtpa). The 

expansions at Esterhazy include 

a new mining complex that will 

add a new source for potash 

ore to feed the local mills. The 

new mining complex, named 

K3, is currently being prepared 

for shaft sinking activities that 

will take more than two years to 

complete. Hatch is the EPCM 

provider for these services, plus 

the shaft lining system and all 

surface facilities. 

Hatch is also the EPCM 

service provider for the current 

expansion project at the 

Colonsay mine and mill located 

24

Nils Voermann 

wins PEO Medal of 

Engineering Excellence 

Nils Voermann, Hatch’s 

Global Managing Director, 

Technologies, will be awarded 

the Professional Engineers of 

Ontario Medal for Engineering 

Excellence in November in 

Toronto. 

The Award is presented jointly 

by the Professional Engineers 

of Ontario and the Society of 

Professional Engineers. 

Nils joined Hatch in 1989 

after graduating from Queen’s 

University in Kingston with a 

B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering. 

He is currently assigned to the 

Hatch Brisbane office. 

near Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. 

The expansion will increase the 

capacity of the mill by up to 

2.5 Mtpa. 

At another Mosaic site at 

Belle Plaine, Saskatchewan, 

a feasibility study has been 

completed to increase the 

capacity by an additional 1 

Mtpa. The Belle Plaine site is 

the world’s largest potash mine 

and refining complex. 

As a member of the global 

electric furnace team, Nils and 

his colleagues introduced Hatch 

technologies in the early 1990s 

to the platinum industry in South 

Africa. Hatch’s new technologies 

made it possible to double the 

power level of rebuilt furnaces 

by adding Hatch sidewall 

copper-plate coolers and taphole 

blocks. 

The rebuild option for electric 

furnaces is popular today 

thanks largely to the Hatch 

technologies, the faster 

implementation schedule, and a 

much lower capital cost 

As GMD, Technologies, Nils is 

responsible for the technical and 

commercial performance of the 

global technologies business unit 

of 150 engineers and designers 

in the Furnace, Hydrometallurgy, 

Steel Mills, Advanced Controls, 

Electrotechnologies, Non- 

Destructive Testing, and Energy 

Technologies Commercialization 

groups. 

Nils has won several awards for 

his technical papers, and has 

been awarded three patents from 

the US Patent and Trademark 

office. 

In 1994 Nils received his 

MBA (Business) at INSEAD in 

Fontainebleau, France. 

Nils is a member of the Hatch 

board of directors. 


Bruce Power: 

Two awards for restarts 


$4.25 billion 

capital cost 

6,200 MW 

total output potential 

25 

of Ontario's 

% 

electricity 

25-year 

constant delivery rate 

26

The restarts won two prestigious awards: 

The Canadian Consulting Engineering 2004 

Schreyer Award, and the Project of the 

Year Award from Power Engineering for 

the restart of Bruce Power A (Units 3 & 4). 

Hatch is a member of the 

Acres–Sargent & Lundy and 

E.S. Fox Ltd Joint Venture, 

known as ASLF, which currently 

provides Bruce Power with 

engineering and construction 

services for upgrading the fire 

protection systems and installing 

a secondary control area. 

The joint venture is working 

as an integrated team with 

Bruce Power in its $4.25-billion 

investment program. 

In October 2005, Bruce Power 

announced the restart of Units 1 

and 2. 

Ultimately the four units will 

boost Bruce Power’s output to 

more than 6,200 MW, making 

it potentially the source of 

about 25 percent of Ontario’s 

electricity. 

The restarts will give Bruce 

Power enough nuclear 

generating capacity to supply 

the annual power needs of more 

than four million homes. 

The units have been designed to 

deliver power at the same rate 

for another 25 years. 

QUICK FACTS: 

• Bruce A is a 4 x 750-MW CANDU nuclear 

plant commissioned in the 1970s. 

• The plant was shut down in the late 90s, 

when the demand for power slumped. 

• In 2001 Bruce Power opted to restart two of 

the Bruce A units (3 and 4) to take advantage 

of a revitalized economy. 

• In 2005 Bruce Power commenced work to 

restart two more units (Units 1 and 2). 


“The Shikwamkwa 

Replacement Dam was 

a high priority project for 

Brookfield Renewable 

Power. This complex 

and challenging job was 

completed significantly 

ahead of schedule on a 

fast-track basis with no losttime 

injuries and well within 

budget.” 

— Colin L. Clark, 

Executive Vice President, 

Brookfield Renewable 

Power 

“We had an excellent 

meeting with the Ministry of 

Natural Resources and they 

were very complimentary 

of the work Hatch has 

done. Your reports were 

praised as ‛textbook’ in 

their thoroughness and 

presentation.” 

— Brian J. Barr, 

President, 

3G Energy Corp. 

“We are fully confident in 

recommending Hatch to any 

other client who is in need of 

detailed hydroelectric design 

expertise.” 

— Ralph Wittebolle, 

Division Manager, 

New Generation 

Construction, 

Power Supply, 

Manitoba Hydro 

“Ten months after the restart 

I would like to put on the 

record our great satisfaction 

with the furnace that we are 

seeing in action every day. 

The work that Hatch did for 

us, all the way through the 

project, was first class.” 

— Andrew Nelson, 

Minera Loma de Niquel, 

Venezuela, Anglo 

American Group 

28

Band of 

principles 

Our band of principles begins 

with Safety. There is nothing 

more precious to us than the 

well-being of our employees and 

visitors. Quality is embedded in 

our professional and technical 

performance on every project, 

irrespective of size, to meet 

and exceed the high standards 

and realistic demands of our 

clients. Sustainability is the 

promise that Hatch plans for 

the continuous development 

of our employees, our teams of 

specialists, our technologies and 

our methodologies. Innovation 

is the easiest of our principles 

to discuss. For Hatch, new 

concepts, designs, materials, 

processes and disciplines are 

instinctive, stimulating and 

productive. 

FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK 

Improved safety programs 

lead to improved productivity 

Every dollar invested in 

workplace safety can deliver as 

much as $10 to a company's 

income statement, says a study 

funded by Liberty Mutual 

Insurance. 

A recent statistical study of 

construction records showed 

a strong association between 

improved safety and improved 

productivity. 

Another company's records 

agreed with that finding and 

went on to say that by cutting 

accidents in half, the company 

could immediately reap a 

12 percent improvement in 

productivity. 

Unknown is why a relationship 

between productivity and 

safety exists. 

The speculation is that 

companies that want 

both improved safety and 

productivity, simultaneously 

create cultures in which the 

employees see management 

supporting safety while at the 

same time demanding 

improved productivity. 

A meat processing company 

analyzed 10 years of safety and 

productivity records and found 

that the company could point to 

an internal rate of return of 

30 percent. 

It was clear too that large 

construction companies could 

claim better productivity and 

safety programs for the simple 

reason that they could afford 

to implement comprehensive 

safety training and supervision 

programs. 

Foster Wheeler examined the 

safety and productivity records 

of 19 major projects and 34 

million work-hours on site 

and concluded that the key 

performance indicators of cost, 

schedule, safety and productivity 

are all "interdependent." 

The School of Health Services 

at Purdue University concluded 

that the primary element that 

reduced falls from elevations 

on construction sites was the 

commitment of senior managers 

to promote safety as a priority. 

The second important element 

was training supervisors on how 

to promote safety. Leadership 

was found to be the key to 

success in improving safety 

results and productivity. 

Contact us: hatchadvantage@hatch.ca 

Send to us: 

Hatch Corporate Office 

Sheridan Science and 

Technology Park 

2800 Speakman Drive 

Mississauaga, Ontario, Canada 

L5K 2R7 



Transnet, focus 

on infrastructure 

$12 billion 

infrastructure-expansion program 

91 mtpa 

iron ore rail capacity total 

Hatch and its jointventure 

partners 

in South Africa 

were selected to 

manage the EPCM 

roles for all projects 

in an aggressive 

$12-billion program. 

30

Seven ocean ports and the 

associated export rail lines 

were expanded to ensure that 

South Africa’s economic growth 

was not constrained by lack of 

capacity of those infrastructure 

facilities. 

Hatch’s scope included: 

• Increasing the capacity of the 

iron ore rail line from Sishen 

to Saldanha (800km) from 37 

million tonnes per annum to 

91 mtpa 

• Expanding the Port of 

Saldanha, including revamping 

tipplers, conveyors, stacker 

reclaimers and ship loaders 

• The award-winning widening 

of Durban Harbor 

• Developing Ngqura container 

terminal, and 

• Expanding the Cape Town 

container terminal. 

How do you 

spell that? 

Offering professional services 

on a global basis can be both 

instructive and engaging. 

The Republic of South Africa 

has been expanding its port and 

rail facilities to accommodate 

burgeoning commodity exports. 

A website for one of the port 

projects explains the potential 

for confusion over its name, 

Ngqura. 

“Several spellings exist for 

Coega. These include Ngqura, 

the Xhosa spelling, which is 

used in the Port of Ngqura 

Establishment Act and is 

the official spelling used by 

the National Ports Authority; 

Ngqurha, as has been used on 

occasion by the Department of 

Public Enterprises; and Coega 

which is that used by the Coega 

Development Corporation, the 

Industrial Development Zone, 

and by most other people. 

“Other spellings include 

Cougha, Coecha, Koecha 

and Koega. The name is of 

Khoekhoen origin for the 

river of the same name and 

means 'ground water.' Coega 

is pronounced 'koo-gha,' with a 

guttural sound forming the last 

syllable. 

“To pronounce Ngqura correctly 

requires an ability to sound the 

click as used in Koekhoe and 

Xhosa.” 


World leader in mining & metals, 

energy and infrastructure 

Hatch is among the world’s largest companies 

providing safe and high-quality projects to the 

mining and metals, infrastructure, and 

energy sectors. 

We’re project and construction managers. 

We’re engineers. We’re business consultants. 

And we’re part of Hatch’s legacy of excellence. 

Learn more about us at www.hatch.ca 

Metals • Energy • Infrastructure 

AUSTRALIA • BRAZIL • CANADA • CHILE • CHINA • INDIA 

PERU • RUSSIA • SOUTH AFRICA • UAE • UK • USA

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