Mining Project

Jan 26, 2016

How do you bring potash production to new heights?

Farmers rely on potash, a nutrient found in fertilizer, to grow food. As a leading producer of this basic resource, our client helps farmers feed families all over the globe. To continue to meet this worldwide demand, our client had to upgrade their hoisting plant and grow their mining operation. We worked with their team to increase their production capacity through a record-breaking hoist plant design.

Sizing up the situation

Our client had a clear goal: drastically increase production. To do that, we needed more power. This power would come in the form of a bigger hoisting system.

But in order to accommodate this bigger, more powerful equipment, we had to reach higher. So we engineered a unique headframe to support the larger equipment. Our headframe would be 95.7 metres high (314 feet)—the world’s tallest at the time.

This taller, more powerful system is now used by our client to bring 40% more potash out of the ground—a massive production boost.

Give us an "A"

Designing a towering headframe is one thing. Constructing it with minimal disruption to our client’s operations is a whole other challenge. Our answer? Design the headframe so it would wrap around the existing, operational mine shaft while the headframe is being built. And, instead of using a traditional rectangular structure like our client’s original headframe, we designed an A-frame headframe. This A-shape design provided the strength and stability needed to support the height, was less costly to construct, and is a safer, more solid structure.

Design beyond borders

We reached out to our Stantec community across North America to collaborate on this first-of-its-kind design. Our partnership involved over 117 Stantec team members from nine offices.

Through our team effort, we’ve helped our client maintain their position as a leading worldwide provider of potash. Not only have we helped revolutionize the potash industry, but we’re also helping supply more fertilizer to farmers, which means more food to feed families.

Since designing what was “the world’s tallest headframe,” we’ve continued to learn, evolve, and improve. Today, we’ve broken our own height record and constructed a headframe of 118 metres (387 feet). Now we have a best practice we can adapt, optimize, and deliver to mining clients around the world.

Source: http://www.stantec.com/content/stantec/en/our-work/projects/creative-projects/mining.html#.VwJO2fmLRp8

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Mining Project