Mammoet has been on hand to support Codelco, Chile’s state-owned copper mining company, in moving mining equipment from one site in the country to another.
From the original mine, the components needed to be moved 4.5 km to the next site. In what was a first operation of this scale for Codelco, Mammoet was brought in to help move 16 components – the six larger pieces being those that made up the crusher system.
The first time that Mammoet and Codelco had worked directly together, the Netherlands-headquartered firm was tasked with providing guidance on the best heavy lifting and heavy transport equipment, along with engineering solutions.
“We worked with Codelco for a year and a half on the planning,” said Mammoet sales manager, Vanessa Labana. “We created all the route plans and drawings and supported them to answer all the questions and considerations they had to face on site.”
Pooling its global resources, Mammoet sourced SPMTs from Malaysia, skidding systems from the USA, and additional equipment from Colombia.
The majority of the big six crusher parts were lifted using climbing jacks and then relocated with SPMTs fitted with support beams. The drive system followed the same procedure, before being skidded 12 m and then jacked down into its final position.
Weighing 1,300 tonnes, the crusher itself was the most complex of the six cargo movements. It was extracted from its original position using skid tracks and skid shoes and then lifted into the air high enough for SPMTs to move underneath. Lashing provided additional support and held everything in position during the 4.5 km journey.
“This was a big challenge”, said Labana. “We had to make some alterations to our original beams by applying lead reinforcements on top, at the four lifting points, to prevent deformation.”
The crusher was rotated 180 degrees in preparation for installation. Once it arrived at the new site, the earlier process was repeated in reverse, with SPMTs lowering the cargo onto skid tracks to slide it back into its new position.
Due to crusher parts being removed as complete units, the operation took just over a month to complete. A team of 70 people, a total of 160 axle lines of SPMT, eight skid shoes (with a combined 500 tonnes), eight jacking systems (a combined 400 tonnes), along with support beams, rails, and lashing, were used across the project.
Last week, HLPFI reported that Mammoet is assisting in the renovation of Montreal’s Olympic Stadium.
