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MODERN MINING
May 2016
MODULAR PLANTS
feature
A
ccording to Westcott, the ben-
efits of modular plants are well
established. “Being pre-engi-
neered, the manufacturing lead
time is much shorter than with
conventional fixed plants and the time span
from a client placing an order to the plant be-
ing erected on site and commissioned can be
as little as 12 to 16 weeks compared to per-
haps a year to 18 months, or even more, for a
conventional facility,” he says. “This is with-
out a doubt one of the key benefits of modu-
larisation as most juniors – who constitute the
prime market for modular plants – are usually
working with limited budgets and need early
access to cash flow. Moreover, the capital cost
of modular plants is normally much less than
with fixed plants and the operating costs are
generally lower.”
Westcott adds that modular plants are per-
fect for the modern mining scene, where small
and/or marginal deposits with limited lives
are increasingly being exploited. “If you have
a deposit with a limited life, you naturally
want to limit your capex and build a lean, fit-
for-purpose plant that maximises your return
– and which can also be relocated, if neces-
sary, to a fresh deposit or a new project,” he
observes. “Another point is that one can start
small and slowly build up capacity in stages
by adding modules to the original installation.
Fixed plants simply don’t offer this type of
flexibility.”
He also notes that modular plants are well
suited to remote locations, as the plant modules
– which would normally have been tested prior
to dispatch – can be trucked to site in contain-
ers and assembled, Meccano-style, by a small
team of erectors with only minimal earthworks
and civils being necessary. “Compare this to
the situation with a fixed conventional plant,
where you will need to put in substantial pre-
paratory earthworks and civils and where the
workforce needed could well number hun-
dreds of people; specialist skills may need to be
sourced from neighboring countries given that
engineering and trade skills tend to be limited
in remote, undeveloped areas.”
DRA’s modular plants are frequently sup-
plied as part of a lump sum turnkey (LSTK)
package – which is where Hopwood, who
runs DRA’s Turnkey Projects Division, comes
in. “Frequently, clients want more than just a
plant – they want an entire turnkey package
that can assist them in making the transition
from a ‘greenfield’ site to commercial produc-
tion,” he explains. “Our LSTK business does
precisely this. We are even able to help with
project financing and – through sister company,
Minopex – with plant operation.”
As an example of this approach in action,
Hopwood points to a current contract that DRA
has with an emerging junior miner who has
secured the rights to an iron ore deposit north
of Brits. “We are supplying a package which
includes a 160 t/h processing module, as well
South Africa has a number of companies designing, manu-
facturing and supplying modular process plants, some of
themwith world-class reputations. Among them is Johan-
nesburg-based DRA, which has been supplying modular
plants to the minerals industry since being founded in the
1980s. Over the past couple of years, the group – which now
operates globally – has put a fresh focus on its modular
plant business, in the process reinvigorating its modular
plant range.
Modern Mining
recently spoke to DRA’s Grant
Westcott, GM – Modular Division, and Paul Hopwood, Man-
ager Turnkey Projects, to learn more about the benefits and
capabilities of DRA’s modular offering.
DRA
puts a fresh focus on its