Glencore Mount Isa Mines has engaged Mipac to prepare the design concept for the Mount Isa Local Environment Monitoring and Information Recording System (MILEMIRS).
The project will incorporate a holistic approach to monitoring of the town as well as the copper and zinc mines, concentrating and smelting facilities and will include the zinc mining facility at George Fisher.
Monitoring of the water supply, dust monitoring, air quality and noise levels will see Glencore meet the Queensland Government’s reporting requirements and help to minimise the operation’s impact on the local environment, thereby maintaining the miner’s licence to operate.
Mipac has already started work on the project scope. This phase is expected to last six to eight months involving pricing estimates, development of the general operating concept (including collating requirements from site), risk assessments, operating plan concept, a scope of work for the preliminary design, cost and time estimates, and an implementation schedule.
“Mipac expects the work to develop into a two-year, multi-million-dollar project,” Mipac Operations Manager Don Robinson says.
“The next phase will involve analysing information from instrumentation and databases and consolidating the relevant data.
“A lot of monitoring information comes from the instrumentation in the plants themselves and from control system databases. Because Mipac’s engineers are so familiar with the site and plant, we can ensure quality information can be gathered and presented in an effective manner.”
Glencore Mount Isa Mines already has a number of operating and environmental monitoring systems with reporting tools and is investing in MILEMIRS over the next few years to ensure a proactive approach to environmental management.
“Glencore takes its responsibilities to the environment and the people of Mount Isa seriously,” Glencore project lead – infrastructure projects Adam Ferris says.
“Mipac has a longstanding relationship with Glencore and has considerable experience in environmental monitoring — Mipac designed the sulphur dioxide monitoring at Mount Isa’s copper smelter.
“Plus Mipac knows the town and the site’s process control systems intimately. We are confident that, working together, we will produce the most-accurate, timely monitoring system.”
