Full Plant Wide Control System for a Greenfield 1.2MTPA Copper Smelter

Kansanshi Smelter Project

Full Plant Wide Control System for a Greenfield 1.2MTPA Copper Smelter

  • Solwezi, Zambia
  • Kansanshi Smelter
  • Control System - Siemens PCS7
Kansanshi is located in the North western province of Zambia near the bustling town of Solwezi. The Smelter is 80% owned by First Quantum Minerals (FQM). The Kansanshi smelter was a greenfield site adjacent to the Kansanshi open cast mine and concentrator. When in full operation, the smelter is designed to process 1.2 Mtpa of concentrate, producing over 300,000 tpa of copper metal. The smelter produced its first anode in December 2014 after a 36-month construction period.

Project scope

  • Full plant wide control system (PWCS) and ISASMELT™ smelter design and configuration
  • Development of PWCS software standards
  • Procurement of ISASMELT™ smelter packages
  • FAT(Factory Acceptance Test), site commissioning and operator training
  • OSI PI System™ server configuration and testing

Project highlights

  • The projects total CAPEX value was ~$800M
  • Mipac’s project value was approximately $8M
  • Kansanshi architecture is a full dual redundant Siemens SIMATIC PCS7 system. The system comprises of 5 control rooms and 12 operator stations
  • 77 Mipac-designed DCS cabinets were built in Australia and South Africa, passing rigorous FAT before delivery to site
  • The software development phase involved close collaboration with FQM and specialist vendors. A strong simulation and intensive FAT phase ensured an exceptionally high-quality software was sent to site for the commissioning phase
  • Mipac also delivered an OSIsoft PI System™ to site and integrated it with the Siemens system to facilitate generating automated reports to inform management decision making
  • Mipac developed a control system based process simulation tool for the site that is being used at the smelter as a training tool for plant operations staff
  • Development of site application specific eLearning tool to enable self-learning by plant operations and maintenance staff
  • Mipac developed a plant-wide control system simulation for the site that is being used at the smelter as a training tool for plant operations staff
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