On-site maintenance to cut expenses and save time
ERG’s Sokolov-Sarbai Mining Production Association (SSGPO) is the of the largest iron ore enterprises in the CIS region. For the production of 40 million tons of iron ore each year, the customer utilizes a large fleet of heavy-duty Hitachi haulers.
Hitachi EH3500 rigid-frame haulers measure 12.5 meters in dump height and require extensive clear span maintenance facilities to handle their regular servicing. The remote location coupled with the size and fuel consumption of the trucks makes the service at off-site maintenance centers inefficient and time-consuming for SSGPO. The customer decided to develop a maintenance garage right at mines.
The highly regulated site requires all contractors to receive a security clearance pass to enter the mine. The costs involved in obtaining such authorization are quite significant, making the construction of a new on-site depot expensive. Finding a lower cost solution required sourcing of a prefabricated facility that could be deployed by SSGPO current employees.
Hitachi EH3500 dump height reaches above 12.5 meters, which is essential for the production. The size of the haulers was too big to repair them in the existing maintenance garages. The feasibility study concerning nearby maintenance stations availability concluded that driving the haulers for service from the mine to off-site garages is heavily ineffective in terms of truck value depreciation, lost working time and fuel consumption.
Mining is a heavily governed industry, each employee and contractor must receive special security clearance to enter the site. Pricing for each permission can vary from $3,000 – $15,000 dependent on the clearance level. Topping the expenses resulted from a remote location, this additional spending line increases the cost of construction even further.
The height and wide clear span requirements for the new workshop made traditional prefabricated temporary structures useless for this project.
Keywords: no building permit, oversized, remote location, security clearance, simple to erect
The first shipped hangar was 30 meters wide, 30 meters long and 20 m high. An automated electrical winch system controls the entrance gates that are 12 meters in width and 10 meters in height. An additional smaller 500 sqm shelter arrived simultaneously.
Shipping to the inaccessible location required seamless logistics support and effective communication with the customer. Aviatech dedicated logistics team took care of all security-related issues and organized packing of the portable workshops into several modified 40-feet containers. Thus, allowing SSGPO to transport the last mile both of their new hangars to the site with minimal efforts.
For improving the working environment of the maintenance team, with top range lightning, internal temperature control, autonomous power back-up, and telematics control system were integrated into portable garages.
The engineering team had to amend the standard design of Aviatech structures to meet the enormous size of Hitachi dump trucks. As a result of research, engineering, loads of models, and testing, the development team created a unique frame structure that reinforces the 20-meter-high structure to withstand intensive wind gusts.
SSGPO granted a special security approval to allow one of the Aviatech supervisors on site. He held a practical training session during the first erection, educating SSGPO on the seamless deployment of the structures. Appalling weather conditions prolonged the training session out to 10 days.
Despite the weather delays, both of the inflatable hangars were delivered and deployed within the agreed time.
“Hitachi EH3500 trucks are vital for our business. We found ourselves in a position, where it was unreasonable to move our haulers off-site for service, and we couldn’t bring anyone in from outside to build a maintenance garage on site. My department investigated multiple options to solve the situation. With the majority of solutions in the market, you will face long-lasting legal processes and lengthy construction. Our partners recommended us Aviatech, as they have participated in several remarkable projects in our region and are well-known to be a reliable supplier.”
Established in 1954, the Sokolov-Sarbai Mining Production Association (SSGPO) is the largest mining enterprise in Kazakhstan.
Across multiple locations, SSGPO is involved in ore mining and processing, pelletizing, metal rolling, heat and power generation, machinery production and repair.
SSGPO is a subsidiary company of the Eurasian Resources Group (ERG) which has a portfolio of production assets and development projects in 15 countries crossing five continents and employing more than 85,000 people globally.