Bentofix® Raises the Bar for an Iron Ore Giant

The project

CITIC Pacific’s Sino Iron project, located at Cape Preston some 100km southwest of Karratha in Western Australia, stands among the most modern and technically advanced mines in history.

CITIC has overcome enormous difficulties in building this state-of-the-art ‘mega-mine’ in the middle of nowhere, having implemented world-leading technology on many levels. The company is also operating the largest dump trucks of their type and the largest SAG mills (crushing mills) in the world at Sino.

The challenges

In keeping with their innovative approach to development, CITIC’s designers also pushed technology limits by incorporating state of art lining materials in their tailings storage facilities (TSFs).

Recently, two TSF expansion projects incorporated Bentofix® Geosynthetic Clay Liner (GCL) as part of an advanced composite lining system.

The construction team chose Bentofix® for its ability to safely satisfy the design intent by complying with environmental regulations, significantly reducing the risk of leakage and improving the recovery and recycling of water from tailings to other mine processing streams - a critical component to any TSF barrier system.

Working in this remote location at night under lights proved challenging, however the contractor was able to install more than 130,000m2 of GCL within a tight timeframe.

Our solution

Global Synthetics supplied Bentofix® grade ‘NSP 5400j’ to meet the project specification & comply with the onerous Victorian BPEM standards for third party quality testing and monitoring.

One of the reasons why Bentofix® complies with these standards is that it comprises one of the purest forms of sodium bentonite & does not incorporate any polymer additives to artificially enhance its sealing properties.

There is little to no verifiable testing or documentation substantiating the long term performance of ‘altered’ sodium bentonites in GCL barrier applications. However, all constituent parts of the Bentofix® product are declared on its technical datasheet in accordance with local & international regulatory standards (EPA Vic, GRI USA, EA UK).

The contractor chosen to install the lining systems for both expansion contracts faced challenging timelines running night time shifts under floodlight. Over 130,000m2 of Bentofix® across the two TSF stages have been installed for Sino Iron so far.

Long term protection for tailings storage facilities

This barrier system is designed to protect the surrounding environment for centuries beyond the 25-year design life of the Sino Iron lease.