There seems to be an increasingly common scenario, throughout several mining geographies, in which mining teams find themselves in hot working conditions. These conditions typically affect worker safety and performance, and consequently production. Mine cooling specialist assistance is sought, and following a heat load analysis, it is determined that a cooling system is required. The resulting schedule indicates refrigeration machine procurement defines the critical path with lead-times around 40 weeks! The formal staged approach where design, costing and scheduling progressively hone-in on accuracy must be abandoned in this schedule dominated situation. A solution, Design-Build with strategic tasks carried-out in parallel.
Most mine cooling systems require bespoke design suited to the mine in question. Parameters such as air quantity and temperature dictate the process design and ultimately the equipment required to robustly cool the air. "Off-the-shelf" systems are typically not available and employing commercial or light industrial HVAC equipment is not suitable for the harsh conditions typical in mines. This paper aims to highlight a design-build strategy suited to fast-tracking implementation of mine cooling systems, with particular focus given to a surface refrigeration plant design-build recently completed for a mine in Mexico.
