Boliden is now investing SEK 5.2bn in expanding the business – an investment that requires extensive conversion work and extra buildings, and that will lead to a doubling of production capacity to 36m tonnes of ore a year.
WSP has been heavily involved in Aitik for a long time
"We performed a preliminary study into the conversion in 2006," says Anders Enquist from the WSP office in Skellefteå. "We have done about 25,000 hours of planning in the fields of construction, land, electricity, building services and fire. The investment in Aitik means building a completely new dressing plant, two new ore beds, new water recycling and a new ore concentrate terminal. A new industrial area is also being built, including a truck workshop, welding workshop, office and storeroom."
"It is hard to imagine the dimensions of everything this project involves," says Anders Enquist. "There is nothing like it to relate to, and this demands a lot of the designers. How do you do calculations for the design of a strong warehouse under 70 metres of ore?"
Many people within WSP are collaborating in the Aitik project
Much of the work has to be ready by the end of the year. The buildings must be in position before the actual process goes in, and at the same time the actual process affects the design of the buildings, which complicates everything. WSP is also involved in the actual process at the Aitik mine through Johan Saadio of WSP Systems, who is part of the customer's organisation and will be helping find the right equipment. Here too, all the dimensions and quantities are enormous.
"We are talking about 3,000 pipes and 2,500 valves," explains Johan. The dimensions range from 25 mm to 1,200 mm. This means that a great deal is having to be specially manufactured, requiring extra monitoring.
"It is a great advantage to be able to use people from all over the country in such a huge project," says Anders Enquist. "As far as the construction planning is involved, our offices in Skellefteå, Luleå and Umeå are collaborating. All the ventilation is being designed in Skellefteå, Umeå and Örnsköldsvik. WSP Management is also responsible for parts of construction management."
For more information, please contact Anders Enquist at WSP Sweden, anders.enquist@wspgroup.se