MCC Ramu Progresses Well on Smelting Plant in PNG

The first phase of hot-water trial run for the main equipment of the Smelting Plant contract by MCC Ramu NiCo Limited (MCC Ramu) in Papua New Guinea (PNG) was successfully completed on March 20, 2011. As scheduled, the 3rd series of autoclave witnessed a gradual temperature decrease from 253 to 100 and was then kept under heat preservation. In January 2011, loaded trial runs were respectively undertaken for the project mine and the ore pulp pipeline.
The hot-water trial run lasted a period of 9 days, during which temperature increase and decrease were carried out on a safe and stable basis for the High Pressure Acid Leaching System according to the plan.
The High Pressure Acid Leaching System is the core section for Ramu Project, by means of which the NiCo solution can be leached through strong acid under high pressure. There are three series of autoclaves, which are the most important devices for this facility. Each autoclave is over 780 tons in weight, and is therefore regarded as one of the largest autoclaves in the world.

Hot-water trial run of the 3rd series High Pressure Acid Leaching System

Real-time monitoring on the trial run at the central control room