SAXUM´s Newsletter Issue #231 – May 2023 – SAXUM

New Ball Mill for Cement Producer in Texas, USA

SAXUM has been assigned to participate in the civil/structural designs of a new Finish Mill Project for a cement producer in Texas, USA, based on Ball Mill Technology. The new BM is part of an expansion project consisting of additive transport, a cement mill feed, a compressor, a conveyor system, a finish ball mill, and new cement silos. In this project, SAXUM's client is FLSmidth, which has trusted in our capabilities and experience in similar civil/structural designs for the cement industry in the USA and other countries of the Americas.

SAXUM's project development is performed under a full 3D environment starting from the conceptual civil/structural engineering level, and going throughout all engineering steps up to the detailed engineering and shop drawings designs. SAXUM directly submitted the 3D models of the different metalic structures to the steel workshops for their fabrication. These 3D models are integrated with mechanical and electrical engineering to solve and minimize possible interferences in the field.

SAXUM´s scope of work included the calculation and design of concrete foundations, concrete superstructure, and steel structures with all their connection details for the different project buildings. SAXUM is also developing site services for RFI support to provide quick clarifications and responses to the comments and questions by the contractor on the engineering documents. One relevant aspect of this project is the characterization of the soils of the expansive clay with a higher PVR. For this challenge, we worked together with geotechnical engineers, achieving appropriate foundation designs for each of the structures in such a way that the PVR does not affect the performance of the equipment.

For this project and related to the engineering designs under SAXUM's responsibility, the scope of work of our company includes the stamping and signing-off of the civil/structural documents by licensed professionals in Texas.

Procurement and Contract Management Services for lithium Cauchari-Olaroz Project

Minera Exar S.A. (EXAR) is an Argentine company, formed by Lithium Americas Corp, Ganfeng Lithium and JEMSE (Jujuy Energía y Minería Sociedad del Estado), dedicated to the development and production of lithium in the Salar Cauchari-Olaroz (“Cauchari-Olaroz Project”), located in the province from Jujuy, in the Northwestern Region of Argentina, in the well-known Lithium Triangle.

The Cauchari-Olaroz Project is in its final stage of construction and is expected to produce in 2023. The financing contemplates a total investment of USD 852 million to establish a production plant of 40,000 tons per year (40 KTPA) of “Battery Grade” Lithium Carbonate.

SAXUM has been involved in the project development since 2020. Currently, continues to be involved through the development of various services such as:

Detailed multidisciplinary engineering
Procurement Services
Work Shops Quality Surveillance
Construction Management Services
Contract Management Services
Site Engineering Services
Commissioning and Start-Up

As the project moves forward and goes into operation, SAXUM services have also been secured to assist EXAR during the Operation stage with the following. SAXUM has allocated a team of engineering professionals to assist EXAR in the identification of bottlenecks and operational challenges and is working together with the EXAR team in troubleshooting these findings. Also, SAXUM has designated an experienced procurement team to be part of the EXAR procurement staff for the plant operations.

Multidisciplinary Engineering and Approval Services for Process Plant - Tres Quebradas Project

ZIJIN Mining is developing the “Tres Quebradas” (3Q) Project for the production of lithium carbonate from the extraction of brine in a salt flat located in the province of Catamarca, Argentina. The project, called “3Q”, is located to the west of Fiambalá, in the department of Tinogasta, at Catamarca, Argentina. The Project is designed to produce 20,000 tonnes of battery-grade lithium carbonate per annum.

The 3Q Project production installations are split into two sites, the first being located in the Tres Quebradas Salar, and the second one in Fiambala town.

SAXUM has been awarded to perform multidisciplinary detailed engineering for the Fiambalá Project. The areas involved in the project are the following: General facilities; Chemical facilities; Chemicals warehouse; Utility and auxiliary facilities and Infrastructure Area.

SAXUM´s scope of work for this project includes Architectural, civil and structural engineering; 3D Modelling of steel structures; Electrical engineering (including the general substation of the whole plant, the substation of each workshop or the pre-installed substation, power distribution, general pipeline gallery, cable tray among different workshops and facility areas, lighting, lightning and grounding for lightning protection); Telecommunication (The whole plant and workshops are equipped with video monitoring, broadcasting system, telephone, network, fire alarm, access control and corresponding general pipeline gallery); Fire-fighting. (Fire water system, foam fire system, gas fire extinguishing system, fire extinguisher arrangement, fire alarm system, fire smoke exhaust system, fire evacuation system, fire emergency lighting, etc. of the whole plant, each workshop and each facility area to meet the delivery depth requirements of detailed design drawings and documents of the whole plant fire-fighting system including above ground and underground pipe network)

SAXUM is 100% responsible for the signature and approval of local authorities including Engineer Association for this project’s all drawings and documents needed relating to the scope of work of SAXUM for the 3Q – Fiambalá Project.

Engineering services and CO2 capture for ARGOS Cement plant in Port of Houston, USA

Argos is the leading cement producer in Colombia and the fourth largest in the southeast United States region. Also, Argos is the market leader Ready-Mix producer in Colombia and the second largest in the United States. For this project, the objective is to install a new 50k dome and an 800 tph ship unloader and other ancillary equipment in their existing facility located at the Port of Houston, Texas.

SAXUM has already completed the conceptual phase for this project, and currently, SAXUM's scope of work through the different phases of the project includes the following:

1) DESIGN ENGINEERING PHASE

Basic engineering development including the following:

Mechanical general arrangements.
Geotechnical investigations, topographic works, and, if needed, 3D scans of existing installations.
Technical data sheets of main and secondary equipment.
Civil and structural engineering designs including roads, railways, earth movements, drainage, and foundations and structures for all buildings and equipment.
Electrical engineering designs including site power requirements, power studies, single line diagrams, electrical room arrangements, grounding designs, cable tray arrangement, and lighting design.
Instrumentation engineering designs including instrument list, IO list, control architecture, PI&D.
Technical specifications for civil, structural, and electrical installations.
Issuing of bid packages for equipment, materials, and constructions/erections.
Selection of bidders for civil/structural constructions; electrical and mechanical installations; and equipment suppliers.
CapEx update + 10%, - 12%.
Coordination and management of bidding processes and issuing of the Lists of preferred bidders and recommendations report to ARGOS.

Detailed engineering development including the following:

Detailed civil engineering of roads, railways; drainage systems; earthworks.
Detailed structural engineering of foundations and concrete/steel structures based on the datasheets and general arrangements of the finally selected main equipment.
Detailed electrical and instrumentation engineering.
Purchasing, expediting, and logistics coordination and support to ARGOS.
Contract management of suppliers and contractors.
Sign off and stamp civil and structural design documents by licensed professionals (PE) in Port of Houston.

2) CONSTRUCTION

Construction Management including:

Overall Site and Construction Management
HSE Management and Supervision
Construction Surveillance Services:
- Engineering Support & RFI Services (Request for Information)
- Site Supervision and Quality Assurance Services for civil, structural, and electromechanical works
Contract Management

SAXUM present at the World’s Premier Mineral Exploration & Mining Convention - PDAC 2023

SAXUM was present at Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) 2022, which was held on March 5-8 in Toronto Canada.

The annual convention is held in Toronto, Canada and includes more than 1,100 exhibitors, 2,500 investors and 23,000 attendees in person in 2023, participants could also attend programming, courses and networking events.

In photo: Our COO, Nestor A. Lares Iramain, and our North America Manager, Chris Hayman, at Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) 2023 in SAXUM's booth #1337 in Toronto.

Mr. José Marún, SAXUM's Non-Executive Director

José Néstor Marún Sales have been the director of SAXUM Engineered Solutions since December 2021. He is a Mining Engineer, who graduated from the National University of San Juan, Argentina, with more than 38 years of experience in copper and gold mining operations. He has completed a specialization in international business at the London Business School Global Business Consortium. He was the Operations Manager of Ernest Henry Mine, in Australia (2001-2004), as well as the Operations Manager of Minera Alumbrera in Argentina (2005-2006). He was General Manager of Xstrata Tintaya, and Executive Vice President of South American operations of Xstrata Copper, for Peru, Chile and Argentina. Between 2007 and 2010, he was also a member of Antamina's partner advisory committee. In addition, he was Executive General Manager of Operations for Argentina and Chile at Glencore (2013-2015).

From 2015 to June 2018, he was General Manager and Executive President of Komatsu Mitsui Maquinarias del Perú SA. He is currently also a Non-Executive Director of this company, as well as Director of San Ignacio de Morococha SA, of Peru.

As previously indicated, Mr Marun joined the board of SAXUM Engineered Solutions in 2021 as a Non-Executive Director, and in relation to the operations of this company worldwide. Eng Marun's extensive and rich experience in top-level executive functions, as well as his in-depth knowledge of the business and operations related to the mining and mineral processing industries, are qualities that contribute significantly to enriching the SAXUM Board of Directors. We greatly appreciate his input and honouring ourselves with his role on our Board.