APT is renowned for the fast build lead times of it’s modular plants, but you may not be aware of the ultra-fast installation and commissioning times that can be achieved with a properly engineered product. About eight years ago a situation arose that tested APT’s abilities to the limit, a ‘perfect commissioning storm’ – four plants at once. These were all RG based gravity plants, one in Sierra Leone for gold, one in Colombia for gold and platinum, one for gold in the eastern DRC on the Ugandan border, and one for chromite in Limpopo, South Africa. All were RG200 based 20tph plants, except the chromite one which was an RG800 at 80tph.
The plan was made upon almost military lines: Neil would be the commander on the Sierra Leone one with Jason in assistance. The second that was done Jason would be the commander on the DRC one, I can’t recall his assistant. Simultaneously Neil and I would fly half way across the world to Columbia, and as soon as that was done, Neil and I would be joined by Derek and Martin to do the large Limpopo chromite project.
Zero hour arrived and the Sierra Leone team dispatched, only to find the client hadn’t even started their concrete pad they said was finished. So they roped in a bull dozer and levelled a piece of ground and installed the plant on that as there was no possibility of stopping the clock now. Duly completed and some gold produced for the client, Jason and team headed off in a helicopter from Uganda across Lake Victoria and immediately got stuck into installing the second plant that had taken months to truck in over extremely rough terrain on 4x4 vehicles. Half way through a message was received that rebels were on their way, so the team stepped it up, got the plant built, processed some material and smelted a gold button in 72 hours, a record that still stands for us. In the meanwhile Neil and I arrived in the Colombian lowlands and soon learnt that this was in the FARC area, so we were escorted to and from site daily by military convoy. We stood ready to commence assembly, but no plant. It transpired that there had been a landslide in the mountains and the trucks were held up. Four days later they arrived and all went well, despite using a teetering excavator as a crane to lift loads well beyond its capacity. They were supposed to use a crane, but just shrugged shoulders. Job done, we headed back to South Africa to the relative comfort and safety of a game lodge as our base to install the RG800, which went off without a hitch.
I swear that when we got back to the office everyone on these teams looked taller and definitely got a touch of sun, but little was said, as operations are never spread about.