Columbus Warehouse Expansion

Project Background

Sibanye-Stillwater is a multinational mining and metals processing group with a diverse portfolio of operations, projects, and investments across five continents. It owns and operates the Columbus metallurgical complex, a smelting facility and base metal refinery situated near the Stillwater Mine. It is one of the world’s largest producers of US Platinum Group Metals (PGM) recycled from automotive catalytic converters.

The Columbus metallurgical complex comprises a smelter with a concentrate drying plant, two electric furnaces, two top-blown rotary convertors, a matte granulator, and gas handling and solution regeneration systems. The smelter’s maximum design capacity is 20,000 lbs./hour (operates at 90% utilization), which is limited until upgrades to the concentrate drying plant and convertor/granulation circuit are completed. These improvements will ensure the capacity as the smelter aligns with the increases in production from the Stillwater East (formerly the Blitz Expansion Project) and East Boulder mines.

In addition to the smelter, the base metals refinery has a capacity of 1,300 lbs./hour of matte but is limited by its overall copper electrowinning (EW) capacity. The copper EW circuit operates 24/7, even though the rest of the plant only operates approximately half a week. As a result, the copper circuit had to be expanded to accommodate the increased quantities of copper that the Stillwater East and East Boulder operations can now deliver.

A Two-Phased Approach

In Phase 1 of the project, consolidating office space and relocating some personnel to the warehouse, we performed structural, mechanical, HVAC, plumbing, and electrical engineering services to produce construction drawings and specifications for the modifications. Our scope of work included redesigning additions and features to allow for more space and to accommodate growth and future development. See “Services and Highlights” above for more details.

Phase 2 included engineering services and construction plans to provide a possible future distribution center for the Stillwater Mine. This effort included an overall property site plan depicting layouts with scenarios with and without property acquisition and traffic-flow patterns. AutoTurn models reviewed truck turning movements in and around the site. Our structural and electrical teams developed preliminary building frames to explore how structural building systems could be used to expand the warehouse and conceptual plans to upgrade exterior lighting to help increase safety and decrease the possibility of vandalism or theft.

Improving Logistics and Efficiencies

In addition to providing engineering design services for several stages of their warehouse expansion, Morrison-Maierle also analyzed the logistics and suggested increasing efficiencies in the warehouse operations. We provided recommendations regarding best practices for general warehouse storage, pallet racking, cross-docking, and loading dock safety.

Cross-docking is the process of unloading freight from an inbound load and then loading it directly into an outbound shipment with little to no storage time in-between. Implementing the cross-docking process at the Columbus facility would free up warehouse space, lessen inventory handling, and reduce delivery times to Stillwater’s other facilities.

Implementing this practice could significantly enhance Sibanye Stillwater’s efforts to support its broader goals of maximizing efficiency and better utilizing its facilities.