Our client operates a large copper mining and processing operation in Australia. Its asset portfolio supports extraction, processing and production, with copper playing an important role in renewable energy infrastructure, power distribution, electric vehicles, household products and key technologies including smartphones.

Industry

Resources and mining.

Project Overview

The company was preparing to install a $160 million coarse particle flotation plant to improve recovery, reduce power consumption and achieve ore throughput of 20,000 tonnes per day. The company engaged Methuen Consulting to deliver a comprehensive Maintenance Operational Readiness Plan across 165 new assets and associated infrastructure. This plan underpinned a smooth handover to site operational teams, with processes in place to maximise equipment reliability, minimise long-term lifecycle costs and safety risks, and help achieve plant production targets.

The Challenge

Construction was underway and commissioning was fast approaching when the company identified the need for maintenance operational readiness support. It needed to quickly establish maintenance strategies, organise spare parts, set up master data in the CMMS, and resolve critical gaps that could affect handover readiness. With existing teams already at full capacity keeping construction and execution on schedule and managing routine work across existing operations, the company engaged Methuen Consulting’s services.

Our Role

Methuen Consulting acted as the maintenance operational readiness delivery partner, working closely with project and site teams to prepare the new plant and its 165 assets for handover into operations.

Working within a compressed timeframe, we developed and coordinated the Maintenance Operational Readiness Plan, identifying and prioritising the activities needed to support a smooth transition from commissioning to ongoing operation. This included establishing maintenance strategies and asset data in the CMMS, assessing equipment and spare parts criticality, developing BOMs and work instructions, and planning training requirements.

Methuen provided the specialist maintenance and reliability expertise and additional delivery capacity needed to close readiness gaps ahead of commissioning, helping ensure site teams had the systems, information, spares and maintenance arrangements in place to manage the new assets effectively from day one.

Outcomes and Impact

The plant was successfully operationalised with readiness deliverables completed on time. Preventive maintenance plans and work instructions were scheduled in the CMMS, helping site teams maintain equipment reliability from the start. BOMs were in place to support efficient repair planning, with required spares on hand to help minimise downtime when repairs were required. With Methuen Consulting’s support, the company had the maintenance foundations, system data and spares planning needed to manage the new assets effectively from day one, helping unlock the next level of copper production.

Key Deliverables

• Operational readiness plan and schedule
• Maintenance philosophy considering availability targets, equipment redundancy, production impact, shutdown windows, resourcing and accommodation constraints
• Functional location hierarchy setup in the CMMS for approximately 165 new assets
• Equipment criticality assessment Spare parts cataloguing and bill of materials setup, including adding approximately 1,600 materials to BOMs
• Spare parts criticality assessment, including proposed and updated stocking levels
• Maintenance strategies, including FMECA development for new equipment types, work instructions, and maintenance plans set up and scheduled in the CMMS
• Training needs analysis and training plan