Pueblo Viejo Dominicana Gold and Silver Mine - EPC

Client: Pueblo Viejo Dominicana Corporation

Location: Dominican Republic

Map showing the location of Pueblo Viejo Dominicana Gold and Silver Mine - EPC

Executive Summary

Fluor successfully completed the feasibility study and provided engineering, procurement and construction management services for the $3.8 billion Pueblo Viejo Project, the largest foreign investment in the history of the Dominican Republic.

At peak construction, the project had a workforce of 7,800, drawn from 17 nationalities interacting and working together.

Client's Challenge

The client, Pueblo Viejo Dominicana Corporation, is a joint venture of majority holder Barrick Gold (the world's largest operator of gold mines) and Goldcorp Inc. The job site is 100 km (62 miles) northwest of Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic.

The major challenge of the $3.8 billion project laid in developing the rugged 11-square-kilometer (4-square-mile) site into an 18,000 metric-ton-per-day expandable gold processing plant.

Pueblo Viejo's ore processing involves crushing, grinding, pressure oxidation, counter-current decantation (CCD) washing, carbon-in-leach (CIL) and sulfide precipitation for the recovery of gold, silver and copper concentrate and a tailings disposal facility.

The processing facilities produce per annum up to 1 million ounces of gold; 3.1 million ounces of silver; and 6,100 tonnes of copper. The project also has a limestone/lime facility to support the needs of the process and water treatment plants.

The infrastructure facilities that support operations include a power plant; oxygen plant; truck shop/warehouse facility; administration building; metallurgical assay; environmental laboratories; and camp facilities.

Fluor's Solution

Fluor's engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) scope included site development, ore and limestone/lime processing facilities, infrastructure and ancillary support buildings.

The project consisted of a conventional open-pit (24,000 tonnes per day) mining operation, with a pressure oxidation/carbon-in-leach (CIL) plant to recover gold and silver, as well as a copper sulfide precipitation circuit to recover copper.

Fluor staff peaked at 380 in March 2011, and contractors peaked at 7,800 for three months in April 2011. The project had a dedicated policy to purchase from local and national suppliers, which further stimulated economic activity in the region and the country.

Our scope of services also included study work, basic and detail engineering, procurement and construction management. Early construction works included demolition of previous facilities, earthworks and environmental remediation, in addition to workforce training programs. The project was completed in 2012. We instituted an OSHA compliance culture at the construction site, and in March 2011, the project celebrated 21 million hours without a lost-time injury. Pueblo Viejo also achieved 3.25 million safe work hours without a recordable injury.

Conclusion

Our combined self-perform and construction management approach combined in-country sources with support from ICA Fluor to mitigate differences in language and to recruit, train and manage local resources. The project's policy to purchase from local and national suppliers further stimulated economic activity in the region and the country.

These approaches not only helped to execute the project but also upgraded the skills of the local population, suppliers and subcontractors, ensuring that they were better able to contribute thereafter to Pueblo Viejo operations and to other local projects.