After a thorough tour of worldwide dredge manufacturers and existing dredge equipment, the Cooljarloo Joint Venture awarded Ellicott® a turnkey project to design and build their dredge, “COOLJARLOO I”, for heavy minerals mining in Western Australia. The dual wheel excavator dredge, which began work in December 1989, was described as the world’s largest mineral sand mining dredge and the largest dredge of any kind in Australia.Continue Reading

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC – Historically, mining processes with poor recovery rates have resulted in tailings with significant amounts of recoverable material. The extraction of this material can be achieved using dredges. There are several factors that justify the extraction and re-processing of tailings: Tailings require fewer resources when compared to conventional mining. For example, a dredge can – in a single step – extract and transport the material to a processing plant located elven kilometers away. This reduces costs related to capital equipment, labor, fuel, and maintenance. Advances in re-processing technology Processing of tailing allows for additional production without increasing a...Continue Reading

Owner: Quebec Hydro-Electric Commission, Canada PRINCIPAL PARTICULARS: Hull Size – length in feet 220′ Maximum Digging Depth 90′ Suction Pipe Size – ID 42″ Discharge Pipe Size – ID 36″ Dredge Pump Horsepower 8000 Excavator Horsepower 1000 Total Installed Horsepower 10,000 PROJECT INFORMATION: The Quebec Hydro-Electric Commission began making plans as early as 1925 to construct a new canal, which would take practically the whole flow of the St. Lawrence River, thus making available permanent power output of nearly 1,600,000 kilowatts. This canal was to be about 15 miles long, 3300 feet wide and 27 feet deep. The material to be excavated...Continue Reading

Owner – Roca Fosforica Mexicana SA de CF (ROFOMEX), Mexico PRINCIPAL PARTICULARS: Hull Size – length in feet 108′ Maximum Digging Depth 58′ Suction Pipe Size – ID 27″ Discharge Pipe Size – ID 24″ Dredge Pump Horsepower 1500 Excavator Horsepower 500 Total Installed Horsepower 2050   PROJECT INFORMATION: In June 1981 the twin dredges ‘Guaycura’ and ‘Pericue’ were christened in Baltimore for Roca Fosforica Mexicana SA de CF (Rofomex) of Mexico. The Rofomex dredges were named after two local Indian tribes, “joining the ancient traditions of the peninsula with modern technology”. The Ellicott Brand Series 3000E electrically powered “Super-Dragon®” dredges were used...Continue Reading

Owner – E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co., USA PRINCIPAL PARTICULARS: Hull Size – length in feet 165′ Maximum Digging Depth 50′ Suction Pipe Size – ID 23″ Discharge Pipe Size – ID 23″ Dredge Pump Horsepower 4800 Excavator Horsepower 1450 Total Installed Horsepower 4800   PROJECT INFORMATION: DuPont, the leading U.S. chemical company and the world’s largest producer of titanium dioxide (TiO2), recently completed a multi-million dollar project to expand its Florida mining operations by opening a new site near Maxville.  The new Ellicott® brand dredge and associated concentrator plant have increased production by 50% and will extend the mine life...Continue Reading

Source: Engineering & Mining Journal Roca Fosforica Mexicana SA de CV (Rofomex) started up one phosphate mine in Baha California Sur in 1981 and another in 1982. The combined production of these operations were expected to lift Mexico from a position of almost total dependence on phosphate rock imports in 1980 to self-sufficiency in 1985. In recent years, Mexico has imported about 1.7 million mt/yr of phosphate rock, mainly from Florida in the U.S. and Morocco. The Mexican government has placed high priority on the Rofomex mines as part of its program to improve productivity on Mexican farms. The first of...Continue Reading

Source: Engineering News-Record – ENR.com As John Kammeyer, P.E., Tennessee Valley Authority’s vice president for coal combustion, drove up to the TVA’s Kingston coal electricity plant at 3:30 a.m. on Dec. 23, 2008, and “saw all that crap across the road” – to be specific, 5.4 million cu yd of coal ash from the plant’s ash pond – Kammeyer knew at once there had been an engineering failure. “I had never seen anything like that before,” he says of the wet coal ash that poured out of a failed dike the night before, filling the Emory River and nearby ponds,...Continue Reading

Source: IMC Global Press Release With an annual capacity of over ten million short tons, IMC Kalium is among the world’s leading and lowest-cost producers of potash. With 1997 net sales and gross margins of $617.4 million and $237.7 million, respectively, the business unit represents 14% of global capacity. IMC Kalium’s potash products were sold in more than 20 countries during 1997. China was the business unit’s largest export customer, and offshore sales accounted for 18% of Kalium’s shipments during the year. Shipments to U.S. agriculture and industrial users totaled 55% and 13%, respectively. Canadian agriculture and industrial uses accounted for 4%...Continue Reading

Source: International Dredging & Port Construction Ellicott® International of Baltimore, Maryland, USA, commissioned the first of two bucketwheel dredgers which will be used in the salt mining industry in both Saudi Arabia and China. The first of two orders was to provide a special electric bucketwheel dredger for Saudi Petrochemical (SADAF).  The vessel will be used by SADAF, a joint venture of Shell and Saudi Arabia Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC), to mine hard rock salt at its plant in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, which will then be processed into chlorine for PVC and caustic soda. The new dredger will, according to SADAF, increase the...Continue Reading

Source: International Dredging Review Associated Minerals Corp. is operating a bucketwheel dredger at Green Cove Springs, Florida, south of Jacksonville. The dredge “Rocky Ford” digs mineral-bearing sand containing rutile, zircon, and ilmenite. The dredge uses a 22-inch pump. A staff of 108 runs the dredge, the wet mill just behind the dredge, the dry mill on the company complex, and the office. The dredge operates three eight-hour shifts per day, 363 days a year. The dredge slowly digs its way through the deposit, which is on a Union Camp tree farm. The trees are harvested and the topsoil stripped and...Continue Reading