Mining companies operating in remote locations face many logistical challenges in housing their fly-in workforce. Traditional camp accommodations such as wooden or metal structures require extensive on-site construction work which can be disrupted by factors like harsh weather conditions or availability of labor and materials in isolated areas. There is also the ongoing maintenance of aging infrastructure to consider. Seeking a more durable and efficient solution, a leading mineral sands mining company has contracted China-based Lida Group to deliver complete prefabricated modular camps for new mine sites under development in Western Australia.

Lida Group is a specialist manufacturer of prefabricated buildings based in Shandong Province, China. As a major supplier of modular construction solutions to the resource and energy industries, Lida has extensive experience in designing and building camps to house fly-in workers in mines, oil and gas projects throughout Asia and Australia. Notable past projects include prefabricated camps for mining operations in Mongolia, Indonesia and remote regions of Western Australia.

For the latest contract, Lida will supply complete turnkey camps featuring prefabricated dormitories, kitchens, laundries and recreational facilities across two remote mine sites. Key requirements were for durable, easy to transport and install buildings that minimize on-site construction. The camps need to house up to 300 fly-in workers at peak operations and withstand the harsh, isolated mine site environment for at least 15-20 years with minimal maintenance.

A signature element of Lida’s prefabricated modular camp designs are sandwich panel dormitories — structures built using Lida’s proprietary foundationless panels. These insulated composite panels comprises an insulating core sandwiched between two metal skins, making them very strong yet lightweight. Utilizing specialized machinery, each dormitory room, hallway and amenities building section are pre-assembled off-site in Lida’s factory into complete three-dimensional modules or cells.

Compared to traditional building methods relying on foundations and timber frames, Lida’s sandwich panel construction significantly reduces on-site work. The foundationless design removes the need for concreting, allowing the buildings to be erected straight onto a prepared gravel base using just a crane. This provides a faster, more efficient installation process suited for remote sites with limited time windows and resources.

Once complete, the modules are sealed to be weatherproof and transported via road and then barged to site if required. Due to their lightweight yet rigid construction, the modules can be lifted into place using relatively small mobile cranes commonly available at minesites. Lida’s specialized engineering also futureproofs the design against extreme weather events like cyclones that may occur over the camps’ service life in Australia’s tropical north.

At the mine sites, Lida engineers will undertake final on-site works to connect all electrical, plumbing and communications within the modular dormitory buildings before fitting out the interiors. The kitchen facilities and recreational amenities which also feature sandwich panel construction will be craned into place and hooked up. This coordinated, fully integrated approach minimizes the construction time at site to only a matter of weeks, well within schedule for the mining operations.

A key benefit of Lida’s solution is the green building attributes of the prefabricated modular camps. Sandwich panel construction creates durable, airtight buildings with continuous insulation with R-Values exceeding standards. This passive design maximizes energy efficiency, lowering ongoing operational costs of running large camps in remote areas dependent on diesel-generated power. The panels are also fully recyclable at end of life, supporting the client’s environmental commitments.

Logistically, transporting complete modules instead of raw materials reduces the footprint and risks associated with shipping large volumes to site. The sealed modules can be safely barged or trucked on highways without risk of damage. As they are effectively complete buildings, modules require no special equipment for offloading or assembly other than routine lifting gear available at any mining camp. This simplified supply chain greatly eased scheduling and resources compared conventional on-site construction.

Upon delivery to site, Lida’s engineers conducted staff training to operations and maintenance crews for the new buildings. As well as technical overviews, programs covered recommended servicing and preventative maintenance routines tailored for the harsh climate and fly-in/fly-out roster cycles. Comprehensive manuals and an ongoing service agreement ensures the mining company gains the most from their long-term modular camp infrastructure investment.

Now over six months into operations at both new mine sites, the prefabricated modular camps have proven very successful. Installation was completed ahead of schedule, allowing earliest possible transition from temporary to permanent facilities with no stand down of production. To date, the durable sandwich panel construction has required minimal maintenance despite demanding site conditions. With simple cleaning, the buildings remain as weather tight and comfortable as on day one.

Feedback from fly-in workers has been overwhelmingly positive about the modular camp accommodation. Standard en-suite rooms with quality fittings far surpass basic village-style camps common to mining projects. Workers also appreciate the recreational amenities and canteen facilities incorporated efficiently by Lida’s integrated prefabricated modules. Rotating rosters have not experienced disruptions even during seasonal extremes, maximizing productivity for the mine owner.

Most significantly, the client has realized considerable cost and time savings transitioning to Lida’s turnkey modular camps over conventional on-site construction. Upfront capital expenditure fell within estimates despite pandemic supply issues globally. Factorizing reduced transport risks, simplified logistics and timely installation, the fully amortized cost model clearly demonstrates lower lifecycle ownership costs. The mining company expects such efficient, durable assets to generate ongoing operational efficiencies as the projects mature.

In summary, the use of Lida Group’s prefabricated modular camp solution has delivered outstanding results for housing fly-in workers at these remote greenfield mining developments. Foundationless sandwich panel construction provided highly durable, energy efficient and transportable buildings within tight commissioning schedules. Installation simplicity suited the isolated sites with minimal on-site resources. Sustained operational performance to date also proves the concept’s longevity matching 15-20 year design life spans required of mining infrastructure. For the client, both capital expenditure savings and lower expected operational costs over conventional construction represents a very sound long-term investment towards maximizing productivity at their new mining operations. The success of this Lida Group contract has set benchmark for transportable modular construction as the new standard for accommodating miners at remote Australian resource projects far into the future.

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