Eneabba Rare Earth Refinery Ground Improvement Bulk EW

Project Overview

Iluka Resources is building the Eneabba Rare Earth Refinery (ERER) at the Eneabba Mine Site, 5 km south of Eneabba. The ERER will be Australia’s first fully integrated rare earth refinery and will establish Western Australia as a strategic hub for the downstream processing of rare earth resources. The ERER Process Plant, comprises a rotary kiln, stack, filter building, elevated thickeners, solvent extraction building, various large tanks, as well as packaging and storage facilities.

The EP3 Package consisted of the excavation and separation of existing residual tailings, and existing suitable sand fill material. Once the tailings were removed, the sand was replaced as engineered fill, with the shortfall coming from local borrow areas, including Yellow Dam, which is being developed as a future tailing storage facility (TSF).

The sandfill backfill was trimmed off and stabilised to form a suitable hardstand to enable the construction of the refinery pad and foundations in the next stage. Click here to watch a flyover video of this project.

Fast Facts

ClientIluka Resources
LocationEneabba, WA
Year of Completion 2024

Scope of works

Ertech’s scope of works involved extensive bulk earthworks to enable ground improvement and foundation preparation for the new refinery.

Bulk Excavation
Removal of tailings
Placement and compaction of the fill
Separation of suitable fill materials from tailings material
Recovery of high-value material from the Yellow Dam
Development of numerous borrow areas and pits, including a future tailing’s storage facility (TSF)
Cement Stabilised Fill
Bridging of tailings using geogrid and geotextile
QA/QC requirements

Additional Works

The original scope included the bulk excavation, placement and compaction of the ~ 1,200,000m³ of fill. An additional 300,000m³ of borrow to fill was required due to re-design and the increased volume of tailings.
Ertech moved ~ 2,800,000 BCM of material over 14 months (average 200,000 BCM/month).
The quantity of tailings increased from 450,000 BCM to 630,000 BCM.
Due to the ground conditions encountered, placement of cement stabilised fill was required in the area allocated for future critical structures.