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Whyalla Steelworks, South Australia

Bis is the single materials handling contractor for GFG Alliance’s steel-making operations in Whyalla and has had an operational presence in Whyalla for over 60 years.

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  • Location

    The Whyalla Steelworks is nestled on the edge of the Whyalla township, a sea port located on the east coast of the Eyre Peninsula, SA. Land of the Banggarla people.

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  • Status

    Current

    Start date: 1959

  • Customer

    GFG Alliance

  • Commodity

    Steel / Lead, Iron Ore

The contract: Materials handling, haulage and site services

Bis is the single materials handling contractor for GFG Alliance’s steel-making operations in Whyalla and has had an operational presence in Whyalla for over 60 years. The scope of services delivered to support the production of steel and steel products for Australian and international markets, and export of iron ore for international markets, is implemented through two interconnected streams:

Steelworks operations:

  • haulage and processing
  • product screening and metal recovery
  • scrap collection, processing and delivery
  • environmental services to support waste management, dust suppression and site clean up

Export facilities management:

  • Operation and maintenance of the Inner Harbour Export Facility (IHEF) and Outer Harbour Export Facility (OHEF), including rail discharge, product transfer to storage, managing stock, product blending and sampling and reclaiming for trans-shipping to cape vessels with front end loaders

The range of materials handled across all sites includes ore; liquid steel; limestone; pellets; coke; slag; by-products and finished product.

Customer operations

International mining, primary metal production and recycling, engineering and distribution company, GFG Alliance owns Liberty Primary Steel and SIMEC Mining.

Liberty Primary Steel’s Whyalla Steelworks is an integrated operation using mainly magnetite iron ore-based feed sourced from SIMEC’s iron ore mines in the region.

The steelworks has a production capacity of 1.2Mtpa of steel using a Blast Furnace Steelmaking process. In addition to supplying materials for the steelworks, SIMEC also owns the onsite IHEF and OHEF.

Bis’ assets at Whyalla

  • People

    People

    Bis’ local team comprises a 200-strong workforce to deliver the single materials-handling contract and a 30-person team to operate/maintain the export facilities

  • Equipment

    Equipment

    A wide ranging fleet of equipment and vehicles, including dump trucks, loaders, trucks, water carts, screening plants, excavators, materials handlers, prime movers, kress slag pot carriers, excavators, slag pots, two fully-equipped mobile plant workshops and a purpose-built storage sheds.

Key project achievements

Single materials handling contract

As a key part of GFG Alliance’s strategy to maximise the efficiency of its Whyalla-based operations, Bis was named as the single contractor to deliver a range of site services to GFG Alliance’s Whyalla operations including steel services, scrap processing and handling, slag processing and handling and bulk materials handling.

The award of this contract to Bis in late 2019 was in part testament to the hard work, experience and ingenuity which have been a hallmark of Bis operations in the area since 1959.

Excellence in safety award

The Whyalla team was recognised for excellence in safety at the GFG Alliance 2018 Chairman’s Excellence Awards in Sydney, New South Wales. The annual awards highlight the leading individuals, teams and initiatives in safety. The only contractor award on the night, this achievement is an endorsement of Bis’ commitment to Zero Harm.

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60 years Whyalla proud

Over the past 60 years, Bis has also delivered critical infrastructure projects, including the construction of roads, pipelines and jetties in Whyalla.

During this time, Bis has demonstrated its ability to listen to its customers, understand their business and deliver tailored, effective and efficient supply chain solutions and the company was delighted with the award of this strategically-important contract.

Our achievements in Whyalla aren’t isolated to the steelworks though. We also support a broad range of initiatives in the region such as:

  • partnership with the Middleback Arts Centre
  • sponsorship of the annual Whyalla UneARTh Festival
  • naming rights support of the annual Bis Regional Girls Soccer Carnival
  • Enterprising Women Whyalla sponsor recognising the key role of women in business.
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