Lesson Learned: An incorrectly sized camp can have major impacts on the success of a remote mining project.
One of the defining constraints on most remote mining projects (which I would expect is the majority these days) is the size of the camp. The size of the camp effectively puts a limit on the number of people you can have on-site at any one time and it is extremely important that this is sized correctly in order to support the number of people expected on-site during the various phases of mine development. A lack of camp capacity has huge implications for the progress of a project where the construction effort is effectively capped at how many people you can get on site. If the camp size is underestimated to begin with, the effects are quite dramatic – especially on cold-weather projects where construction windows are limited for some disciplines and some construction activities have to be pushed out by seasons. There is no way to recover lost time other than adding more accommodation which takes many months after which the problem has already caused substantial delays. If the camp is sized just enough to cater to the construction requirements when acceleration or additional scope is required, there may be a lack of available rooms to house the additional labor required and in those circumstances, the project will run late.
The consideration of the numbers of personnel on-site should include:
Exploration
Mine Operations
Plant Operations
Infrastructure Operations
Camp Operations
Mine Management & Administration
Visitors
Construction Crews
Commissioning Crews
EPC/Ms
Buffer For Acceleration / Additional Scope
The peak of construction effort typically occurs near the end of the project when the mechanical, piping, and electrical contractors are all on-site with commissioning crews and the first operations personnel. On brownfield projects, this peak is amplified even more when there are existing operations occurring at the same time as construction is peaking.
The camp usually consists of a permanent camp to house operations personnel during operations as well as a temporary camp to house the increased effort from construction personnel during the construction phase. During construction, the permanent camp is typically also used for housing construction personnel as well. There are a few pitfalls to be wary of in these instances:
Care should be exercised when allocating rooms as the operations and construction teams have entirely different schedules and outlooks on how long they will be on site.
If there is a difference in the quality or size of rooms between the temporary and permanent camps, issues might ensue when certain individuals are perceived to receive better rooms than others.
The standard of the temporary rooms needs to be at a level to meet the expectations of the construction crews. There is naturally a temptation to under-spend on these as they are temporary but in my experience, the cost that has been saved is offset significantly more by the resulting productivity issues related to poor motivation.
The operational team sizes are typically required to be stated as part of the operating cost estimates in the study phases and visibility into these is quite easy to obtain. However, the construction effort is largely dependent of some detailed construction planning which is sometimes left until later on in the development of a project. The temptation is to size/construct the permanent camp to the size required for operations and then leave the sizing/construction of the construction camp until later or just make it the contractor’s problem during construction. The problem with this approach is that:
Additional camps put additional loads on sewage processing facilities. The effluent from this (both solids and liquid) needs to go somewhere and these facilities are usually consolidated to reduce complications with environmental monitoring etc.
Additional camps require power. This can be solved with additional generators/transformers but in freezing climates, safety risks dictate the need for adequate backup power.
Additional camps put additional load on water supplies. These water supplies are generally water treatment units that draw water from nearby wells/lakes. The water treatment units are typically consolidated in order to reduce the amount of maintenance and water sources involved.
Additional camps require additional kitchens and eating areas as well as a consistent supply of fresh food and consumables. For this reason, the kitchen and eating areas are typically consolidated into a single unit and managed by the owner.
The fabrication of prefabricated construction camps is not a quick exercise. Depending on the size and market demand these can take up to 6 months to fabricate and then several months transport and install on-site.
Due to the reliance on all the supporting infrastructure supplied by the owner listed above, contractors will try to steer far away from providing accommodation on-site or if they do provide this, it will be at a substantial cost which is likely far in excess of what was allowed for in the estimate. Therefore, it is recommended that the owner take responsibility for providing the construction camps and understand these needs at the start of execution so that an adequate camp size and supporting infrastructure can be supplied in advance of when it is required.