Port of Esperance

Southern Ports operates the Port of Esperance which recommenced exports nickel concentrate, spodumene and iron ore in bulk among other products. MBS assisted Southern Ports and IGO Nova for studies and approvals into the resumption of bulk nickel concentrate loading commencing in 2017 using Qube rotaboxes instead of conveyor loading. MBS assisted in expansion of the air monitoring network around the Port of Esperance and then conducted a number of air quality studies and statistical assessments of data to assess risk both during shipment trials and in the years following approval to resume bulks exports. 

Port of Esperance Project Assistance:

• Assistance with setup of additional monitoring equipment within Esperance and the Port.
• Collation of baseline air quality data into a report prior to nickel shipping trials in 2017.
• Collection and assessment of air quality data over the shipping trial for interim and final closeout reports.
• Review and assessment of national and internation guidelines for airborne nickel, toxicity studies used in derivation of guidelines and assessment of toxicity in relation to nickel sulfide concentrate.
• Statistical data assessment of paired TSP and PM₁₀ nickel and iron data to derive suitable conversion factors to estimate PM₁₀ concentrations from TSP concentrations in previous historical data where only TSP data was collected. This process and derived factors were reviewed following changes in mix of exports two years later to populate instead ‘projected’ TSP concentrations for comparison to previous data.
• Assistance to Southern Ports in investigating means of source apportionment for iron in airborne data results.