D&S Resources delivered a reinforced concrete mill ball bunker for BHP’s Carrapateena Mine, supporting HydroFloat Vertimill operations in South Australia.
Project overview
D&S Resources has completed construction of a reinforced concrete mill ball bunker for BHP at the Carrapateena Mine, supporting operations for the HydroFloat Vertimill.
As a structural mechanical piping (SMP) contractor with deep experience across South Australia’s mining sector, D&S Resources was engaged to design and deliver a bunker purpose-built to improve material handling efficiency on site. The structure allows for safe and practical loading and unloading of mill balls via front-end loaders, while also providing storage capacity for surplus material when not in immediate use.
Scope of work
- Full supply and construction of the bunker structure
- Concrete formwork, reinforcement, and pours for all structural elements
- Associated civil works to complete the installation
- Integration of rail tracks within the foundation to guide and support loader bucket movement during operations
The outcome
The completed bunker is a fully operational structure, purpose-built to support efficient, safe, and reliable handling of mill balls at the Vertimill facility. By streamlining loading and unloading and providing dedicated surplus storage, the bunker helps BHP maintain consistent, uninterrupted throughput at Carrapateena — one of the largest copper-uranium-gold-silver deposits in Australia.
This project reflects D&S Resources’ broader capability in civil construction and structural mechanical piping works for the mining sector, from concrete and reinforcement through to the finer integration details that keep critical plant equipment running reliably.
Services/specialties demonstrated
- Design and delivery of a purpose-built structure (not just construction to someone else’s design — D&S was engaged to design and deliver)
- Full concrete construction capability — formwork, reinforcement, and pours across all structural elements
- Civil works to complete the broader installation
- Precision integration — building rail tracks into the foundation itself, showing attention to how the structure needs to function operationally, not just structurally
- Structural mechanical piping (SMP) contractor credentials
