Olympic Dam Mine

The Olympic Dam located north of Adelaide Australia is one of the world’s most significant deposits of copper, gold, silver, and uranium. The dam itself was built in 1988, however expansions and improvements continue to this day. Water is used in the mine’s drilling process and for dust suppression.
Large 36” Pipelines run throughout the area to carry the water needed for these processes. Water is also necessary for the smelter, about 25 per cent of Olympic Dam’s water is used in the evaporative cooling towers. The towers regulate the temperature of the cooling water that controls the temperatures of the furnaces in the smelter.
Water stewardship is taken very seriously regarding protecting the local environment. In 2018 PipeSak™ Inc. was asked to supply PipePillo™ for use in supporting the water pipelines running in and around the Olympic Dam Mine.
PipePillo pipeline supports are a high-performance structured pipeline pillow (SPP) designed to permanently support fully loaded pipelines from the rocky trench bottom. It provides permanent support and is the only engineered solution replacing foam, sandbags, and pad dirt.
PipePillo structured pipeline supports are manufactured from high strength polypropylene resins which are environmentally inert yet softer than pipeline coatings. In addition to the above attributes PipePillo is also light enough to be installed by hand, while still resisting flotation resulting in a simple and clean installation method.
PipeSak was proud to take part in a project of this magnitude and looks forward to working with our colleagues in Australia again soon.