underwater tools
SMD Wins Subsea Mining Deal
SMD Hydrovision has won a nearly $66m contract to build what is touted as a pair of the world's first mineral mining machine designed for us on the seafloor. The company has, along with many other corporations serving the subsea industry, grown rapidly in recent years, but this contract is the largest in the company's history, and will run into early 2010. The scope of supply is for two seafloor mining systems comprising the SMT, umbilical systems, surface power and control system and a single deck handling system. The SMT is a novel design for recovering ore that is found in massive sulphide deposits in rugged terrain. However, it draws on much of the technology that SMD has developed in recent projects for three trenching systems, all of which exceed 2 MW installed power. "The placing of this first order is a historic step in the creation of a new industry and a major milestone for the Nautilus team, who continue to meet the development timelines for the delivery of the Solwara 1 Project," said David Heydon, Nautilus' CEO. "Nautilus is on track to commence commissioning for mining operations by the third quarter of 2010, subject to timely PNG government
SMD Hydrovision won its largest contract ever, a nearly $66m deal to build a pair of subsea mining machines for Nautilus. The machines are -- in a word -- massive, weighing 200 tons in the air, measuring 14 m wide x 10 m high, with a cutting arm nearly eight meters long. In addition, the machines will have the ability to "walk" on the seafloor, helping it to more easily acquire the correct cutting place and force.
42 MTR
January 2008
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