Nyrstar are the world’s leading manufacturer of zinc. They operate a smelter, located on the Port Pirie River in South Australia, which has been in continuous operation for more than 130 years. It is one of the largest multi-metal smelters in the world, producing silver, lead, and other by-products.
The complex at Port Pirie includes an adjacent port facility where concentrates are received and final products are dispatched by road or rail.
Part of their operations at the facility involves processing large quantities of raw bulk materials. A dedicated bulk storage space, large enough for heavy machinery to operate and pile mixing to take place easily, was required to ensure materials were kept protected from the elements. Another important requirement was dust containment, with the town of Port Pirie being directly beside the Nyrstar facility.
DomeShelter Australia designed and manufactured a two-bay bulk material processing facility, consisting of two 25m wide by 56.8m long interconnected Truss Shelters mounted on double-stacked sea containers for tall height clearance. The Shelters both have suspended, container-supported Endwalls to fully enclose their back ends for optimised dust control. This was an urgently required solution, and despite its large size, the two-bay Shelter was delivered and installed within a few short months. The Shelters are held down with ballast inside the containers, allowing them to be moved in future and reducing ground disturbance.
Fabric Shelters were chosen to fulfil Nyrstar’s bulk storage requirements. A significantly shorter lead time for a Shelter of such a large size was the most important factor in the project. The unique tensile design of Fabric Shelters also means that no internal support poles are required, regardless of Shelter size, perfect for bulk storage operations to take place unobstructed.
