Moly Mines has secured plant and equipment for the 15 million tonne per annum Spinifex Ridge molybdenum/copper project in Western Australia"s Pilbara region.

Moly Mines will place an order with ThyssenKrupp subsidiary, Polysius, for the supply of Aus$45 million of long lead items for the processing plant/concentrator, which includes one primary crusher, with two High Pressure Grinding Roll (HPGR) units, and two ball mills.

Moly Mines managing director Derek Fisher says the agreement with ThyssenKrupp demonstrates the company's confidence in the Spinifex Ridge project and the world molybdenum price, and is a major step in its development as the world's next major primary molybdenum mine.

"This large order gives us the advantage of securing equipment that has proven its reliability in similar operations around the world but also guarantees a relatively short delivery date in a very competitive market."

The equipment maintains the conventional plant design concepts outlined in the project pre-feasibility study.

The HPGR model tertiary crusher selected for Spinifex Ridge has recently been installed at Phelps Dodge's (now Freeport-McMoRan) Cerro Verde copper operation in Peru and has been chosen for the large Boddington Gold mine near Perth where Newmont is planning to install four units.

ThyssenKrupp holds the largest market share in hard ore applications for HPGRs. The 11.5 MW ball mills and the primary crusher selected for Spinifex Ridge are also proven, with numerous operations around the world and in Australia using similar equipment. It was selected to provide this equipment after a detailed evaluation study of proposals by the Spinifex Ridge project engineers WorleyParsons.