Mining and Energy

A mining or energy facility rarely does just one job. The same building might hold heavy spare parts, a maintenance workshop for high-value equipment, a control room and crib and amenity areas for shift crews. Each has its own load, access and safety needs. 

These sites also run with very little tolerance for downtime. When parts or equipment access sits on the critical path for production or generation, the structure supporting them has to be dependable from day one and stay that way with minimal attention. 

Unistor designs mezzanines and platforms around how the site actually operates, so storage, maintenance and people areas each get a structure suited to their use.

Mining and energy facilities place far greater demands on a mezzanine than a typical warehouse. Heavy point loads from parts such as ground engaging tools, pumps, motors and drive components, combined with forklifts and pallet handling at height, mean the frame has to be designed for impact and movement as well as static weight. 

Because inspection and maintenance can be infrequent on remote sites, we recommend building generous capacity into the original design. That leaves room for heavier stock or a change in use later, without costly remedial work in a hard-to-reach location. 

Our in-house engineering and drafting teams design every structure to AS/NZS 1170 and AS 4100, with final loads and margins confirmed by a structural engineer for each site.

Dust, humidity, UV, salt air and process chemicals all speed up the deterioration of structural steel, and mining and energy sites often combine several of these at once. Open-sided structures, conveyor walkways and coastal port or export facilities are especially exposed. 

Unistor specifies protective coatings to suit the corrosivity of each site, typically hot-dip galvanising to AS/NZS 4680 with duplex paint systems where conditions demand it, following guidance in AS/NZS 2312.

Getting the coating right at the start is far cheaper than recoating or replacing corroded steel later, once access, transport and shutdown costs are added in. 

The right floor depends on how exposed the space is and what it is used for. Open steel grating suits walkways, platforms and maintenance bays, where it lets dust, water and fumes clear while carrying heavy loads. Solid or sealed flooring suits enclosed crew areas, control rooms and parts stores.

Unistor supplies Meiser press-locked grating, which is lighter to freight and handle than forge-welded grating, with notched anti-slip load bars for wet and muddy conditions and an 11 x 30 mm ball-proof aperture where people work below. Matching bolt-on stair treads with anti-slip nosing finish the structure.

Many sites use both, with grating across open storage and maintenance areas and solid flooring for enclosed rooms within the same structure.

Power generation, transmission and renewable energy assets all need safe, compliant access for operators and maintenance crews. Unistor supplies elevated platforms, crossovers, stair towers, ladders and walkways for generators, transformers, battery energy storage systems, cooling plant and process equipment.

On mine sites, the same systems provide access around conveyors, screening and spillage decks, crushers and fixed plant, with crossovers designed to step over pipework, cable trays and conveyors.

Platforms are designed around plant footprints and maintenance clearances, so equipment can be serviced and replaced without modifying the structure.

On remote sites, labour is often the biggest cost. Flights, accomodation, travel time and lost productivity can outweigh the cosr of the structure itself. Unistor's modular systems move cutting, welding and precision assembly into a controlled factory environment, where quality can be checked properly before anything leaves for site.

Components are sized and packed flat for efficient road, rail or sea transport, then bolt together on site with no specialist welding equipment. Top-fixed clamp fittings on grating and a lean range of Unistor handrail fittings mean fewer parts to manage and no hot works permits.

A small crew can complete installation in a fraction of the time a site-built structure takes, which keeps shutdown windows short.

Mining and energy facilities sit under state-specific work health and safety legislation in addition to AS 1657:2018 for fixed platforms, walkways, stairways and ladders. The rules for mine sites differ between Western Australia, Queensland, New South Wales and the other states, so we confirm the requirements for each jurisdiction.

Unistor provides engineering drawings, load ratings, certification and compliance records structured to suit a mine or plant safety management system when a new structure is introduced.

Complete documentation from the outset makes your site-specific WHS assessment faster, helping new structures get signed off and into service sooner.