In the days and weeks beforehand, untreated iron ore from the project’s mines in the Pilbara region had been transformed into 100,000 tons of processed iron ore at a plant onsite before being loaded onto a freight train bound for Port Hedland.

The train then commenced a 347 kilometre journey through the rugged terrain of north Western Australia to Port Hedland, where the ore was loaded onto a ship destined to sail to South Korea.

While it was a historical moment for Roy Hill, Samsung C&T had played an integral role in the project’s success by building the plant, rail and port infrastructure and helping to turn the massive project into reality.  

Despite countless challenges, Samsung C&T aligned itself with Roy Hill’s key objectives from the outset and invested significant resources in the project to ensure the shipment of ore commenced only 32 months after award of the EPC Contract.

Commenting on the successful completion of the Roy Hill project, Samsung C&T President and CEO Chi Hun Choi said,

“When we first became involved with Roy Hill, many people questioned why we would take on such an ambitious project in one of the harshest regions in Australia with a landscape and climate so different from our own.

However, like the people of Australia and their great pioneers, we battled against the many challenges we faced to finally complete this historic project, which we are honoured to have been part of,” he added.  

World-Class Expertise

Samsung C&T commenced work on the Roy Hill project in April 2013 and was tasked with building an iron ore processing plant, a rail network and a fully integrated port for processing and exporting iron ore.

Given the enormity of the project, it was divided into four separate and yet integrated elements, which required a contractor with unrivaled international expertise, experience and the capacity to effectively manage multiple projects simultaneously across vast distances and in remote areas.

Samsung C&T was well suited to this type of challenging project with the company already exhibiting an impressive portfolio of well-executed world-class projects, including the Burj Khalifa in Dubai and the Qurayyah IPP in Saudi Arabia.

Samsung C&T began the Roy Hill project by setting up a project control room in Perth and deploying a real-time, IT system to link and manage communications between multiple sites, which enabled project management to effectively oversee every element of the construction processes.

Completing four separate packages and enabling the shipment of ore within 32 months of contract award while employing an average of 2,400 workers and managing 2,000 individual pieces of operating equipment every day, puts the enormity and complexity of the task into perspective. 

Roy Hill is one of the largest, most complex and most challenging projects of its type completed in Samsung C&T’s history. As expected, the project faced numerous challenges, some corporate, some technical and some due to the remote location, weather and environmental conditions.

Samsung C&T’s tremendous commitment and complete dedication towards this project, with a priority on maximising worker safety and minimising environmental impacts, has delivered a truly successful business outcome.

Long-Term Relationship

Samsung C&T held a number of briefings with local suppliers, service providers and vendors in Western Australia before selecting a handful of leading subcontractors to work with, including Leighton, John Holland, NRW, BGC, Central Systems, SCEE, Goodline, Civmec and McConnell Dowell. The company prioritised the hiring of local workers and specialists in Australia which significantly contributed to local employment and provided a significant boost to the Western Australia economy. 

Samsung C&T has built solid and professional long term relationships with its subcontractors through working on the Roy Hill project, which bodes well for further project work in Australia. Most recently, Samsung C&T was awarded the WestConnex Motorway project in a joint venture with Leighton Contractors and John Holland, who worked on the Roy Hill project together. 

Samsung C&T is proud of the role it has played in this historic project and looks forward to further opportunities to work on other major Australian infrastructure and resource development projects.

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