Perth electrical firm wins top national award for gold mine project

Perth company Downer EDI Engineering Power won the top award in Australia at the annual electrical industry Excellence Awards, hosted by peak electrical industry body NECA, for its work on the Boddington Gold Mine expansion.

Downer EDI Engineering Power received the top award from NECA in front over 500 industry representatives including electrical contractors, educators and government representatives at the annual gala event of the electrical and communications industry in Sydney.

The company was awarded the contract for complete electrical and instrumentation installation for the Boddington Gold Mine Expansion project. At completion, the Downer EDI team had installed approximately 503,000 m of high- and low-voltage cabling and recorded over 1 million man-hours.

NECA’s Chief Executive Officer, James Tinslay, said the team at Downer EDI was awarded the top prize because they had to solve complex design problems while working concurrently on different sites at the mine.

“This project was just phenomenal,” Tinslay said. “It required the integration of many systems and the final result is a credit to the team at Downer EDI. A significant achievement was managing the staff used on this massive project because at times different construction disciplines were expected to work concurrently on different sites.

“This is simply an outstanding result that was delivered on time, on budget and with nil defects.

“The Boddington Gold Mine expansion is an example of how West Australian firms are leading the nation on big construction projects. As the electrotechnology industry continues to grow and tackle new technological challenges, it’s encouraging to see electrical and communication contractors in West Australia playing such an important role and leading their colleagues across Australia.”