Engineering Services for Battery Minerals Projects in Regional NSW
Supporting Australia’s Transition to Critical Minerals Through Practical, High-Performance Engineering
Australia’s shift toward electrification, renewable energy, and strategic mineral security has placed battery minerals—including lithium, cobalt, vanadium, nickel, manganese, and rare earth elements—at the centre of national and global attention. Regional NSW is uniquely positioned to supply these materials, with large-scale developments such as the Dubbo Zirconia Project (DZP), the oxide and rare earth expansions around Parkes and Dubbo, and emerging lithium and cobalt projects throughout the Central West.
These projects represent enormous economic opportunities for regional communities. But they also introduce a level of engineering complexity far beyond that of traditional bulk commodities like gold, copper, or coal. Battery minerals require new processing pathways, novel chemical environments, high-temperature systems, and sophisticated plant designs. As a result, engineering partners must not only be technically strong, but adaptable, pragmatic, and capable of solving challenges that have little precedent in Australia.
This is where Trang Imagineering provides significant value: translating high-level flowsheets, pilot plant learnings, and process-development concepts into robust, fabrication-ready engineering suitable for real-world construction and operations in remote regional settings.
A New Era of Regional Mineral Processing: Opportunity Meets Complexity
Battery mineral processing differs from traditional mining and metallurgy in several critical ways. Unlike established commodities—which rely on well-documented and decades-tested plant designs—battery minerals often involve:
Unusual ore characteristics
Highly reactive chemical reagents
Multi-step separation flowsheets
Temperature extremes
Corrosive slurries and gases
Waste products requiring specialised handling
For example, the Dubbo Zirconia Project incorporates hydrometallurgical, pyro-metallurgical, and solvent extraction circuits not commonly used together in other NSW mines. Rare earth extraction, in particular, involves multi-stage leaching, precipitation, roasting, and impurity removal steps that demand equipment built to withstand corrosive, abrasive, and high-temperature environments.
Because these processes are relatively new to Australia, project owners, investors, and regulators place heightened scrutiny on any engineering design decisions. That scrutiny flows directly into the expectations placed on engineering consultants.
Battery mineral plants require engineering that is:
Innovative, because traditional methods may not apply
Conservative, because safety cannot be compromised
Documented, because regulators demand clear evidence
Practical, because construction occurs in regional or remote areas
Flexible, because flowsheets evolve throughout feasibility stages
For this reason, battery minerals projects benefit from engineering teams skilled in both conventional SMP design and adaptive, problem-solving-driven mechanical and structural engineering. Trang Imagineering sits precisely at that intersection.
Key Challenges in Designing Battery Mineral Projects
1. Novel Processes with Limited Precedent
Unlike gold or copper plants—where engineering teams can rely on thousands of previously built facilities—battery mineral flowsheets often originate from pilot plants, university research, or proprietary chemical processes. This means:
Equipment must be designed with limited empirical data
Loads, temperatures, and operating pressures may not be fully established
System behaviour may change as pilot trials continue
Manufacturers may not have off-the-shelf solutions
Engineering teams must work closely with metallurgists and process engineers to iteratively refine SMP components that support the evolving process design.
2. Corrosive, Abrasive, and Reactive Materials
Battery mineral processing combines some of the harshest chemical and mechanical environments in the resources sector:
Acid leach circuits
Solvent extraction organics
Chloride systems
High-temperature roasting
Abrasive slurries and tailings
Reactive metals and oxides
These conditions place extreme demands on:
Tank design and materials selection
Pipe supports, hangers, anchors, and expansion allowances
Structural frames exposed to corrosive atmospheres
Pumps, chutes, hoppers, cyclones, and conveyors
Containment structures and bunding systems
Trang’s engineering experience in mining, chemical plants, and heavy industry provides the material knowledge and design rigour needed for these environments.
3. High Investor and Regulatory Scrutiny
Battery minerals are not just minerals—they are strategic commodities. As such:
Investors expect detailed feasibility documentation, risk mitigation strategies, and conservative engineering that protects CAPEX.
Regulators require evidence of compliance across structural, mechanical, pressure vessel, and hazardous chemical systems.
Federal and state agencies often participate in funding rounds or approvals, requiring robust design justification.
Engineering work must therefore be traceable, defensible, and aligned with Australian Standards, ISO frameworks, and industry guidelines.
Trang Imagineering excels in producing documentation that withstands scrutiny—whether for internal reviews, board-level decisions, EPCM partners, or regulatory submissions.
Engineering Solutions for Battery Minerals Projects
Trang delivers a suite of engineering services specifically suited to the needs of feasibility, early works, detailed design, and retrofit stages of battery mineral developments.
1. Feasibility-Stage SMP Design
Battery mineral projects often change significantly between Scoping, PFS, and DFS phases. Trang supports this progression by delivering SMP engineering that is:
Flexible: easily updated as metallurgical assumptions evolve
Practical: aligned with real-world construction methods and contractor capabilities
Cost-aware: designed with CAPEX drivers in mind
Safety-compliant: incorporating Australian Standards and industry best practice
Typical feasibility-stage deliverables include:
Preliminary layouts of structural frames, platforms, and access systems
Mechanical equipment envelopes and models
Piping route studies and concept-level pipe support strategies
Tank sizing studies and material selections
Early-stage FEA for high-risk or novel components
Constructability and maintainability assessments
This early work sets the foundation for a smooth transition into detailed design.
2. Tank and Piping Systems for Novel Processes
Battery minerals involve chemical environments far more aggressive than most traditional mining circuits. Trang designs:
Tanks
Process tanks
Leach tanks
Solvent extraction tanks
Precipitation and crystallisation vessels
Tailings and residue tanks
Bunding and spill containment systems
Designs may incorporate:
FRP, duplex, rubber-lined steel, HDPE, or exotic alloys
Internal reinforcement for abrasive loads
Thermal expansion considerations
Complex nozzle loading, agitator forces, and seismic/wind loading
Piping Systems
Trang provides SMP-level engineering for:
High-acidity lines
Thick-slurry pipelines
Steam and condensate lines
Brine and chloride-based service lines
Pump discharge, suction, and recirculation systems
Overhead and rack-mounted piping
Every design balances hydraulic performance, structural support, thermal movement, corrosion resistance, and ease of maintenance.
3. Finite Element Analysis for Unique Stress Conditions
Battery mineral processes often introduce unusual mechanical and thermal stress scenarios. Trang uses advanced FEA to evaluate:
Localised stress concentrations around nozzles, lugs, and penetrations
Agitator-induced dynamic loads
Thermal cycling in high-temperature tanks or roasting equipment
Fatigue risk in components operating under fluctuating pressures
Pipe support loads during pump trips, start-ups, or thermal expansion
This modelling allows project teams to make informed decisions early, avoiding costly redesigns or failures during commissioning.
4. Compliance Verification and Engineering Assurance
Battery mineral plants must demonstrate compliance with:
AS3990, AS4100, AS4458
AS/NZS 1170 (loads)
API650 / API653 (storage tanks)
AS4041 / ASME B31.3 (piping)
Hazardous chemical regulations
WHS Act and WHS Regulations
Environmental and containment requirements
Trang provides:
Independent verification
Design certification
Fabrication drawing checks
Site inspection and rectification reports
Fitness-for-service assessments
Vendor documentation reviews
This assurance gives investors, owners, and regulators confidence that designs are safe, compliant, and fit for purpose.
Adaptive Engineering for an Emerging Industry
Battery minerals represent the fastest-growing part of Australia’s mining sector. But unlike mature industries, they demand adaptive engineering—solutions that draw on proven principles but apply them to new, evolving, and often unprecedented scenarios.
Trang Imagineering brings:
Heavy-industry design experience
Deep understanding of structural–mechanical interactions
Practical knowledge of construction realities in regional NSW
Material and corrosion expertise
Capability to interpret and support cutting-edge metallurgical processes
By bridging traditional engineering with emerging processing technologies, Trang enables battery mineral proponents to progress from concept to construction with confidence.
Conclusion: Powering Regional NSW Through Reliable Engineering
As the world accelerates toward renewable energy and electrification, regional NSW stands at the forefront of Australia’s critical minerals future. Projects like the Dubbo Zirconia Project demonstrate the scale of opportunity—but also the engineering sophistication required to bring these facilities to reality.
Trang Imagineering provides the experience, adaptability, and technical discipline needed to design safe, compliant, and efficient battery mineral processing infrastructure.
From feasibility to detailed design, and from tank systems to FEA verification, Trang delivers engineering that meets the demands of a new global industry—while supporting the long-term economic resilience of regional NSW.