Aragonite Facility Condition Assessment
at
Ocean Cay, Bahamas

Client

Han-Padron Associates, LLP (now CH2M HILL) 22 Cortland Street, 33^rd Fl New York, New York 10007

for

AES Corporation 4300 Wilson Boulevard, 11th Fl Arlington, VA 22203

Haley & Aldrich 465 Medford Street, Suite 2200 Boston, MA 02129-1400

Completion Date

December, 2001

Project Description

Aragonite is a naturally occurring crystal form of calcium carbonate, CaCO₃. It forms naturally in almost all mollusk shells, and as the calcareous endoskeleton of warm and cold-water corals. Ocean Cay is the home to an ocean aragonite mining, storage, and export facility, which occupies a portion of the island. The facilities include barge unloading, screening, stacking/reclaiming, and shiploading systems. The island is relatively self-sufficient. There are accommodations for workers, who rotate on/off the island on a scheduled basis. Electrical power is supplied by several diesel generators. Fresh water is prepared from seawater using a reverse osmosis system.

AES Corporation was evaluating Ocean Cay as a potential site for a LGN terminal and gas-fired, electrical power generating plant. An assessment of the existing facilities was needed to ascertain how these facilities, including plans for the expansion of the aragonite operations, might best be integrated with their plans.

At the time of the survey, Ocean Cay was handling between 500,000 to 600,000 tons of aragonite a year. Self-unloading barges discharge to a shore-side receiving conveyor. The aragonite is screen and stockpiled into two products, an industrial quality grade and a roadway base grade. In a plant expansion for the roadway base grade product, the screening operation was added and the corrugated steel reclaim tunnel was extended toward the shiploader, to provide additional stockpile capacity for this material. The facility plans to increase production to 2,000,000 tons per year. With this, there are plans to add a third product. To accommodate this new product, the reclaim tunnel would be extended and the tail of the reclaim conveyor lengthened.

A visual site survey was conducted to assess the existing aragonite facilities and provide a basis for determining the necessary accommodations for both the existing and planned facilities. The report described current conditions actions required for the long-term, and suggestions for how the expansion program could accommodate the LNG additions.

Aragonite Receiving System

Aragonite Shiploader