DOCUMENTING CONSTRUCTION IN THE CLOUD

Collaboration, communication and document management for the Antapaccay operation in Peru was handled online using the Aconex platform, developed in Melbourne

THE $1.47 billion Antapaccay Copper Project is a long-life, low-cost expansion to Xstrata's Tintaya copper mine in southern Peru. Located about 10km from the original open-pit mine, the Antapaccay deposit will increase annual copper-in-concentrate production from Tintaya by 60% to an average of 160,000 tonnes for the first six years. It will transform the mine into a 20-year business.

And all the collaboration, communication and document management for this huge construction project was handled online using the Aconex platform, developed in Melbourne.

"One of the key things we liked about Aconex was the fact that it only took two weeks to set up the project. We had Aconex running and in place within that time ... and it was pretty easy to get around. By giving basic instruction to people, they can get into the system and start working," says Xstrata project administration Superintendent Pablo Diaz.

He says one of the key challenges for a project of this size was the need to deliver two gigabytes of information to Australia, United States, Argentina, Peru and Chile. "We uploaded it to Aconex, and finished the review with no delays.

"The confidence of downloading the document and knowing it's the latest version reduces risk. So when we have our engineers print the document and do a revision, we know, if they downloaded it from Aconex, they have the latest version," Pablo Diaz adds.

Commenting on the unique Aconex commercial model that offers unlimited use pricing, document controller and information manager Tomas Perez says, "From the beginning, it's been a very easy tool [with which] to give information to our contractors. In relation to costs, I'm speechless. The fact that Aconex is free [for them] to use is a major saving."