QIT wins international Project of the Year award

Rio Tinto's QIT Fer et Titane (QIT) won the 2008 PMI International Project of the Year Award for QIT's upgraded slag (UGS) plant expansion in Canada.

The Project Management Institute (PMI) assesses projects from around the world for recognition of excellence among industry peers. The UGS expansion to 375,000 tonnes per year started in late 2005 with a budget of C$95 million and was carried out in only 22 months.

The QIT team supported by engineering consultants Hatch completed the project three months ahead of schedule, with savings of C$13 million and with no lost time injuries during the 525,000 hours worked. The project eclipsed all speed records for production start up. The "UGS Expansion to 375 ktpa" project also received the Hatch Group 2007 Roy Curtis Project Excellence Award and PMI-Montreal 2007 Élixir award for best project of the year in Quebec.

The Project of the Year award goes annually to a company or community that has successfully deployed a major project that meets high performance standards and shows exemplary management. It is regarded as the engineering world's most sought after project management award.