July 2010

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THIS EDITION

• Robotics and the mine of the future

• Engaging China - the pitfalls and payoffs

• Cairns pitch for Pilbara FIFO business

• Clermont poised to tap Galilee growth

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1The Mining Advocate | July 2010 NEWS

All material is copyright and cannot be reproduced in part or in full by any means without written permission of the managing editor. The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher.

CONTACTS

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Email: ...........................................................info@industryadvocate.com.au

Address: .........................................U3/11 Carlton St, Kirwan, Q, 4817

Postal: ...................................................... PO Box 945, Townsville, Q, 4810

2 Go West, Young Man

Cairns development groups are hoping to secure direct links to Karratha in Western Australia to help the

city to become a fl y in-fl y out base for the booming Pilbara region.

3 Engaging AsiaTh is edition explores some of the hurdles to attracting Chinese investment, with a few tips from resource

sector insiders on how such deals can be sealed.

8 Osborne reborn Th e Osborne mine in north-west Queensland is “doing a Lazarus” thanks to Ivanhoe Australia, which has

purchased the operation in a bid to bring its own projects in the Cloncurry region online sooner.

11 Reel ‘em in A Mackay-based engineering fi rm believes the coal industry will embrace a new system it has pioneered to

carry out comprehensive dragline rope drum refurbishments in the fi eld.

36 Contract stacks up (COVER STORY)

An emerging Australian bulk materials handling company believes its contribution to the Abbot Point

expansion works north of Bowen will set it up to win further major projects.

Bulk Materials Handling Australia (BMHA) and German joint-venture partner FAM have started

commissioning the fi rst of four stacker reclaimers to be completed under a $135 million-plus contract.

39 Taking their cut A Clermont community group is working to position their town to make the most of the economic

opportunities presented by the emergence of the Galilee Basin as a major coal mining province.

July 2010

FEATURES7 Townsville Regional Capacity

10 Mackay Regional Capacity

12 Mt Isa Regional Capacity

14 Coal and Gas UpdateNews in brief across the coal and gas industries.

16 Industry Update - HardrockA comprehensive wrap of exploration and operations in Queensland and the Northern Territory.

18 Between Shifts

22 QME feature

29 Mining Health and Safety Conference

32 Processing

33 Emissions

34 Major Projects

35 Training

36 Materials Handling

37 Building Mining Communities

Managing editor: .........................Robert Dark m. 0417 623 156

Journalist: .........................Belinda Humphries m. 0439 726 074

Sales: ................................................p. (07) 4755 0336 m. 0417 623 156

Advertising booking deadlineSeptember edition: August 27

This driverless truck operating at the West Angelas mine in Western

Australia is an example of the advances in automation being

embraced by the nation’s resources industry. Story - Page 5.

Photo: Christian Sprogoe

www.miningadvocate.com.au

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Industry ambassadors, “Team Australia” promotions and publicised land releases for exploration are among the tools the Queensland Government uses to sell the state’s resource potential in Asia. Queensland Treasurer and Employment and Economic Development Minister Andrew Fraser said the government continued to actively promote the state’s exploration and resource investment opportunities internationally.

Its program of land releases for mineral exploration had been particularly successful in attracting Chinese companies to Queensland, he said.

Mr Fraser said also the Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation produced an extensive range of promotional products to increase investor awareness of Queensland’s known resources and production as well as exploration and investment opportunities.

“Queensland also attends targeted seminars and conferences within Australia and overseas to promote mining investment opportunities,” he said.

“Under the banner of ‘Team Australia’ and in collaboration with Austrade, representatives of federal, state and territory Geological Surveys work co-operatively to present a national approach to exploration, and mining and petroleum investment.

“Australia is punching above its weight in the international arena for attracting mining investment.”

A key strategy in China over the past fi ve years had

been “Team Australia’s” promotional booth and presentations at the China Mining Conference, he said.

Th is approach is also being adopted for the 2010 World Expo Australian Minerals and Energy Resources Showcases in Shanghai in August.

Mr Fraser said the government had established Queensland Resource Industry Ambassadors to complement departmental promotional activities.

“Under this initiative, selected resource sector leaders are providing their time freely to promote resource exploration in the state and provide feedback on best-practice measures to attract and secure such investment,” he said.

Th e Northern Territory Government launched a four-year China Minerals Investment Attraction Strategy in 2007 as part of its Bringing Forward Discovery program to attract mineral and petroleum exploration funding.

NT Resources Minister Kon Vatskalis said the strategy targeting China had sparked more than $140 million in publicly announced investments in mining and exploration.

“Our work in promoting the Territory as an exploration investment destination though our China Minerals Investment Attraction Strategy is delivering real results, such as the recent $8.5 million investment by Teng Fei Mining in the TNG Manbarrum zinc-lead-silver project,” he said.

“Both of these companies were brought together through meetings arranged under our investment strategy.”

Cairns development groups are targeting the booming Pilbara region to increase the city’s fl y in-fl y out (FIFO) mining business.

Advance Cairns has applied for federal funding to devote a co-ordinator to building FIFO links, with a strong focus on companies operating in Western Australia.

With an unemployment rate above the national average, far north Queensland off ers a large potential labour pool as well as posing an attractive lifestyle option for personnel engaged in the mining industry, according to Advance Cairns chief executive offi cer Ross Contarino.

“If we had direct fl ights from Cairns to Karratha and places like that people might decide to move to Cairns and take up those opportunities,” he said.

“It would not be a hardship posting.”

Mr Contarino and Cairns Chamber of Commerce President Jeremy Blockey met with mining contractors in Western Australia in June to sell the capabilities of the Cairns region as a major FIFO hub for both the WA and Papua New Guinea mining sectors.

Mr Contarino said CITIC Pacifi c Mining was investigating a direct FIFO link between Cairns and Karratha while another company developing project in PNG was looking to establish a small base in Cairns.

He described the scale of resource sector growth in the West as staggering, with the state expected to require up to 500,000 more workers in the next decade as a result.

Gaining direct fl ights to Karratha would help

far north Queensland tap into the Pilbara

resources boom, writes Belinda Humphries.

“At the moment the Perth

airport is getting fairly congested

- there are not a lot of spots

left in the mornings for FIFO

services,” Mr Contarino said.

“Th ere are already FIFO

fl ights from Melbourne, Sydney

and Brisbane to Karratha - and

Cairns is closer than any of those centres.

“It’s probably about a four-hour fl ight from Cairns to the Pilbara and there are airline companies with capacity to take up those charters.”

Mr Contarino said the Cairns business delegation had bumped into quite a few people from the Cairns and Atherton Tableland area who were already making the trip to the Pilbara region to work via Perth.

Meanwhile, the high level of interest in mining positions during Centrelink’s Keep Cairns

Working Jobs Expo in late June has prompted plans for a mining specifi c jobs expo in the city later this year.

CITIC Pacifi c Mining, which is developing the massive Sino Iron magnetite project 100km south-west of Karratha, collected about 500 resumes during the expo, Mr Contarino said.

Th e unemployment rate in far north Queensland was 8.9 per cent in May – compared to a national average of 5.6 per cent -

after reaching a high of 13.8 per cent last September.

Demand for mining charter fl ights to the Northern Territory and north-west Queensland prompted Alliance Airlines to establish a permanent base with two Fokker 100 aircraft in Cairns in May.

Alliance general manager - commercial Ken Crawford said the city was developing very strongly as a FIFO hub.

MMG Century also recently resumed direct fl ights from Cairns to its Lawn Hill mine site.

Cairns looks west for FIFO business

Range of tactics to win attention

Advance Cairns chief executive offi cer Ross Contarino.

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Queensland’s resources industry is

being undersold as an investment

prospect to China and other

Asian economies, according to

mining consultant Tao Li.

Dr Li, the director of

Melbourne-based fi rm TL

Geotechnics and Mining, says

this failing is especially noticeable

against Western Australia –

which has a higher profi le despite

Sunshine State advantages

including a wider range of mining

commodities and a bigger labour

pool.

“From a resource point of view,

I think particularly for North

Queensland, the community and

other agencies need to promote it

a bit more,” he said.

Dr Li has worked in the mining

industry for more than 30 years,

including at Mount Isa Mines,

and is an alternate director of

Metallica Minerals, a mining

junior with a strong North

Queensland portfolio including

the NORNICO project in the

Greenvale area. When it came to

marketing opportunities overseas,

Dr Li believed Queensland

mining interests were being

overshadowed by the State’s other

assets, such as its agricultural

Better cultural understanding and more

promotion are being urged to help local

industry attract increased Asian investment.

Push to raise profi le in China

industries and tourist attractions.

Dr Li said also the Queensland

resources industry was dominated

“Quanxi” is the key to securing deals in China, according to Aquila Resources general manager – iron ore Russell Tipper.

“It’s basically relationships,” Mr Tipper said.

“You go over there and meet with people and, if you have operations here in Australia, invite them out to visit and build a relationship with key people.

“A deal will grow out of that if it’s something that suits both parties.

“I don’t think you can start with the deal – that’s a sort of western way of doing it.”

Aquila Resources recently reached a memorandum of understanding with the China Development Bank which will pave the way for “mutually benefi cial” investment and project fi nancing opportunities.

Aquila has a portfolio of iron ore, manganese and coal assets of particular interest to the Chinese steel industry as a source of raw materials.

Th ese include the Eagle Downs, Washpool and Red Hill coking coal projects under study in the Bowen Basin as well as an operating coal mine at Isaac Plains, Moranbah.

Th e Perth-based company already has strong ties with major Chinese steelmaker Baosteel, which holds a 15 per cent stake in Aquila.

Mr Tipper said there were no quick deals to be done with China.

His advice to junior resource companies and suppliers wishing to do business with Chinese corporations was to be prepared to lay the groundwork and get to know who they were dealing with.

“It’s a matter of establishing

a relationship with key players over there, and looking at larger, more developed players would probably be a reasonable tip in terms of focus,” Mr Tipper said.

Mr Tipper said there were many advisers people could turn to in terms of engagement with China.

“Th ere are more and more Australian companies opening offi ces over there who have Mandarin speaking people to give you advice on how to approach certain organisations, who their important people are and which parts of the government will be infl uential in how these companies make decisions – a lot will be state-owned entities,” he said.

“Th ere’s a fair bit of homework required and I recommend that people take advice across the board - legal and commercial.”

While there would always be those playing the scare card

regarding foreign investment

in Australia, including Chinese

investment, Mr Tipper said their

arguments did not stand up to

real scrutiny.

“Australia doesn’t generate

enough capital to achieve all it

needs to do,” Mr Tipper sad.

“It does need foreign

investment - whether that comes

from the US, China or Europe or

Japan......At the end of the day,

I don’t think the FDI (foreign

direct investment) from China

has been at a level that should

scare Australia.”

by the “big boys” - players such as Xstrata, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton – who were unlikely to need to court Asian investors.

North Queensland in particular needed to establish a critical mass of medium and small projects putting money into exploration and other activity to really get noticed and attract more investment, he said.

Dr Li said one of the major hurdles when it came to doing business with China was the fact the parties often did not really know and understand each other.

One part of the solution was to promote better understanding between Australia and China about each other’s culture and business approach, he said

“Secondly, I think we do need to have a bit more promotion in terms of what the general rules are - the dos and don’ts and pros and cons in terms of what we need to prepare ourselves and our business partners for,” Dr Li said.

“Perhaps people need to be conscious that before signing something there’s a lot of work that needs to be done, a lot of trust that needs to be built...

“Th e project is important, but No. 1 is the people - whether you are comfortable with the people. Not just the guy signing the cheque, but also his team.”

Dr Li will be among the speakers at the James Cook University ( JCU) Asian Market Forum to be held in Townsville on July 23.

JCU Centre for AusAsia Business Studies director Professor Zhangyue Zhou said the university had been running the forum for the local business community each year since 2007.

“We’re hoping to attract more interest from the resources industry this year,” he said.

“We’re trying to get them updated about what’s happening in the Asian market in general and in mining industry development.”

Consolidated Tin Mines is among the Queensland mining interests looking to China for fi nance as it works to develop a project west of Cairns with potential gross earnings of $3 billion.

Managing director Ralph De Lacey recently returned from a round of discussions with potential Chinese off -take and joint venture partners in Shanghai.

“We had positive meetings and they made all the right noises – but I’ve heard that before,” Mr De Lacey said.

He said the company would continue to seek a strategic partner to help develop its Mt Garnet project, in the Herberton Tin Field near Cairns, at an expected cost of $124 million.

Mr De Lacey said part of his challenge had been to get potential investors to understand the scale of the Mt Garnet project, which was expected to produce up to 5000 tonnes of tin metal in concentrate per annum.

“It has the potential to earn $100 million per annum over a mine life of potentially 30 years,” he said.

Consolidated Tin Mines looked to China for backing as it seemed to have a strong appetite for minerals and the funds available to invest – making

it “the best chance of success at this time”, he said.

With crucial metallurgy work now progressing

well, Mr De Lacey said the Mt Garnet project

could start production in late 2012 or early 2013,

subject to Consolidated Tin Mines raising suffi cient

funds.

Mr De Lacey’s talks in Shanghai included

participation in the Queensland-China Trade

and Investment Forum at the invitation of the

Queensland Government.

Queensland Treasurer and Employment and

Economic Development Minister Andrew Fraser

said the forum, which had a major focus on energy

and resources, was one of the key events during

Queensland Week at Shanghai World Expo.

“Th e forum attracted more than 10 Queensland

participants and approximately 100 Chinese guests,

including senior offi cials from key government

agencies and business representatives from China’s

major mining and energy companies,” he said.

“Th e forum provided an excellent opportunity

to showcase Queensland’s abundant resources of

coal, coal seam gas (CSG) and minerals and to

raise Queensland’s profi le as a preferred investment

destination for energy and resources.”

Russell TipperAquila Resources

General manager – iron ore

Drilling at the Gillian deposit within the Mt Garnet tin project.

Tin miner among thoseto woo Asian investors

Build the relationship,then broker the deal

Dr Tao LiTL Geotechnics and Mining director

Dyno Nobel's new ammonium nitrate plant

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seek.com.au. To lodge an expression of interest, register your details early by visiting

www.incitecpivot.com.au and in the 'Careers' section click 'Apply' and then 'Job Search'.

Searching for job number 650390 will take you to Expressions of Interest - Moranbah Operations.

Alternatively, email the Recruitment Manager Project Aurora, [email protected].

Opportunities don't appear every day. So you must bealert for chances to advance your career and improveyour lifestyle.

At Moranbah in central Queensland there's anopportunity to do both, thanks to the restart of IncitecPivot Limited's new Dyno Nobel ammonium nitrate plant.

Construction on the $935 million project restarted in Mayand now the company is looking for skilled men andwomen to operate it. This provides a rare opportunity tojoin a landmark project early, be there on day one andgrow with the operation.

The Moranbah plant will manufacture explosives for themining industry. It is being built to supply the rapidlygrowing, high-grade coal mining industry in the BowenBasin.

There are no fewer than 40 mines operating in the BowenBasin, extracting 100 million tonnes of coal annually. Theyinclude operations controlled by some of the world'sbiggest miners, including BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance(BMA), Rio Tinto, Anglo Coal and Xstrata.

These operations export metallurgical coal to rapidlyindustrialising countries such as India and

China, linking Dyno Nobel with internationaleconomic growth.

All these mines need explosives and theDyno Nobel plant at Moranbah, when itreaches full production, will make 330,000tonnes of ammonium nitrate a year in

prill form and emulsion.

So it's not hard to see how it willbecome an integral part of

mining in the region in theyears ahead.

To man up the new plant,Dyno Nobel is nowpreparing to recruit forpermanent operations andmaintenance roles. We are

looking forexperienced

process operators at all levels, mechanical and electricalmaintenance technicians, chemical, electrical and mechanicalengineers and support personnel.

To learn more about the opportunities coming up, contact usas shown below.

Interesting lifestyleThe Dyno Nobel plant is located just five kilometres from theestablished town of Moranbah, which itself is just two hoursdrive from Mackay on Queensland's coast.

Moranbah has most of the services a family would need. Onthe education front there is a kindergarten, two primaryschools, a high school, a well-equipped library and a day-carecentre.

For health services there is a hospital and five GPs workingfrom two medical centres. For recreation, there is an aquaticcentre, team sports facilities, a golf course and access to arange of recreational facilities for boating, fishing, campingand bushwalking.

Naturally the town has an extensive shopping mall and a fullrange of retail and specialty shops.

About the companyDyno Nobel provides explosives products and blastingservices to some of the world's most successful miningcompanies. It is the No 1 explosives and mining servicessupplier in the United States and No 2 in Australia, as well asoperating in Asia.

Dyno Nobel is a business of Incitec Pivot Limited (IPL), an ASXtop 50 company which also owns Incitec Pivot Fertilisers,Australia's premier fertiliser supplier.

Through its Global Manufacturing operations, IPL isthe only Australian producer of urea fertiliser (inBrisbane) and ammonium phosphate fertilisers (atPhosphate Hill). This spreads the company'sexposure across both the mining and agriculturemarkets.

About the projectThe Dyno Nobel ammonium nitrate plant atMoranbah is due to be commissioned in early 2012.In operation it will have 85 employees.

The plant's location close to the major Bowen Basincoal mines will give it a competitive freightadvantage. A long-term gas contract enhances itsposition as a low-cost AN producer.

Already 90 per cent of its production has beencommitted to customers, underpinning theviability of the new world-scale plant from day one.

Moranbah will be the sixth ammonia plant in theIPL Group, highlighting the company's nitrogenmanufacturing competence.


Driverless trucks, remotely operated drill and blasting, automatic train systems.

Th ese are not fanciful visions of the future, but examples of the rapidly evolving technology already in operation on Australian mine sites.

Rio Tinto recently opened a new Perth-based operations centre to play a key role in its “Mine of the Future” program to build on such technological advantages.

Th e centre acts as a base for 200 controllers and schedulers and more than 230 technical planning and support staff , who use cutting-edge networks to control Rio Tinto operations up to 1500km away in the Pilbara region and ensure maximum effi ciency.

Australia is considered a world leader in the development and use of mining technology – including automation, according to CRCMining director of

research Professor Paul Lever. Th e trialling of automated

drills and operation of fi ve autonomous 930E Komatsu haul trucks at Rio Tinto’s West Angelas site in the Pilbara was a prime example, he said.

Professor Lever said CRCMining’s own work in the fi eld of robotics centred on the automation of large cable shovels.

“We have a shovel running at Bracalba Quarry, north of Brisbane, which is already demonstrating automatic control of some shovel operations,” he said.

Th at work is being undertaken in conjunction with P&H Mining Equipment and the coal industry.

“Th ere’s a suite of these types of automation initiatives in Australia including being the fi rst country to seriously look at and advance the science of automated longwalls,” Professor Lever said.

While there were no fully automated mines in Australia,

Australia is a global leader in pioneering

mining technology, as highlighted by Rio

Tinto’s major ‘Mine of the Future’ program.

Steady advance of automation

Professor Lever said various automated components and systems were in operation.

An example is the use of automated LHD (load-haul-dump) machines that have been around for some time in underground mining.

Professor Lever said the driving factors for increased interest in automation throughout the industry included improved safety, the advantages in productivity that could be gained by reducing the production variance of mining operations, and improved energy effi ciency.

“A fi nal driver is the lack of skilled resources,” Professor Lever said.

Many of the current eff orts in the development of automation technologies may not remove people from the driver’s seat, but instead would take over the more complex tasks which require advanced skills and experience, he said.

Professor Lever said developing the technology to allow multiple types of automated machines to work together safely, effi ciently and productively in a mining operation was a major focus of research eff orts within Australia, including by the Australian Centre for Field Robotics in Sydney.

Rio Tinto’s “Mine of the Future” initiative is already boosting productivity, according to Sam Walsh, the company’s chief executive for iron ore and Australia.

“We can now operate our Pilbara iron ore operations above nameplate capacity, redefi ning the limits of what was considered possible. And these benefi ts fl ow directly to our bottom line,” Mr Walsh said.

“Th ere is no other mining operation anywhere in the world attempting this on this scale. Our driverless trucks, remotely operated drill and blasting, automated train systems and

remote train loading functions are

just the start of a revolution that

is transforming the way we extract

value from our resources, and will

result in a far better, safer industry

than could have been imagined

even a decade ago.”

Rio Tinto media manager –

external relations Gervase Greene

said there were no plans yet to

introduce such systems to the

company’s Bowen Basin coal

mines.

“We’ve deliberately advanced

our Mine of the Future vision

and the various ideas in it so

they are applicable to various

forms of mining, but at this stage

it is confi ned to the iron ore

operations in the Pilbara,” he said.

Increasing automation in mining may spark a shift from “bigger is better” to the economics of the small when it comes to equipment, according to a technological consultant for the resources industry.

CSC Natural Resources Centre of Excellence director Dr Dennis Franklin believes the massive trucks commonly used to haul ore will be replaced by fl eets of smaller, faster vehicles as the robotics revolution takes hold.

“Much of the cost of keeping a truck on the road, other than fuel, is the personnel cost – maintaining a crew of drivers to cover the shifts,” he said.

“Th e upshot of that is that over the years the trucks have become bigger and bigger.”

Th e introduction of driverless trucks would remove that factor from the equation, making smaller vehicles a more attractive option, he said.

Th is in turn would spark changes in pit design.

Driverless trucks are already under trial in the mining industry, including at Codelco’s Chilean operations and at Rio Tinto’s West Angelas mine in Western Australia.

Dr Franklin said his interest in the potential for microsizing aspects of mining was sparked by scientifi c literature about the development of solar-powered robot dragonfl ies.

“I thought, wouldn’t it be cool if you had a million of those and

they could fl y down (into a mine)

and grab a bit of ore and fl y back

to the top,” he said.

While admitting that example

“may be a bit of a stretch”, he

believed examining the benefi ts

to be gained through robotics

and “the physics of the small”

would be an important trend in

mining.

Dr Franklin will be delivering

a paper “Insights into the Mine

of the Future” at the Queensland

Mining and Engineering

Exhibition conference in Mackay

in July and is due to address the

Australian Mining Technology

Conference in Perth in

September on robotics in mining.

Going small may be next ‘big thing’

Dr Dennis FranklinCSC Natural Resources Centre of

Excellence director

A survey of councils in Queensland’s key mining and energy areas is under way as part of a united campaign for further funding to cope with growth.

Th e Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ) is preparing a major submission to the State and Federal governments which will argue the case for a guaranteed cash stream to assist councils in meeting the infrastructure and service needs of booming resource regions.

It will also call for legislative changes that would see local councils and communities have their say much earlier in the tenure process for exploration and mining operations.

Th e initiative follows a meeting in December 2009 with State MP Tim Mulherin and his invitation for councils aff ected by the resources boom to state their case for assistance. Since then meetings have occurred with councils from the North West Minerals Province, Bowen and Galilee basins and the Surat Basin.

Th e issue was highlighted again recently with a conference organised by the Western Downs Regional Council to discuss the potential for a Royalties for Regions-style scheme in Queensland and other revenue issues for local governments facing challenges related to mining growth.

LGAQ general manager – advocacy Greg Hoff man expected the report to be submitted by early August.

He said the group had not reached a position yet about what form the extra funding allocations should take or at what rate. It was starting with the council survey to try to identify the expected needs and challenges over the next decade.

Mr Hoff man said the LGAQ submission would also call for changes to the approvals process undertaken by the State when companies sought exploration, mining and development permits.

“Th e councils want to see legislative changes that have their local issues and community-impacting issues addressed at the very beginning of the approvals process,” he said.

“At the moment these processes are not terribly user friendly or community friendly.”

Survey to crystalise councils’ case for cash

A Rio Tinto employee manages port activities from the Perth operations centre. Photo: Robert Garvey


Australia’s sunburnt outback and Mongolia’s frozen steppes have a lot in common when it comes to mining.

A similar bounty of metals ore and coal means opportunities for Australian-based suppliers of mining technology and services, according to Austrade.

Mongolia is a country of less than three million people located roughly above China and below Russia.

While they remain its largest markets, Mongolia is encouraging junior miners and operators from other countries to develop a range of ore bodies hosting uranium and rare earths, among other minerals.

Australian Trade Commissioner to Korea, Martin Walsh, said suppliers would do well to tap into existing fi rst and second-tier Australian providers already operating in Mongolia.

Th ere are currently 30 such companies operating in Mongolia including Leighton Holdings.

Rio Tinto recently signed an investment agreement with the Mongolian Government for the development of the Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold complex in the south of the country.

Th is $4 billion investment presented opportunities for a range of providers, Mr Walsh said.

“Mines service providers; safety and environmental rehabilitation;

communications suppliers and drillers, among others,” he said.

“Th ere are similar challenges (to operating in Australia). Australian mining companies have logistics skills in particular to attack those sorts of projects.”

Mongolia’s legendary bad weather and tough geography were the least concerns for most Australian suppliers, Mr Walsh said.

Th ere were the challenges of working in a developing country, he said.

Other challenges included a largely unskilled workforce and requirements from the Mongolian Government that a percentage of workers needed to be nationals.

Australia was doing its share with AusAID programs designed to lift the standard of education, technical profi ciency and awareness among mining professionals in Mongolia, Mr Walsh said.

“Th e Australian Government is working with the Mongolian Government to lift its understanding and capacity to deal with foreign investors,” he said.

“AusAID programs have educated a signifi cant number of mining professionals.

“Th ere are now a whole bunch of people called ‘Mozzies’ who were educated in Australia.

“Th ese are really enthusiastic

This developing country to Australia’s far

north off ers a wealth of opportunity for

mining supply fi rms, writes Robert Dark.

Mongolia open for business

people who meet regularly and

are well positioned. So when

new Australians come into the

country, they are well received.”

Austrade is represented in

Mongolia during the summer and

hosts a stand at the Mongolian

Mining Investors Conference

held each year around September.

Interested suppliers and

miners are encouraged to contact

Austrade Queensland senior

export adviser Brendan Coyne

on (07) 4721 3677 or at brendan.

[email protected].

Martin Walsh (Austrade), Sang Bum Lee (Sun Metals), Chris Rees (Austrade), Brendan Coyne (Austrade), Ki Deok Park

(Sun Metals) and Paul Ryan (Sun Metals) during a North Queensland briefi ng tour.

Reducing the impact of severe wet seasons on crucial northern transport networks will be a central focus for a newly formed local industry group.

Th e North Queensland section of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport Australia (CILTA) brings transport and logistics providers and users together to address supply chain issues.

Chairman Tracey Lines said fl ooding during the 2008/09 wet season had a substantial impact on local industry, which had taken a long time to recover.

“Th e rail was cut for a long time and for a whole year suppliers in the north-west were trying to play catch-up,” she said.

“We had to put ships on between Cairns and Townsville to get product through because roads were cut.

“It does need a transport and logistics approach to fi nd solutions, it needs input from diff erent parts of the industry.”

A second major focus for the

group would be the attraction

of a larger share of transport

infrastructure funding for the

region, she said.

“We’re intending to be a

strong lobby group on some of

these issues,” Ms Lines said.

“CILTA gives industry

members a voice outside of

their individual organisations or

various modes of transport.”

Th e newly reformed CILTA

North Queensland section

hosted its fi rst major event

in Townsville in June – the

Transport and Logistics in the

Tropics Conference.

Th e group rebanded in late

2009 after being inactive for

some years.

Ms Lines, who works as Port

of Townsville Limited’s business

development research offi cer,

was appointed as chairman in

February.

She said the group was open

to suggestions from members

across all transport modes about

the issues that most required

attention in North Queensland.

It would be working to raise

CILTA’s profi le and build

membership, she said.

Tracey LinesCILTA North Queensland chairman

Industry group to iron out transport problems

Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s changes to the Federal Government’s planned mining tax regime may have cooled industry opposition, however concerns have emerged over the lack of exploration incentives.

Th e Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (Th e AusIMM) says a proposed exploration rebate was one positive feature of the original Resources Super Profi ts Tax plan.

“Th e exploration rebate has now been excluded from the compromise deal reached with the three major mining companies,” AusIMM President Greg Chalmers said.

“We realise this is a pragmatic decision by the government in its bid to preserve the net revenue expected to fl ow from the new Minerals Resource Rent Tax, but it once again breaks a clear 2007 election promise by the Labor Party to encourage increased exploration in Australia.”

Th e AusIMM and other industry groups have made submissions to the government since 2007 arguing for the introduction of a fl ow-through shares scheme to help foster exploration investment.

Th e AusIMM will take its concerns to the government’s Policy Transition Group.

Exploration off the table

A peak industry body has described a commitment of $18 million over four years as “a modest down-payment” on the pre-competitive geosciences funding required to realise the State Government’s stated aim of seeing Queensland become the “greenfi elds exploration capital” of Australia by 2020.

Queensland Resources Council (QRC) chief executive Michael Roche was commenting on the Greenfi elds 2020 program announced in the recent State Budget.

“Clearly, the QRC would have preferred new funding similar to the $29 million Smart Mining program that started in 2006 and concludes at the end of this month,” Mr Roche said.

“Recognising that the State Budget position is tight, we must assume that the $18 million commitment was as much as could be aff orded right now. However, given the success of the previous Smart Mining and Smart Exploration programs, there is clear incentive to top up this new funding commitment in later years as budget circumstances improve.”

Queensland Treasurer Andrew Fraser said the Greenfi elds 2020 program would target key under-explored geological terrains which had the potential to develop into major new mineral and energy resource provinces for Queensland.

Mr Fraser said frontier areas identifi ed for greenfi eld exploration include north and north-west Queensland and the Th ompson/Lachlan region of western Queensland.

“We will provide new regional geological and geophysical data in these under-explored terrains to produce new interpretations, 3D models and resource assessments to assist industry and encourage exploration,” he said.

“Collaborative drilling partnerships and further land releases for exploration will also play a key role in unearthing new deposits and reducing the risks and costs to industry associated with greenfi eld exploration.”

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From rural to the mining sectorA new engineering business in Townsville is off ering higher standards and quality in fi tting out vehicles for the mining industry.

From its beginning in Julia Creek, Rydweld has met a milestone recently by moving into a new offi ce.

The team at Rydweld is now ready for the next challenge, which is streamlining the business and tapping into the mining sector.

It’s a story about two families who decided to go out on their own and build tray bodies for the local Toyota dealer in the back of their parents’ shed 16 years ago.

Brothers Steven and Geoff Ryder and their partners Vicki and Margie had a vision which is now reality. That small town operation of six employees has evolved into a strong family business which now employs 22 people.

Their experience and high standard of rural industry

products and services in building and fi tting bullbars,

tray bodies, tippers, water tanks and stock crates is being

focused on the mining industry.

The business now off ers Roll-Over-Protection Systems

(ROPS) and other industry-specifi c vehicle requirements.

Clients are guaranteed attention to detail. Feedback from

existing clients endorses the quality and strength of the

Rydweld product and the attention to detail and the use of

quality materials including two pack paint.

Rydweld will continue to work with a local engineer to

ensure all designs exceed industry standards.

Contact Rydweld in Townsville at 5 Crocodile Crescent on

(07) 4774 8208 or by emailing [email protected]

Townsville Regional Capacity

Mongolia has proven its mining potential to a Townsville-based drilling company in more ways than one.

Not only is the company targeting more business in the central Asian republic, Mongolian nationals are helping fi ll its staff quota.

Interdrill Group general manager Jason Summerfi eld said Mongolian drillers had a reputation for being stable in an industry known for its journeymen.

“Th ey have a great attitude,” Mr Summerfi eld said.

“If the job is there they just get in and do it. We fi nd them quite loyal and they don’t change simply because they get what seems like a better off er.

“Th ey are competent, reliable and undertake the role on par with drillers from other nationalities.”

Around 20 per cent of Interdrill’s 150 staff is Mongolian. Th ey are also involved in the company’s drilling activities in Pakistan.

Mr Summerfi eld said the company was developing cross-cultural international training

packages to allow Mongolians and other nationalities into Australia to work on 457 visas.

Interdrill has noted a resurgence in exploration activity since the Mongolian Government abandoned plans to implement its equivalent of a mining super profi ts tax.

Interdrill is registered as Gobi Drilling in Mongolia and has also worked for Batuu Mining, BHP Coal and Gobi Coal.

Th e business has a full workshop and offi ce based in the capital Ulaanbaatar.

In what could be brochure copy for the country, Mr Summerfi eld described Mongolia as civil and pleasant with a committed workforce.

However the winter does put a handbrake on work.

“Th e biggest problem is the weather,” Mr Summerfi eld said.

“You can only work nine months of the year. It is possible to work through winter but presents challenges.

“Th e place is defi nitely moving forward and there are more companies selling drilling consumables setting up operations. Mongolia has

The Interdrill Group is fi nding steady work

and skilled labour as it turns to central Asia

to build business, writes Robert Dark.

a reputation for big, privately

funded projects and that is

always attractive to investors.”

Mr Summerfi eld said most of

the Interdrill Group’s business

was based outside Australia.

“We undertake projects in

the geothermal industry in

Papua New Guinea, copper

and coal in Mongolia and

other gas, hardrock and coal

projects in Australia, Pakistan,

the Solomon Islands and

Myanmar,” he said.

Best of both worlds

Th e Engineers Australia Townsville local group is calling for papers for this year’s Northern Engineering Conference.

Th e conference, to be held at the Mercure Inn in Townsville on September 17, will carry the theme “Engineering leadership and sustainability: raising the bar”.

Abstracts for potential presentations should be submitted by July 23. For further information email [email protected].

Conference papers sought

North Queensland’s distinctive “Silver Link”, the Burdekin River Bridge, is taking its place among the most signifi cant feats in Australia’s engineering history.

Engineers Australia has approved the bridge’s listing under the organisation’s Engineering Heritage Recognition Program.

A ceremony is planned for August 10 to celebrate its recognition under that program.

Engineers Australia Townsville local group committee member Howard Goodes, who is organising the event, said there were also plans to erect an interpretive panel to display historical photos and information about the bridge.

Townsville-based Main Roads engineer Ervin Smith and Engineering Heritage Australia Queensland panel member Anthony Carey prepared the submission that prompted the bridge’s recent approval as an Engineering Heritage Marker.

Th eir submission described the bridge, located between Home Hill and Ayr, as a unique engineering feat in the nation.

Completed in 1957 after a decade of construction work, the bridge permitted the crossing of the Burdekin River – previously a serious barrier to the development of North Queensland.

Engineering honour for‘Silver Link’

Towards the end of winter, ice and snow drifts still exist in the north of the

country. An RD1500 mounted on an MAN 8x8 truck proves able to traverse the

country irrespective of road conditions.

Geoff and Steven Ryder.


Th e Osborne mine in north-west Queensland is “doing a Lazarus” thanks to some wizardly wonders up the road.

Th e copper-gold operation, 195km south-east of Mount Isa, faced closure after owner Barrick Gold last year dropped plans to develop the Kulthor underground project at the site.

However the operation’s proximity to Ivanhoe Australia’s molybdenum and rhenium projects has given it a new lease on life.

Ivanhoe Australia is purchasing the Osborne operation for $17.4 million, plus a share of royalties, in a deal due for settlement in September.

Ivanhoe Australia chief executive offi cer Peter Reeve said the purchase would help Ivanhoe bring the start date for its Merlin project forward by a year and a half, with the ore to be trucked 50km for processing at the Osborne plant.

Th e Merlin mine was now likely to be in production in 2012, while production from the high-grade Little Wizard

deposit – which lies in the path of the planned Merlin decline – remained on track to start next year, he said.

Mr Reeve said the Osborne purchase would save Ivanhoe Australia about $100 million in capital expenditure for the Merlin development.

Th ere will be a hiatus in activity at Osborne until ore becomes available from the molybdenum-rhenium project.

Mr Reeve said Ivanhoe Australia would maintain a small care and maintenance crew at Osborne until that time, as well as a mining assessment team.

It hoped that many of the 250-strong Osborne workforce would be available to return to the operation when it ramped up again, he said.

Ivanhoe plans to progressively build up the Merlin mining rate to 800,000 tonnes per annum by 2014 while sourcing other viable ore from the Osborne tenements and its own Cloncurry copper-gold projects to utilise any spare capacity in the mill.

Th e company says the highest

Osborne reborn in $17.4m deal Ivanhoe Australia has snapped up a

neighbouring copper-gold operation in a

move to help fast-track its own project suite.

priority copper-gold ore sources

are those within the existing

Osborne mine, particularly

at Kulthor - where a 2.35km

development drive has been

completed, with only 150m

remaining to be developed

to gain access to ore. Ivanhoe

Australia is conducting a scoping

study regarding its own copper-

gold projects in the Cloncurry

region – which include the

original Mount Elliott mine,

Starra Line and Mt Dore.

Mr Reeve believed the Mt

Dore operation had the potential

to go into production within

three years, mining at a rate of

about three to fi ve million tonnes

per annum to potentially produce

Osborne

mine and the

key Ivanhoe

projects.

Cloncurry

McKinlay

Malbon

Mt Elliott

Eloise

MerlinMt Dore

Lucky Luke

Osborne

Cannington

Starra Line

15,000 to 20,000 tonnes of cathode copper. Th at ore would be treated in a solvent extraction-electrowinning heap leach operation on site rather than at Osborne.

“Once we have the Mt Dore project going, with Osborne and Merlin going, we will easily have a workforce approaching 500 or 600 within the next fi ve years,” Mr Reeve said.

Ivanhoe Australia has selected its preferred contractor to develop the Merlin decline and expects to put development work at Kulthor out to tender soon.

Detailed work has already commenced for a 50km haul road between Merlin and Osborne and Mr Reeve said the task would be made easier by the fact a 35km track had already been bulldozed between Osborne and the Lucky Luke prospect.

“Th e big strategic advantage of the Osborne acquisition is that it makes the whole activity of mining, developing, making cash and paying dividends come together much more quickly and reduces the risk of delivery of the Merlin project,” Mr Reeve said.

“We’ve been looking at this for just under 12 months - since Barrick announced it was letting Osborne run down.”

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An employment passport is among the strategies an industry-government partnership is investigating to aid indigenous job prospects in the resources sector.

Th e North West Queensland Indigenous Resources Industry Initiative is holding a series of community engagement meetings throughout the Mount Isa and Gulf regions to discuss that idea and other employment issues.

Partnership facilitator for the initiative, Michael Limerick, said the employment passport would act as a record of relevant training and experience that jobseekers could present to resource companies.

“We found that many indigenous people have had a lot of diff erent bits of training and work experience, but that is not always captured in a way that can easily be presented to employers,” Mr Limerick said.

“Th e passport will also provide a bit of transferability.”

Mr Limerick said the group was also working to clarify exactly what resource companies meant when they stated they were seeking job applicants who were “work ready”.

“We had a workshop of HR (human resources) managers from some companies to talk about that,” he said.

“Th ere are a lot of common elements in the companies’ approaches but the message is not always communicated consistently.”

Requirements which may seem hard and fast, such as the need to hold a drivers licence, could actually be quite fl exible in practice, he said.

Partnership facilitator for the North West Queensland Indigenous Resources Industry Initiative,

Michael Limerick, at a recent stakeholder meeting in Mount Isa. Photo: Roslyn Budd

Jobs agenda Resources group making headway

“Th e things mining companies have said are most important as minimum requirements are really about attitude,” Mr Limerick said.

“Th at’s the issue they stressed the most - the ability to work in a team, turn up regularly to work, communicate in the workplace and the willingness to learn.”

Mr Limerick said indigenous people accounted for about 23 per cent of the population in north-west Queensland, but only about 8 per cent of the local resource sector workforce.

Incitec Pivot HR manager for northern Australia Rod Francisco said the working group meetings held as part of the initiative had been the fi rst time companies operating in the region had sat together as an industry to discuss indigenous employment issues.

“We have all identifi ed similar issues that we all had diff erent ways of approaching,” he said.

“But the issues are the same and we have been able to clarify as a group what needs we have.”

Mr Francisco said Incitec Pivot was undertaking a review of training programs across its Queensland operations and would be looking at ways to increase indigenous opportunities as part of that process.

Th e North West Queensland Indigenous Resources Industry Initiative stems from a Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Queensland Resources Council and the State Government in 2007 to increase indigenous employment in the resources sector and foster indigenous enterprises.

A newly formed committee is working to resurrect the Darwin branch of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM).

Committee chairman Dave Clark said Darwin previously had been home to a very successful AusIMM branch, but its activities had dwindled in recent years.

“We have some very capable and motivated people on board who are keen to ramp things up again,” he said.

“Th ere is plenty of support from key people within organisations such as ERA (Energy Resources of Australia) and other mining and exploration companies with a local presence.”

Mr Clark - who manages GHD’s Northern Territory business - arrived in Darwin late last year from Melbourne, where he had been an

active AusIMM branch committee member.

“I was keen to play a role in the Northern Territory’s AusIMM branch and it soon became clear that activities had fallen by the wayside over the last several years,” he said.

Mr Clark contacted a selection of local members and other interested professionals, resulting in the reformation of a core local committee in April. Th e group has since held several formal meetings and it hosted its fi rst social event in late June.

Mr Clark said it was looking to recruit more committee numbers, increase the level of participation and enhance the membership levels.

People interested in joining the Darwin AusIMM branch should contact Mr Clark on 0412 092 096.

Budding Darwin branch

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10 July 2010 | The Mining Advocate

Sandvik Mining and

Construction has opened a new

service and support branch in

Paget, Mackay.

Th e company previously worked

from three diff erent sites in the

central Queensland city, but has

brought its operations under one

roof with the new complex.

“With this new branch, we

have one of the most modern

facilities in the industry, including

the latest servicing and machine

diagnostic equipment,” Sandvik

Mackay branch manager Ryan

Jones said.

Consisting of more than

3000sq m of workshop fl oorspace,

the new facilities allow Sandvik

to carry out a full range of rebuild

and repair work on a wide variety

of equipment.

“Workshop 1, which can carry

out strip and rebuild on anything

up to large continuous miners, has

two 20-tonne cranes, a 5-tonne

auxiliary crane and 1000-volt

power supply, so we can do

complete testing and diagnostics,”

Mr Jones said.

“Workshop 2, which can carry

out a wide range of fabrication

work, also incorporates a paint

bay – again capable of handling

large continuous miners.”

Other facilities include a

machine shop, fi eld service

support storage, a separate

15m-by-9m washbay and a brake-

testing area.

Th e complex includes a high-

rise warehouse with capacity to

stock more than 6000 line items.

To mark the opening, visitors

to the Sandvik stand during the

upcoming Queensland Mining

and Engineering Exhibition

(QME) will be invited to attend

a spit roast and inspect the new

facilities on the evenings of July

27 and 28.

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Th e Mackay region’s freight transport network is struggling to meet current demands and will restrain future economic and export growth, a new report shows.

Th e Regional Economic Development Corporation (REDC) released the report, produced by Norris Consulting, analysing the freight transport issues in the Mackay Whitsunday Isaac region.

Th e report estimates that limitations in the region’s freight transport network will lead to the loss of 5000 new jobs and $6 billion per annum in gross regional product if priority areas are not addressed.

REDC acting chief executive offi cer Laura Sorensen said it was vitally important that the State and federal governments took notice of recommendations stemming from the report.

“Th e priority areas in our freight transport network must be addressed to ensure that our region remains economically sustainable

and copes with growth long

term,” she said.

Priority actions outlined

in the report include:

• Intermodal corridor

access to the Port of

Mackay to remove

freight vehicles from

urban areas,

• Development of a multi-

cargo facility at Abbot

Point,

• Upgrade Peak Downs

Highway to road-

train quality, including

Clermont to Alpha,

• Northern Missing Link

rail and associated road

connectivity,

• Development of

planning instruments

including a Statutory

Regional Plan, Regional

Integrated Transport

Plan and Strategic

Freight Network Plan.

Th e Economics Of Freight

Transport Project report

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Queensland Transport and

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11The Mining Advocate | July 2010 Mackay Regional Capacity

A Mackay-based engineering

fi rm has pioneered a system

that cuts the costs and risks

associated with dragline rope

drum refurbishment by off ering a

factory fi nish in the fi eld.

ABC Heavy Engineering

co-owner Maurie Smith said

the ability to carry out a full

refurbishment in situ could save

mine operators as much as $1

million per drum set in direct

and associated costs.

Th e new system was used

in the fi eld for the fi rst time

recently during a dragline

shutdown in the Hunter Valley

coalfi elds.

Mr Smith said the success of

that debut had brought him great

ABC Heavy Engineering is off ering the coal

industry a new option for tackling dragline

rope drum wear, writes Belinda Humphries.

satisfaction after a long process of research and development.

“I’m completely confi dent that this revolutionary new process will be embraced by a range of customers throughout the industry,” Mr Smith said.

Th e story began about a decade ago when ABC Heavy Engineering developed a process to fully rebuild worn dragline rope drums and a range of other dragline and shovel components in its factory.

Mr Smith said ABC Heavy Engineering was able to reinstate rope groove wear using specifi cally designed weld alloys followed by CNC machining to the original profi le and induction hardening of the surface aff ected by rope contact.

Th is off ered a greater depth of uniform hardness than the fl ame hardening technique used in the original manufacture of the drums, he said.

A full refurbishment including this treatment took fi ve to six weeks in the factory, requiring

the sort of time window available only during a major dragline shutdown, he said.

ABC Heavy Engineering took a step towards in-situ refurbishment when it began to off er induction hardening in the fi eld to allow companies to tackle problems of wear during smaller shutdowns.

“We always viewed it as a staged thing,” Mr Smith said

“We had to get the customers comfortable with the fact we could achieve induction hardening in situ and then move on to developing the rest of the process as we have now.”

Mr Smith said the fi rm had since been able to incorporate all the processes required to rebuild a drum in the factory into a fully modular, transportable system that it could take on site.

“One of the big issues was the room inside the dragline that we had to work in,” he said.

“We have been able to reconfi gure a lot of our machinery to have it mounted permanently inside a B-double transporter which we can back into place at the rear of the dragline.”

Th e process conducted on site

includes some heat treatment

to soften residual hardening,

pre-machining of the worn area

using CNC milling and indexing

equipment connected to a pony

drive, application of welding

alloys to reinstate wear, fi nal

machining of the rope groove

profi le and induction hardening.

Mr Smith said the total

process took about three weeks.

“It gives the customer another

option regarding how they can

reduce costs and control risk,” he

said.

Th e company has applied for

an innovation patent for the

system.

Mr Smith was the original

owner of ABC Heavy

Engineering – the trading

name for Australian Bearings

Corporation – but sold the

business in 2007.

It went into administration

under the new owners and the

family bought it back in October

last year, with Mr Smith’s three

sons – Rick, Chris and Paul

Smith - acting as company

directors and shareholders.

Every year in early June, Maurie Smith takes a break from steering his business interests and gets behind the wheel of an old automobile for the Royal Flying Doctor Service’s Outback Trek.

Th e most recent trek saw participants make their way from Hay in New South Wales to the Whitsunday haven of Hamilton Island.

Mr Smith said the journey had marked the trek’s 21st year of fundraising by retracing the route of the very fi rst event,.

He made the trip in a freshly prepared 1965 Dodge Phoenix under the theme “Th e Dodgy Brothers”.

Th e Dodge had spent its life as a country funeral director’s mourning car before being converted into a trek vehicle, Mr Smith said.

Mr Smith has only missed two or three years since his fi rst trek experience in 1991.

His teammates over the years have included his sons and a range of workmates from ABC Heavy Engineering.

“Th is year I went with Simon Edwards who owns the hotel at Blanchetown (South Australia) and Lloyd Silk, a cane grower from Mackay,” he said.

“Glen Spears, a mate who owns Central Helicopters - based in Adelaide, again completed the entire trek in a Bell JetRanger helicopter - fundraising along the way by selling scenic chopper fl ights to other crew members and participants.”

So what is it about the Outback Trek that keeps this 58-year-old businessman coming back year after year?

“Having fun travelling, camping out in the ‘Milky Way Motel’ and enjoying the odd drink with mates that you may not have seen since the last trek while raising money for the very essential Royal Flying Doctor Service is my two weeks’ of annual stress relief ,” he said.

Th e 2010 trekkers travelled via Broken Hill, Copley and Innamincka in South Australia then across the western Queensland border to Noccundra, Stonehenge, Muttaburra, Barcaldine, Ravenswood and on to Airlie Beach. Participants then took a ferry to Hamilton Island with family and friends for the gala dinner and awards function.

Mr Smith said preliminary estimates indicated the 2010 Outback Trek would net more than $1million for the RFDS.

Travels of an artful ‘Dodger’The 1965 Dodge Phoenix on a stop in the 2010 Outback Trek.

Maurie Smith with a dragline rope drum. Photo: Lauren Reed

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13The Mining Advocate | July 2010 Mount Isa Regional Capacity

A young Alice Clark had her sights set on studying marine biology at university before fi nding a fi rmer footing in the world of strata and stone.

Twenty-seven years later, the Mount Isa-based geologist can boast a distinguished mining career and the honour of being elected as the next national president for Th e Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM).

While it may be hard to ignore the fact that she is the fi rst woman to win that role in Th e AusIMM’s 117-year history, Ms Clark is determined that gender will not be the focus of her presidency.

“I’m a diff erent gender, but it’s not new to me – I’ve been a woman all my life,” she said.

Her focus is on doing the best job she can and Ms Clark lists three key issues which she is especially passionate about - encouraging continued professional development, workplace diversity and industry self-regulation.

Ms Clark’s resume off ers an interesting glimpse of the North’s recent mining history after her almost accidental entry into the profession of geology.

Her family emigrated from the United States when Ms Clark was nine. Former Queensland Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen was importing skilled people for the sciences at the time and her father - a computer scientist and mathematician with a background in nuclear physics – took a role at the Queensland Institute of Technology.

Ms Clark said her family moved around Australia and New Zealand in the years that followed, before she left home to

study at James Cook University in Townsville.

“I actually went there to do marine biology and discovered I don’t have any sea legs at all and my alternative was geology,” she said.

“I walked into my fi rst geology lecture and thought ‘wow, this is what I want to do’.”

Fortunately she had found herself at one of the top centres in the country for economic geology.

Ms Clark said her luck continued when she left university, gaining her fi rst exploration job with Bob Osborne – the geologist who discovered the copper-gold deposit in north-west Queensland where the Osborne mine stands today.

“My very fi rst drill program was at Trough Tank - which became the Osborne deposit,” she said.

Ms Clark left the team when Placer Dome took over from CSR in 1988 and took a job with an MIM subsidiary at the newly producing Ravenswood gold operation in North Queensland.

A talk from visiting Mount Isa Mines chief geologist Brice Mutton spurred her interest in working in the north-western mining hub.

“So I asked him if I could transfer out and kept asking until eventually I was transferred to Mount Isa in 1990,” she said.

After eight years working across the Mount Isa mining operations and in exploration, Ms Clark said she was “given a crack at Brice Mutton’s old job”.

She worked as chief geologist for three and a half years at what is now Xstrata’s copper-lead-zinc operations, where she also met husband Steve de Kruijff .

Ms Clark left that role to start her own business - CdeK

The incoming national president for peak

professional body, The AusIMM, tells of her

multi-faceted mining career.

North-west’s ‘accidental’ geo

Incoming national AusIMM president Alice Clark. Photo: Roslyn Budd

Geological & Mining Services - when daughter Clare started school in 2002.

“I wanted a bit more fl exibility – that’s why I went out on my own,” she said.

“Th ere are not a lot of childcare options out here. It’s diffi cult for families to fi nd balance in mining towns without child care options.”

About 50 per cent of Ms Clark’s consultancy work is based on copper, silver, lead, zinc and gold projects in Australia, while the remainder involves overseas

operations. It centres on assessing ore bodies and mineral resources – particularly their potential as commercial prospects.

Ms Clark is also involved in mentoring and a separate arm of her business provides peer review for documents such as feasibility studies and public reports.

Ms Clark said she loved her work.

“I get exposed to a lot of innovative people and that’s very inspiring,” she said.

“I also get exposure to high

level corporate issues – I like that, looking at the strategic objectives of diff erent groups.”

Outside of working hours, Ms Clark can often be found on the sidelines supporting the Spinifex College under 14s netball team. She is also a keen cook and amateur astronomer.

Ms Clark is a director of Th e AusIMM and deputy chair of the Joint Ore Reserves Committee ( JORC). She will take up her new role as AusIMM president in January 2011.

Th e Queensland Government is joining forces with private companies CuString and Leighton Contractors to conduct a feasibility study into a 700km powerline project from Townsville to Cloncurry.

Th e $1 billion CopperString proposal, which would link existing and future mines in the North West Mineral Province to

the national electricity grid, has been declared a project of state signifi cance.

Premier Anna Bligh said the milestone followed the Sims Review, which determined the private sector should fund infrastructure to address the region’s electricity shortfall.

“In August 2009, the Queensland Treasurer, with the

support of the Federal Treasurer

and the Queensland Resources

Council, called on potential

energy providers to work with

major regional energy users to

fi nd a commercially viable long-

term answer,” she said.

“In the case of a transmission

connection, customers for these

projects have advised the State

Government they have selected

the CopperString project from a

number of potential transmission

proponents to undertake a

detailed feasibility study.

“Results of the CopperString

feasibility study, due later

this year, will allow the major

energy customers to assess if

this represents a better solution

compared to local generation for

their energy requirements over

the next 20-plus years.”

Ms Bligh said the Sims Review

identifi ed an upgrade of CS

Energy’s Mica Creek Power

Station at Mount Isa as an

option for future power supply to

the region, while leaving the door

open for other parties to develop

alternatives.

CS Energy is well advanced

in its investigations into upgrade

and expansion options for the

gas-fi red power station.

Th e north-west Queensland local group of Engineers Australia will team up with their AusIMM counterparts this year to hold a combined ball in Mount Isa on September 11.

“Th is year, in place of our traditional engineering ball, we have joined forces with our local AusIMM chapter to host a bigger, better formal event at the Mount Isa Civic Centre,” Engineers Australia local group president Davey Cawood said.

“We are expecting more than 300 local and regional professionals to attend this gala evening of fi ne dining, fantastic entertainment and invaluable networking opportunities.”

Th e ball is a highlight on the group’s educational and social calendar for the 2010-11 fi nancial year.

Mr Cawood said the planned line-up included regular technical talks and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) sessions.

Committee members will also be visiting local schools in early 2011 to present basic engineering concepts to the students before setting them a fun engineering challenge.

“Th e engineering concepts presentation will also include a section explaining what engineers actually do and exploring engineering as a profession,” Mr Cawood said.

“In the past, our school-based competitions have been targeted at the primary level. Th is year, we hope to engage with senior school students as well.”

CopperString advances

A feasibility

study has been

launched for a

$1 billion power

link between

Townsville and

Cloncurry.

Industry groups join forces for bigger, better Isa ball

14 July 2010 | The Mining AdvocateINDUSTRY UPDATE - COAL AND GAS

Key LNG contract announced

Santos has appointed Fluor Australia

as the preferred contractor to carry

out Engineering, Procurement and

Construction (EPC) for the upstream

component of its Gladstone Liquefi ed

Natural Gas (GLNG) project.

Santos anticipates awarding an EPC

contract subject to a fi nal investment

decision and will extend Fluor’s

engineering design contract in the

interim to include early works activities

of about $50 million. Th e GLNG

upstream scope comprises all coal seam

gas and associated water gathering and

processing infrastructure for both the

Fairview and Roma fi elds to supply a

proposed LNG plant in Gladstone.

Santos president for Queensland Rick

Wilkinson said the project remained on

track to deliver its fi rst LNG cargo in

2014.

Th e Queensland Government recently

granted conditional approval to the $7.7

billion Santos/Petronas GLNG project.

Premier Anna Bligh said Co-ordinator-

General Colin Jensen had completed

a review of the environmental impact

statement and approved it with strict

conditions.

Dam allocations open

SunWater has issued a call for

foundation customers to reserve high-

priority water allocations from the $824

million Connors River Dam project in

central Queensland.

Th e proposed dam, 110km east of

Moranbah, is strategically located near

the booming Bowen and Galilee basins

Terminal project “signifi cant”

Xstrata Coal Queensland’s $1 billion

proposal to build a coal export terminal

on Balaclava Island, north of Gladstone,

has been declared a signifi cant project

by Queensland Co-ordinator-General

Colin Jensen.

Th e facility could export up to 35

million tonnes of coal per annum from

the Bowen and Surat basins if approved.

Mr Jensen said the declaration of

a signifi cant project signalled the

beginning of a rigorous assessment of

the project’s impacts on the natural,

social, economic, built and cultural

environment.

Upgrade at Stanwell

Queensland Energy Minister

Stephen Robertson has announced

plans for a $22.5 million upgrade of

Stanwell Power

Station outside

Rockhampton

in central

Queensland.

Mr Robertson

said the upgrade

would include

the installation of

new low-pressure

turbines, which

will increase the

effi ciency of the

station and reduce its greenhouse gas

emissions by 47,000 tonnes a year.

Mr Robertson said the work on Unit 4

at Stanwell followed upgrades on Units

2 and 3 over the past two years.

Unit 4 is expected to be taken offl ine

for about 60 days from August 30, with

the remaining units managing power

demand during this period.

New division at Clough

Engineering and construction company

Clough has established a dedicated

Australian coal seam gas division.

“Our entry into the coal seam gas

industry is a key strategic step in

strengthening our position as an

engineering-led EPC (Engineering,

Procurement and Construction)

contractor with a focus on the oil and

gas sector,” Clough chief executive offi cer

John Smith said.

“We’ve assembled an experienced

team for Clough Seam Gas, one that

understands the unique requirements of

the Australian market, and one which we

feel is capable of delivering tailored, high

quality services to coal seam gas clients.”

Ichthys project delayed

INPEX has put back the development

schedule for its Ichthys gas project.

Th e fi nal investment decision is now

expected to take place in the last quarter

of 2011, with LNG production from

the planned onshore facility at Darwin

forecast to commence in the latter part

of 2016, rather than 2015.

INPEX public aff airs manager Tim

Larcombe said

the company and

its joint venture

participant

Total remained

committed to

developing the

project as rapidly

as possible and

stressed there had

been no change in

plans to locate the

onshore component

at Darwin. “Th e Ichthys project is

extremely large and complex,” he said.

“We are taking the time now to

optimise all aspects of the project’s

design to minimise the risk of

increasing costs. “

Mr Larcombe said the environmental

impact statement for the project and

supporting technical studies would be

released for public comment soon as

part of a comprehensive community

consultation program.

Washpool resource increases

Aquila Resources has released an

upgraded resource statement of 185.54

million tonnes for its Washpool hard

coking coal project, 24km north-west of

Blackwater in central Queensland.

Th e company also announced a

maiden reserve statement for the

project, including proved and probable

reserves of 108.3 million tonnes, with

marketable product reserves of 39

million tonnes.

Th e Washpool feasibility study, which is

still to be released, proposes an open-cut

mine producing 1.6 million tonnes per

annum of high-rank, hard coking coal

over a mine life of up to 25 years.

Tougher rules on CSG water

Th e State Government has moved

to further tighten restrictions on the

storage and handling of coal seam gas

water.

Acting Climate Change and

Sustainability Minister Annastacia

Palaszczuk recently released a new

policy to ensure that dams used to

aggregate and store CSG water or brine

are built to best-practice environmental

management standards.

Ms Palaszczuk said the application

of these standards demonstrated the

State Government’s commitment to

ensuring that salt produced through

CSG activities did not impact on the

environment.

“Companies who fail to comply with

these tough new standards can face

penalties in excess of $2 million,” she

said.

$4.85b coal rail bid

Th e Queensland Coal Industry Rail

Group (QCIRG) has issued a $4.85

billion cash off er to the Queensland

Government to buy the QR Central

Queensland coal track network.

QCIRG chairman Nick Greiner said

the fully funded off er represented a

substantial premium to what was likely

to be achieved under the proposed

Initial Public Off ering (IPO) of the

assets.

QCIRG comprises 13 Queensland coal

producers - Anglo Coal, BHP Billiton,

Ensham Resources, Felix Resources,

Jellinbah Resources, Macarthur Coal,

Peabody Energy, Rio Tinto Coal,

Vale Australia, Wesfarmers Resources

and Xstrata Coal. Aquila Resources

and New Hope Coal Australia are

supporting parties and have the

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15The Mining Advocate | July 2010 INDUSTRY UPDATE - COAL AND GAS

Origin Energy has completed fi nal commissioning of its 630MW Darling Downs

Power Station in Queensland.

Developed at a cost of more than $1 billion, the plant has three 120 MW gas

turbines and a 270 MW steam turbine.

It will emit less than half the greenhouse gas of a typical water-cooled coal-fi red

power station of the same capacity and requires much less water.

Th e development includes a 205km domestic gas pipeline linking the power

station to coal seam gas fi elds in the region held by Australia Pacifi c LNG - a

joint venture between Origin and ConocoPhillips.

Origin has also purchased a 77ha block adjacent to the current Darling Downs

Power Station for possible future expansion.

Some of the Darling Downs Power Station commissioning team at the fi nished plant.

Switched on

Mackenzie’s appointment as the fi rst

female general manager of a BHP

Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance-owned

mine. Ms Mackenzie, who has taken

the reins at Dysart’s Norwich Park

Mine, shared this year’s QRC Resources

Award for Women with Susan Denk,

chief operating offi cer for Unidel.

Approval for LNG project

Th e State Government has granted

conditional approval to QGC’s

multi-billion-dollar Queensland

Curtis Liquefi ed Natural Gas project

(QCLNG) near Gladstone.

Premier Anna Bligh said conditions for

the BG Group-owned project included

community and social benefi ts such as

the provision of aff ordable housing for

Gladstone and the Western Downs.

“Th is is a great step forward for

Queensland and we now await the

Federal Government’s consideration

of this project under its environmental

laws,” she said.

Green light for rail corridor

Queensland Co-ordinator-General

Colin Jensen has approved the proposed

Hancock rail corridor - an essential

milestone towards the development of

the Alpha Coal Mine.

Th e corridor has been approved as an

Infrastructure Facility of Signifi cance

under the relevant Act. Th is means

the company behind the $2 billion rail

proposal now has

a defi ned corridor

within which

they can continue

to examine the

feasibility of their

plans. Hancock

Coal proposes to

build a 495km

standard gauge

railway from the

planned Alpha

Coal Mine in the

Galilee Basin to Abbot Point, north of

Bowen.

Alone again

A heads of agreement for Arrow

Energy’s planned takeover of Liquefi eld

Natural Gas Limited’s Gladstone LNG

project has expired.

Th e deal ground to a halt after Shell

and PetroChina announced their own

takeover bid for Arrow.

LNG Ltd managing director Maurice

Brand said the company remained

strongly of the view that its mid-scale

project at Fisherman’s Landing was well

placed to be successfully developed and

commercialised in a much shorter time

frame than other, much larger LNG

projects.

New Cambria drilling

Coking and thermal coal explorer

Stanmore Coal has started exploratory

drilling at its New Cambria project,

20km east of Blackwater in central

Queensland. It plans an initial program

of 22 holes targeting a resource of low

volatile PCI coal.

Vale moves on Belvedere

Vale has signalled its intention to

increase its stake in the Belvedere Hard

Coking Coal Project to 100 per cent by

exercising its option to acquire Aquila

Resources’ share of the joint venture.

Th e project achieved a milestone in

the fi rst quarter of 2010 with the

completion of the pre-feasibility study,

which indicated the underground

longwall project at

Moura in central

Queensland could

be developed at a

cost of just over

$2.8 billion. Vale

in June increased

its participation

in Belvedere to

75.5 per cent by

acquiring AMCI

Investments’ stake

for $105 million.

Oaky North contract

Bounty Mining has entered into a six-

month contract to provide labour hire

services for gate road development at

Xstrata’s Oaky North mine, north-east

of Emerald in central Queensland.

Chairman Gary Cochrane said Bounty

was in ongoing discussions with other

mine owners in relation to further

opportunities in New South Wales and

Queensland in the near future.

$229m deal for Thiess

Th iess will continue coal mining

operations at the South Walker Creek

Mine following a three-year $229

million contract extension by the mine’s

owner BHP Mitsui Coal.

Th e new contract focuses on overburden

and coal mining. Th iess employs nearly

300 technical, operational, maintenance

and management team members at

South Walker Creek Mine.

Appointment welcomed

Th e Queensland Resources Council

(QRC) has applauded engineer Jennifer

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16 July 2010 | The Mining AdvocateINDUSTRY UPDATE - HARDROCK

Crocodile’s golden touch

Crocodile Gold has commenced the

portal excavation ahead of schedule for

its new Cosmo underground mine in

the Northern Territory, with production

expected to begin in mid-2011.

Th e company has also declared the start

of commercial production at its Union

Reefs mill near Pine Creek, saying

target throughput, grades and recoveries

are now being met on a consistent basis.

Crocodile Gold chief operating offi cer

David Keough said this was a signifi cant

milestone for Crocodile Gold, which

had come a long way since taking

control of the former GBS Gold assets

in the NT in November 2009.

“We have successfully commissioned the

Union Reefs mill, brought three mines

into production and continue to have

encouraging exploration results from

our ongoing drill program,” he said.

“Over the coming months we plan to

continue development at the Cosmo

and Tom’s Gully underground mines

and expect a steady fl ow of exploration

results.”

Crunchie a sweet prospect

Solomon Gold has announced a maiden

inferred resource estimate at its gold

and silver Crunchie Prospect, which

forms part of the Rannes project about

150km west of Gladstone in central

Queensland.

Th e estimate is 5.6 million tonnes at

1.12g/t for 201,648oz of contained

equivalent gold.

Five prospects in the Rannes project

area - Crunchie, Homestead, Kauff mans,

Cracklin Rosie and Porcupine Pie -

have been subject to fi rst-pass drilling

by Solomon subsidiary Central Minerals

and previous explorers, with potentially

economic intersections in all fi ve.

Solomon Gold chief executive Nicholas

Mather said the company would

continue to grow the Rannes project

resource towards its stated objective of

one million ounces.

“We are about to commence a 20,000m

drilling campaign on a series of targets

close to Crunchie,” he said.

JV chases next Cannington

BHP Billiton has commenced drilling

at the Altia silver-lead-zinc deposit,

in the Cloncurry district, where it is

involved in a $10 million joint venture

project with Breakaway Resources.

Breakaway said a high-capacity

diamond drill

rig had been

commissioned to

drill a deep hole

of about 1000m

as part of an

initial program of

5000m of diamond

drilling.

Th is forms a key

component of

BHP Billiton’s

fi rst-year

minimum expenditure commitment of

$1 million under the farm-in and joint

venture agreement Breakaway secured

with the global mining giant last

November.

Breakaway said the focus of planned

exploration under the joint venture

was based on the strong geological

similarities between the Altia

mineralisation and the world-scale

Cannington silver-lead-zinc mine,

located 100km to the south along the

same geological corridor.

“Bonus” scandium discovery

Metallica Minerals has discovered high-

grade scandium mineralisation near the

former Greenvale nickel mine, about

190km west of Townsville in North

Queensland.

Th e company said the presence of

scandium at the Lucknow nickel-cobalt

deposit added to its existing scandium

resource at the Kokomo project, about

50km north-north-east of Greenvale.

Managing director Andrew Gillies

said this left Metallica ideally placed

to become the world’s major long-

term supplier of scandium products

by developing its scandium projects

alongside the proposed NORNICO

nickel-cobalt project.

Meanwhile, the company expects to

generate an updated resource estimate

in July for its Greenvale nickel cobalt

deposit.

Th is would be used in pit design and

mine scheduling for the Greenvale

operations.

Tin deal canned

Consolidated Tin

Mines has opted

out of a deal to

acquire North

Queensland Metals’

tin assets in the

Herberton area of

North Queensland.

Th e company

announced recently

that, following

completion of due diligence and in light

of the current market conditions, the

board had decided not to proceed with

the proposed transaction.

Consolidated Tin Mines is

proceeding to a pre-feasibility study

at its Mt Garnet tin project in North

Queensland. It has commenced

discussions with potential Chinese off -

take and joint venture partners.

New head for uranium group

ERA chief executive offi cer Rob

Atkinson has taken up the chairmanship

of the Australian Uranium Association.

ERA owns and operates the Ranger

uranium mine in the Northern Territory.

Mr Atkinson replaces outgoing

chairman Dean Dalla Valle, who heads

BHP Billiton’s uranium business.

Wolfram Camp sells for $8m

Planet Metals has entered into a

binding Heads of Agreement to sell its

Wolfram Camp tungsten-molybdenum

project for $8 million to Tropical

Metals.

Th e operation, about 90km west of

Cairns, includes a 150,000 tonnes-per-

annum processing plant currently on

care and maintenance.

Tropical Metals, a Brisbane-based

private resource company, previously

held the Wolfram Camp project area

before farming out an 85 per cent

interest to Queensland Ores (now

known as Planet Metals) in 2004.

At present, Tropical Metals remains

in joint venture with Planet Metals,

maintaining a 15 per cent stake.

A revised independent resource estimate

prepared by Golder Associates recently

led to a 50 per cent increase in tonnage

and 45 per cent increase in grade for the

Wolfram Camp project.

Total resources now stand at 1.42

million tonnes at 0.60 per cent tungsten

and 0.12 per cent molybdenum.

Manbarrum changes hands

TNG Limited has sold its Manbarrum

zinc-lead-silver project to privately

owned Chinese resource company Teng

Fei Mining for $9.7 million in cash.

Under the terms of the sale agreement,

TNG will receive a 2 per cent net

smelter return on any future mining

production from the Manbarrum

tenements.

Th e Manbarrum project is located about

70km north-east of Kununurra in the

Northern Territory.

Barbara shows open-pit potential

Australian explorer Mt Isa Metals has

announced new copper and gold assay

results from exploration drilling in its

Barbara copper project, about 50km

north-east of Mount Isa.

Th e drilling has produced multiple

copper-gold intersections within the

near-surface sulphide deposit.

Mt Isa Metals managing director

Peter Spiers said the latest results had

extended the potential for open-pit

mineralisation at the site.

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17The Mining Advocate | July 2010 INDUSTRY UPDATE - HARDROCK

Iron ore shipments up

Territory Resources completed iron ore

shipments totalling 2.027 million tonnes

from its Northern Territory operations

for 2009/10, representing a 30 per cent

increase on last year.

“We have been able to maintain a fully

sold position for all our products from

the Frances Creek mine throughout

the GFC and the recent market

uncertainty,” managing director Andy

Haslam said.

“Territory has now cemented its

reputation as a reliable supplier of

quality high-grade iron ore in the

Chinese market.”

Call to revisit Aurukun project

Cape Alumina has urged the

Queensland Government to call tenders

again for the development of the

Aurukun bauxite deposits on western

Cape York.

Th e call was sparked by the recent

announcement that Chinese aluminium

manufacturer Chalco had allowed its

$2.5 billion development deal with the

Queensland Government to lapse due

to adverse conditions in the aluminium

sector.

Cape Alumina managing director Paul

Messenger said there were several

companies – including Cape Alumina –

that would be interested in developing

the Aurukun project.

“It is particularly important to call for

tenders again if the terms of the original

tender are to be changed – that is, if

the Government no longer requires

the developer of the Aurukun bauxite

deposits to build an alumina refi nery on

Queensland’s east coast,” he said.

Meanwhile Cape Alumina has

commenced a detailed review of its

Pisolite Hills bauxite mine and port

project near Mapoon on western

Cape York following the Queensland

Government’s Wild Rivers declaration

for the Wenlock Basin.

Th e company says the size of the High

Preservation Area surrounding the

Coolibah Springs complex in particular

would impact the project, meaning it

was no longer economically viable in its

present form.

However Natural Resources, Mines and

Energy Minister

Stephen Robertson

says the 500m

High Preservation

Area has struck

the right

balance between

environmental

protection and

sustainable

development.

Positive feasibility study

A recent feasibility study has concluded

that the Legend Phosphate Project in

north-west Queensland is positive and

robust against a number of fertiliser

market scenarios.

Legend International Holdings said it

was currently reviewing the Wengfu

Feasibility Study and would summarise

the project economics, forward strategy

and timeline in a public announcement

in late July.

Th e study outlined the economic

feasibility of the development of a

600,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) sulfuric

acid plant, 300,000tpa phosphoric acid

plant, 600,000tpa fertiliser plant, an

aluminium fl uoride plant and auxiliary

facilities.

Th e phosphoric acid plant would

initially be fed by crushed and screened

high-grade phosphate rock ore from

Legend’s Paradise North deposit,

followed by feed from a benefi ciation

plant located at Paradise South.

Th e study was completed under a

strategic alliance Legend formed late

last year with the Wengfu Group, a

major Chinese fertiliser producer.

A second study is also under way based

on expanded production rates.

Successful capital raising

Batavia Mining has completed a $4.8

million capital raising to Jiangyin Huaxi

Steel, enabling the company to focus

on an exploration

program at the

Roper River iron

ore project in the

Northern Territory.

Batavia has also

signed a heads

of agreement

with Jiangyin

Huaxi Steel for

potential off -take

arrangements for 1 million tonnes per

annum for a period of fi ve years.

Th e company said other Asian-based

groups had also expressed interest in

participating in the Roper River iron ore

project, either by taking part in future

share placements, off -take arrangements

or potential joint ventures.

Flying start for Mungana

Mungana Goldmines plans an

aggressive exploration program of about

100,000m of drilling over the next 18

months at its fl agship Mungana and

Red Dome gold projects in Queensland.

Th e company, which made its debut

on the Australian Securities Exchange

in June, aims to increase the current

measured, indicated and inferred

resource from 1.85 million ounces of

gold, 180,000 tonnes of copper and 13

million ounces of silver to more than 3

million ounces of gold in resource.

“Th is marks the beginning of a

signifi cant new chapter in gold

exploration in the Chillagoe region

of North Queensland,” Mungana

Goldmines managing director Pat Scott

said.

Solid results at Nicholson project

New assay results have confi rmed a

prospective and potentially large iron

ore project, with iron-rich outcrops

intermittently occurring over a distance

of 60km, at Phosphate Australia’s

Nicholson iron project in the Northern

Territory.

Th e company said the results were from

a recent heli-borne sampling program

over a project tenement 230km from

the Gulf of Carpentaria which also

contains its advanced Highland Plains

rock phosphate project.

Tanami steps up drilling

Australian gold producer Tanami Gold

has commenced the largest drilling

program in its history, with multiple

rigs in service across its Western Tanami

project in Western Australia and the

newly acquired Central Tanami project

in the Northern Territory.

Four rigs were under contract in June

and there were plans to increase to six

rigs within two months and up to eight

rigs within four months, the company

said.

Th e major drill program under way

at Central Tanami is designed to

elevate the quality and quantity of the

project’s gold resources in advance of

recommencing mining operations.

Th e recommencement of the Central

Tanami operations, combined with

production in Western Australia, is

expected to increase Tanami Gold’s

annual production rate to 200,000

ounces by the end of 2011.

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18 July 2010 | The Mining AdvocateBETWEEN SHIFTS

Transport and Logistics in the Tropics Conference

Mercure Inn, Townsville

Tony Cantarella and Ruth Stjernqvist (both from ARG) with Garry

Pinder (Intermodal Solutions).

Darren Stocks (McGrath Newcastle) and Mark Westbrook

(Seymour Whyte Constructions).

Sean Coff ey and Robert Haddow (both from Queensland Nickel).

Greg O’Shea (Xstrata Copper) and Nigel Kellie (BHP Billiton

Cannington).

Paul Ryan (Sun Metals) and Mauricio Mora (Lead Infrastructure

Engineering).

Murray Davis (Trade Queensland) and James Doyle (Department

of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation).

PHOTOS: Stewart McLean

Mackay Area Industry Network (MAIN) breakfast

Ocean International Hotel, Mackay

Karen Tomlinson and Irene Leard (both from Busy at Work). Terry Holt (Group Engineering) and Nat Byrne (Airconstruct

H.V.A.C.).

Renee Meares (MAIN) and Tony Caruso (Mastermyne).

Greg Mulhall and Mark Birkett (both from Team Supply Logistics). Tony Britton (JSIS) and Craig Joy (Workplace Consulting). Darren Crocker (MAIN) and Michael McGrath (NQ Cranes).

PHOTOS: Lauren Reed

19The Mining Advocate | July 2010 BETWEEN SHIFTS

Women in Mining and Resources Queensland networking event

Th e Purple Grape, Moranbah

Liza Prosper (Arrow Energy) with Melanie Gordon and Ros Green

(both from BMA).

Angela Marshall (BMA) and Veronica Bowater (BMA). Mal Broomhall (Lucas Drilling), Leah Ditton (Coalfi elds Training

Excellence Centre) and Donna Sheehy (BMA).

Helen North (BMA), Lynette Mossman (BMA) and Shirley Walk

(BMA).

Delaney Nugent (Queensland Minerals and Energy Academy)

with Karyn Looby (BMA).

Caroline Morrissey (Queensland Resources Council) and Natasha

Fee (Protector Alsafe).

PHOTOS: Erica Smith

Women in Mining and Resources Queensland networking event

Capricornia Restaurant, Emerald

Peta Coppleman (Rio Tinto), Rebekka Gismondi (Generations

Health and Fitness) and Sally Wallis (Rio Tinto).

Sita Krishna, Meredith Carter and Michelle Mason (all from Rio

Tinto).

Leanne O’Donoghue (BMA) and Mary Bulger (BMA).

Susan Denk (Unidel), Neat Walding (Rio Tinto) and Therese

Dower (Rio Tinto Technical and Innovation).

Malise Jenkins (Wesfarmers) with Chelsea Logan and Liesa

Plation (both from BMA).

Karin Baxter (BMA) and Deb Cheyne (Wesfarmers Curragh Mine).

PHOTOS: Sue Sands

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20 July 2010 | The Mining AdvocateBETWEEN SHIFTS

AusIMM Darwin social event

Shenannigans, Darwin

Dave Clark (AusIMM committee chair), Jennifer Parks (Cameco

Australia) and Colin Hallenstein.

Peter Middlebrook (HAR Resources) with Eileen McGovern

(Northern Territory Government).

Rolf Hallenstein (Arafura Resources) with Megan Kesty and Brian

Jones (both GHD).

Kristen Solen (Newmont), Joshua Northfi eld (Newmont), Bill Kmon (GHD) and John Davis (Exterra Resources). John Fisher (Petting Leases) with Mike Faucett (Northern

Territory Government).

PHOTOS: Christopher Knight

MITEZ dinner

Terrace Gardens, Mount Isa

Glenys Schuntner (Regional Development Australia - Townsville

and north-west Queensland) with Graham Barram (Queensland

Country Credit Union).

Brett Peterson (Mount Isa Chamber of Commerce), Patricia

O’Callaghan (Mount Isa Chamber of Commerce) and Shane

Cagney (McKinlay Shire Council).

Tracey Lines (Port of Townsville) with John O’Brien (CopperString

Project).

Tony Lucas (QR) with Ben Callcott (Charters Towers Regional

Council mayor).

Andrew Daniels (Cloncurry mayor), Betty Kiernan (State Member

for Mount Isa) and Nigel Kellie (BHP Billiton Cannington).

Robbie Katter (Mount Isa City Council councillor), Glen Graham

(MITEZ) and Rod Wilkinson (Department of State Development).

PHOTOS: Roslyn Budd

21The Mining Advocate | July 2010 BETWEEN SHIFTS

Queensland Nickel community open day

Yabulu refi nery, Townsville

Queensland Nickel employees Sally Hayer, Robyn Ward and Laura

Delaney.

Trefor Flood (Queensland Nickel) with wife Chris. Queensland Nickel worker Michael Style with Caitlin, 11, Cathy

and Sean, 9.

Steve Ingham and Alan Watts (both Queensland Nickel) with

Ross Gates (Queensland Nickel - retired).

Daniel Tey Chean from Clermont and Sally Bushell (Queensland

Nickel).

Danny Van Eerde and Hugh McKeon (both from Queensland

Nickel).

PHOTOS: Stewart McLean

Darwin Mining Club official launch

Parliament House, Darwin

Frederick Earnest (Vista Gold), John Carroll (John Carroll

Consulting) and John Baxter (Matilda Zircon).

Mike Watt (Gordian Corp) with Tom Harris and Meon Merington

(both from H2O).

John Robertson (Hays Recruiting) and Alister Trier (NTG Minerals

and Energy).

Gary Hill (G K Akers Contracting) and Tim Nicol (DET Vetis Schools). Daniel Moriarty (Coff ey) with Ian Johnstone (Batavia Mining). Alicia Sherwood (Rio Tinto Alcan), Natasha Spark (ERA) and Emily

Beresford-Cane (Rio Tinto Alcan).

PHOTOS: Christopher Knight

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23The Mining Advocate | July 2010 QME Feature

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Our thinking cap guarantees a more intelligent solution.

Th e Queensland Mining and Engineering Exhibition (QME) is expected to attract more than 10,000 trade visitors this year and will include a record 550-plus stands.

But just how much wealth does the biennial trade show generate for the host city of Mackay and surrounding centres?

QME organisers, Reed Exhibitions, say the fi gure is defi nitely in the millions of dollars, but how many millions is not clear.

Th is year they will be working with the Regional Economic Development Corporation (REDC) in Mackay to better gauge its economic impact.

“QME is a signifi cant event for Mackay in terms of the economic

benefi t to the region, however to what extent is still unknown,” REDC acting chief executive offi cer Laura Sorensen said.

“REDC is currently working with the event organisers Reed Exhibitions to obtain the data necessary to actually quantify the economic benefi t to the regional economy.”

Th e event has seen steady growth in visitor numbers over the past decade, from 7398 at the fi rst QME in 2000 to 10,252 visitors in 2008.

Th ose fi gures - independently audited by the Central Audit Bureau - include only registered trade visitors, not accompanying family members or school groups, for example.

Mackay Tourism estimates

A new study aims to determine the true

extent of the economic windfall this major

trade show delivers for the Mackay region.

Numbers add up for QME Numbers add up for QME the event injects $7-8 million into the local economy through the purchase of local accommodation, meals, transport, entertainment, services and equipment hire by the organisers, exhibitors, trade delegates and accompanying persons.

QME represented probably the largest single infl ux of visitors into the city at any time of year, Mackay Tourism general manager David Phillips said.

“It is important economically, culturally and professionally for our community,” Mr Phillips said.

“We work closely with Reed Exhibitions and have a temporary visitors information centre set up in the showgrounds for the duration.”

Th e infl ux of visitors around QME fi lls almost every hotel room, caravan and cabin site in Mackay and spills into surrounding areas such as

Proserpine, the Whitsundays, Nebo and Sarina.

It comes against the backdrop of an already buoyant visitor trade fuelled by a strong regional mining industry and general growth.

QME exhibition manager Soren Norgaard said while accommodation would still be tight for the 2010 event, Reed Exhibitions had worked closely with Mackay Tourism to meet demand.

He said motel capacity in the city had increased since 2008 and visitors were also being off ered regional accommodation and transport packages as well as home-stay spots with local residents.

Extra commercial fl ights between Brisbane, Mackay and other centres would make it easier to fl y in and out for the event, he said.

And Reed Exhibitions has

partnered with Greyhound Buses

to provide a daily “QME run”

between Moranbah and Mackay.

Mr Norgaard said QME

organisers expected to attract

more than 10,000 people to the

exhibition again this year and up

to 200 conference delegates.

He said also QME would have

about 20 more exhibitors this

year compared to 2008, with an

impressive total of just over 550

confi rmed exhibiting companies.

“It has become a ‘must attend’

networking week for the mining

industry and a lot of companies

do time their product releases for

QME,” Mr Norgaard said.

After receiving a bucketing

during the 2008 event, the

organisers have this year

confi gured the exhibition fl oor-

space to include more undercover

area and sheltered walkways

connecting pavilions.

24 July 2010 | The Mining AdvocateQME Feature - Products and Services

Sabre Teeth self-sharpening

ground engaging toolsGraco Husky 1050 pumps

RAD makes an impact on safety

Queensland-based manufacturer Sabre Teeth will launch its

new patented range of self-sharpening ground engaging

tools during the Queensland Mining and Engineering

Exhibition (QME). The range is designed for use on wheel

loaders and excavator buckets as well as scraper blades fi tted

with standard Esco or Cat adaptors.

“Our teeth are long lasting and durable, with an extended wear life

because they self-sharpen during use,” Sabre Teeth marketing manager and

director Allan Stallan said.

Graco Australia is releasing a new conductive

polypropylene pump that can be grounded for use in

hazardous areas.

The model to be launched during QME 2010 is a double-

diaphragm pump that does not have any aluminium in its

external wetted parts and is ATEX-certifi ed.

It is part of the Husky 1050 range of pumps, which replace

Graco’s Husky 1040 range and are described as 30 per cent

more effi cient than those models.

RAD Torque Systems manufactures a range of pneumatic, battery

and electric-powered torque tools that apply very high bolt loads

with practically no operator eff ort.

Many people will be familiar with traditional impact or impulse

tools where the torque being applied is physically absorbed by

the inertia of the tool and the operator holding on to it for dear

life. The RAD tool in contrast has a non-impacting constant drive

which is controlled by regulating the air pressure or current in

conjunction with a NATA traceable calibration certifi cate for safe

and accurate torquing.

The pneumatic tools in the RAD range in particular produce

88 times less vibration than comparable impact wrenches and

operate at a noise level of less than 85 decibels, making the

tools extremely comfortable to use for long periods of time,

reducing fatigue and consequently increasing safety and

productivity.

RAD’s ultra-compact patented planetary gear reduction system

is also able to rotate independently to the tool handle, ensuring that no reaction forces

are transmitted back to the operator - an essential feature considering that they produce the highest power-

to-weight and accuracy of any similar tool on the market today.

For further information visit www.radtorque.com.au

gQ

new

too

E

l

bb

More intelligent solutions from AhrensDynamic Australian construction and engineering company, Ahrens, is making its presence felt in Mackay, with two

key building projects under way.

Ahrens is undertaking a full turn-key design and construction project for mining giant Monadelphous. The facility,

which will be used to maintain and fabricate heavy duty mining equipment, consists of a 1600m sq workshop as well

as offi ces and an ancillary building. Also in Mackay, Ahrens is working on a similar facility for D&T Hydraulics.

Whilst Ahrens specialises in design and construction, it has also established a reputation for the delivery of large and

complex materials-handling projects for the mining and grain industries.

To capitalise on this success, Ahrens recently established a dedicated materials handling-mining division to provide

infrastructure and expertise to Australia’s mining sector.

With its own structural steel fabrication facilities in Queensland and South Australia and in-house design, engineering and site erection teams, Ahrens is

well placed to explore new and challenging opportunities in the mining industry. The initial focus will be on train and truck loading and unloading systems,

conveyors, storage and covers and plant structural steel, as well as other projects that complement Ahrens’ core design and construction business.

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The expected 10,000 attendees at this year’s Queensland Mining and Engineering Exhibition (QME) will be

kept in cool comfort thanks to a temperature and

humidity control solution provided by Aggreko, the

global leader in the provision of temporary power

and temperature control services.

QME 2010 will take place at the Mackay

Showgrounds, inside temporary structures erected

specifi cally for the event.

“Ambient temperatures within the marquees

can reach up to 30C due to the large number of

visitors at the show, which can cause discomfort,

exacerbated by relative humidity,” said Stephen

Steenson, operations director for event organisers

Reed Exhibitions.

“The cooling solutions provided by Aggreko can

lower the temperature by approximately 8C,

depending on other variable factors. “This provides signifi cant relief, particularly to foreign visitors who may

not be accustomed to Queensland’s high temperatures.”

Aggreko has the world’s largest fl eet of rental chillers and the equipment to be used at the Mackay exhibition

is from the same fl eet used for mine cooling other industrial applications. For more information on Aggreko’s

capabilities, visit www.aggreko.com.au

As a member-owned co-operative, the Maritime, Mining

and Power Credit Union is 100 per cent committed

to the workers of those industries, their families and

communities. The credit union is proud of its record of

standing by its members and delivering better all-round

value through its products and services. All operating

surpluses are returned to members by way of lower

interest loans, higher interest savings and investment

rates as well as additional member services.

Minprovise will be demonstrating its new low-

profi le loader during the Queensland Mining

and Engineering Exhibition in Mackay.

Developed and built in Western Australia,

the Dugless 900 conveyor spillage cleaning

and digging unit is a fully remote-controlled

compact crawler.

It has been specifi cally designed to safely clear

material spillage from inaccessible and remote

points on mining conveyor systems.

Hydco International will unveil its new multi-purpose

exploration drill rig at Mackay’s industry expo in July.

Its 1200H rig in multi-purpose format, displaying many of

Hydco’s latest features, is capable of taking core samples to

depths in excess of 2000m.

At the same time, it can comfortably handle both open-hole

and 4½ RC work using a plug-in air system.

The deep diamond rig is available in truck or track mounts,

with a variety of options to suit individual requirements.

Finlay Screening & Crushing Systems will introduce a new jaw crusher with

a throughput capacity of up to 700 metric tonnes per hour during the 2010

Queensland Mining and Engineering Exhibition.

The latest addition to the Terex Finlay crushing range, the J-1480 crusher has

a 1370 mm x 762 mm single toggle jaw crusher chamber.

Its 10sq m hopper has hydraulically folding sides and a hydraulic wedge

clamp system to provide faster machine set-up time.

Draeger Safety Pacifi c has announced a new addition to its

range of self-contained oxygen self-rescuers for emergency

situations.

The Draeger Oxy 6000 self-rescuer, to go on show at QME,

includes a “Safety Eye” feature to check for the presence of

moisture and yellow potassium peroxide fragments within

the device.

Consisting of a mouthpiece, nose clip and protective

goggles, Draeger says the Oxy 6000 has been tested in the

harshest mining applications and off ers a 10-year lifetime

without maintenance.

Haulotte Australia has developed a new combination front-end

loader, backhoe loader and excavator machine.

The three-in-one Multijob MJX, to be launched during QME 2010,

is described as perfect for confi ned job site spaces.

It has a pushing force of 9 tonnes, a lifting capacity of 3.2 tonnes

and a turning circle of 4.2m. The front-end loader option has a

reach of 3.5m and a lifting height of 4.3m, while the excavator has

a reach of 7.1m and can dig down as far as 4.1m.

Tamec Services will use QME 2010 to

showcase a new conveyor change-out

system off ering shaftless rolls.

The company says the DunnEasy Idler’s

innovative design speeds up change-out

while reducing the risks normally associated

with maintaining conveyor idler rolls.

The shaftless rolls are up to 70 per cent lighter

than competing products. Roll resistance and drag

are greatly reduced, cutting running costs by as much

as 50 per cent through lower electrical loadings.

25The Mining Advocate | July 2010 QME Feature - Products and Services

Aggreko cools mining’s hottest event

Putting you fi rst

Minprovise Dugless 900

Hydco 1200H drilling rig

Terex Finlay J-1480 crusher

Draeger Oxy 6000 self-rescuer

Haulotte Multijob MJX

Tamec DunnEasy Idler

eee

VIBXPERT IIPruftechnik has launched the VIBXPERT II,

the latest vibration data collector and

signal analyser based on German

engineered technology. The device

combines the proven features of its

predecessor with the advantages of

faster processors to reduce measuring

times and a brilliant energy-effi cient

colour display to provide intuitive

operation. The VIBXPERT II has

proven features for users in industrial

maintenance for the monitoring and diagnosis of machine

conditions. Numerous evaluation functions and practical measurement

templates ease analyses of complex machinery problems and routine

measurements on site. With a large data memory of 2 GB and long-life

lithium ion batteries, data collection of up to eight hours can be achieved

without interruption.

VIBPr

26 July 2010 | The Mining AdvocateQME Feature

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An industry conference is being

held in Mackay in conjunction

with the Queensland Mining and

Engineering Exhibition (QME)

for the fi rst time this year in a

move to add further value for

visitors and attract more senior

industry representatives.

Th e conference has the theme

of “Mining 2010 and Beyond:

maximising resources, alliances,

technology and innovation for

a sustainable future”, and will

be held on the fi rst two days

of QME at the nearby Mackay

Entertainment and Convention

Centre.

“We have an excellent line-up

of speakers and papers for this

conference – which is only fi ve

minutes’ walk from the exhibition

site,” QME exhibition manager

Soren Norgaard said.

Mr Norgaard said an industry

conference had been held to co-

incide with the 2008 exhibition,

but was sited north at Airlie

Beach in a bid to ease pressure

on Mackay accommodation.

“We had a bit of learning from

that. It was too far removed from

the wider exhibition,” he said.

“Mackay in the meantime has

got a state-of-the-art conference

facility just down the road from

QME – it fi tted perfectly.”

Queensland Mines and Energy

Minister Stephen Robertson

is due to launch the event with

a presentation covering issues

including smart energy and

mining initiatives, Queensland

exploration incentives, assessing

the social impact of the current

resources boom, an update on

the Abbot Point/Gladstone port

expansion, and the government’s

commitment to supporting

foreign investment.

Queensland Resources Council

chief executive Michael Roche

will deliver the keynote address

on the subject of “Optimising

resources, technology and

relationships for sustainable

industry growth”.

Mr Roche is expected to

cover such issues as making

the best use of technological

breakthroughs, sustaining

the coking and thermal coal

industry, forming alliances and

A full program of topical presentations at

a nearby venue is expected to prove the

perfect complement to this year’s trade expo.

Mining conference adds value

partnerships, the industry’s

readiness for “Boom 2” and

global demand for clean coal and

LNG.

Other key participating

organisations in the 2010

conference include Peabody

Energy, Bow Energy, Pacifi c

National, Wesfarmers, Gladstone

Ports Corporation and the

Mackay Regional Council.“Th is conference will provide

an unmatched forum to address critical issues pivotal to the current and future sustainability of the Queensland mining industry,” Mr Norgaard said.

“Renewed industry optimism following the GFC, through heightened regional demand and fast-tracked developments in clean energy technologies and projects, make the timing of this conference highly relevant to the Queensland mining industry.”

Th e full conference program and registration details are available at www.queenslandminingexpo.com.au/en/conference.

The Mackay Entertainment and Convention Centre.

Organisers are encouraging prospective visitors to the 2010 Queensland Mining and Engineering Exhibition (QME) to pre-register for the event.

“We strongly encourage anyone interested in visiting QME to pre-register, as it allows them to maximise their time at the show, looking at the latest products and services, and talking to suppliers and peers and colleagues,” exhibition manager Soren Norgaard said.

People can pre-register on the QME

website at www.queenslandminingexpo.com.

au/en/visiting/register-to-attend and have an

E-Badge emailed to them.

Th e exhibition will be held at the Mackay

Showground from July 27 to 29, while the

associated QME Mining Industry Conference

will be held on July 27 and 28 at the Mackay

Entertainment and Convention Centre.

Pre-register online

WINCome and see Ray Robertsonat Australian Super QME booth #3050

to complete anentry form

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28 July 2010 | The Mining Advocate

2011 Mount Isa Mining Expo

Well Worth The Trip!

Mention the Mining Advocate to get a

further 10% off the early bird booth prices.

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Experience the Difference:- Meet the Buyer Sessions for Exhibitors with purchasing officers- Exclusive Networking Functions- Northern Outback Hospitality

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QME Feature

QME 2010 is being billed as the event that will set the scene for a central Queensland mining sector that is set to take off again in what is being referred to as “Boom II” for the industry.

QME exhibition manager Soren Norgaard said the latest investment forecasts for the resources industry showed sustained positive growth for Queensland over the next fi ve years.

“Th is surge in growth and activity – driven largely by demand for coal from China – means QME 2010 will be an ideal chance to see the latest products and services in a single location, plus an unmatched opportunity for people to network with their colleagues and peers,” he said.

Th e value of mining projects in the pipeline for the Mackay-Whitsunday-Isaac region was

Feeling the bang of ‘Boom II’The latest industry exhibition opens in

Mackay against the backdrop of surging

activity across the state’s resources sector.

– mainly due to companies updating and increasing various project estimates.

New additions to the list included a proposed expansion for the Lake Vermont coal mine, 18km north-east of Dysart, and QCoal’s Drake project, a six-million-tonne-per-annum open-cut mine to be located 17km south of Collinsville.

Both are listed as being under study in the register compiled by the REDC for the three months ending May 30.

Th e register lists more than $50 billion worth of development under study, committed, under construction or recently completed across all sectors throughout the region.

Acting REDC chief executive offi cer Laura Sorensen said the total value of such projects had increased by $1.8 billion since the last listing.

“Th e past quarter has also seen a number of projects progress from a status of committed to under construction. Th is is a very positive sign that it’s business as usual,” she said.

Former Australian rugby league and rugby union international Wendell Sailor will help launch a new networking function at this year’s QME event.

Th e Sarina-born sporting star is booked as guest speaker for the “Night to Remember” function on the Tuesday night of QME exhibition week.

“We’ve always had an exhibitors’ function – a casual cocktail function for the exhibitors to get to know each other on the opening day,” QME exhibition manager Soren Norgaard said.

“What we’ve found, as

QME has become more and

more of a networking event,

a lot of exhibitors get out and

have meals with clients in the

evenings.”

Th e new function would

provide a central location

for exhibitors to network

with invited clients as well as

conference delegates, he said.

Th e event, at the Mackay

Entertainment and Convention

Centre, will include live

entertainment, refreshments and

canapés.

estimated at $14.6 billion in the

latest Regional Development

Register.

Th e Regional Economic

Development Corporation

(REDC), which produces the

register, said this had grown $998

million since the previous quarter

Soren NorgaardQME exhibition manager

Wendell to kick off event

Footy hero

Wendell Sailor

will be guest

speaker at a new

QME networking

function.

29The Mining Advocate | July 2010 Health and safety conference feature

Organisers are expecting attendance numbers to reach 600 at this year’s Queensland Mining Industry Health and Safety Conference, to be held in Townsville from August 22 to 25.

Conference chairperson Greg Dalliston said the 2010 event boasted a strong line-up of Australian and international speakers, including UK Health and Safety Laboratory chief executive Eddie Morland and US Offi ce of Mine Safety and Health Research principal engineer Tom Noval.

Th e keynote presentation on the opening night will come from retired Major General Jim Molan, whose 40-year Australian Army career included a posting as the Coalition’s chief of operations in Iraq.

Mr Dalliston said work under way to “harmonise” mining legislation across Australia as part of a new national occupational health and safety framework would be among the key issues discussed at the conference.

Federal Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism coal industry and mine safety manager Michael Alder is due to provide an update on the process.

Mr Dalliston described the Townsville conference as a premier event on the nation’s occupational health and safety calendar.

“We see it as defi nitely the peak mining industry health and safety conference in Queensland, if not Australia,” he said.

“It is something where all diff erent levels of industry and

The resource industry is gearing up for what

is considered a premier event on the nation’s

occupational health and safety calendar.

providers like consultants and training groups can get together.”

Queensland Commissioner for Mine Safety and Health, Stewart Bell, also stressed the

great opportunities the Townsville conference provided for people from all levels of mining to get together and discuss key issues.

“You have people there from CEOs to people working at the face,” he said.

“It’s a good opportunity to talk to each other, also to listen to what’s been going on in research in OHS (occupational health and safety) and get a feel, from time to time, as to how other industries are addressing the issues we face.”

Mr Bell said the 2010 conference would include a session on proximity detection, an issue he was keen to keep at the forefront of the industry’s agenda.

Th e Queensland Mining Industry Health and Safety Conference is jointly hosted

by the Queensland Resources Council, the Queensland Government, and mining unions the CFMEU and AWU.

Mr Dalliston – who is a CFMEU district union inspector - said the event the refl ected the stakeholders’ strong belief in a tripartite system for looking after the health and safety of Queensland mining industry employees.

Th is year’s conference has the theme “Simple solutions to complex problems”.

In addition to the program of papers and facilitated discussion, the four-day conference features the annual Innovation Awards. It will also include a charity auction to benefi t the Mater Foundation’s work on prostate cancer.

New South Wales industry group Coal Services will set up a virtual reality theatrette at the upcoming Queensland Mining Industry Health and Safety Conference to showcase the training modules it has developed using 3D imagery.

Th e technology takes participants through realistic mine-site scenarios to help practise their response in emergency situations without being subjected to risk.

Coal Services chairman and executive director Ron Land will be also be one of the keynote

speakers at the conference.“My address will focus on this

innovative, highly interactive technology and how our world’s best practice platforms will assist with training the next generation of Australian mine workers,” Mr Land said.

“We know the power of virtual reality – that the capacity to remember safety information after experiencing situations in a virtual world far exceeds a trainee’s ability to translate information from a lecture in a classroom.”

Forget tonsillitis or bronchitis - mining sites are suff ering a bad case of 5x5-itis when it comes to their safety approach, according to Professor Jim Joy.

Th e director of the Minerals Industry Safety and Health Centre (MISHC) at the University of Queensland said many people were obsessed with measuring the level of risk attached to every situation through repeated use of the familiar 5x5-column risk management tables, at the expense of control eff orts.

It’s a condition he hopes to help cure through an address at this year’s Queensland Mining Industry Health and Safety Conference.

Professor Joy said he planned to tackle the challenges presented by the complexities or perceived over-complexities of the process of

Strong line-up for 2010

managing risk on mine sites.Th e importance of this issue

had been reinforced by a series of interviews MISHC had conducted with senior mining personnel and stakeholders such as the CFMEU (Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union)and the State mines and

energy department, he said.“What came across

increasingly was the over-complexity of the risk management approach or a perception that these systems are not providing as much value as they should,” Professor Joy said.

Th ere were concerns that some systems which had developed over time now overlapped, required too much time and eff ort, lacked quality in their outcome and had lost their connection with the way a mine was really managed.

“It’s my intention in my paper to talk about fi ve or six relatively simple things that try to address the perception of complexity,” Professor Joy said.

“It’s revisiting why we are doing the risk management thing rather than just talking about what we are doing.”

Shot of Joy to cure safety woes

Professor Jim JoyUQ MISHC director

Virtual is now realityUnderground miners in a virtual reality longwall scenario.

Greg DallistonQueensland Mining Industry Health

and Safety Conference chairperson

to

Townsville Entertainment & Convention Centre (TECC)

and Jupiters Townsville

To all those involved in health and safety in the Queensland Mining Industry… We invite you to join us in Townsville in August to hear from industry experts from around

Australia and Overseas and also to share your own experiences in finding ‘Simple Solutions to Complex Problems’

For Further Information and to Register for the Conference;Telephone Acclaim Special Events and Meeting Management on 07 3254 0522Or download the Registration Form at - www.qldminingsafety.org.au

30 July 2010 | The Mining AdvocateHealth and safety conference feature

A Townsville-based consultancy has fl agged the urgent need for businesses to make themselves aware of new risk management standards.

Th is followed the recent adoption of an international standard in this area, CSM Safety Services director Craig Stewart said.

“Australia had a widely respected standard (AS/NZS 4360 Risk Management), which was readily accepted and utilised by a wide range of businesses,” Mr Stewart said.

“Th is has now changed to an international standard that will guide Australia in an equal risk management process adopted in best-practice industries around the world.”

Th e variations of the revised standard, (AS/NZS ISO 31000:2009 Risk Management – Principles and Guidelines), were best interpreted and implemented by experts, Mr Stewart said.

“Risk is now defi ned in terms of the eff ect of uncertainty on objectives,” he said.

“Th e principles that organisations must follow to achieve eff ective risk management have now been made explicit.

“Th ere is much greater emphasis and guidance on how risk management should be implemented and integrated into organisations through the creation and continuous improvement of a framework.

“Also, more information is provided describing the

attributes of enhanced risk

management.

“Th is recognises that while

all organisations manage risk in

some way and to some extent,

this may not be optimal.”

CSM Safety Services has

qualifi ed risk practitioners

who can assist with hazard

identifi cation, risk management

processes, risk management

training and manager coaching.

Businesses have legal

obligations to ensure

that adequate control/

management practices

are successfully

implemented to reduce

hazards and associated

risks, especially in the

health, safety and

environmental spheres.

Interpreting the ramifi cations of Australia’s adoption of an international

standard may require expert advice, according to a safety services fi rm.

New risk regime

Zero Harm starts with proper

interactive education and

training, according to List

Premier Education executive

chairman Johann DeBeer.

Dr DeBeer said interactive

training was the only viable

option to eliminate the possible

threats mineworkers were

exposed to everyday.

Dr DeBeer’s school-based

programs are distributed by the

world’s largest interactive touch

board group, reaching 680,000

teachers in 45 countries.

Th e company recently

developed the VisualTrade Skills

Development and VisualSafety

programs for mines and

manufacturing industries.

Technology lifts training outcome

List Premier Education recognises the fact that modern students are accustomed to modern technology, graphics and displays and incorporates these elements into their modern training approach.

Th is Australian company is a world leader in interactive

education, specifi cally for use on a larger touch board in a classroom situation, facilitated by a certifi ed trainer.

Dr DeBeer said some of the signifi cant advantages of these training programs, technology and methodology included:

• Exposing students to real-life learning situations,

• Participation in the learning process,

• Improving focus and concentration,

• Changing attitudes towards occupational health and safety,

• Structured lessons, and • Incorporating practical

sessions, evaluation and assessments.

List Premier Education executive chairman Dr

Johann DeBeer.

3 Ramsay Street, Garbutt Q 4814 Tel: (07) 4728 9866

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31The Mining Advocate | July 2010

Th e term “sick building syndrome” is widely associated with spates of respiratory problems and general ill-health among city workers who spend their days in multi-storey offi ce towers.

But occupational hygiene consultant David Corbett believes “sick donga syndrome” may be a major sleeper issue for mining and construction work sites throughout regional Queensland.

Mr Corbett, operations manager for Field Enviro, said demountable buildings had become an offi ce space mainstay for civil construction and mining projects.

In a decade-long career in occupational hygiene, Mr Corbett said he had encountered many cases of sick building syndrome in urban areas, but his work in the Mackay region in the last few years had highlighted the potential hazards of donga-style workplaces.

“Perhaps one of the greatest factors aff ecting air quality in

dongas is that their installed airconditioning systems generally rely on a high proportion of recirculated air to maintain a constant temperature,” he said.

“Most seasoned site personnel could certainly attest to the fact that donga airconditioners are generally not well maintained, are poorly fi tted and refi tted, and often do not work at all.

“Poor air circulation, coupled with overcrowding and poor standards of housekeeping make dongas a potential haven for a variety of biological, chemical and physical agent contamination.”

One of the biggest issues was the build-up of carbon dioxide during the day as companies pushed more workers into these small spaces for shifts of up to 12 hours at a time.

Th is caused drowsiness, dehydration, headaches and nausea at elevated levels, he said.

“Th e CO2 is not building up to dangerous levels, but it is reaching levels that can aff ect performance,” Mr Corbett said.

The increased use of demountable units as

on-site offi ce space poses potential health

risks due to air quality issues, an expert says.

While the level of CO2 in

an indoor environment was

generally about 450 parts

per million, Mr Corbett said

monitoring had shown some

airconditioned donga offi ces were

reaching 1000 parts per million

by morning tea.

He said the incubation and

spread of diseases like infl uenza

was another issue that employers

could not aff ord to ignore.

Other internal air quality issues

often aff ecting donga-style work

spaces included the presence of

bacteria or fungal spores, dust,

‘Sick donga syndrome’ warning

David CorbettField Enviro operations manager

Health and safety conference feature

generator or vehicle exhaust fumes (due to poor placement of airconditioning intakes), and the presence of contaminants from furnishing or construction materials and processes.

Of these potential contaminants, Mr Corbett said formaldehyde was especially problematic as many people were very sensitive to small quantities.

Th e fi rst line of defence against “sick donga syndrome” is prevention through eff ective maintenance and hygiene programs.

If those measures failed to address adverse health eff ects, Mr Corbett said companies should consider monitoring to ascertain levels of surface and airborne contamination in building spaces and institute targeted control measures to improve the indoor air quality.

In a statement on donga air quality, Workplace Health and Safety Queensland noted that off -gassing problems from urea formaldehyde foams in wall cavities had been common in the 1980s and 1990s until foam stability problems were overcome.

“Formaldehyde, even in low concentrations, can cause a range of respiratory eff ects. At

higher concentrations it causes tearing of the eyes,” a Workplace Health and Safety Queensland spokesman said.

“Some of the manufactured wood products such as particle board and Medium Density Fibre (MDF) board may also be manufactured using urea formaldehyde adhesives which can slowly off -gas for a considerable period after initial manufacture.

“Th is can add to the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in an enclosed space.”

Th e use of fully recirculating split-system airconditioners with no regular take up of fresh air presented problems including carbon dioxide build-up, while in humid environments there was also the threat of mould proliferation, he said.

Th e spokesman said there were no specifi c regulations relating to donga air quality under Queensland’s Workplace Health and Safety Regulation 2008 when those units were used for accommodation.

“However, where such units are used as workplaces, the exposure standards appropriate to any of the VOCs (eg formaldehyde) would apply,” he said.

Sleepiness contributes to poor vigilance, slower reflexes and a reduced ability to think clearly or make informed decisions.

If you have an undiagnosed sleep disorder, you may regularly endanger your life and the lives of those around you. Fortunately many sleep disorders have easily recognisable features and can be readily treated.Some of the common signs of a sleep disorder:

It takes you more than 30 minutes to fall asleep at night You feel sleepy during the day or fall asleep at inappropriate times during the day You wake frequently in the night and have trouble falling back to sleep You snore or your partner notices your breathing stops for short periods You frequently don’t feel well refreshed despite spending 7- 8 hours asleep at night

If you experience any of these signs or symptoms, please see your doctor about the need for a referral to our service.Moranbah Sleep Investigation Unit - Level 1, Moranbah Medical CentreSt Francis’ Drv, Moranbah (Entrance via Bacon Ln), QLD 4744Mackay Sleep Investigation Unit - 57 Norris Rd, Mount Pleasant, QLD 4740

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32 July 2010 | The Mining AdvocatePROCESSING

A new generation of technology is overturning old perceptions and creating fresh interest in the use of online spectral analysis within the coal and power industries, a Mackay-based supplier says.

RTI has installed 10 online analysis machines in Queensland – nine of those within the Bowen Basin – as well as making two sales in New South Wales and one in Victoria over the past three years, according to chief executive offi cer Dr James Asbury.

Dr Asbury said RTI had entered a market that was disillusioned by the poor performance of the earlier chute-style analysers and lack of service from the companies that had supplied the equipment.

“Th ere was a lack of confi dence in the market and nobody supporting the analysers,” Dr Asbury said.

“Th ere was a feeling they didn’t work. Within the last three years we’ve been able to turn that around signifi cantly and the market seems to be waking up now.”

RTI sells analysers that can measure the coal quality in the entire production line from the run-of-mine coal through the coal washing process in order to generate a consistent and accurate fi nal quality of coal.

Dr Asbury said such technology helped operators ensure ash content in their product did not exceed customers’ specifi cations.

Spectral analysers could also provide power generators with a full elemental breakdown of the

The ability to measure quality accurately across

an entire run of material off ers a raft of benefi ts

for industry, writes Belinda Humphries.

New wave

coal coming into plants.

Importantly, the real-time

nature of the analysis and the fact

the devices scan the entire run

of material rather than taking

samples enables power stations to

identify spikes in ash content and

various other elements across the

supply.

Dr Asbury said this allowed

operators to make adjustments

to ensure the coal continued

to burn effi ciently and without

unacceptable emission levels.

Online spectral analysis also

provides a clear picture of sulphur

content – important in controlling

emissions - and iron content,

which can cause slagging in the

boiler if levels are too high.

“Power stations more and more

are becoming very interested in

monitoring the elements to run

more eff ectively,” Dr Asbury said.

“Even if they can increase

effi ciency by 1 per cent – that’s a

very signifi cant return over a year.”

North Queensland sugar mill

operator Sucrogen aims to

keep more of its fabrication

and fi tting work in-house

in the face of tough pricing

competition and skill demands

from the mining industry.

Sucrogen operations

manager for cane products

Craig Doyle said the company

had increased internal work

in that area by as much as

300 per cent in the lead-up

to the 2010 crushing season

compared to last year.

“We’re keen to continue that

– it’s working well,” he said.

Sucrogen, formerly CSR

Sugar, operates seven mills

across the Herbert, Burdekin

and Sarina cane districts.

While it would continue to

be a major client for regional

engineering and fabrication

fi rms, Mr Doyle said a number

of factors favoured stepping up

such work at Sucrogen’s own

workshops.

Th ese included making

better use of permanent

employees outside of the

six-month crushing season,

preserving knowledge within

the company and cost

advantages.

“When you are up against

the mines, in mining booms

the quotes for outside work

increase,” Mr Doyle said.Mr Doyle said Sucrogen

had been undertaking a lot of boiler duct and vessel work itself as well as building a massecuite reheater and rotary juice screen.

He said Sucrogen would continue to outsource specialised work, but believed it could manage as much as 30 to 50 per cent of fabrication and fi tting work in-house.

“For every large job we will still get quotations and ask our internal workshops to quote to ensure there’s a cost advantage for us to do it,” Mr Doyle said.

Sucrogen completed a major capital works and maintenance program across its operations prior to the start of crushing in June and expects to process 13 to 14 million tonnes of cane this year.

Mr Doyle said the largest project had been the replacement of six old evaporators at the Inkerman Mill in Home Hill with two modern units.

Th e vessels were fabricated off site by Bundaberg Walkers Engineering Limited and assembled with the use of a 350-tonne crane.

Th e improvement program also included replacement of the No. 1 boiler stack at Invicta Mill, Giru.

EDMS Australia built the new stainless steel stack, which was installed in three sections.

Mr Doyle said Sucrogen had invested hundreds of millions of dollars in capital and maintenance over the past three years.

Sugar mills keeping more fabrication work in-house

A 31-tonne

evaporator

top cone is

lifted into

place at

Inkerman

Mill.

Photo: Michal

Beroun

Coal scans back in demand

Dr James AsburyRTI chief executive offi cer

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Th e sun is shining on the western Darling Downs region as a hub for Queensland’s emerging solar energy industry.

Two of eight projects shortlisted under the Federal Government’s $1.5 billion Solar Flagships Program have nominated Kogan Creek, near Chinchilla, as their planned development site.

Th is comes on top of CS Energy’s planned $98.8 million solar boost project at the existing coal-fi red power station.

Electricity infrastructure associated with that facility as well as the skills pool built up by the existing mining and energy industry in the region are part of the attraction.

So too is climate, with the area enjoying an average daily solar exposure of more than 21 megajoules per square metre, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

“You get lots of hours of sunshine and not too much hostile weather,” CS Energy chief executive David Brown said.

Th e region compared well with parts of California in the United States and Spain which had established commercial solar operations, he said.

Parsons Brinckerhoff is among the solar proponents in the area, with what it hopes will be the fi rst of many solar thermal and photovoltaic projects to be rolled out throughout the country over the next 10 years.

Client relationship executive for generation and renewables Craig Chambers said many of the skills required for this fl edgling industry would mirror those found in the

Bright prospectsKogan Creek is shaping up as a hot spot

for renewable energy, bringing new work

opportunities in existing skill sectors.

surrounding mining and energy sectors.

Parsons Brinckerhoff is preparing a detailed proposal for a 150MW solar parabolic trough power plant at Kogan Creek as part of a consortium that also involves CS Energy, Siemens, John Holland, Infrastructure Capital Group, the Queensland University of Technology and Curtin University.

AREVA will establish manufacturing facilities at Kogan Creek for its role in CS Energy’s solar boost project and says the way is open for those facilities to be used in other works.

Th is will translate into local jobs, according to commercial director for AREVA Solar in Australia, Anthony Wiseman.

“One of the features with AREVA technology is that, unlike a lot of other competing solar technology, it requires a lot of local involvement,” he said.

Simple fabrication work was required to transform materials

such as fl at glass plates and steel sections into the refl ector component of the linear fresnel solar installation, he said.

Th e modular nature of that process meant local suppliers could quickly get up to speed and develop some solar experience without heavy capital outlay, he said.

Mr Wiseman described the region as a “hot spot” in terms of solar power potential and said this would be enhanced by the development of local skills in the industry.

AREVA is also involved in a proposal by Wind Prospect CWP to use linear fresnel technology to construct a 250MW power plant at Kogan Creek.

Th at project and Parsons Brinckerhoff ’s Solar Flair Alliance project at Kogan Creek are among eight set to share in $15 million of feasibility funding under the Solar Flagships program.

Electricity generator CS Energy is taking another major step in its drive to cut carbon emissions, with construction due to start within months on a solar boost project at Kogan Creek.

Harnessing new technology has already helped the State Government-owned corporation reduce the rate of CO2 emissions from its power plants by about 17 per cent since 1997, according to CS Energy chief executive David Brown.

Now it is turning to renewable energy at Kogan Creek, in addition to its involvement in the ground-breaking carbon capture and storage venture – the Callide

Oxyfuel Project, to help take that low-carbon philosophy further.

“We’ve got a target for 2030 of dropping from where we are now, where we produce about 830kg of CO2 for every megawatt hour generated, to under 400kg,” Mr Brown said.

Th e solar boost project will improve effi ciency and increase capacity at the 750MW Kogan Creek power station by up to 44MW by augmenting the plant’s feedwater heating process.

“In simple terms, the solar boost will enable Kogan Creek to produce more electricity with the same amount of coal,” Mr Brown said.

International solar energy fi rm AREVA - which already has a 5MW solar thermal installation operating at Kimberlina in California - will provide the technology.

Mr Brown said the Kogan Creek project would be the largest deployment of AREVA’s solar thermal energy technology in the world and the largest solar project of any kind in the southern hemisphere. It will include a 30ha solar fi eld using compact linear fresnel refl ector technology to collect energy.

Th e solar boost plant is expected to become operational by mid 2012.

Carbon-cutting agenda

An AREVA solar thermal facility at Kimberlina. Photo: courtesy AREVA Solar

David BrownCS Energy chief executive

34 July 2010 | The Mining AdvocateMAJOR PROJECTS UPDATE

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Development of the proposed $1.5 billion South Galilee coal operation outside Alpha will be tied to progress on the neighbouring Warratah Coal and Hancock Prospecting projects.

Bandanna Energy managing director Ray Shaw said the project would “piggy back” to some extent on transport infrastructure established to support those major developments and was dependent on at least one of them going ahead.

Bandanna Energy and its farm-in venture partner AMCI are in the prefeasibility stage of their project, located south-west of Alpha in the Galilee Basin.

Th e South Galilee venture, recently declared a signifi cant project by the Queensland Government, has the potential to support annual production of up to 20 million tonnes of thermal coal for export over a mine life of more than 40 years.

State Premier Anna Bligh said the project could generate 2000 construction jobs, a permanent operational workforce of 750 people and numerous support jobs for suppliers and contractors.

Dr Shaw said the South Galilee mine was most likely to come online after the other major projects had started and were ramping up production.

Warratah Coal and Hancock Prospecting have previously

The latest Galilee Basin venture to be declared a

signifi cant project is expected to ‘piggy back’ on

infrastructure developed by other local players.

Mine plans tied to neighbours

indicated a potential start in coal

exports from the Alpha region as

early as 2013.

“Our production (timeline)

will be dependent upon the other

proponents out there, regarding

port and rail corridors,” Dr Shaw

said.

“Th e Queensland Government

has made it clear they would

like to see third party access

and no duplication of major

infrastructure such as the rail

corridor.”

AMCI is conducting a

140-hole drilling program to

better defi ne the South Galilee

coal resource and gain more

information on coal quality

and distribution to assist mine

planning.

“Th at process will be

completed probably in the fi rst

half of next year,” Dr Shaw said.Dr Shaw said there was no

doubt the coal projects in the pipeline in the Alpha area would provide major impetus for regional development.

“Th e eastern part of the Galilee Basin will become, in a number of years, a very signifi cant coal province - not only in Queensland, Australia, but also the world,” he said.

“It will take the major players that we’ve got in the area at the moment to help develop that.”

Dr Shaw said the critical mass had defi nitely been established

to ensure that either most or all

of the four major coal projects on

the table would go ahead.

A spokesman for the Offi ce of

the Minister for Infrastructure

and Planning said proponents

had predominantly developed

their plans independently of each

other to date.

However, the State

Government had worked

extensively with the parties to

identify common objectives

and project opportunities

which would deliver effi cient

infrastructure utilisation and

outcome, he said.

Ray ShawBandanna Energy

managing director

Drilling at the South Galilee project.

Th e South Galilee Coal Project joins three other coal mines and a power station proposal in the Galilee Basin in gaining signifi cant project status from the State Government.

Th ese include Hancock Prospecting’s proposed Alpha coal project, which would include a mine 40km north-west of Alpha and transport infrastructure to be developed at an approximate cost of $7.5 billion, as well as that company’s Kevin’s Corner project, 56km north of Alpha.

Waratah Coal’s $7 billion China First proposal to develop an open-cut coal mine north-west of Alpha and related transport infrastructure is also listed, along with its plans to build a “clean coal” power station in the region.

Among the other coal developments in the pipeline throughout Queensland which have been declared signifi cant are

• Th e proposed $2 billion Belvedere coal mine 7km north-east of Moura in the Bowen Basin,

• BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance’s Bowen Basin Coal Growth project, involving the

production of an additional 20 million tonnes of coal annually through staged developments in the Moranbah area, including the new Daunia and Caval Ridge open-cut mines,

• Xstrata Coal Queensland and Sumisho Coal Australia’s Wandoan project, located 5km west of the township of Wandoan in the Dalby Regional Council area,

• New Hope’s Stage 3 expansion project at the New Acland open-cut coal mine, about 35km north-west of Toowoomba.

Amendments to the State Development and Public Works Organisation Amendment Act in 1999 provided for the declaration of signifi cant projects by the Co-ordinator-General.

A spokesman for the Offi ce of the Minister for Infrastructure and Planning said the Act clearly set out the steps all “signifi cant projects” needed to follow to allow a robust and rigorous assessment of economic, social and environmental matters relating to their development.

Signifi cant cluster of projects

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Initiatives to help tradespeople “upskill” will play a crucial role in fi lling the estimated 18,600 jobs to be created in Queensland’s emerging coal seam gas and liquefi ed natural gas industry in the next decade.

Energy Skills Queensland chief executive offi cer Glenn Porter said the CSG-LNG industry was seeking a range of skilled people in traditional trades such as diesel fi tters, electricians, electrical instrumentation technicians, process plant operators and drillers.

“We are in the process of developing programs for existing tradespeople to give them the extra skills they need (to move across to the CSG-LNG sector),” Mr Porter said.

“For example, diesel fi tters would be working on gas-fi red engines and turbines rather than

diesel engines and fi xed plant.“So we need some upskilling

in these subtle areas of diff erence.”

Th e proponents behind the major LNG projects planned for the Gladstone area were also building up their internal training capacity to achieve this outcome, in addition to delivering a range of apprenticeships, Mr Porter said.

He said Energy Skills Queensland was working with a number of public and private training organisations to help them gear up to meet the CSG-LNG sector’s workforce demands.

Th e Gladstone campus of the Central Queensland Institute of TAFE is off ering some of the fi rst industry-specifi c training under the program, targeting pressure welding.

“A big skills shortage we have

Energy Skills Queensland is developing new

programs to help tweak existing trades know-

how to meet the needs of a growing industry.

Stepping up skills for gas boom

identifi ed in the construction phase is for pressure vessel welders - people to weld up the

gas pipelines and LNG plant at Curtis Island and pipeline in the upstream operation,” Mr Porter said.

“We will also be training people and getting them certifi ed as scaff olders, riggers and dogmen - those sorts of qualifi cations. Th ere will be a big demand for those skills in the construction phase.”

Th e dual trade of electrical instrumentation is another area of high demand for the LNG projects, both throughout construction and in the operational phase.

“We believe anywhere up to 400 or 500 of those will be required by 2020,” Mr Porter said.

Mr Porter denied that the industry was running behind

in terms of recruitment and training, saying the fi nal investment decisions (FID) were yet to be made on the four major LNG projects proposed for Gladstone.

“However, once FID has been announced on one or more projects and major construction contracts commence there will be a need for EPCs (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) and contracting fi rms to ramp their workforces up very quickly, creating a signifi cant demand on the Queensland construction and engineering workforce,” he said.

Energy Skills Queensland was established by the State Government to lead industry and government engagement on vocational education and training, skills development and labour market issues.

It has worked with key project proponents Arrow Energy, Origin, QGC and Santos to create the CSG-LNG Workforce Development Plan.

And in March this year, the State Government committed itself to a partnership with industry to develop a $10 million program to train the thousands of workers needed for the emerging CSG-LNG industry.

Mr Porter said Energy Skills Queensland was receiving about 50 to 80 calls a week from people interested in joining the CSG-LNG industry.

“We’ve had a huge interest, even though we haven’t formally promoted the training yet to the community,” he said.

Th e interest was predominantly coming from within Queensland and ranged from job seekers with no skills through to professionals such as engineers looking for information on how to enter the CSG-LNG industry, he said.

By 2020 it’s estimated Queensland’s CSG/LNG sector will need the following skills for its operational workforce alone:

400 Engineers75 Geologist/geophysicists1000 Drillers230 Electrical and instrumentation trades270 Mechanical and diesel fi tters90 Water operations100 Health, safety and environment personnel270 Transport and logistics

Energy Skills Queensland says additional demand will be created in construction, with these job projections yet to be fi nalised under CSG/LNG Workforce Development Plan.

Workers required during construction will include engineers, carpenters, steel fi xers, concrete fi nishers, equipment operators, mobile crane operators, civil operators, riggers, scaff olders, telecommunications tradesmen, electrical and instrumentation tradesmen, electrical trades assistants, painters, cryogenic insulators, insulators, boilermakers, pipefi tters, special class welders, mechanical fi tters, sheet metal workers, labourers, drillers and polyethylene pipe fabricators.

Most-wanted list

Glenn PorterEnergy Skills Queensland chief

executive offi cer

Th e fl edgling Mackay Engineering College is launching its 2010 Try A Trade Program in July, providing 42 Year 10 students with experience in targeted trades.

Education Queensland trade centre project offi cer Bob Baker said the curriculum for that college was under development, with an outreach model due to be off ered in schools next year. Meanwhile the college was running its Try A Trade

Program for the second year, having off ered the experience to 28 students in 2009.

Five local Manufacturing and Engineering Gateway Schools are involved in the program, which focuses on electronics, fabrication, automotive and diesel-fi tting work.

Mr Baker said the program included training at school, a full day at TAFE for each of the four trade areas and a full week of work experience in the students’ preferred area.

Try a Trade Program

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Bulk Materials Handling Australia (BMHA) and German joint-venture partner FAM have started commissioning the fi rst of four stacker reclaimers to be completed at Abbot Point Coal Terminal under a $135 million-plus contract.

BMHA, an emerging player in the Australian bulk materials handling arena, is confi dent its contribution to the expansion works under way at the key North Queensland coal terminal will act as a springboard to further major projects.

Managing director Craig Dixon believes the company will have the best advertisement possible for its expertise and equipment range as new projects start to roll out following a recent lull in the market.

It will have delivered a state-of-the art machine with signifi cant advantages over its competitors.

“We believe we have built the best machine that Australia has seen and we will demonstrate that,” Mr Dixon said.

Th e Australian-owned Mecrus

Group created BMHA as a stand-alone entity focused on bulk materials handling.

BMHA has aligned with FAM (Magdeburger Foerderanlagen und Baumaschinen), a recognised provider of world-class machines, and together as FAM Queensland (FAMQ)they are focusing on bulk materials handling opportunities throughout Australia and South-East Asia.

FAMQ are due to hand over their fi rst stacker reclaimer to North Queensland Bulk Ports Corporation in August, with the entire Abbot Point project to be completed early next year.

Mr Dixon said each machine would weigh more than 1800 tonnes and be capable of moving 6000 tonnes of coal per hour, peaking at 8000 tonnes.

FAMQ won the stacker reclaimer contract in April 2008 when the Abbot Point port owner sought a competitive bid as part of the X50 expansion project to double the facility’s capacity to 50 million tonnes per annum.

A bulk handling venture says it has proved its

ability to deliver a top-notch machine despite

a tight timeline and other challenges.

Project stacks up for newcomer

Mr Dixon said the contract

involved many challenges

from Day 1 – including a tight

timeline and signifi cant supply

issues.

FAMQ had to start from

scratch, with no existing stacker

reclaimer design to meet specifi c

NQBP requirements, he said.

“In response FAM has

delivered some innovative

engineering solutions that have

delivered improved machine

characteristics whilst coming to

terms with and embracing strict

Australian design standards,” Mr

Dixon said.

FAMQ had worked closely

with the client to determine

the ways in which the design

could be improved in order to

give optimum reliability and

serviceability, he said.

“We have also built a stronger

machine, capable of being

expanded to move 8000 tonnes

an hour, up to a peak of 10,000

tonnes,” he said.

Mr Dixon said FAMQ had

been very conscious of State

Government policy encouraging

major contractors to give local

suppliers a fair go.

Th e project will ultimately

include more than $80 million

worth of Australian content, a

signifi cant contribution given the

majority of the design work had

to be undertaken in Germany

and many high-end engineered

items sourced from overseas.

“We do not have that expertise

available here,” Mr Dixon said.

Among the future jobs the

partners will be targeting is

the supply of further stacker

reclaimers and ship loaders at

Abbot Point to accommodate

expansion.

The new stacker reclaimer at the Abbot Point Coal Terminal, north of Bowen. Photo: Ben Cox

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38 July 2010 | The Mining AdvocateBuilding Mining Communities

Th e Sager family knows all

about life in the fast lane.

Fifteen-year-old Liam

regularly hits race tracks

around the country as a

Formula Ford driver with his

sights set on progressing to

the international Formula 1

championship podium.

He has been a factory-

supported racer since 11,

when he was signed up by

Phoenix Race Karts, and is

now the youngest member of

the CAMS (Confederation

of Australian Motorsport)

Rising Star program – all

of which has involved

Melbourne-based racing

commitments.

Th at means the work and

travel schedule gets pretty

hectic at times - not only

for Liam but for parents

Toni and Brad Sager,

who run Xceed Heavy

Equipment, Electrical

and Airconditioning in

Moranbah.

“It takes a fair amount of

time,” Mr Sager admits.

“But he’s really keen on

it and we want to give him

the best chance possible of

reaching his goal.

“We’re lucky we have very

good staff in the offi ce here

who are able to manage the

Following his motorsport dream takes a lot

of travel and not a little cash for a rising star

from the central Queensland coalfi elds.

Moranbah family’s high-speed pursuit

Moranbah businessman Brad Sager helps son Liam prepare for a Formula

Ford run at Darwin’s Hidden Valley Raceway. Photo: Christopher Knight

Darwin for that leg of the V8

Supercar series in June, when

his chances were dashed by

two crashes at the Hidden

Valley Raceway.

However his main focus

this year is contesting the

Victorian Formula Ford State

Series Championship.

Liam’s participation in

the CAMS Rising Stars

program, which targets

potential Formula One

champions, means he is part

of the Victorian-based Minda

Motorsport team.

Liam said his age meant

he had two more years at

Formula Ford level before

moving on.

“I’ll just see where it goes

from there - maybe overseas

to Europe to race a wings and

slicks car like a Formula 3 or

Formula Renault,” he said.

Mr Sager said the family

was seeking further sponsors

to help Liam continue racing.

“It is an expensive sport,”

he said.

“Even at Formula

Ford level it’s $10,000 to

$15,000 a drive - and that’s

without your airfares and

accommodation.”

But with Liam already

challenging – and often

matching - drivers up to three

years’ his senior, Mr Sager

said time was on his side in

terms of reaching the peak of

his chosen sport.

BMA has pledged $2 million towards the upgrade of the

Greg Cruickshank Aquatic Centre in Moranbah.

BMA chief executive offi cer Marcelo Bastos said a number

of Isaac Regional Council and BMA consultation processes

had indicated upgrading the aquatic centre was a high priority

for the community.

Th e upgrade project includes refurbishment of the 25m

and 50m pools, construction of additional shade areas, café

facilities, landscaping and new seating and barbecue areas.

Th e plans also include new outdoor play equipment and a

water play facility for children.

BMA’s funding commitment covers about half the total

cost of the project.

BMA and the council plan to work in partnership to secure

further backing from other industries and government.

place while we’re away and

our eldest boy Kaleb runs the

workshop.”

It was brother Kaleb’s

involvement in go karts

which fi rst inspired Liam to

get behind the wheel at age

seven.

“For a while we had them

both going, for two years

together,” Mr Sager said.

“We were down at

Melbourne probably once or

twice a month and at state

titles, trekking all over the

country.

“Th e only state they haven’t

raced is Western Australia.”

Liam was due to drive

in the Formula Ford class

competition held as part

of the racing line-up at

Townsville 400 V8 Supercar

event, July 9 -11.

He also travelled to

“He’s really keen on it

and we want to give him

the best chance possible

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Clermont is preparing to tap into the business opportunities presented by the emergence of the Galilee Basin as a major new coal mining province.

Th e Clermont Community and Business Group, formed late last year, has been positioning the Central Highlands town to win spin-off work from projects being developed outside Alpha.

And it is starting to see results, with work under way to open up further industrial and residential blocks in the town.

Clermont Community and Business Group spokesman Tony Upton said the town was strategically placed to supply the new Galilee Basin mines and off er an appealing country town lifestyle for families looking to settle in the area.

“Alpha is the closest (community), but we’re defi nitely the next closest and we’re also the one that’s in line with their major supply source for mining equipment – Mackay,” he said.

“Once the Alpha mining projects start up, Clermont will be smack-bang in the middle.

“We think we’re in a pretty sound place to take advantage of some of the associated industry.”

He said Emerald was also well positioned, but was already servicing a large range of mines, whereas the main focus of Clermont’s mine supply business was based on the nearby Rio Tinto Blair Athol mine – which is winding down – and the new Clermont mine.

Major mining operations in the pipeline for the Alpha area include Hancock Prospecting’s Alpha and Kevin’s Corner

projects, Waratah Coal’s China First proposal and Bandanna Energy and AMCI’s South Galilee coal project.

Mr Upton heads the aff ordable land and housing committee of the Clermont Community and Business Group.

Since the group began campaigning late last year, he said Isaac Regional Council had committed to creating an aff ordable housing estate in the centre of town. It also recently completed an 11-block residential development in Francis St.

Paul Breckon, who heads the Clermont Community and Business Group’s business attraction and industrial land committee, said there were also two industrial developments on the horizon.

One involves a 12ha parcel of land owned by two local residents and the other a 24ha industrial and residential development proposed by investors SCN Pty Ltd.

“Our group is out there to promote that - get that land developed and encourage new business to come to town,” Mr Breckon said.

“Th ese guys also want to shore up some numbers.

“Th at’s where our group can hopefully help them, by trying to get out there and get some expressions of interest.

“We want to get on the front foot. Th e Galilee Basin is going to explode out there.”

Mr Breckon said his business, PB Steel and Engineering Company, and others in Clermont were already involved

A community group is working to position

their town to enjoy the economic spin-off s

from major development in the Alpha area.

Clermont taps Galilee growth

Kevin’s Corner

Alpha Project

China First

South Galilee

Clermont

AlphaJericho

Blair Athol

Avoca

Alpha Oil Shale

Mantuan Downs

in early work for the Alpha

projects. Among the Clermont

Community and Business

Group’s aims is to encourage

major mining supply companies

to establish a base in Clermont

to service Galilee and Bowen

basin mines.

“It’s a good launching pad

- it’s an hour from here to

the Alpha projects or any one

of those mines in the Bowen

Basin,” Mr Breckon said.

So isn’t he concerned about

encouraging more competition

for his own business?

“I do get a bit toey about that,”

Mr Breckon said.

“But by encouraging other

competitors to the town, they

will bring more infrastructure,

it will hopefully give business a

bigger pool of workers and you

will get a chain reaction – extra

school teachers, hairdressers,

people like that.”

Mr Upton said the Clermont

Community and Business Group

had recently received $60,000

from Rio Tinto’s Community

Development Fund, which

planned to contribute a total of

$1.5 million to Clermont over

the next three years.

It had also received exceptional

support from Isaac Regional

Council Mayor Cedric Marshall,

he said.

Developer John Jolly believes he can sense a signifi cant shift in prospects for Clermont – a shift he believes will help bring his proposed residential and industrial project, with a potential value of $60 million or more, to fruition.

“It’s like an undercurrent that suddenly has become a groundswell for Clermont,” he said.

“It’s almost like a tsunami – there is a big thing happening, but it won’t be really obvious until it gets here.

“We’re perfectly placed. We have our development and operational works approval for the industrial development and a council

that is very supportive of what we’re doing.”Mr Jolly is one of three principals in SCN

Pty Ltd, a group proposing to develop a 24ha parcel of land in Clermont into about 30 industrial lots and an upmarket accommodation complex, including 80 to 160 three-bedroom townhouses.

He said he was confi dent the project would go ahead this year after recent meetings in Clermont to gauge interest. SCN was also talking with central Queensland mining operations in a bid to secure lease arrangements for the accommodation component of the project, he said.

‘Tsunami’ on the horizon

40 July 2010 | The Mining AdvocateBuilding Mining Communities

resourcingg thee future

Mining

Supporting

Communities

BROUGHT

TO YOU BY

BMA’s Blackwater Mine has topped the fundraising tally for the 2010 World’s Greatest Shave Mine Challenge in Queensland, contributing $39,123.50 to the Leukaemia Foundation.

Th e central Queensland site has been a consistent champion in the fi ve years the challenge has been running, according to Mine Challenge chairperson Paul Barnard.

However, he said another BMA site – which he would not name – had indicated it planned to take Blackwater on for competition supremacy next year.

Teams representing contractors building the Blackwater mine’s coal handling and preparation plant were the top fundraisers in the challenge’s fi rst two years.

Mr Barnard said BMA Blackwater Mine teams had gone on to win the challenge shield in 2008, 2009 and 2010.

“Th ey’ve been absolutely fantastic supporters – they really get into it in a big way,” he said.

He noted that the fundraising eff orts were greatly assisted by BMA’s “matched giving” program, with the company providing dollar-for-dollar donations.

A BMA Blackwater Mine representative was presented with the Mine Challenge shield during a function in Brisbane to recognise the eff orts

Blackwater Mine proves a cut above the rest

BMA Blackwater Mine administration assistant Pam McGorrery accepts the

2010 shield from Leukaemia Foundation of Queensland president Beverley

Mirolo and Mine Challenge chairperson Paul Barnard.

2010 MINE CHALLENGE TOP 10

1. BMA Blackwater Mine

2. Xstrata Mount Isa Mines

3. Bechtel Brisbane offi ce

4. Xstrata Coal Rolleston

Mine

5. Xstrata Coal Newlands

Mine

6. Red Mountain - Poitrel

7. Bucyrus

8. Arrow Energy

9. Xstrata Coal Brisbane

offi ce

10. BMA Goonyella Riverside

of Queensland’s top World’s Greatest Shave fundraisers.

Th e Queensland resources industry raised about $325,000 across 51 registered sites in the 2010 Mine Challenge, with the Top 10 sites alone accounting for $215,000.

Leukaemia Foundation of Queensland chief executive offi cer Peter Johnstone said the funds had contributed to the record result of more than $4 million generated through this year’s World’s Greatest Shave in March.

Th e funds raised assist with the care of patients and their families living with leukaemias, lymphomas, myeloma and related blood disorders.

Junior Boys fashion winner Kade Ferguson with BHP Billiton Cannington

community relations specialist Ruth Kaurila.

Cannington’s day at the track

Helicopter fundraising continues

More than 200 people came out for a day at the

races when the BHP Billiton Cannington Cup was

run at the Cloncurry Racecourse recently. Th e day

included a fi ve-race program and fashions-on-the-

fi eld events judged by BHP Billiton Cannington

community relations specialist Ruth Kaurila. It

was hosted by the Cloncurry and District Racing

Association and BHP Billiton Cannington.

Junior rugby league players from the Julia Creek Saints made the two-hour trip to BHP Billiton’s Cannington mine recently to join the site’s Cougars team for a training run.

Th e visit, organised through the McKinlay Shire Council, included a passing and ball skills workshop followed by dinner at the Cannington village.

McKinlay Shire Council sport and recreation offi cer Bec Climie said the excursion was designed to provide exposure to higher level sports training.

“Th ese kids all play in the junior rugby league competition here in Julia Creek,” Ms Climie said.

“Being a smaller club, it can be diffi cult to fi nd a coach and we rely a lot on the support of parents.

“I also managed to take away some handy drills which I’m certain we will roll out at the next Saints training session.

“We look forward to running more of these events in conjunction with Cannington.”

Cannington asset leader Bob Fulker said the Cougars had been training for a couple of months in preparation for the Battle of the Mines in October.

“Visits like this allow the kids to get a glimpse of what life is like on a mine site and hopefully come away with some pretty handy footy tips,” he said.

“Th eir enthusiasm was great and I think the guys also had an opportunity to cast their eyes over a few future Cougars.”

The big rigs rolled out to support Mount Isa Rodeo Queen Quest entrant Danielle Bellamy recently as she moved closer to her target of raising $20,000 for NQ Rescue.

Ms Bellamy said the Isa Big Rig Challenge, including a ute show, had raised about $8000 for the community helicopter service.

“It was awesome,” she said.“Th e turn-out of trucks and

other vehicles was excellent and the quality was excellent.”

Ms Bellamy said about 25 vehicles entered the event, with many participants keen to see a similar challenge held next year.

Ms Bellamy plans a 000 night on July 17, where guests will dress as emergency services personnel, to round off her fundraising eff orts.

She said the good response to

Cannington Cougar Rhett Hassell with Dion Rossow and Brody James.

Footy cubs enter Cougars’ den

her campaign highlighted the strong community support for the Mount Isa-based rescue service.

NQ Rescue cannot resume fl ights until the community helicopter service raises $1.5 million for a machine meeting the standard for government use in search and rescue and aero-medical operations.

Chief executive offi cer Alex Dorr said the service was about to sign a naming rights sponsor and was receiving good support from local councils and the pastoral industry.

Mr Dorr said NQ Rescue also had an “in principal” agreement from the mining sector for a major contribution, but they fi rst wanted to see guaranteed State Government support.

Mr Dorr has written to Queensland Emergency Services Minister Neil Roberts proposing a two-year trial for the service to prove that community demand exists and justifi es ongoing fi nancial commitment from the government.

Jaime Searle, Rodeo Queen Quest entrant Danielle Belamy, Sujan Shaw

and Narelle Preston at the Isa Big Rig Challenge. Photo: Roslyn Budd

THE AUSTRALIAN WORKERS' UNION:PUTTING MINERS SAFETY FIRST

ARE YOU CONCERNED ABOUT YOUR RIGHTS AND CONDITIONS AT WORK?

ARE YOU WORRIED ABOUT THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS?

ONLY THE AWU - QUEENSLAND STRONGEST UNION - IS COMMITTEDTO PROTECTING MINERS' JOBS AND ENTITLEMENTS DURING

THESE DIFFICULT FINANCIAL TIMES

NOT AN AWU MEMBER YET? THEN JOIN THE AWU TODAY TOFIND OUT HOW TO PROTECT YOUR ENTITLEMENTS

NORTH QUEENSLAND AWU MINING OFFICIALS:

TOWNSVILLE-COWBOY STOCKHAM 0419 737990MT ISA-HAG HARRISON 0428192985

FOR FURTHER QUERIES PLEASE CONTACT AWU BRANCH OFFICETOLL FREE ON 1800671449 OR awu.org.au

BY STANDING TOGETHER AS A TEAM AWU MEMBERS CANENSURE THAT THEIR INTERESTS ARE PROTECTED

Authorised by Bill Ludwig, The Australian Workers' Union of Employees', Queensland.

Case Study: Linatex Preformed Bend

Industry: Copper Mining

Region: Australia

Product: Preformed Hose Bend

Customer: Xstrata – Ernest Henry Mine

Current Product Information:

Rubber lined steel bend. 610nb x 90 degrees with 25mm thick

Linatex Product Information: Linatex Preformed Hose bend. 610nb x 90 degrees with Linatex Premium 24mm thick natural rubber

Result Product Life of Product

25mm thick natural rubber 13 weeks

24mm thick Linatex Premium Rubber 13 weeks

Cost Saving Approximately $55,000 over two years

Wear Performance Advantage 3 times longer than the competition

Case Study: Linatex Preformed Bends

Industry: Copper Mining

Region: Australia

Product: Preformed Hose Bend

Customer: Xstrata – Ernest Henry Mine

Current Product Information:Rubber lined steel bend. 610 nb x 90 degrees with 25 mm thick

Linatex Product Information:Linatex Preformed Hose bend. 610nb x 90 degrees with Linatex Premium 24 mm thick natural rubber

Result ProductLife of Product

25 mm thick natural rubber 13 weeks

24 mm thick Linatex natural rubber 35 weeks

Cost Saving: Approximately $55,000 over two years

Wear Performance Advantage: 3 times longer than the competition

AuGV370x255mm25/5/10

July 2010

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