Jetcrete
JETCRE
ETE
A
reputation in business takes time to develop – but once earned, it can be the making, or the breaking, of an enterprise. So when you predominantly operate in an industry as specialised as Australia’s underground metalliferous mining sector, you want the reputation that sticks to be a good one. During the past 37 years Jetcrete’s commitment to quality, safety and innovation has seen its reputation develop handin-hand with its client base, transforming the business into Australia’s largest specialised shotcrete contractor in operation today. IN THE BEGINNING Jetcrete’s core business involves the provision of fibrecrete – or, in layman’s terms, sprayed concrete – as the key ground support element for underground mining excavations. But the company began life as a small Sydney-based operation, established in 1979 to spray concrete swimming pools and small embankments for residential purposes. Over the years the company expanded into civil contracts before it began undertaking underground mining work for the Byrnecut Group in 1994. The West Australian-based company cemented this relationship further when a financial investment saw Jetcrete taken into the Group’s fold, with mining work soon becoming the backbone of the shotcreting business. In the early 2000s Jetcrete transferred its head office to Kalgoorlie, where Byrnecut was already based, before both later moved their headquarters to Perth. MINING FOCUS With its head office in Western Australia and an east-coast
operation set up in the North Queensland mining centre of Mt Isa in 2002, Jetcrete has established long-term relationships with mines right across Australia. This includes the company’s single longest running contract at Mt Isa Copper (16 years) and an ongoing stint at Telfer Mine, a gold and copper operation in the East Pilbara region of Western Australia where the company began working 12 years ago. Jetcrete has also just signed a new four-year deal with the Granny Smith Gold Mine in Western Australia, building on its 11-year history with the site. Jetcrete General Manager Marcus Properzi said the lengthy nature of many of these contracts was testament not only to the company’s hard-earned reputation, but also the skills and dedication of its 240 workers. “Underground mining is such a small industry, your name is everything in this industry,” he said. “We are a market leader in what I see as a small part of a
small industry, being underground metalliferous mining, so I do see our reputation as being key. “The personal relationships that we maintain at a site level and at a commercial level have been key to our success.” Among those managing these relationships are Jetcrete’s western and eastern Operations Managers, Paul Ferguson (Mt Isa) and Scott Johnston (Perth). SAFETY AND QUALITY KEY TO SUCCESS Of course, the company’s proven commitment to safety and quality has also been a critical element in its success. Mr Properzi said Jetcrete’s Safety, Environment, Quality and Training Manager Matt White has ensured the company’s safety, environmental and training systems are at “the forefront of the industry” while also “integrating our quality systems into everything we do in business”. Jetcrete’s systems hold ISO 9001, 14001, 18001 and AS/ NZS 4801 accreditations. The company invests time and money into upskilling its workers in a variety of ways and even has two training simulators that travel between their various sites to ensure every employee’s skills meet the required mark. “We practice what we preach and it is critical to our ongoing success that we do have safety and quality as our key drivers,” Mr Properzi said. INNOVATION IN INDUSTRY Safety and quality are also at the core of the company’s commitment to research and development, which has seen it involved in developing or introducing most of the modern technologies used for shotcreting in Australian mining today.
This has included overhead wet shotcrete, hydro-scaling and even the design of the first shotcreting machine in an Australian mine, which they created by attaching a shotcrete nozzle to the boom of an underground drill. Jetcrete was also the first company in Australia to move away from the more “risky” use of surface cement trucks to implement a complete fleet of underground-specific agitators. Ongoing collaboration with fleet supplier Normet over the years has seen the two companies refine and introduce suspension into the vehicles, with increased health and safety benefits. “There was a lot of risk involved in (the use of surface
agitators) so we moved to the underground agitators completely … and it’s been a huge improvement in terms of safety for us, in terms of our critical risks,” Mr Properzi said. “We have gradually improved these units over the years with Normet. Initially they didn’t have suspension in them, which was an ongoing issue in terms of operator comfort but by the end of this year we will have changed out the last of our 50-odd agitators. “It was an extremely large undertaking but we believe it’s going to pay dividends in the long run, particularly in terms of the safety and comfort of our operators.” Minimising risk was also at the heart of another of Jetcrete’s innovations – the remote shaft lining system – which has eliminated the need for workers to enter the shaft during the shotcreting process. A desire to maximise quality and cost efficiency has recently seen the introduction of a 3D scanner to more accurately calculate and measure the thickness of the shotcrete being applied, while Jetcrete continues to work with many of its suppliers to refine everything from the fibre used within the shotcrete to the chemical make-up of the concrete mixes. Many of the technological advancements implemented by Jetcrete over the years have resulted in increased development rates for clients through faster excavation cycles, improved early strength support and increased bonding between the fibrecrete and the substrate surface. “I believe we are very innovative, it’s been key to our growth historically,” Mr Properzi said. “We’ve had plenty of innovations that have fallen by the wayside, we don’t always get it right but we don’t die wondering, we’re definitely willing to try something new and we’re continually pushing new technologies.”
Oliver Moy Publisher For enquiries email okm@aubusinesscoverage.com