NEW ZEALAND QUARRYING & MINING Volume 13 - No 1 | February - March 2016 | $8.95
Island assignment
A new Hitachi ZX350LCH-5 excavator from CablePrice cuts its teeth on Great Barrier Island
Tony Forster speaks frankly
Departing chief inspector of extractives on industry matters
When diversity counts
A profile of one of the country’s many small quarries
Should I seal?
New advances in road sealing bitumen INCORPORATING
Aggregate News
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C O N T E N T S
NEW ZEALAND QUARRYING & MINING Volume 13 - No 1 | February – March 2016
INSIDE
16
UPFRONT
4 6
Editorial Upfront
FEATURES
16 Profile Tony Forster, departing WorkSafe chief inspector of extractives
Quarrying
18 When diversity counts Mining 22 Southland fertiliser popular with palm oil industries 23 Gold still low on international markets 23 Another Aussie starts probing 24 MOD Resources – the Kiwi connection 24 Talisman mining gets closer 24 Tribute to OceanaGold 26 Globe Progress mine mothballed 32 Aggregate News
18 23
Technology
28 29 29 30
CoC oral exam dates and explanation WorkSafe backs down under pressure New guidance documents Should I seal?
ON THE COVER
14 Cover story – CablePrice’s new Hitachi ZX350LCH-5 excavator
AT THE BACK
38 39 40
24
Employment Innovations and products Advertisers’ Index
ON THE COVER: A new Hitachi ZX350LCH-5 excavator from CablePrice cuts its teeth on Great Barrier Island.
See story page 14
30 Q&M February - March 2016 3
E D I T O R I A L
NEW ZEALAND QUARRYING & MINING
Q&M covers news, views and trends from the extractive industries, along with features on projects and people in the industry. www.contrafed.co.nz PUBLISHER
2016 – a safer year please There’s a generation that has grown up without the discipline meted out to previous Kiwi generations. It has only known laissez faire ideology and the theory that if we are all responsible for ourselves and take seriously a stream of ‘do the right thing’ educational campaigns – we will wake up one day to a zero-harm utopia where policing is redundant. Human nature means that’s never going to happen, but you would be surprised how many young (and not so young) folks out there believe that industry sectors should regulate themselves and their industry associations should be the regulatory body. I was talking with a young reporter recently who was shocked to learn half the quarry industry is operating illegally and asked why the ‘industry’ hadn’t sorted it out? The answer is simple of course – you don’t have control over what other businesses do, any more than I have control over what other publications write, or any more than you can control the motorist in front of you. Associations are only representative bodies with voluntary memberships. We pay the state to police our worksite operations and regulations and it was just unfortunate the regulators fell asleep for a couple of decades. It took 29 deaths to wake them up. WorkSafe’s High Hazards Unit says it is well advanced in developing a national quarries location database, the first such comprehensive list – would you believe? This list will show up those quarry operations that have notified WorkSafe as required under the 2013 Regulations and those that haven’t. A quarry site verification exercise will soon be carried out across the country, says the agency. Reportedly, there were four deaths in the quarry industry last year. Not a lot compared to the huge number of tourists who, thinking they are on a fun holiday, come to a sticky end each year in what is the country’s largest export industry. And, considering that quarries are inherently dangerous, a small percent of the total workplace fatalities in any year. On average (with the exception of 2010 and 2011, which spiked with the Pike River and the Christchurch earthquake worksite deaths) between 50 and 60 workers are killed on the job each year. Last year, the agricultural industry suffered 18 deaths. Even ‘arts and recreation’ had two deaths in 2015, and, the year before, public admin/ safety had three! The government has set out to reduce workplace fatalities and serious injuries by 25 percent by 2020. Which means three quarry deaths instead of four. Which, of course, is three too many. The government started this crack-down on workplace deaths back in 2012. The results, so far, have been mixed: While rates of fatalities and serious injuries have been decreasing slightly, the rate of injuries involving more than a week off work is as bad as it ever was. What is even more surprising is that WorkSafe estimates that 600 to 900 people die prematurely each year from diseases caused by long-term workplace exposures, which is a shitload of dead people who would have rather been still around. “Asbestos is a big contributor,” it says. “Fatality estimates vary from 170 to 300 people per year.” So, take it easy out there. Keep your guard up. Read the entire 262 page Good Practice Guidelines recently published by WorkSafe. You may not be able to control your competitor’s worksite, but you sure as hell can control your own. Alan Titchall, Editor
Contrafed Publishing Co Ltd Suite 2.1, 93 Dominion Road, Mt Eden 1024 PO Box 112357, Penrose, Auckland 1642 Phone: 09 636 5715 Fax: 09 636 5716 EDITOR
Alan Titchall DDI: 09 636 5712 Mobile: 027 405 0338 Email: alan@contrafed.co.nz GENERAL MANAGER
Kevin Lawrence DDI: 09 636 5710 Mobile: 021 512 800 Email: kevin@contrafed.co.nz ADVERTISING
Charles Fairbairn DDI: 09 636 5724 Mobile: 021 411 890 Email: charles@contrafed.co.nz REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS
Hugh de Lacy, Neil Ritchie, and Peter Owens ADMINISTRATION/SUBSCRIPTIONS
Email: admin@contrafed.co.nz DDI: 09 636 5715 PRODUCTION
Design: Tracey Asher, TMA Design Printing: PMP MAXUM Contributions welcomed. Please contact the editor before sending them in. Articles in NZ Quarrying & Mining are copyright and may not be reproduced in whole or in part without permission of the publisher. Opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the shareholding organisations or the publisher. The views expressed in the Aggregate News section of NZ Quarrying & Mining may not represent the views of Contrafed Publishing or its shareholding organisations.
VISIT THESE WEBSITES Aggregate & Quarry Association www.quarrying.org.nz Institute of Quarrying (NZ) Inc www.ioqnz.co.nz New Zealand Minerals Industry Association www.straterra.co.nz Extractive Industries Training Organisation www.mito.org.nz Civil Contractors NZ www.civilcontractors.co.nz NZ Ready Mixed Concrete Association www.nzrmca.org.nz Connexis www.connexis.org.nz ISSN 0110-1382
4 www.contrafed.co.nz Q&M
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U P F R O N T
Business outlook improves
Graphene resource found in South Australia
Business outlook had improved dramatically by the end
Graphene, the high-grade layered conductive material extracted
of last year, says an Employers Survey conducted by
from graphite, was only discovered back in 2004 but the world’s
the Employers & Manufacturers Association (Northern).
understanding of this ‘wonder material’ has moved at breakneck
Respondents to the survey were from EMA’s membership, which are companies located from Taupo-north. There was a significant shift towards a positive outlook compared with the 2015 mid-year survey. In
speed since. South Australian commodity-developer Archer Exploration has confirmed the existence of ultra-pure graphene from graphite deposits at its Campoona mine on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula. The company is hopeful the ultra-high purity of graphene extracted
the last survey, 40 percent of respondents said they
from Campoona will allow for a more efficient and scalable resource
expected overall business conditions to improve over
giving it a strong foothold in the world’s emerging graphene market.
the next six months of this year. In July 2015, only 22
“We now know that from our high-grade graphite deposit we can
percent of respondents expected an improvement in
make pure graphene and, like anything pure, this is extremely rare and
business conditions.
difficult to find,” says Gerard Anderson, the chief executive of Archer
More employers expect their own business to grow in the next six months too. In the last survey, 57
Exploration. “Its purity is of paramount importance because most of the
percent of businesses expected growth – compared
companies developing technologies using graphene are looking to
with 45 percent in the previous survey.
exploit its conductive properties.”
EMA chief executive officer, Kim Campbell, says this is an incredible turnaround in business confidence. “Our equities remain steady and this reflects the relatively strong fundamentals underlying our economy. “We have been able to ride out some of the turbulence
Heading the research into the initial graphene production at Campoona was Professor Dusan Losic of the University of Adelaide’s School of Chemical Engineering. The university will now continue to test the scaling-up process, while also furthering its research into potential applications, including
of the past six months, and our tradeable sector is able
using graphene as a membrane in environmental applications such as
to respond to any movements in our currency.
separating oil, heavy metals and other pollutants from water.
“Certain sectors have remained strong, such as
“Right now the cost of producing graphene is very expensive at
construction, and others are booming, such as tourism.
around $200 a gram so it is very important to have these high grade
Other sectors, such as red meat and horticulture, have
deposits to ensure we can develop scalable, low-cost production,”
also performed well. All of these have performed well,
says Losic.
in a climate which was dominated by dairy’s decline in recent months.” The report can be accessed via: http://tinyurl.com/hj3xf69
High purity graphene is in high-demand from the world’s leading technology companies, many of which are developing applications for the conductive material in everything from batteries to solar panels and wastewater treatment.
Largest seismic survey proposed ION Geophysical, which is part of the Texas-based ION Group of Companies, has applied to NZ Petroleum and Minerals to prospect for minerals over a wide area of the Tasman Sea off the West Coast. This is the largest application (submitted in September last year) for prospecting lodged with NZ Petroleum & Mineral and involves prospecting 1.6 million square kilometres. The agency is considering the application and says seismic surveys are often in a single sedimentary basin, but the proposed survey involves a number of such basins. It also acknowledges there would be “significant research value”
ION Geophysical is a technology-focused seismic solutions
in the data formulated from such a survey that would provide
company whose services are used by E&P operators amongst
details of the tectonic plates on which the country sits.
others. By Peter Owens.
6 www.contrafed.co.nz Q&M
Fight over EPA charges
Rethink on gold deposits
The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) is chasing
New CSIRO research in Australia questions the accepted theory
Wellington-based Chatham Rock Phosphate (CRP) for
on how some gold deposits formed, highlighting that current
what it claims is a bill of $795,000 for costs involved
geological models are not universally applicable.
in processing the company’s application for a marine
Gold is typically found with sulphide minerals and many
consent in 2014 to mine phosphorite on the Chatham
studies have inferred that the gold was transported through the
Rise.
crust dissolved in sulphur-bearing fluids and deposited when the
The application was knocked back because the EPA claimed mining would cause significant and permanent
fluids reacted with iron-rich host rocks. CSIRO’s study of the Junction gold deposit in Western
adverse effects on the existing benthic environment and
Australia suggests that it formed differently, because the low
billed Chatham Rock for costs of $2.66 million.
observed fluid-to-rock ratios would not have allowed enough fluid
The mining company paid $1.86 million of the bill and is disputing the rest. Chatham Rock managing
to pass through the host rocks to form a deposit of that size. CSIRO geologist and lead author, Mark Pearce, says the
director Chris Castle says his company received no
models raise serious questions on how gold is transported and
response to its second “improved” offer to settle the
deposited in the deep crust.
debt with the EPA. He claims the EPA costs included
“Our models imply that the gold concentration levels that led
alcohol for contractors charged against hotel rooms,
to the formation of Junction would have been 10,000 times
public servants booking full air tickets, and using taxis
higher than what could have been dissolved and transported in
from their homes to hearings on the application. The
a sulphurous fluid, so an alternative gold transporting agent is
company undertook a forensic process to examine the
required.
invoices and had been in negotiations over what it should
“For instance, we’re finding that the key chemical reactions
pay. Castle told the press that some of the spending
involved in creating a gold deposit are localised, often within
was “unreasonable and unlawful” and breached public
a few millimetres of the gold grains rather than metre-wide
service spending rules if the costs were being paid by
alteration zones.
taxpayers.
“While it doesn’t mean that existing geological models are
EPA chief executive Alan Freeth claims the agency had
always wrong, it does indicate that there are other geological
undertaken a comprehensive review of the costs and
processes at play that need to be identified to improve their
other matters raised by CRP and considered that the
accuracy.”
costs were legitimate and intends chasing the debt. “The
Dr Pearce and the team used CSIRO’s state-of-the-art
unpaid charges were a debt due and the EPA was now
Advanced Characterisation Facility in combination with advanced
seeking payment of the debt through the normal court
computer modelling to conduct a detailed microanalysis on the
process for recovering debt,” he reportedly said.
Junction gold deposit.
Chatham Rock is not only ‘opposing summary
Pearce is now studying what other geological processes
judgment’, but has indicated it could pursue a damages
influenced the formation of the Junction gold deposit and this
claim against the EPA for damaging its market value and
work could be used to improve the accuracy of exploration
derailing its attempt to raise money as part of listing its
models used by geologists around the globe.
shares on London’s AIM market.
More information: http://tinyurl.com/jnxh6gk
Hillhead 2016 Work is nearing completion on extending
full, we have once again increased the
the showground area in preparation for
size of the registration pavilion.”
Hillhead 2016. In total, around 16,000
The show takes place from 28–30
tonnes of material have been excavated
June at Hillhead Quarry, near Buxton,
from an old tip area to create just
Derbyshire.
under 2000 square metres of additional
Registration is now live and visitors
exhibitor space near the southern ‘JCB’
can pre-register for their free ticket by
choose to have your badge sent to you
end of the site.
visiting the Visitor Pass Registration
two weeks before the show or select an
section on the Hillhead 2016 website.
e-badge which you can print out yourself
Show director Richard Bradbury says: “Interest for indoor space has been buoyant. With the main pavilion almost
Visitors are advised to pre-register to avoid queues on the day. You can
and take with you. More information: www.hillhead.com.
Q&M February - March 2016 7
U P F R O N T
Strong interest in Solid Energy assets SOE Solid Energy is on track to dispose of its assets well within the time stipulated
set out in the DOCA. Despite the low returns from coking
by its administrators. In August 2015,
coal, which triggered the Solid Energy
state-owned enterprise, Solid Energy, was
insolvency, there is strong interest in the
placed into voluntary administration.
company’s mining assets and most of them
This decision, which places the day-
are expected to be sold well within the
to-day management of the company with
two-and-a half-year period designated in
the existing board, was made under a
the DOCA. If there are any assets that have
Deed of Company Arrangement (DOCA)
not been sold by the end of that time, they
of September 17, 2015, whereby Korda/
will “be put in a safe and secure state, all
Mentha principals Brendon Gibson
employee entitlements will be fully met and
and Grant Graham were appointed as
the asset will be closed”.
administrators of the company. While the existing board continues to
However, the DOCA also includes provision for the disposal of assets the
manage the company, it is being monitored
administrators deem to be unsaleable.
by, and reports to, the administrators and
These will be closed down totally. This has
a monitoring committee of major creditors.
already happened at Solid Energy’s Huntly
This is in accordance with the DOCA, which
East mine in the Waikato when 66 miners
also contains details of how Solid Energy
lost their jobs.
proposes to repay its creditors. The deed provides for the appointment
The DOCA is the first of its kind in New Zealand and it was executed
of an investment bank and undertakes
under legislation similar to that under
“an orderly, managed sale” of its assets
which Chapter 11 was established in
rehabilitation have been restructured
over the next two-and-a-half years with the
the United States. It sets out a table of
to provide certainty to affected local
goal of continuing operations under a new
debt categories and the order in which
authorities. This has been done to make
owner and ongoing employment for as
they will be paid, starting with debts
the asset sales more attractive.
many employees as possible.
incurred by the company before the
This leaves the major creditors which,
voluntary administration and all accrued
in the DOCA, the administrators rank last.
banker Goldman Sachs to provide
employee entitlements such as holiday pay
These consist of ANZ, Commonwealth Bank
investment banking support.
outstanding at the date of the voluntary
of Australia (the parent company of ASB),
administration. The administrators have
BNZ, Westpac and the Bank of Tokyo–
approached by a number of potential
forecast that this should lead to a payout of
Mitsubishi. It also includes TSB as the
purchasers, both overseas and domestic.
100 percent for these creditors. The DOCA
largest Note Holder.
The company has appointed investment
Solid Energy has already been
As a result of these approaches, Solid
also provides for Solid Energy to continue
They are likely to be paid between 35-40
Energy has requested Goldman Sachs
to pay all costs incurred in the normal
cents in the dollar. In a straight insolvency
to begin negotiations with interested
course of ongoing trading as they fall due.
winding up of Solid Energy, it is unlikely
parties. Goldman Sachs has also met
This means trade creditors can continue to
any creditor would receive in excess
major creditors of the company and is
trade with the company with confidence of
of between 15-20 cents in the dollar.
working with the Solid Energy board and
payment. Such payments rank before any
These major creditors are referred to as
executives to prepare marketing materials
other debts.
“Participant Creditors”. This group will be
in support of the asset sales programme
Existing Crown indemnities for site
paid out last. By Peter Owens.
Former quarry site approved for housing Fletcher Residential has been given permission by Auckland Council to
in a desirable part of Mt Eden. The large-scale development required
Area under the Housing Accord between the government and Auckland Council
go ahead with its housing project on
a lengthy plan change process under
in February last year, but a 10-storey
top of the old Three Kings quarry site
the Resource Management Act 1991
cascading apartment building which
(featured in the April-May, 2015 issue).
and a complex land exchange process
has been proposed for the site meant
under the Reserves Act. Part of the site
the Special Housing Area mechanism
was designated as a Special Housing
couldn’t be used to expedite the project.
Some 1500 much-needed homes for Auckland will be built
8 www.contrafed.co.nz Q&M
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U P F R O N T
Christchurch quarries dig deeper Eight Christchurch quarry operators, running 10 quarries based at McLeans Island, Miners Road in Yaldhurst and on Selwyn Road near Prebbleton, have applied to Environment Canterbury, Christchurch City Council and Selwyn District Council for resource consents to dig up to three metres below the groundwater level. The operators, including Isaac Construction, Fulton Hogan, Christchurch Ready Mix and Winstone Aggregates (Yaldhurst), have formed the Canterbury Aggregates Producers Group to seek the necessary consents, which have been publicly notified. Public submissions closed last month. The common aim is to excavate an additional 30 million tonnes of resource to feed the region’s rebuild. Under existing rules, these quarry operators must stay a metre above the groundwater level. Chris Baker, chair of MinEx, the Health and Safety Council for mining and quarrying (left) marks the launch of the Good Practice Guidelines for the industry with WorkSafe’s chief inspector extractives, Tony Forster.
Good practice guide If the industry follows the new WorkSafe Good Practice Guidelines for quarrying, opencast and alluvial mining,
In its application, the group said groundwater levels were predicted to increase, posing a threat to existing aggregate extraction. Digging down deeper into existing quarries is preferable to creating new quarries because of the time it takes to get the necessary consents. The application reportedly stated the adverse effects on groundwater quality were considered to be minor given the monitoring and mitigation measures proposed. The quarries propose to backfill the areas after extraction.
further industry fatalities could be halted, says Chris Baker. Baker, who is the chair of the Health and Safety Council for the mining and quarrying sector and the chair of MinEx,
Straterra’s wish list for 2016
says the association has worked with WorkSafe to deliver
Just before Christmas last year the team at Straterra published an
a practical document for both those who work in the
open letter to Santa with a new year wish list...
industry and those who provide health and safety training. The Guidelines emerge ahead of the new Health and Safety at Work Act, which takes effect from April 4. “People in this sector have been asking for this guidance. However, our challenge is to get these
“We ask you to spare a thought for the mining industry here in New Zealand. We earn high wealth off a small footprint; we borrow the land, mine it and return it; and we produce stuff that everyone needs, including to fight climate change. “What’s not to like about us? And yet, when you look around, it’s
guidelines to all the smaller operators – this is where
not easy to do business in this green and fair land. No one says
recent fatalities have occurred – and engage these
it should be easy, but more logical and fit-for-purpose laws and
operators in the practical and effective safety practices
regulation would be great.
set out in these guidelines,” says Baker. MinEx’s CEO Les McCracken says the Good Practice Guidelines have been developed by WorkSafe and reviewed
“So, here’s what we would like for Christmas, and we think we are being reasonable, all things considered. “Minerals exploration permits granted in six months or less. All
by an industry team, including representatives from all
mines and quarries registered with WorkSafe, fully engaged in the
sectors of the mining and quarrying industry with a mix
new workplace health and safety regime, no fatalities and safer
of small and large operations “to ensure we had the
places to work than last year.
best technical and operational knowledge input into the guidelines”. “Everybody should be looking at their systems against
“The Resource Legislation Amendment Bill passed next year [2016], with the follow-up work well underway. Climate change policy that encourages technology advances while recognising our
the guidelines. Whatever they have in place needs to be at
place in the world and how cost-effective and reliable energy is
least as good as the guidelines.
produced and used in our economy.
“This will be an invaluable resource for those who operate quarries and opencast and alluvial mines. It provides guidance through text, photos and graphics on all aspects of operating safely.” There is also a pocket guide alternative to the full 262 page guidelines that provides an easy summary for workers and supervisors. 10 www.contrafed.co.nz Q&M
“A debate constructed around mining ‘and’ the environment, not mining ‘or’ the environment. “Maybe some labels on all those Christmas presents you are delivering – your gift contains minerals and petroleum, and it came out of the earth; something like that. Oh, and while you are at it, would you mind doing something about those commodity prices? “Thank you. Mining rocks and so do you …”
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U P F R O N T
Concern over CoC’s continues Neil Ritchie reports on reactions in the west and east of the North Island to news that the industry now has until January 2017 to obtain the necessary new Certificates of Competence. Smaller players in rural regions are not rejoicing at WorkSafe’s
organised by the Institute of Quarrying, WorkSafe NZ and the
year-long extension to enforcing its regulations affecting quarry
MinEx Health and Safety Council as part of a series of forums held
operations, and claim underlying issues remain and some small
around the country to discuss how the proposed changes and new
quarry operators will be forced to merge or exit the industry
regulatory updates would affect operators. And they say there
altogether.
was then a lack of knowledge about the new regulations and their
“WorkSafe knew they were under-resourced and that [the regulations] were poorly structured,” says Tim Kennedy, who manages three quarries in the Gisborne region. “It was all just hurry up, get them [the necessary updates or renewals of Certificates of Compliance] done. “I have now completed all of the new units and attended several industry meetings and the feedback is unanimous, poor communication, badly written material to name a couple ... and I can see the need for a further extension over and above this one. “The word is slowly getting around [regarding the extension] but
implications, particularly for the older operators and those who run smaller quarries. “There are a huge number of small players and some may not be ‘in the system’ regarding regularly checking emails and the internet; they are just too busy running their businesses,” says Kennedy, while opening up his laptop computer after a hard day at the quarry. Cudby also knows of some owners of small quarries not being fully aware of the legislation and what it may mean for them and predicts that some of the smaller quarries will close due to higher
there are still a large number of operators that have no idea what
compliance costs and having to have the right people with the
is going on.”
right qualifications to do the job properly and lawfully. “It’s likely to
Fellow quarry manager, Taranaki-based Grant Cudby, echoes Kennedy’s concerns. “Some small operators still do not realise that they must have
cost about $1500 just to get a B Grade ticket.” The new legislation means WorkSafe NZ High Hazards Unit (HHU) staff ensuring each quarry has a manager with the required and
a current quarry ticket … and I expected something had to be
appropriate Certificate of Competence. However, new competency
done as there wasn’t time for training to be completed [by January
requirements for safety-critical roles in mining and quarrying mean
2016].
that current Certificate of Competence holders should have gained
“There is still a lot of confusion out there … farmers may well be unaware of their obligations under the new legislation. “A lot of the older ones I know still won’t bother gaining or
additional unit standards by January 01, 2017 in order for their certificates to be valid. Despite the WorkSafe extension, both Cudby and Kennedy
renewing a ticket … but I’m one of the younger ones and it’s all
believe the underlying issues remain and that the new legislation,
good for me,” quips the 45-year-old who already has an A Grade
when enacted, will hasten the consolidation of the industry and the
Certificate of Compliance.
associated demise of some of the smaller, older quarries.
Both quarry managers attended several workshops last year
“Some of the new training is beyond a lot of people’s capabilities and this will have a flow-on effect in the future with staffing and will limit people wanting to sit their quarry tickets … it is still too difficult for some staff to pass the required standards even though they are great and safe workers.” Cudby says some in the Taranaki quarrying sector are already struggling. “Things are very quiet here with the low dairy payouts affecting farmers and how much work they do around their farms, how much aggregate they use. A lot are doing only the bare minimum and it will probably continue this way for a while.” He recently closed the smaller of the two quarries that his company Cudby Contracting owns, shutting the former AB & DM Sybrandy Contracting quarry at Waiteika Road near Opunake. “We’ve mothballed that operation but left plant and machinery there; everything’s there so we will be able to re-open the quarry when the economy improves.” Meanwhile, the main quarry, at Whenuku Road near Hawera, remains open. Cudby recently spent about $80,000 and 14 months getting the necessary resource consents needed to
Taranaki-based quarry manager, Grant Cudby.
12 www.contrafed.co.nz Q&M
expand this quarry by about two hectares and so wants to more
fully utilise this larger site. “While we don’t have much dairying here, we do have a lot of dry stock and forestry, both of which are subject to the vagaries of international markets,” adds Kennedy, who has also worked as a quarry manager responsible for the supervising of the crushing of millions of tonnes of aggregates for two massive Aussie energy developments – the US$54 billion Gorgon liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in northwest Australia and the US$34 billion Ichthys LNG project near Darwin. And he wonders about the future of small players in the Gisborne region working with the stress of the new and sometimes confusing legislation during times of economic downturn.
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“Absolutely,” he says regarding the possibility of some small players exiting the industry.
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The rationalisation of the quarrying industry has been happening for some years, though both Cudby and Kennedy believe “such consolidation will only accelerate with this WorkSafe NZ legislation
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when it takes full effect”. In Taranaki some of the bigger players are already taking over some smaller players. One example is Whitaker Civil Engineering taking over the former New Plymouth Quarries and Waiwhakaiho Quarries (though they are still operating under those same names but with different ownership). And there are other issues still to be worked through, one of which is the potential problem facing farmers with metal on their farms deciding not to buy aggregates from nearby quarries but to hire mobile crushers, screening plants and other equipment. This has been more prevalent in recent years but the farmers concerned may not realise that from 2017 WorkSafe will be able to classify their operations as a quarry and so the farmers will need a quarry manager with at least a B Grade ticket. “Using the definition of a quarry, this will mean farmers who have opened a quarry operation on their farm will also have to be a certified quarry manager or employ a suitably qualified quarry manager,” says Kennedy. “And there are the added costs associated with attending workshops or training courses outside your region – the costs of the courses themselves, travel, accommodation and other expenses. And you have the lost days, days that you could have spent in your quarry,” adds Cudby. He has also done a “webinar” course, which helped him a lot, but Cudby doubts many small-time players would be aware of such options, let alone have completed such a course. Kennedy adds that there are also many inconsistencies still to be sorted out. “Some people genuinely still do not know what to do,” he says.
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Even quarry industry patriarch Russell Vickers has waded into the WorkSafe debate. “We have this A grade guy who is having to do all these courses; and it’s costing us several thousand dollars to send him on these courses, food, accommodation and travel expenses, etcetera,” he told recently from his Midhirst home in central Taranaki just above Vickers Quarries’ York Road operations. “Yes, safety is the most important part of your life but that should be just common sense, not all these bloody regulations,
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some of which verge on stupidity.” Q&M Q&M February - March 2016 13
O N
T H E
C O V E R
Island assignment
A new Hitachi ZX350LCH-5 excavator from CablePrice cuts its teeth on Great Barrier Island.
W
ith Fulton Hogan only able to undertake 40 days of crushing a year under its consent at the remote Blackwells Quarry on Great Barrier Island, there is simply no room for mechanical breakdowns, says resources manager, Mark Cameron. “Reliability is the key because if anything breaks down, we lose crushing days and there is only limited mechanical support on the island.” Just prior to Christmas the company’s mobile crushing team returned from its annual stint on the island, with the latest addition to its fleet, a brand new Hitachi ZX350LCH-5 excavator from CablePrice, passing the reliability test with flying colours. “We had no issues or breakdowns, and the Hitachi’s productivity was fantastic. Its power and break-out as it fed raw material into the crusher’s feed hopper were particularly impressive.” Blackwells Quarry is located to the west of the Medlands settlement area on Great Barrier. It produces all grades of metal, supplying most of the island’s roading aggregate needs, thereby avoiding the cost and hassle of importing aggregate to the community. An older 20T Hitachi excavator and rock breaker remain at the site year-round, with the rest of the gear, including the new excavator, a crusher, loader and transporter, barged to and from the island for the annual month-and-a-bit of crushing. Mark says Fulton Hogan’s resources division has purchased a couple of second-hand Hitachi diggers from CablePrice to send to Great Barrier in the past, but this is the first “brand spanking new” Hitachi machine to become part of the mobile crushing fleet for this purpose. “Our long-term employee Lei Lui is the fulltime operator of the new Hitachi. He has
14 www.contrafed.co.nz Q&M
operated numerous brands, so we gave him the choice of which new machine he wanted and he chose Hitachi. He specced the machine himself, absolutely loves it, and looks after it so well it still looked brand new when it left Great Barrier.” Mark says Lei is particularly impressed by the operator comfort and visibility in the roomier cab, which has a larger door and more glass than previous models. “A lot of other diggers have blind spots, but there is great visibility in the Hitachi cab. The coolie box which keeps Lei’s drinks cold is a nice touch, and he enjoys the ease of the digger’s electronic operation compared to the old machine he was operating.” Fuel economy is another area where the Hitachi is measuring up, given its fuel-efficient IT4 emission-certified Isuzu diesel engine, which has been designed to deliver power in all conditions. “Fuel efficiency is particularly important in an environment like Great Barrier Island where fuel is so expensive,” says Mark. Fulton Hogan is harnessing the new excavator’s remote monitoring capabilities through Owner’s Site and ConSite, which gives around the clock online access to the machine’s location, its health, utilisation, fuel consumption, and other valuable information. “It’s a great tool which enables us to receive global reports, and even do things remotely. Our workshop team receives the reports so can keep a close eye on things like average monthly temperature, coolants, hydraulic oils, pump pressures, fuel consumption, efficiency and carbon dioxide emissions. Although the machine is currently under a maintenance and service agreement with CablePrice, it’s great for our operator and wider team to have this information
at their fingertips.” Once back in Auckland the new workhorse was straight back on the job feeding the mobile crusher at the Whitford Quarry – a rock quarry at Whitford, which is operated by Fulton Hogan on behalf of the owners, Auckland Council. “The Hitachi will also be used as a backup to the big digger at Whitford, supporting it to load dump trucks when necessary. It will be totally utilised.” The production of high quality construction materials from over 45 different sites throughout New Zealand and Australia is central to Fulton Hogan’s business as a leading contractor and construction firm. Although based in Auckland, the new Hitachi will travel with the mobile crushing operation to Fulton Hogan’s other quarry projects and will service its contracts with outside clients in the North Island. Mark says the relationship between Fulton
Hogan’s Auckland-based resource division and CablePrice is still in its early stages as far as the purchase of a new machine is concerned. However he has been impressed by the service and support he has received from the company so far. “We had a great induction from sales person Malcolm Pascoe and are very happy with the machine after its first two-and-a-half months of service. There have definitely been no issues or problems.” The warranty offered by CablePrice was another plus, he says. “It was definitely ahead of some of the other brands in the market. Although it will be at least 12 months before we can truly benchmark the Hitachi against the other brands in our fleet, it’s been fantastic so far. We look forward to years of good service ahead from both this machine, and CablePrice.” • Q&M February - March 2016 15
P R O F I L E
Putting safety
back into extractives A simple, passing acknowledgement of the contribution Tony Forster has made to the extractive industries’ workplace health and safety has touched the man himself right to the core. HUGH DE LACY explains.
“Y
ou’ve given us our pride back,” a prominent Canterbury quarry operator told the departing chief inspector of extractives, Scotsman Tony Forster, following the issuance in December of the quarry safety codes of practice he was employed to implement. The remark, made in the presence of this writer though not intended for his ears, summed up the contribution Forster has made to extractives industry health and safety in the wake of the Pike River coalmine disaster that killed 29 men in November 2010. The Royal Commission of Inquiry into the disaster identified the failure of the then National Government’s radical Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 to convert the old prescriptive workplace safety regimes into performance-based codes of practice. 16 www.contrafed.co.nz Q&M
The result of that was the collapse of extractives industry inspectorate services, considered to be a major contributor to the Pike River disaster. The Royal Commission’s report called, among other things, for the codification of safety regulations, and Forster was hired to do the job. He had previously held the position of Her Majesty’s Principal Inspector of Mines for the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, and his new title became Chief Inspector Extractives of government agency WorkSafe New Zealand’s High Hazards Unit. The changes that have occurred since have been “seismic,” he says. “The first thing we put in place was the Health and Safety in Employment (Mining Operations and Quarrying Operations) Regulations, which came into effect on December 16 [2013].
“New Zealand has moved from being at the back of the queue with many of these issues, but now people are looking quite enviously at what New Zealand has achieved over the past three years, because it really does represent a significant body of work.” “That put a number of key components into the regulations, of which the main ones were establishing a health and safety management system built around the concept of principal hazards, and establishing core competence and continuing professional development for safety-critical post-holders,” Forster told Q&M. Principal Hazard Management Plans addressed hazards that had the potential for multiple casualties in a single catastrophic event, or in a series of repeating incidents. “This was a massive change for New Zealand, and it does to a degree follow some of the model legislation in Australia, but it also introduced another concept called Principal Control Plans. “These [plans] are the fundamental elements within the new regulations that really tie the management system together for all mines and tunnels,” he says. The regulations also cover tunnels under construction, “and that is again really important given the growth in the tunnelling industry in New Zealand”. Forster is proud of the legislation which he says embraces the best of international standards, to the degree that he believes “other parts of the world would do well to copy what New Zealand’s done. “New Zealand has moved from being at the back of the queue with many of these issues, but now people are looking quite enviously at what New Zealand has achieved over the past three years, because it really does represent a significant body of work.” WorkSafe NZ was about halfway through the process of introducing approved codes of practice to support both the Act and the regulations. The various groups – quarries, alluvial miners, goldminers, drillers, tunnellers, surface and underground miners – had started to gel into a broad group under the Extractives banner. The dangers of small quarries slipping below the WorkSafe NZ radar were being addressed by the formation of a database from a range of “disparate and sometimes out-of-date” sources, based on a Google Earth data platform, with the aim of being able to tell the active quarries from the inactive historic ones. “Phillip Fourie, one of the quarry specialists, has championed this – it’s his baby and he’s done a fantastic job in putting this together,” Forster says. “Since we’ve been doing this work the notifications to WorkSafe have tripled. “This is still very much a work in progress, as we believe there are quite a significant number of quarries still to notify WorkSafe.” Forster is at pains to refute any suggestion that the work has been all his own.
“This has not been a one-man band; this is not even the story of WorkSafe; it’s the story of the whole extractives sector.” The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), NZ Petroleum and Minerals, safety body MinEx, industry body Straterra, the Aggregates and Quarry Association, the Institute of Quarries, AUSIMM and industry groups such as the West Coast Goldminers Association, the Drillers Federation and the Australasian Tunnelling Society have been “enthusiastic supporters of us, and it’s marvellous, just marvellous, to be a part of that”. “Underpinning everything has been the sacrifice and support of the Pike River families who through their courage and dignity have driven home the message that enough is enough, and that every worker has the right to return home healthy and safe to their families,” Forster says. And now is the time for him to return to his. The completion of his contract has drawn a line under Tony Forster’s time in New Zealand and he’s heading back to the United Kingdom to rekindle his family links, strained these past couple of years by his absence on the other side of the world. Forster is going home to concentrate on family: “We’ve got grandchildren in the UK and I want to be part of that – I need more of a family life.” He’s particularly grateful to wife Valerie for agreeing to make the leap around the world to New Zealand, and for supporting him while he was here. He expects to be back from time to time, though, and is in talks with WorkSafe NZ about continuing to provide support from a distance. He’s also checking out new job opportunities in both the UK and Australia. Forster sums up his time in New Zealand as “a real honour and a privilege. “I’ve been shown great courtesy by people in the New Zealand industry despite having to deliver a few hard messages and having some tough discussions. “Of course there were a few hard cases and whatever who took a bit of persuading, but there was a seismic shift in the middle of last year [2015] when some of the more reluctant individuals and companies decided they were going to throw their hats into the ring, and it was palpable: you could feel the change as a result. “The overwhelming response has been positive, and the endeavour, the capability and the professionalism in New Zealand has been astounding,” Forster said. And if his work has indeed gone some way to restoring the extractives industries’ pride after the shame of Pike River, “I’ll accept that,” he said. Q&M Q&M February - March 2016 17
Q U A R R Y I N G
Sentry Hill Quarry with the screening plant (left) and secondary crusher.
When diversity counts 18 www.contrafed.co.nz Q&M
A small, but diverse range of quarrying activities and associated operations is helping AA Contracting through the current downturns in the Taranaki dairying and oil and gas sectors. By NEIL RITCHIE.
Above: The Adlam family (from left) – Andrew, daughter Hannah, Jill and son William – in front of some equipment at their Bell Block home just outside New Plymouth. Fox Terrier Basil Brush chases thrown quarry stones.
AA
Contracting’s quarrying expertise extends into supplying specialist fine pit metal for cow races and equine dressage arenas, with accompanying sand for the horses, as well as some significant work in the world-renowned Pukeiti rainforest property on the outskirts of New Plymouth. “We are still busy with the Pukeiti project, building retaining walls and walkways, and embedding rocks in the garden – something we’ve been doing now for about two years,” says AA Contracting managing director Andrew Adlam. “Despite the current poor dairy payouts and the cutbacks in oil and gas activity, quarrying is still doing well, accounting for about one third of our business and complementing our other activities. “And we continue to enjoy the ongoing work for the Taranaki Regional Council,” he adds, referring to the 360 hectare Pukeiti
property located between Mount Taranaki and the coast that contains, among other flora (and fauna), the country’s largest collection of rhododendrons. AA Contracting has now put metal on over three and a half kilometres of walkways at Pukeiti and has installed over 100 rocks and boulders in the gardens, some as big as 1200mm in diameter. Andrew, who holds a B Grade Certificate of Compliance, says he and his staff (two others and a third, part-timer, at the quarry) have gained expertise in the equine area over a number of years. “We have done about 25 arenas over the past 20 years or so and every one is different, different access or different shapes … we do everything, the earthworks, supplying the metals and sand, drainage, etcetera. “But there have been no difficulties we have not been able to overcome. Q&M February - March 2016 19
Q U A R R Y I N G
Tipping a load of metal into a quarry truck for delivery to a customer.
“We specialise in supplying a pit metal that we get from a seam that has no stones in it. This, when finely ground, binds together and is just great for cows and horses as it doesn’t damage their hooves.
“We specialise in supplying a pit metal that we get from a seam that has no stones in it. This, when finely ground, binds together and is just great for cows and horses as it doesn’t damage their hooves. “And we cap it off with a layer of sand for the dressage arenas as the soft layers are just great for the horses.” Most jobs are at private equine areas where riders practise with their horses, though one project involved some remedial work at a pony club. “The original [dressage arena] had some metal that was creating havoc for the animals as stones worked their way to the surface and started hurting their hooves. But we fixed that, putting metal on that had no stones and then sand … so we feel we have gained in our expertise over the years.” As well as this work and other quarrying activities, the company is also involved in residential, rural and commercial services such as earthmoving, excavating, digger hire and top soil. There is the usual screening plant, crushers, loaders and associated equipment. And Kiwi ingenuity is to the fore with the design and construction of the quarry’s mobile crushing plant, which is relatively small and can go basically anywhere. “We often go to farmers’ properties so it’s good to have equipment that is portable. It was essentially designed by us and Inglewood’s Falcon Engineering, the company that built the machine,” Andrew adds. The company is reinstating as it goes as it has enough overburden and the quarry should continue for many years as only two hectares or so have been quarried so far, leaving another four hectares still to be worked. 20 www.contrafed.co.nz Q&M
Another rather unusual aspect of quarrying operations is that the company has stopped pumping out groundwater before extracting and drying out the base material for crushing. “Now we just dig deep, up to four metres under water, and just stockpile the material for crushing as and when needed. This saves us time and money as we don’t have to have pumps operating around the clock.” Although the quarry, inland and north of New Plymouth, has been in operation for over 30 years, AA Contracting has only managed the operation for the past 19 years or so. As well as the specialist fine pit metal and sand, the quarry also produces a range of aggregates (AP 40 and AP 65), builder’s mix, and various rocks. “One earlier job we did involved supplying three five tonne rocks that ended up as an art work for someone’s garden,” says Andrew. He, Jill and their children, son William (19) and daughter Hannah (16), are all involved in the company business, be that just making teas and coffees, answering the phones or doing the book work. Only WorkSafe certified people work in the Sentry Hill Quarry, which has a very modest output of about 10,000 cubic metres of products per year. Even the family dog, a Fox Terrier known as Basil Brush, gets involved, chasing any stones thrown around the quarry, picking them up and playing with them. “Quarrying is just a natural extension of our other operations involving machines and I really enjoy fiddling with and fixing things … quarrying is like a 100-year apprenticeship as you are always learning,” Andrew reflects. Q&M
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M I N I N G
Southland fertiliser popular with palm oil industries A diatomite mine in the south has been revived with a capital injection under a new owner. By PETER OWENS.
M
alaysian company Iris Corporation has taken over the assets at Middlemarch, Central Otago of failed miner Featherston Resources by buying out the interests of Plaman Resources of Sydney. Iris Corporation is investing a total of A$13 million ($14 million) in the venture, having paid A$4.8 million for the assets of the now defunct founding company Featherston Resources and $615,000 for the 42 hectare site at Foulden Hills, Middlemarch. The balance of the A$13 million is to be spent on exploration, drilling and production for the fertiliser preferred by palm oil growers – diatomite. However, large sums of money have already been spent on the project. Featherston Resources started developing the field at Middlemarch in 1997 and poured over $15 million into research and development. It also built a million-dollar processing plant near Mosgiel. Plaman Resources of Sydney, which took over Featherston Resources, also poured money into the project. Under both of these owners the mine proved uneconomic. 22 www.contrafed.co.nz Q&M
Iris’ mining permit (extended to 2033) covers probable reserves of around 50 million to 100 million tonnes of diatomite. Diatomite is a fertiliser preferred by the Malaysian and Indonesian palm oil industries. At present Malaysia has about one million hectares of palm oil plantations. The fertiliser has a growing reputation for improving resistance to fungal diseases in oil palms. While there is a widespread market for palm oil as a stock food additive, there is also widespread international condemnation of the destruction of vast areas of native habitats for palm farming. Groups such as the Green Party have already expressed concern at the likelihood of diatomite sales to palm oil interests in Malaysia and elsewhere in Asia. Diatomite is a fertiliser base consisting of up to 100,000 varieties of tiny algae known as “diatoms”. These are impregnated with silica and when mined bear a strong resemblance to fertilisers such as phosphate and limestone. Once it has been mined and dried nitrogen and phosphorous will be added at the owner’s plant, along with any other trace elements requested by clients.
Gold still low on international markets Sales of gold have remained at their lowest point for about the past five years of trading. A stronger United States dollar and higher interest rates in that country have combined to reduce demand for gold internationally. Australian website Business Spectator claims the price of gold late last year was the lowest close since February 2010. Investors were selling gold holdings late last year in anticipation the United States Federal Reserve was raising interest rates for the first time since 2006. Then the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), which dictates US monetary policy, voted unanimously on the night of December 16 to lift the Fed’s interest rates for the first time in seven years. It elected to raise its target for the Federal Funds Rate (FFR) by 0.25 percentage points, from its previous 0pc to 0.25pc range. Australian and New Zealand gold miners will once again have to consider trimming their costs. This is not easy in a high-cost industry and there will be considerable concern in most mining companies, apart from OceanaGold which is somewhat cushioned from the situation by its copper activities at it Didipio Mine in the Philippines. By Peter Owens.
Another Aussie starts probing More and more Australian mining companies are chasing our epithermal gold and silver resources in areas of the North Island, especially around Rotorua, Taupo, and the Coromandel Peninsula. This was made easier in 2013 when NZ Petroleum & Minerals opened a tender for metallic mineral exploration permits over 8040 square kilometres of our Central Volcanic Zone, which is known to contain epithermal style gold-silver mineralisation in the shallow parts of extinct geothermal systems in the western side zone (evident from aeromagnetic surveying by Glass Earth Gold in 2005). The latest Aussie punter to land here is Silver City Minerals (SCI), which was set up in May 2008 to specifically explore in the Broken Hill district where it controls about 1200 square kilometres of exploration tenure. Like many companies facing the Aussie mining recession, SCI moved offshore and acquired mineral exploration tenements near Rotorua, in May 2014. The five-year permit to explore for gold, silver and other metallic minerals covers 33 square kilometres south of Kawerau and 35 kilometres east of the city of Rotorua. As a ‘Tier 1’ permit that requires a minimum investment of $1.25 million over the course of exploration. Last year SCI carried out geophysical surveys on the target area. It also acquired Exploration Permit 56212 (Taupo 1) for a period of five years, through the same competitive tender process, and prospecting permit 56147 (Taupo 2) for a period of two years (adjacent to permit 56212). The total area covered by the tenure is about 94 square kilometres. Energy and Resources Minister, Simon Bridges, says: “Silver City is an experienced precious metals exploration company from Australia. They will be investing at least $1.25 million exploring in the central North Island over the next five years and this project has the real potential to create jobs, and benefit the local and national economy over the longer term. “It is a great result to see a new entrant come into our market at a time when the price of gold and other mineral commodities is low, investors are understandably risk averse, and companies are tightening up their existing operations.”
Q&M February - March 2016 23
M I N I N G
Talisman mining gets closer New Talisman Mines has made progress towards opening the old Talisman Mine in the Karangahake Gorge now environmental group Protect Karangahake is off its back. BY PETER OWENS.
MOD Resources – the Kiwi connection The Sam’s Creek Gold project near Takaka in the Nelson province is believed to be the largest undeveloped gold field in this country. The project is located approximately 100 kilometres north of the Reefton gold field. Australian Stock Exchange listed and Perth-based explorer MOD Resources owns 80 percent of Sams Creek through subsidiary Sams Creek Gold Ltd. MOD Resources’ managing director Julian Hanna is a Kiwi. “The current downturn in the market has provided a rare and exciting opportunity for us … as we look to maximise the value of this prospective and underexplored geological region.” Another New Zealand connection is University of Otago educated geoscientist Terry Grammer, who played a key role in the discovery of high grade nickel deposits at Forrestania in Western Australia for Western Areas NL, when it was run by Julian Hanna – who remains a non-executive director of that company. Grammer was a joint winner of the Prospector of the Year Award by Australia’s Association of Mining & Exploration Companies in 2000. Grammer also played a prominent part in the discovery of the Cosmos nickel find in West Australia by Jubilee Mines. This was later sold for billions to Xstrata Nickel. By Peter Owens.
24 www.contrafed.co.nz Q&M
Protect Karangahake had called for a judicial review based on the fact a non-notified resource consent for sample gold mining had been issued to New Talisman Gold Mines by the Hauraki District Council. However the protest group learned it had insufficient evidence to win against the mining company and the council in the High Court at Auckland and dropped the case. New Talisman chief executive Matthew Hill called the case withdrawal a “milestone”. New Talisman grew out of Heritage Gold in 2012. A pre-feasibility study in 2013 estimated a mine life of three to five years, based on reserves of 28,800 ounces of gold and 127,800 ounces of silver. Project progress last year included completing a funding initiative, lodgement of a traffic management plan, and ongoing talks with investor groups. Directors say they are confident that development of the Talisman project still represents an attractive commercial opportunity and have put in place measures to continue development while conserving shareholder funds. Roading plans aside, the company has all other consents in place and is hopeful of a joint venture with Newcrest Mining to look at a deep extension of the old Talisman Mine. The company lodged the traffic management plan for mining without any objections from the Hauraki District Council. “The traffic management plan which essentially maps out the movement of a mere four trucks a day from the mine site for treatment has been submitted with an accompanying independent survey showing the very low numbers of traffic and pedestrians in the area being used by the trucks,” it says. Initiatives last year included securing the portal site because of continual vandalism and break-ins over the past year. In consultation
with the Department of Conservation which owns the land, surveillance systems were installed around the portal pad area. The sluggish international gold market has not deterred Aussie gold miner Newcrest Mining from undertaking large expansion operations in Nicaragua and Indonesia. This is causing some interest in the New Zealand mining industry because Newcrest is engaged in a joint epithermal enterprise (with Brisbane-based Laneway Resources) in the Coromandel, seeking to mine gold and silver. Newcrest is also heavily engaged in joint venture proposals with New Talisman Gold Mines relating to Newcrest’s Rahu gold project which is near Talisman’s gold project at Karangahake.
Tribute to OceanaGold In its editorial leader back in December 4 the Otago Daily Times paid tribute to OceanaGold under the heading “A Tale of Otago Gold”. Noting that the company had recently celebrated 25 years of gold extraction from its Macraes mine, having produced more than 4.4 million ounces of gold in that period, the editorial went on to say “but that is only half the story”, as over that period the company has poured billions of dollars into the regional economy. It noted that attending the early annual meetings of the then Macraes Mining Company “required a leap of faith by shareholders”. While noting that OceanaGold has its headquarters in Australia, the newspaper said the Otago community felt the Macraes mine “belongs to the region”.
Q&M February - March 2016 25
M I N I N G
Globe Progress mine mothballed
T
he start of the “care and maintenance” phase at OceanaGold’s Reefton open cast gold mine, Globe Progress, near Reefton started late last year and has continued into the new year. The mine was due to be mothballed in 2012, but the closure was pushed back more than once. OceanaGold finally decided to close the mine after a 25 percent drop in gold prices. It has been estimated that this will cost the West Coast economy about $45 million in direct and indirect benefits for every year that the mine is idle.This is bad news for the West Coast, following the loss of hundreds of jobs in the coal mining sector.
26 www.contrafed.co.nz Q&M
While the Reefton mine is in care and maintenance about six workers will be employed at the mine, mostly on maintenance duties. This is a significant reduction from the approximately 184 workers and 20 contractors who worked at the gold mine when it was fully operating. OceanaGold chief executive, Mick Wilkes, says the Reefton plant and equipment would remain on site with a view to resuming mining when the gold price rose to the point where the mine was again economic. The company would also continue to explore other options within the Inangahua goldfield, including the underground potential of the Globe Progress ore body and the Blackwater project at historic Waiuta. Oceana intends to maintain its current access arrangement with the Department of Conservation through to 2019, but gold production at Reefton will be reduced by some 110,000 ounces for the period 2015-17. Wilkes says the trans-Tasman mining company had enjoyed strong support from the Reefton and regional communities as well as DOC, but mining operations needed to generate sufficient riskweighted returns in order to remain sustainable and the decline in the gold price had eroded much of the profitability at Reefton. “While we are hopeful for an improved gold environment, we have taken the necessary steps to ensure a sustainable and profitable operation at Reefton over the next two years and we will continue to evaluate other opportunities across the goldfield.” By Peter Owens. Q&M
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T E C H N O L O G Y
CoC oral exam dates and explanation The Mining Board of Examiners has dates for the first half of this year for the Certificate of Competence (CoC) oral examinations.
A
ll CoC applicants must sit an oral exam once they have completed all the other requirements. Oral exam dates are: February 16-18, for quarrying; March 8-10 for tunnelling and mining; May 3-5 for site senior executives; May 17-19 for mechanical and electrical; and June 14-16 for quarrying. Applications (with payment) must be completed at least eight weeks prior to the scheduled date and involve getting a criminal history check. Once applicants have completed the final courses and their unit standards have been registered on the NZQA framework, they then apply for their Record of Achievement. Applicants will get a letter from the board about three to six weeks before the exam advising of where the oral exam will be held and the time of the exam. They will need to take proof of identification, such as driver’s licence or passport. If they cannot attend the exam, or know one of the panel members, the letter will explain who to advise as soon as possible and another date will be set.
How it works The oral exam conducted by a panel of examiners is to assess that the applicant has the ability to safely carry out the role associated with the CoC they are applying for, by applying the skills and knowledge from the relevant unit standards within a workplace situation. The exam is designed to test their ability to apply the knowledge they have learnt during their studies and on-the-job; and check whether they understand what they have learnt, and can apply it in practical day-to-day operations. Examiners will assess the applicant’s ability to appropriately respond to workplace-based scenarios. This will be followed
28 www.contrafed.co.nz Q&M
up with questions such as: knowledge of operating and safety systems; legislation and its practical application; knowledge of emergency management planning and procedures; and leadership – the ‘people’ side of things. They will be expected to describe (knowledge, facts, formula); apply (comprehend, put into practice); interpret (analyse, process); and evaluate (appraise, judge). Oral exams will typically last up to two hours. The panel will usually have three members, including the chair of the panel. Panel members will have extensive, preferably current applied industry experience, hold a relevant CoC and/or a relevant qualification and have good understanding of workplace health and safety legislation, codes and guidelines within the New Zealand industry. A member of the board’s secretariat will be at the exam to take notes. At the end of the oral exam, the panel will not give any indication about whether the applicant has passed. That decision will usually take about four weeks. If it is going to take more than six weeks they will be contacted by the board’s secretariat. Applicants should only contact the board secretariat after six weeks, if they have not received any information or results. CoC results will be notified only by letter, and are not provided in person, over the phone or electronically. Applicants are judged ‘competent’ or ‘not yet competent’ – in which case the board will give detail the basis for its decision and provide feedback on the areas needed to be improved. An oral exam can be attempted three times over two years. Over that number of failures, applicants are required to make a special case to the board as to why they should be able to apply again. You can get more detailed information from: High level Framework for Panels of Examiners and Examination Requirements for Extractives CoCs by contacting the BoE Secretariat (BoE_Secretariat@worksafe.govt.nz or 04 901 4980). See sample scenarios for all CoCs at: http://tinyurl.com/zmtytoa
Managers in the mining, tunnelling and quarrying operations have another year to meet the new competency requirements after a hasty amendment was made towards the end of last year to the Health and Safety in Employment (Mining Operations and Quarrying Operations) Regulations 2013. Before this amendment, existing certificates of competence would have expired at the end of last year. The date was extended until the end of this year. Feedback from the industry indicated that the original timetable for the new competencies was too tight according to High Hazards Unit chief inspector extractives at the time – Tony Forster. “WorkSafe has had pretty consistent feedback that this date was putting too much pressure on the industry,” he said. “Our concerns were heard and the government agreed to the extensions. We are confident that a one year extension will significantly increase the level of industry action. “This is the right outcome to enable all safety-critical roleholders to complete the necessary training and evaluation, and should set up the industry for a safe and successful future,” he said. For further information on how the different groups will transition to the new competencies, go to the WorkSafe website: http://www.business.govt.nz/worksafe/
Two new guidance documents The Good Practice Guidelines on Health and Safety at Opencast Mines, Alluvial Mines and Quarries gives practical advice on health and safety controls at opencast mines, alluvial mines and quarries. The Quarry Essentials Pocket Guide summarises information on some of the key health and safety issues in quarries. It should be read in conjunction with the Good Practice Guideline on Health and Safety at Opencast Mines, Alluvial Mines and Quarries. Both guides are pdfs and downloadable on the WorkSafe website. www.business.govt.nz/worksafe/
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Q&M February - March 2016 29
T E C H N O L O G Y
Should I seal? A chance meeting between a Downer scientist and a weatherman has led to road sealing success. GARETH THOMAS explains.
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he technical team at Downer-owned Road Science had cracked it. After several years of laboratory testing in Mount Maunganui, specialists developed their own emulsified bitumen. It does everything the researchers wanted it to do. It can be applied at lower temperatures than hot or cutback bitumen, it adheres to chip better than other products, and health and safety is improved for the roading gangs. But there was one vital ingredient missing. How would the risk of run-off in bad weather be managed? “We felt that after six years of development we’d solved every problem except one. And that one was the fact that bitumen emulsion is a water-based system. And in a water-based world you’re always going to have the possibility of rain catching you out,” says Road Science technical manager John Vercoe. The problem was solved by being in the right place at the right time. “I was attending a conference in Nelson and we had a stand there. And just by sheer luck the stand next to us was MetService,” recalls John. He was baffled by the appearance of the state-owned enterprise at a roading conference. A brief discussion with
30 www.contrafed.co.nz Q&M
the man from MetService, Peter Fisher, revealed how weather forecasting was being used in a programme for the deployment of de-icing chemicals on Arthur’s Pass. That piece of enlightening information proved to be inspirational for John. “Suddenly I thought ... maybe we could use the same concept for our bitumen emulsion because right at that same time I was struggling to solve this last problem of wash-off,” he says.
Weather prediction programme A partnership between MetService and Downer was born and a new online weather forecasting tool was created. They called it Should I Seal, or SIS. “We gave the Downer contract managers access to SIS. They are all currently using it as a way to plan their work,” says Road Science product development manager Anna D’Angelo. “They would look at this tool to see whether it is safe to use and work with the bitumen emulsion. We developed the tool to avoid the risk of wash-off. The risk when using bitumen emulsion is that if it rains after it has been applied there is the risk of this brown water wash-off,” she says.
Environmental factors To understand the tool and its uses you could think of it as an intelligent weather forecaster. It is, plus much more. Researchers have developed an algorithm to factor in temperature, humidity and the possibility of rain’s effect on bitumen. SIS is designed specifically for roading contractors and gives more control to the sealing teams. Today all Downer contract managers charged with laying chipseal with bitumen emulsion are armed with the SIS portal on their smartphone or tablet. Another advantage of Should I Seal includes smoother workflow for the crews. “They’re using it as a way to plan. They can use it as a way to order the product and decide also which site they are going to seal,” according to Anna. Feedback on the forecasting technology from the foremen is positive, following initial hesitation from some Downer roading gangs. “We had very good support from them and they had asked us to improve the tool. The other step was to roll it out to the rest of the Downer people. “At the beginning some people were sceptical and they kept looking at other tools, such as forecasts which are only weather. But soon they realised our tool, SIS, was not just a weather forecast but a product-based forecast. “It says when to go out, how much to spray, and what product to spray on a particular day, and at what particular time,” says Anna.
THE HYDRAULIC HOSE SPECIALISTS REDUCE DOWNTIME, INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY
Curing time is the key
At this stage SIS is only used by Downer. Its competitors are using conventional weather forecasting. Although they could choose to develop the technology to match SIS, it is estimated it would take them a least a couple of years to perfect a productspecific package with MetService. That gives Downer the edge, says John Vercoe. He says SIS puts the Downer workers in a commanding position. “It tells them absolutely when to stop. Usually they have to stop well before the rain event because the product has to cure WWW.RYCO247.COM and if the humidity is high that curing period could be a number of hours.
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“So automatically it takes out of their calculations the estimate in their head of how long they’re going to have to give themselves before they have to finish,” adds John. The bosses have every confidence in Should I Seal, and their praise of the product is having a ripple effect among the staff. “For young guys coming in they’ve got something to fall back on. In other words if they go out there and spray and they get caught with a wash-off they can also hold it up to the management and say ‘hang on SIS said it was okay to go’,” says John. Downer is not stopping there in its business relationship with MetService. The weather forecaster is said to be excited about Should I Seal because there is potential to develop similar technology for other industries, such as concrete laying or orchard spraying. Road Science and Metservice are already looking to the future. John Vercoe says SIS is just starting and there will be a next generation of the technology. “Most phones have GPS and what we’d like to do for the SIS programme is to automatically know the location of where you’re standing and select the relevant weather forecast station to give the most accurate prediction.” John says by tapping in to the nearest local MetService weather station the accuracy of forecasting for road sealing teams will be even higher. And if that smart solution is not captivating enough, the next step might involve using mobile weather stations mounted on the back of trucks for pinpoint precision. Q&M
THE HYDRAULIC HOSE SPECIALISTS REDUCE DOWNTIME, INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY
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CALL , CONNECT & GO Q&M February - March 2016 31
U P F R O N T
Aggregate News AGGREGATE & QUARRY ASSOCIATION OF NZ
Workers at Christchurch Ready Mix’s Belfast quarry were among the first to see the new health and safety Guidelines after a visit by WorkSafe’s Chief Inspector Extractives, Tony Forster, here with Mark Stevens and Nick Bartley
Welcome to the first edition of Aggregate News for 2016
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hope you have returned with your batteries fully solar-charged for the challenges of another year. Just as the boom lowered on 2015, two significant developments emerged for our industry. I was pleased to represent the AQA at the unveiling of WorkSafe’s long-awaited Good Practice Guidelines. This is the first-ever specific document on health and safety for quarrying and opencast mining. At 262 pages, it’s not a quick flick read – and nor should it be. Our industry has as many complexities as there are chips in a mound of M4. We need a comprehensive set of guidelines to provide the necessary assurance to ourselves and our workmates that we will all go home every evening. That said, a pocketbook has also been put together by WorkSafe. This acknowledges that a simpler document is demanded for on-site use. See over coverage of the Guidelines on page 34. There was also the announcement in December that CoC renewals and requirements for people in new roles to have new competencies will now be extended until 31 December 2016. In our last edition, we carried some clear messages from WorkSafe’s chief inspector Tony Forster of this looming change. It is pleasing to see that industry concerns are being heeded by government. Few, if any, of us want to drag the chain on improving health and safety but the timeframes have to be workable. The CoC changes are reported on page 34.
32 www.aqa.org.nz
Another change bedding in this year is NZTA’s Greenroads initiative. This means projects over $15 million going through a detailed business case will need to show Brian Roche their environmental and sustainability outcomes. Obviously this is the start of something with profound ramifications for our industry and we report on Greenroads on page 33. Local councils were our first road builders and today many councils still own land which was or is used for quarrying. With the new Health and Safety at Work Act due to become law from April, councils are looking at what the new legislation means for them and some are turning to quarries for advice and remedial work. See our story on page on Page 35. And we start an occasional series about women in our industry. In this edition, we meet Road Metals’ first full-time health and safety manager. Amanda Burke hails from south of Dublin and she’s winning hearts and minds in Canterbury. See page 36. Let’s start 2016 by using all that fresh energy a summer break generates to put new determination into our most important requirement; that we all live to see another Christmas holiday. Keep safe, Brian
AQA Board Chair Brian Roche, Ravensdown
Deputy Chair Jayden Ellis, Stevensons Construction Materials
Board Members Andrea Cave Winstone Aggregates
Mike Higgins Isaac Construction
Tony Hunter Blackhead Quarries
Bruce Taylor Fulton Hogan
Brett Swain Southern Screenworks
Technical Committee Chair Stacy Goldsworthy Green Vision Recycling
Greg Arnold Road Science
Jayden Ellis Stevensons Construction Materials
Alan Stevens Civil Contractors
David Morgan Winstone Aggregates
Brett Beatson Ready Mixed Concrete Association
Aggregate & Quarry Association of NZ PO Box 32 019, Maungaraki, Lower Hutt, 5050 Chief Executive Roger Parton tel 04 568 9123 fax 04 568 2780 email office@aqa.org.nz web www.aqa.org.nz
NZTA is working with the Mingha Bluff realignment project near Arthur’s Pass to gain certification as an early Greenroads demonstration project.
Green light go for Greenroads
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he NZ Transport Agency is about to roll out its Greenroads initiative, requiring projects over $15 million to become Greenroads certified by demonstrating their environmental and sustainability outcomes. Vanessa Browne from the New Zealand Transport Agency says the requirement for Greenroads certification will be applied to all projects going through detailed business case stage from mid-2015. Traditional roading tenders, with separate contracts for design and construction, will not be affected at this point. Greenroads is a roading specific initiative that provides a collection of sustainability best practices for the design and construction stages of any roading project and awards points for achieving these on a project. The final score is independently certified providing a measure of the environmental sustainability of a project. Already adopted in other countries including the US and Canada, Greenroads is now being introduced to New Zealand. ISCA, the Infrastructure Sustainability Council of Australia, offers a similar process which has been available since 2012. Browne says the principal reason for the new initiative is to measure and demonstrate the environmental and social outcomes state highway projects deliver and to provide a benchmark relative to our statutory approvals and against international practice. Projects gain points for implementing particular criteria such as the use of recycled or local materials and the reusing of pavement structure. Projects can gain Bronze, Silver, Gold or Evergreen Greenroads certification depending on the number of credits achieved. Transmission Gully was the first major New Zealand project required to achieve a Silver Greenroads certification as part of its contract conditions. The Transport Agency is also working with the SH73 Arthur’s Pass (Mingha Bluff realignment) project to gain certification as an early demonstration project. Stacy Goldsworthy of Green Vision Recycling says the aggregate and quarry industry needs to take on board the drive for more sustainability that is already in place for roading projects in other parts of the developed world. “In New Zealand we have lagged behind in regards to the construction and demolition waste chain of supply and the processes in place to drive more recycling. We are only beginning to implement it here.” Greenroads certification may be the latest initiative to be implemented in New Zealand but it is only one in a series of emerging requirements on sustainability which commenced with the Waste Minimisation Act 2008. Real opportunities are seen by Goldsworthy for the quarrying sector in using more marginal and recycled materials and more locally produced materials. He suggests that contractors need to start putting in place processes and procedures so they can take advantage of the emerging Greenroads tender attributes.
www.aqa.org.nz February - March 2016 33
MinEx chair Chris Baker, left, AQA chair, Brian Roche, right and WorkSafe’s Tony Forster marked the launch of the new Guidelines at Ready Mix Christchurch’s Belfast quarry.
Pike River connections to new quarry guidelines
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week after November’s fifth Pike River disaster anniversary, WorkSafe released the new health and safety guidelines for quarrying and opencast mines. The loss of 29 men at Pike River saw a resulting Taskforce on Workplace Health and Safety set the challenge; for the quarrying sector and others, that means eliminating fatalities and a 25 percent improvement in performance by 2020. WorkSafe’s Tony Forster told those attending the launch of the Guidelines that a few days earlier he’d been at the Pike River commemoration. He would present copies of the Guidelines to some of those bereaved by the mine disaster to show them that another step had been taken towards preventing any further such avoidable tragedy.
AQA chair Brian Roche was among those attending the launch. “These documents are a victory for commonsense,” he said. The Guidelines provide a knowledge base that is entirely applicable to the quarry sector and opencast mines. MinEx chief executive Les McCracken acknowledged the contribution made by AQA’s Brian Roche and Mike Higgins to the new Guidelines. He said after four quarrying fatalities in 2015 the Guidelines provided the opportunity to start creating some good news on health and safety. E Tu union’s Ged O’Connell said after the harrowing experience of Pike River the Guidelines were part of the hope of an enduring legacy of better health and safety in all workplaces.
Guidelines are a first
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he Good Practice Guidelines provide the first-ever, high standard industry-specific document on how to make quarries, opencast and alluvial mines safe workplaces. At the core of the Guidelines is the belief that every fatality and serious injury in a workplace is a tragedy and is avoidable. To their credit, many quarries and open cast and alluvial mines already follow best practice; many others need to pick up the pace and the Guidelines provide a long-awaited resource. The Guidelines reflect the huge effort by WorkSafe and MinEx, with strong support from AQA, Straterra, Civil Contractors and the industry, to improve training and get all operators to recognise the new health and safety regime that is now demanded. From April, the new Health and Safety at Work Act takes effect. The Guidelines are among a series of sector documents being produced by WorkSafe to support the new legislation. Quarry operators can refer to the Guidelines which use text, photos and graphics to convey
34 www.aqa.org.nz
Year’s extension on new CoC requirements
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ust weeks before new Certificates of Competence (CoC) requirements were due to take effect, WorkSafe announced that people in safety-critical roles in quarrying, mining and operations would have longer to meet the new competency requirements. An amendment to the Health and Safety in Employment (Mining Operations and Quarrying Operations) Regulations 2013 means existing Certificates of Competence which would have expired on 31 December 2015 are now extended until 31 December 2016. Also, without the amendment, people in new roles established by the 2013 regulations would have needed new competencies by 1 January 2016. They will now have until 1 January 2017. In making the expected announcement, Tony Forster said WorkSafe had received consistent feedback that the 31 December 2015 date was putting too much pressure on the industry. “This is the right outcome to enable all safety-critical role-holders to complete the necessary training and evaluation, and should set up the industry for a safe and successful future.”
Both the new Guidelines and the handy Pocket Guide include plenty of graphics to explain the best health and safety practices.
all aspects of how to operate safely. There’s also a Pocket Guide alternative.
Where to get your Guidelines and Pocket Guides Copies of the Good Practice Guidelines are available on request from WorkSafe – 0800 030 040 or info@worksafe.govt.nz. Or download from http://tinyurl.com/j7wf3g9 Download the Pocket Guide from http://tinyurl.com/zybojdf.
Pioneering days leave health & safety legacy Councils around the country may face some 21st century risks from much earlier practices. Aggregate News editor Brendon Burns reports.
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s settlers tumbled across the New Zealand landscape in the 19th century, the demand for aggregate was their ballast. Local county councils opened and operated hundreds of small quarries and gravel pits across New Zealand. Often these were sited no more than the distance a horse and cart could pull a load of aggregate to help with forming roads, home or farm building sites. Fast-forward to late 2015. The new Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 was passed in September. There are a raft of new responsibilities and liabilities passed to a PCBU – a Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking. Many councils still own land on which quarries are sited; some even operate quarries. In June 2015, Murray Taylor died in a limestone quarry collapse at Waikari in North Canterbury. He was operating the quarry without the appropriate certificate but it was leased from the Hurunui District Council, based at Amberley. Aggregate News has been told the Waikari tragedy caused a number of local authorities to intensify their focus on the liabilities they might face as quarry site owners. “This tragedy has awoken landowners, including councils, to the risks and liabilities they face as quarry site owners,” says a quarry source, who previously worked for a council. Local Government NZ president Lawrence Yule says he has not heard of councils applying any more urgency to reviewing their potential liabilities with quarries.
Lawrence Yule: Councils may face some health and safety liabilities if they own quarries.
Yule says councils already have a range of responsibilities for quarrying under the law, including RMA permits for extraction from riverbeds. He acknowledges that there may be health and safety implications for councils that own quarry sites where an accident happens. He says the Waikari death was a terrible accident and he preferred not comment on the ramifications from that while investigations continued. His own council, Hastings District, not only owns a number of quarry sites but also operates a quarry itself at Poukawa. Under the new legislation, PCBUs can face fines of up to
$600,000 and five years in jail for recklessly ignoring health and safety requirements. Yule says if his council staff have any concerns about their potential exposure as quarry owners to the new Health and Safety legislation, it hasn’t reached him. “Nobody has raised a big red flag to me yet.” He said a lot of old quarries developed by councils many years before will have been sold or become disused. WorkSafe’s chief inspector extractives, Tony Forster, says its High Hazards Unit (HHU) is well advanced in developing a national quarries locations database. This will be the first such comprehensive list of quarry sites. He says this will enable the HHU to differentiate between quarry operations that have notified WorkSafe as required under the 2013 Regulations and those sites apparently flying under the radar. A quarry site verification exercise will then be carried out across New Zealand. “The new Act lays out responsibilities and obligations. Good operators will be at that level now and the new Act will not mean a great deal of change. But what the Act does do for others who are not there yet is identify very clearly what they need to do to ensure the operations and their workers are healthy and safe while they’re at work,” Forster said. “That’s an outcome we all want.” It is understood from some in the quarry sector that there may be hundreds of former quarry sites across New Zealand in varying states of repair. Some may be council-owned, others vested in council by government agencies. Some quarry operators are now working with councils to remediate sites to reduce quarry walls to more acceptable slopes or fill in water pits. This work has increased since the new Health and Safety legislation emerged two years ago – and intensified since the Waikari tragedy on a council-owned site. Some former quarries are able to be left as they are; others need remediation. Yule says LGNZ has had concerns about the issues for councils raised by the new Health and Safety legislation and was active in the Select Committee process. LGNZ’s submission on the legislation does not, however make any reference to what liabilities might ensue for councils that leased or owned quarry sites. The principal concern expressed centred around councillors not being exposed to workplace safety liabilities. Yule says LGNZ is seeking a meeting with WorkSafe to discuss the new, emerging regulations, including those for quarries, which will support the new legislation.
This lime quarry in North Canterbury where Murray Taylor died last June, is owned by the local council.
www.aqa.org.nz February - March 2016 35
Health and safety – to be sure It’s a long way from the rolling hills of Carlow south of Dublin to a Canterbury quarry, but that’s the journey for Amanda Burke, a young Irish woman who has recently become Road Metals first fulltime health and safety manager.
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manda Burke is but one signal of the increasing importance quarry and aggregate companies are putting on health and safety. Amanda had worked in construction administration in Ireland before a move to Perth, West Australia some years ago to work for Sandvik Mining which imports and assembles some of those giant machines that are used in Australian mining. She trained in health and safety and was posted – three weeks on, one off – in the Pilbara region. When she finished nearly three years up there, Amanda was health and safety advisor on a mine with 150 employees. The day started with a compulsory breathalyser test (for alcohol – random drug tests were used for other substances.) Then there was a pre-work 15-minute meeting on the work for the day and the safety issues involved. Some of the issues included the extreme weather (49 degrees Celsius was the hottest she experienced), the need to drink lots of fluids and always keep on protective gear. Amanda has imported some of her learnings to the multiple sites she now oversees for 120 Road Metals staff working from north of Christchurch to Oamaru and across to Central
Otago. The principal quarries are at Yaldhurst, Waimakariri and Rolleston. Monthly ‘Toolbox’ safety meetings are held on every site with a focus on a particular safety topic such as general housekeeping, safe driving practices, blind spots or the need to have a fire extinguisher at hand if doing welding or grinding. There are forms in the Toolbox which allow staff to make direct contact with Amanda if they feel uncomfortable raising issues with a supervisor. Staff are encouraged to report a minor cut or scrape or something that leaves them feeling uncomfortable. “We stress the importance of letting us know about minor things because the next time it could be more serious,” she says. “And we are getting hazards being reported, so that’s encouraging.” Amanda acknowledges that there have been one or two encounters with men who state that they’ve been doing something for years and haven’t yet been hurt. In that respect she says New Zealand is no different to Australia or Ireland. With the new legislation coming into play, she’s able to point out that liability does not end with an employer and can impact on them personally. “If you don’t have your work
Amanda Burke, whose Irish eyes are smiling at Road Metals staff.
boots on, you can be fined.” She sees the legislation as providing the reinforcement for the necessary attitudinal and awareness changes. “Most people don’t know that they are doing anything wrong. We need to work with them so they can get it right.” Road Metals managing director Murray Francis said while Amanda was not the first to carry out a health and safety role for the company, she was the first fulltime person in that capacity. “I didn’t want a policeman. Amanda’s getting very good participation from the staff. I’ve even got some hardened people saying she’s great to work with. That’s what I needed – employee participation.” Murray says the appointment reinforces the importance the company attaches to health and safety. For Amanda, the connection to Kiwi workers includes her partner, Philip Godfrey, whom she met in the Pilbara. She’s now seeking residency here.
Farewell to a man with mana AQA chair Brian Roche told departing WorkSafe Chief Inspector Extractives Tony Forster that he had earned considerable mana during his time in the job. At a farewell lunch in Auckland, Brian Roche presented the Scotsman, who returned to the UK in January, with a ceremonial toki or adze which he said was carried by someone in the tribe with mana. “Mana means more than just respect in the Maori language; it also means a holder of knowledge, leadership and values – and it is earned,” said Brian Roche. The Toki is made of pounamu or greenstone which is mainly found on the South Island’s West Coast, also home of Pike River which was the sad catalyst that brought Tony Forster to New Zealand. 36 www.aqa.org.nz
From left: Brian Roche, Tony Forster and IOQ NZ president Les Ward at farewell lunch to mark Tony’s departure back to the UK.
“We are very happy to see that recently you have become a fellow of the IOQ. I am sure that even if this toki is not always in sight it will take you a while to forget us back here in New Zealand,” said Brian Roche.
UPDATES FROM AQA:
Technical Committee report
Auckland Transport •A T has said its revised standards for road-building materials will be released early this year (expected first quarter 2016). • Working with the AQA, AT has made good progress on incorporating recycled materials into the network, although environmental requirements are still under negotiation. • Now it’s hoped AT will shift focus onto the more general requirements of the road pavements and surfacing chapter in the code. • The current AT code does not provide standards on recycling materials but does indicate what AT considers to have recycling potential, including crushed concrete, re-processed waste aggregates, subgrade, glass sand, millings, as well as industrial by-products such as slag from asphalt. AT has also indicated that it may allow recycled asphalt pavement mixes as already permitted by NZTA. M/4 •N o further progress on statistical acceptance. AQA will try to help progress this to meet the March 2016 target. NPTG • Met at the end of November. • T/19 Notes (Specification for Indirect Tensile Strength Testing of Modified and Bound Pavement Materials) had some final changes made before handing over to NZTA. • There was discussion whether compaction targets for construction should be based on maximum dry density or solid density, reflecting current industry opinion. Solid density is a more consistent parameter and is relatively inexpensive to test so may end up being the preferred method. Work is still ongoing. AQA Technical Committee • We have been reviewing our terms of reference and the five-year plan. • We agreed to publish technical papers, aiming for two each year, similar to the papers published by the Cement and Concrete Association (CCANZ). Some ideas have come in already, more are welcome. AQA will aim to work with the Civil Engineering Testing Association of NZ (CETANZ) on testing issues as it is regularly performing round-robin studies of aggregate testing. Stacy Goldsworthy & Jayden Ellis, with input from Mike Chilton, (Technical Committee).
Wine, vintage aircraft – and a conference Mark your calendars and book early for our 2016 QuarryNZ conference ‘Sound, Safe and Solid’, being held in Blenheim from July 13-15. It promises to be a cracker. Blenheim is the main centre of Marlborough, which with its 23,000 hectares of vineyards, produces about 75% of our wine exports. Blenheim is also home to the world-renowned Omaka Aviation Centre, where displays of WWI aircraft have been made by Sir Peter Jackson’s Weta Workshops. He owns several of the planes A World War Two wing is now under construction – and we will be one of the first to see it with us hosting one of our conference events there! Marlborough is also home to several quarries and Neil Kydd who manages one of them for Fulton Hogan is the local conference organiser, supported by an AQA committee and our conference organiser Malcolm Blakey from ICM Events. If you are interested in being a conference speaker, know of one or have a topic that you would like to hear – please email Andrea.Cave@gbcwinstone.co.nz
The Aggregate & Quarry Association appreciates the support of our associate members
www.aqa.org.nz February - March 2016 37
E M P L O Y M E N T
s p i t 0 1for landing
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arget realistic jobs: Employers are becoming more T impatient with candidates who apply for a role that they are not suitable for. In 2016 it is therefore important to be realistic in the roles you consider, and clearly demonstrate your suitability for a role based upon your experience.
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romote yourself: You need to go outside your comfort P zone and promote yourself on social media to get ahead in 2016. A LinkedIn account will not be enough if you are not active online – so like, post, share and comment on relevant content, ask for endorsements, be active in relevant groups and showcase examples of your work and achievements.
What will it take to be the winning candidate and land a top job in 2016? According to recruiting experts Hays disrupting your CV, being open to freelancing and getting outside your comfort zone to promote yourself online are just three ways to aid your 2016 job search.
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S tudy relevant qualifications: Keep up-to-date with industry developments. If you need to undertake training make sure it’s the right training. In every industry there are certain qualifications that employers value above others. So make sure you do your research and work towards the qualifications that employers actually value.
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e a change agent: In our increasingly technologically B sophisticated world of work it’s inevitable that significant changes lie ahead. Employers are starting to look for candidates with an appetite for change, so in 2016 make sure you are known for driving innovation, integrating technology and learning best practice from others in order to make informed changes to the way business is done.
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S ize doesn’t matter: If you choose not to hide your LinkedIn connections, be aware that employers can make assumptions about you based on the quality of your online connections. For many employers, the value you can bring to their business is an important consideration in their hiring decision. Your connections should show potential employers that you are associated with people relevant to your field, which can be a powerful endorsement of your reach.
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earn to cope with rejection: Highly-skilled professionals L are in high demand, but that doesn’t mean employers will leap at the first candidate they find. As well as the required technical skills you need to have the right industry background and cultural fit, which means it could take a few applications before you find the right role for you. Don’t take the rejection personally.
a top job
“H
aving the right qualifications, skills and experience are no longer enough to land a top job,” says Jason Walker, managing director of Hays in New Zealand. “You need to be willing to integrate digital and social media into your job search. You need to be relevant by targeting realistic jobs, studying relevant qualifications and building a relevant network of connections. An appetite for change and for freelancing will also help your career advance in the year ahead,” he says. According to Hays, your 2016 job search could run much smoother with these tips:
1
2 3
isrupt your CV: We’ve all heard of digital disruption, D so think about how you could ‘disrupt’ your CV and add a digital element to it. While a traditional CV remains the accepted way to show you have the necessary skills and experience for the role, you could add a link to a website, video or blog post that profiles digital examples of your work or demonstrates your expertise in a particular area. Adding such links at the end of your CV will help you stand out – provided they are relevant to the role you have applied for. lign your online and offline CVs: Hiring managers will A research you online, so make sure the CV you submit matches your online profile. Any discrepancies throw up a red flag. At the very least you’ll be asked some hard questions in the interview, and at worst your CV will be removed from consideration. e open to freelancing: Expect the number of contract and B temporary assignments to continue to surge ahead. With employers looking for flexible headcounts and jobseekers looking to expand their industry experience and networks, freelancing is an option worth considering.
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Stay on top of a recruiter’s talent list: There are a few simple ways to stay at the top of your recruiter’s talent list. These include keeping your recruiter informed by updating them if your circumstances change, following their advice, and keeping your word. So if you say you’re only interested in permanent work then decline an interview for a more lucrative contract role your credibility with your recruiter will take a hit. Similarly, trust your recruiter and don’t go over their head to contact an employer direct. Q&M
• Hays is a recruiting specialist in qualified, professional and skilled people. For further information please contact Jason Walker, managing director of Hays in New Zealand, on jason.walker@hays.net.nz or 09 375 9424. 38 www.contrafed.co.nz Q&M
I N N O V A T I O N S
The early warning signs of surface subsidence Malfunctioning machinery may be a warning sign for subsidence issues on excavation sites, according to ground engineering specialist Mainmark. Often overlooked, yet easy to address, subsidence can cause costly downtime and production bottlenecks if not identified early. “Minor variances in ground level caused by subsidence can have a significant and costly impact on the smooth running of site machinery. Machinery malfunction is often attributed to poor quality or shoddy equipment when in fact, the problem may be a result of misaligned parts caused by ground subsidence,” says Tom Bailey from Mainmark. Subsidence refers to the gradual caving in or sinking of an area of land. The most common causes of subsidence on a surface mine include drainage issues (caused by broken pipework or gradient that inhibits surface water run-off), poor compacted fill and mechanical vibrations that wear down the ground. Subsidence causes machinery parts to change configuration, placing unnecessary stress on equipment and conveyor belts. Early signs of machinery misalignment include: Unusual noise from the machinery; abnormal wear and tear, particularly on conveyor belts due to additional impact; and excessive wear on machinery paths and bases, as a result of excessive vibrations that cause them to sink. “Sustained over a period of time, this may cause the equipment to break down. The result is expensive repair and maintenance, decreased productivity and, in some cases, safety risks,” says Bailey. Addressing subsidence before machinery fails is recommended for minimising the costs of downtime, and with modern ground engineering
techniques, can be easier and quicker than many anticipate. “Resin injection technology, such as Mainmark’s Uretek solution, is a proven, convenient, efficient and cost-effective alternative to traditional ground-support techniques, such as underpinning. This method injects resin into fractured, broken or unstable rock and soils at high pressure to consolidate and re-stabilise the ground,” he says. Fast-set resin injection can be applied in-situ with minimal interruption to site operations. Depending on the scope of work, a project may be completed in a matter of days and performed outside of programmed maintenance shutdown periods allowing for flexible scheduling.
Case study A Queensland coal mine appointed Mainmark to re-level a rail-mounted reclaimer. One of the rail’s footing beams had sunk, causing the crane to malfunction and limiting access to coal stocks. Due to leaking water pipes, the rail footing deflected under load, causing the slab joint to sink. Mainmark’s expanding structural resin, Uretek, was injected under the rail footing beam to re-support and re-level it. The engineered resins combine chemically on entering the ground. The process is monitored by laser level to maintain control and deliver a precise result. In just three days, Mainmark re-levelled and re-supported the crane rail and supporting beam, facilitating access to a significant stock of export coal. To learn more, visit www.mainmark.com, or call 1800 623 312. Q&M February - March 2016 39
I N N O V A T I O N S
Hella accolade
Mimico agent for Moxy trucks Mimico is now the Moxy distributor; selling and servicing the Moxy MDT30 and Moxy MDT40 that have just arrived in New Zealand. The Moxy ADT, with its unique forward-mounted turning ring, sloping rear frame and free-swinging tandem bogie, has stability that’s hard to match. “Moxy brings an increased level of innovation to the productivity game,” says James MacPhee, Mimico’s general manager. “In every weight category, the Moxy ADT leads the industry with its superior body capacity. It’s designed to work in tough conditions and travel over 50 kilometres per hour. Add to this its sure-footed traction in rough terrain and a quick-unloading tailgate and you get an ADT that delivers more, any way you look at it.” Moxy was one of the first brands distributed by Mimico.
Hella was rewarded with the prestigious 2016 Global Media Award at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas for its new LED Light Bar 350. The SEMA Global Media Awards Program recognises companies that manufacture specialty equipment products and accessories that have proven popular with users in countries outside the United States. The products are voted on by a group of 34 international journalists who serve as judges and represent 19 countries. The slim and powerful LED Light Bar is the first such product with a body manufactured entirely from thermally conductive plastics. This innovative non corrosive, ceramic based polymer is precision injection moulded to form the body of the hermetically sealed lamp, which is very resistant to degradation – even in very demanding environmental conditions. Due to its light weight of only 700 grams and slim profile, this streamline light bar is ideal for applications where low weight and aerodynamic styling are essential.
Virtual speed cameras Taranaki Civil Construction has a fleet of over 120 vehicles and assets, working in remote parts of the region. To handle steady growth it had to manage its entire fleet using one system, for servicing, billing, and verifying the location of its vehicles and assets. Doing a lot of work for the oil and gas industry means working with consent conditions, such as restricted hours and reduced speeds. To monitor driving behaviour the contractor installed EROAD units in around 120 vehicles (40 percent of which travel on roads, and the other 60 percent is made up of graders, excavators and other construction equipment). The company’s operations manager, Scott Foreman, says he can now track the entire fleet and asset range using
EROAD’s web application and a mobile device. To schedule services, WOFs and COFs he uses EROAD’s Service module. The company chose an open forum to implement EROAD Over Speed and Idle reports, to educate drivers about exactly what they were being used for and why, and ensure their buy-in. Says Taranaki Civil Construction director Simon Mulligan that installing a single, umbrella system has delivered significant additional benefits including cost savings, in less than a year. “Cash flow has been significantly improved by reducing the amount of RUC purchased by up to 50 percent at a time.” Addressing idling habits has been key to reducing costs, too, he adds.
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articulated dump trucks Built for the long run
Bell’s articulated dump trucks excel in productivity and economy thanks to their high power-to-weight ratios and fuel-efficiency. Add comfort to the list, and you have a machine that gives you excellent all-around performance.
210714_Bell_Articulated
Building on the success of the Bell D-Series ADT’s CablePrice is excited to now offer the world class E-series ADT’s in B25E and B30E range. CablePrice
and Bell Equipment continues offering the B40, and B50D to those clients needing some extra muscle for the big jobs. With the broad range of ADT’s on offer from CablePrice and Bell, we are sure to have the right ADT solution for your business For more information contact CablePrice on 0800 555 456 or visit www.cableprice.co.nz.
Model:
Bell B25E ADT
Bell B30E ADT
Bell B40D ADT
Bell B50D ADT
Gross Power:
205 Kw (275 hp)
240 KW (322 hp)
315 KW (422 hp)
390 KW (523 hp)
Gross Torque:
1,000 Nm (826 lbft)
1,300 Nm (959 lbft)
2,000 Nm (1,473 lbft)
2,200 Nm (1,622 lbft)
Rated Payload:
24,000 kg (52,911 lbs)
28,000 kg (61,729 lbs)
37,000 kg (81,571 lbs)
45,400 kg (100,090 lbs)
0800 555 456 sales@cableprice.co.nz www.cableprice.co.nz