Q&M Jun-Jul 2014

NEW ZEALAND QUARRYING & MINING Volume 11 - No 3 | June - July 2014 | $8.95

New Bell ADT wows them

The latest Bell articulated dump truck from CablePrice has been a big hit

BACK TO THE FUTURE Roctec’s VSI project echoes the 1970s

PROFILING AN INDUSTRY VETERAN Catching up with Russell Vickers at work and home

U P F R O N T

Q&M June - July 2014 1

C O N T E N T S

NEW ZEALAND QUARRYING & MINING Volume 11 - No 3 | June - July 2014 | $8.95

INSIDE UPFRONT

14

4 Editorial 6-10 N ews, views, comments, and reports from across the quarrying and mining sectors FEATURES

11 Legal – A trap when paying salaries 14 Profile: Catch up with Russell Vickers 18 QuarryNZ 2014 – Northern giants beckon 20 Mining – From the mining sector 22 Technology – Back to the future with Rocktec 28 Wheels in the workplace 32 Technical – Protecting mining pump integrity 34 Workplace safety – Risk management too soft

22

COMMENT

36 Andy Loader – Why OSH practitioners should be certified 37 Netta Burnside ON THE COVER

12

New Bell ADT wows them

WRAP UP

39-40 40

Innovations

28

Advertisers Index

ON THE COVER: The latest Bell ADT (articulated dump truck) from CablePrice has been a big hit at live demonstrations throughout the country.

See story page 12

40 Q&M June - July 2014 3

F R O M

T H E

E D I T O R

NEW ZEALAND QUARRYING & MINING

Passing the buck At the risk of re-trumpeting a favourite theme of mine, and in honour of this year’s quarry conference, I want to remind readers, that the extractive industry was responsible for separating us from the rest of the animal kingdom by paving the road of ‘civilisation’ and starting the march of mankind. If there is a God; it operates a rock crusher.

We did not get past the ‘ape’ phase without handmade tools made from aggregates.

And we did not get past this Palaeolithic phase without the production of aggregate to make walls and fortifications to keep the wild out, and the civilised in.

From the earliest stone masonry and corrals made out of field stones, to the Roman invention of concrete and paving; the refining of chip and concrete for the first European autobahns and American highway systems; the building of towering skyscrapers; and the mining of minerals essential for every electronic device on the planet – the extractive industry has been at the forefront of every advance in mankind.

Please don’t forget it, as there is not a politician or statesmen, a military general, or poet laureate that can get out of bed tomorrow and face the new day without you.

While I was away from the office having a quick lunch, ironically proofing the workplace safety stories in this issue, my name was pulled out of a hat and, by the time I got back to my desk, I was the workplace emergency warden, armed with a WW11 era armband with the single word ‘warden’ and a book of instructions and duties (but no training) from a company obviously contracted by the building’s owners to look after the emergency evacuation procedures of all the tenants.

The timing of this ‘press ganged’ responsibility could not have been more instructive, as the new Health and Safety Reform Bill moves through the corridors of power in Wellington and towards becoming law in April 2015.

As we have already mentioned in this magazine, this bill defines ‘duties’ of all parties in a workplace and aims to put more onus and legal requirements on managers and company directors to manage risks and keep their workers safe. It also demands greater worker/employee participation in workplace health and safety matters. It has its own definition of ‘responsibility’ in the workplace and invents another acronym – PCBU – or ‘person in charge of a business or undertaking’, and it will be the core duty of a ‘PCBU’ to ensure the health and safety of downstream workers, contractors and subcontractors so far as is ‘reasonably practicable’. Fines for breaches range from $20,000 to $250,000 (if you are caught recklessly driving through a red traffic light in this country, the most you can be fined is $150).

What concerns me is how ‘responsibility’ and care of unpaid duty has been passed from those who are paid to look after our safety in the workplace to the shoulders of the very folks at risk, in a classic, Kiwi ‘pass-the-buck’ approach. Then there’s the definition of ‘responsibility’, ‘person in charge of a business or undertaking’ and ‘as reasonably practicable’ – are they too vague for the courts and our employment legislation?

Threats of large punitive fines for the government coffers flies in the face of New Zealand’s endemic Accident Compensation Corporation model, which is founded on the principle of ‘no blame’ and the abolition of our common law right to sue for damages as a result of an accident.

Does the bill place too much faith in ‘honesty box’ policing, blaming, and punishment after the accident? Once a workplace injury or death has occurred. No fine, whatever size, is going to bring the dead back.

It also concerns me that this new obligatory responsibility for the welfare of others is not mirrored outside the workplace, where your chances of being involved in an accident, in the face of civil recklessness, are a thousands times more likely.

Meantime, keep on digging while I swat up on my new warden responsibilities and take down the poster above my desk that says ‘stay calm and grow a moustache’.

Alan Titchall, Editor

Q&M covers news, views and trends from the extractive industries, along with features on projects and people in the industry.

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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 NZ Contractors’ Federation www.nzcontractors.co.nz Roading New Zealand www.roadingnz.org.nz NZ Ready Mixed Concrete Association www.nzrmca.org.nz InfraTrain New Zealand www.infratrain.co.nz ISSN 0110-1382

4 June - July 2014 Q&M

U P F R O N T

A journey of remembrance On Easter Saturday this year 58 vehicles from the New Zealand Military Vehicles Collectors’ Club travelled in convoy into the Martha open pit in Waihi with 281 people on board. This was more than just a ride into the pit. For the descendants of men from the World War One New Zealand Tunnelling Company who left the mine to tunnel under enemy lines almost 100 years ago it was a journey of reflection and remembrance.

Each vehicle carried the name of a tunneller who had worked at the Martha or Grand Junction mine, and many of their descendants made a lengthy journey to Waihi to be part of the event.

The event was a partnership between GO Waihi, Newmont Waihi Gold, Macmahon Contractors, Waihi Gold Mines Rescue, Waihi Heritage Vision and the NZ Military Vehicle Collectors’ Club, with several mine staff and contractors giving up part of their Easter break to prepare the haul road and escort vehicles on site.

Advisory board honour list

Women in mining

There are very familiar names among the extractives industry experts appointed to advise to the WorkSafe New Zealand board on the implementation of a new regulatory framework for mining and tunnelling.

They include Tony Hunter, general manager of Blackhead Quarries who also represents the quarry industry on the MinEx council; Tony King, who spent many years in the coal industry and was the manager of East Mine in Huntly for five years and is currently the chief operating officer at Solid Energy; Les McCracken, ex CEO of MinEx and chairperson of the Governance Group for the review of extractives qualifications and surface mines; and Joe Edwards from McConnell Dowell and immediate past president of the NZ Contractors’ Federation.

They are among the 12 members making up the new Extractives Industry Advisory Group, tasked with advising the WorkSafe NZ board on the effectiveness of the new regulatory environment, the effectiveness of the WorkSafe agency in administering and enforcing the regulations and their governing Act, and to act as a conduit between WorkSafe NZ and the industry.

The advisory group is chaired by Gavin Taylor, who was seconded to the former Department of Labour from the Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines to assist in the setting up of New Zealand’s High Hazards Unit.

The Extractives Advisory Group is one of a number of advisory bodies set up under the WorkSafe New Zealand Act as a way of independently overseeing the effectiveness of the regulatory framework and WorkSafe NZ operations.

The Extractives Industry Advisory Group will have an initial shelf-life of two years, at which time the WorkSafe NZ board will review its effectiveness. Meantime, the group will set its own meeting and information gathering processes and will be provided with appropriate secretariat support by WorkSafe.

In 2012 Women in Mining UK commissioned a three-stage study in association with PwC in London to analyse trends and performances of women on boards and in senior management positions in the global mining industry. One of the key findings was the lack of female role models in the mining sector.

This inspired Women in Mining UK to commission another project called 100 Global Inspirational Women in Mining, which was done in collaboration with women in mining groups from Australia, Canada, South Africa and the US, to find some of the most inspirational women in the global mining industry.

WIM (UK) chair Amanda Van Dyke says the 100 inspiring individuals involved in the industry inspire a new generation of professionals in all walks of the mining industry.

“Those we selected stand out in a number of ways. They have a lasting impact on the industry. They support other women in mining and the communities and environments impacted by the industry.

“We wanted to make sure that regardless of career stage, discipline or jurisdiction, the end result also encapsulated how diverse and high achieving women in our industry are.”

Globally high profile women to make the list were former Anglo American CEO and current BP director Cynthia Carroll, Rio Tinto Alcan CEO Jacynthe Cote and Rio director Vivienne Cox. Not one Kiwi is featured among the 100 chosen but a quarter of the participants work in Australia, with 16 of those employed in mining in Western Australia, many employed with Rio Tinto, which is a sponsor of the publication.

More information: http://womeninmining.org.uk/ Women%20in%20mining_webversion.pdf.

6 June - July 2014 Q&M

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U P F R O N T

Holcim and Lafarge to merge If the plan gets past regulatory hurdles, particularly in Europe, the two largest companies in the cement and aggregates sector will merge.

The boards of Lafarge and Holcim have approved a merger in an all-share deal that will create a construction materials giant with a presence in 90 countries around the globe.

Collectively they will have a total cement capacity of 427 million tonnes (or about 15 percent of global demand), annual aggregates sales of some 348 million tonnes, along with 70 million cubic metres of ready mixed concrete, and estimated annual earnings of US$44 billion.

If approved, the merger will be facilitated by Holcim making an offer to exchange all outstanding Lafarge shares for Holcim shares on a one-to-one ratio. The deal is expected to be completed in the first half of next year.

“After a strategic optimisation of the portfolio through a proactive divestment process, in anticipation of regulatory requirements, LafargeHolcim would occupy complementary positions,” the companies said in a statement, acknowledging they would have to sell businesses to make the transaction acceptable to competition authorities.

“This proposed merger is a once in a lifetime opportunity to deliver substantially better value to customers with more innovation, a wider range of products and solutions and more sustainability and enhanced returns to shareholders,” says Rolf Soiron, chairman of Holcim.

“I am confident that this merger of equals provides a unique opportunity to rapidly create the most advanced platform in our industry with outstanding synergies,” says Bruno Lafont, chairman and CEO of Lafarge.

CALL, CONNECT & GO

Top technician recognised CablePrice/Hitachi will be represented at the Hitachi Top Technician competition finals in Japan in July.

The road to the top for Luke Larson (CablePrice’s North Shore branch), started at home with the regional rounds of the Hitachi top technician competition, which involved more than 11 technicians competing in two rounds, answering a series of technical questions in open book exams, taking place at CablePrice branches around the country.

This year three regional finalists, Chris Futter from Palmerston North, Sam Reece from Greymouth and Luke Larson from Silverdale, went on to compete in the nationals. Luke took out first place and the title of New Zealand’s Hitachi Top Technician and went on to represent CablePrice at the Oceania regional competition in Singapore back in April. Here he took out the top spot again, and secured the coveted title of Oceania’s Hitachi Top Technician. The Oceania competition has been held for the past seven years and CablePrice has taken out the top spot in four of those years. Luke will be the second world finalist from the Silverdale branch.

Q&M magazine congratulates Luke and wishes him the very best at the world finals in July.

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8 June - July 2014 Q&M

Fossil fuels are still key to meeting global energy demand despite growth in renewables says the author of the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) 2012 World Energy Outlook (WEO).

The author of this report, Ian Cronshaw, says, “Global energy demand is forecast to grow by over one-third in the period to 2035, underpinned by rising living standards in emerging economies like China, India and the Middle East.

“According to the IEA New Policy Scenario, global coal use is projected to increase by 21 percent by 2035 compared to 2010.

However, the global energy map is changing with half of all new generation capacity expected to be renewable technologies.”

Cronshaw says the 2012 WEO predicts a resurgence in oil and gas production in some countries, in particular the United States.

“Post-Fukushima the trend away from nuclear continues.

Developments in oil and gas production, combined with a rapid growth in wind and hydro, are having a profound effect on international energy markets.

“Coal remains a cheap and abundant fuel source and continues to play a major role in the global energy mix policymakers face critical choices in reconciling energy, environmental and economic objectives,” he says.

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U P F R O N T

Authorisation of workplaces Andy Loader of First Rock Consultancy and CEO of the Safety Council points to parts of the Health and Safety Reform Bill that operators and employers in the extractive industries should be very aware of.

These cover things that were always implied under the HSE Act, he says, but are now set out in black and white as obligations under this new Bill.

“In my opinion these are going to have a major effect on a lot of small mobile crushing plant operators who may fall under the legal definition of a ‘quarry’, but have no certificated manager to run their operation and may not even realise that they need to have a certificated manager.”

Specifically, these rules relate to Requirements for authorisation of workplaces (Section 55).

Effectively – no one can carry out a business or an undertaking at a workplace, or direct, or allow a worker to carry out work at a workplace, if regulations require the workplace, or class of workplaces, to be authorised and the workplace is not authorised in accordance with any regulations. Anyone who contravenes this rule commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a hefty fine.

This ‘authorisation’ is further defined with regulations relating to plant or substance, and classes of work that require prescribed qualifications or experience.

There are mandatory requirements set out in other pieces of legislation that define the various requirements for authorisations in relation to mines quarries and tunnels, says Andy.

The most important being requirements for managers and deputy managers and those that relate to areas such as hazardous substance locations and approved handlers etc.

“Under the sections of the Reform Bill (sections 55, 56, 57, 58 and 59) there is now an obligation on both PCBUs (person conducting a business or undertaking) and workers to ensure that no work is directed to be undertaken by a PCBU, or undertaken by a worker, unless all required authorisations for the site are in place,” he says.

The maximum fines for breaches in each section range from $20,000 to $250,000.

‘Authorisations,’ Andy points out, can be any of the following: A licence, permit, registration, consent, certificate, or other authority (however described) as required by regulations (and may include things such as resource consents; hazardous substance location certificates; and mining permits).

“Section 56 covers the authorisation around the design of any plant or substance used in the workplace, (and may include things such as mobile plant ROPs, FOPs etc; hazardous substances; and crushing/ processing plant guarding, handrails etc).

“Section 57 relates to authorised persons carrying out work, with an obligation on PCBUs to ensure that they don’t carry out that work when they are not authorised to do so, or that they don’t direct or allow a worker to carry out that work when they do not have the correct authorisations.”

Some examples of authorisations that may be required under Section 57 are around hazardous substances and electrical work.

“There is also a requirement to ensure that workers who don’t hold the required experience or qualifications, or who are not supervised by someone who does hold the required experience and qualifications, don’t carry out any work that requires the prescribed levels of experience and qualifications.

“Section 58 requires that a PCBU does not direct, or allow any worker to carry out such work unless they hold the required experience and qualifications. Examples under this section could be: certificates of competency; approved handler’s certificates; driving licences; licence endorsements; and electrical certification.

“Requirements under section 59 relate to persons complying with the conditions of any authorisation given to that person that are prescribed in, or under, regulations. Examples of authorisations under this section could be: certificates of competency; approved handler’s certificates; controlled substance licence and mining permits.”

Seabed mining another step closer Trans-Tasman Resources (TTR) is a step closer to subsea mining, now the MBIE has granted a permit for the extraction of ironsand from the South Taranaki Bight.

The 20-year permit is the first step in a regulatory process that may allow the company to extract ironsand over a 66 square kilometre area of seabed in the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone off the coast of Patea.

The company now has to gain a Marine Consent from the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to get to the start line, and that application was made in early May. A decision from the authority is expected this month (June).

TTR’s chief, Tim Crossley, says the company would not have progressed the project if it hadn’t been confident that it could manage the associated effects and risks with the project.

However, the granting of the final mining permit is just the first stage of the approval process by government regulators.

Heyward Bates, NZP&M acting national manager minerals, says it will be several years before mining starts once a marine consent is granted.

10 June - July 2014 Q&M

L E G A L

A trap when paying salaries CHARLENE SELL, associate, Wynn Williams explains why you need to make sure that

your salaried employees are being paid the minimum wage.

M

any employers assume they don’t have to think about minimum wage if an employee receives a salary, but this isn’t the case as the requirement to pay at least minimum wage applies whether employees are paid a wage or salary.

This can become a problem for you if your employees work long hours or varied hours during the year. With the minimum wage rate increasing to $14.25 from April this year, it is a good time to look at this issue.

An employer recently got into trouble over this in an Employment Relations Authority case involving an employee who worked reduced hours in the off season and much greater hours during the peak season. The employer argued that his salaried employee was paid at least the minimum wage when he averaged out the number of hours the employee worked over a year.

But this didn’t wash with the Employment Relations Authority which said that the employer couldn’t average out the number of hours worked by the employee over the year. The employee’s employment agreement provided that he would be paid on a weekly basis and so his employer had to calculate whether he was paid at least the minimum wage at the end of each week. The employer had to pay the difference between the weekly salary paid and the minimum rate for the hours worked in peak times.

To ensure you avoid the same fate, you should keep accurate

records of the hours worked by all your employees. At the end of each pay period, you will need to check whether the relevant employee receives a salary equal to at least the minimum wage for the hours worked. If not, you will need to make a top-up payment to the employee to ensure they receive at least the minimum wage for the hours worked.

All employers have a legal obligation to keep wages and time records for each employee including (amongst other things) the hours worked, the days worked, wages or salary paid to the employee for each pay period and a description of how their pay was calculated. Employers also have a similar obligation to keep holiday and leave records. Your employees can require you to provide them with their personal records.

In addition to receiving a potentially hefty demand for back pay where a salaried employee has not been paid minimum wage, your business could be liable for penalties for failing to pay minimum wage or keep the required records. The maximum penalty that can be awarded is $10,000 if you are a sole trader or $20,000 if you run your business through a company.

So it doesn’t pay to take the risk. If you would like any further information or advice about your obligations to pay minimum wage or keep relevant records, please contact a member of Wynn Williams’ Employment Law Team. Q&M

UPDATE: DRUGS IN THE WORKPLACE The tourism industry is the most stoned on the job with the construction industry coming second, says the latest drug testing report from the Drug Detection Agency (DDA).

According to the agency the overall number of on-site workplace drug tests increased 19 percent over the past year, but the number of failed tests were slightly down.

Of the 81,410 urine tests carried out last year, just 5.5 percent tested “non-negative” (indicating the a presence of a drug), down from 6.4 percent in 2012.

Cannabis continues to be the most frequently detected substance with 71.4 percent of non-negative results indicating that drug’s presence.

Additionally 12,760 tests were conducted for synthetic cannabis with 3.3 percent testing non-negative, and with the highest incidence found in the mining/oil/gas sector, where the detection rate was 10 percent of non-negative tests detecting synthetic cannabis.

Cannabis is detected most frequently in ‘traditional’ cannabis growing areas such as Northland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty and the North Island’s East Cape, says the agency.

The South Island’s Tasman region recorded the biggest decrease in cannabis detection, down to 60.2 percent in 2013 from 72 percent in 2012, The opiate detection rate in Tasman, however, soared with a 48 percent increase from 2012 to 2013; and 38 percent up on the national average for opiate detection.

The construction industry has the highest testing numbers with 11,698 tests with a non-negative rate of 14 percent in 2013.

Tourism/adventure activity sector has a high incidence of cannabis detection – 71 percent were non-negative tests and amphetamine-type substances where 18 percent were non-negative tests.

Alcohol screening rose 30 percent in 2013 compared with 51,252 tests in 2013.

In 2013 cannabis continued to be the most detected drug in NZDDA’s workplace drug screening programmes, with 71.4 percent returning a non-negative test – up from 70.0 percent in 2012.

Amphetamine-type stimulants, which include amphetamine and methamphetamine, showed an increase for amphetamines to 5.1 percent in 2013 (up from 4.1 percent in 2012). Methamphetamine detection has risen to 7.0 percent, up from 6.0 percent in 2012.

Hair testing for drug use has doubled to 476 tests in 2013, with 120 tests being positive. Cannabis and methamphetamine were the most detected drugs.

NZDDA’s chief executive Chris Hilson says, “The continued rise in the number of on-site workplace drug and alcohol tests is a clear signal that employers in all sectors are taking workplace safety very seriously indeed.

“Not only are employers in safety-sensitive industries increasing their workplace drug and alcohol testing, but also more white-collar employers are carrying out testing for drugs and alcohol.”

Q&M June - July 2014 11

O N

T H E

C O V E R

New Bell ADT wows them

The latest Bell ADT (articulated dump truck) from CablePrice has been a big hit at live demonstrations throughout the country.

C

ablePrice (NZ) mining product manager Paul Laird says the new B30E, part of Bell’s new E-series has “instantly proved its credentials” with potential customers.

“The E-Series was recently released to the New Zealand market and is the next generation in articulated dump truck design and technology.

We had a lot of interest at the live demos and plenty of favourable comments,” he says.

The B30E and slightly smaller B25E build on the proven legacy of Bell’s successful D-Series trucks to deliver increased production payloads, lower daily operating costs, superior ride quality and uncompromised safety standards, Paul adds.

“These trucks offer several improvements over the B25D and B30D. The A-frame design from the larger trucks is now being used in the smaller trucks. There is more suspension travel which gives more comfort and allows higher travel speeds.”

The increased travel speed is of particular benefit when the trucks are empty and returning to the loading point, he adds.

12 June - July 2014 Q&M

“Because they can be driven faster, overall cycle time is reduced which results in a big boost in productivity.”

The load capacity of the trucks is also impressive.

The B25E can carry 24 tonnes in its 15 cubic metres dump body with the B30E carrying 28 tonnes in its 17.5 cubic metre dump body.

Although demand for trucks that are more fuel efficient, yet haul higher payloads, continues to drive product advancement in the ADT markets, safety is always a priority for quarry operators. The new E-Series trucks are no exception, says Paul.

“For improved safety and productivity the E-series has an automatically engaged Inter-axle Differential Lock (IDL) giving the vehicles full automatic traction control. A sensor on the inter-axle differential identifies when an axle loses traction and automatically engages the IDL function while the vehicle is still moving.”

In addition the B30E and B25E ADTs both have limited slip differentials in each axle so the cross locking of wheels is achieved automatically without any interaction from the operator.

Specifications

B25E

Gross power

205 kW (275 hp)

B30E 240 kW (322 hp)

Operating mass Empty 18,763 kg 19,216 kg Loaded

42,763 kg

47,216 kg

Rated payload

24,000 kg

28,000 kg

15 m3

17.5 m3

2:1 heaped capacity

“These technologies take safety to a new level.”

Operator comfort and on-board technology are also at the heart of the E-Series design.

“The cab features an Isringhausen seat with its own suspension and dampening system which reduces whole body vibration and delivers a more comfortable ride,” says Paul.

A three-point safety harness can be configured so the truck’s engine will only start once the harness is fastened.

The cab’s full colour screen and automotive mouse interface allow the driver to control the sealed display unit with ease. The standard reversing camera can be seamlessly integrated into the display.

Up to 70 hours of machine operation can be stored in the onboard diagnostics system, with proactive advance warnings for the hydraulic system another feature of the E-Series ADTs. Additional onboard features include keyless ignition, hill start assist, vertical tip angle safety monitoring, the Auto Park Application, and standard On-Board Weighing.

“Although these trucks have just hit the market we are already very impressed with their efficiency, quality and safety features,” says Paul.

“And when clients need some extra muscle for the big jobs, CablePrice and Bell Equipment continue to offer the proven quality of the D-Series machines such as the B50D, a giant amongst ADTs that remains unsurpassed in terms of payload.”

CablePrice has long been viewed as a leading equipment supplier to the quarrying and mining industry with its Hitachi excavators, John Deere wheel loaders and Bell dump trucks.

“We are very happy to add the latest Bell E-Series ADT range to our stable, and look forward to putting them through their paces for prospective clients in coming months.”

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION on the new Bell B25E & B30E Articulated

Dump Truck range, contact CablePrice (NZ) on 0800 555 456 or visit www.cableprice.co.nz Q&M June - July 2014 13

P R O F I L E

Russell Vickers, passionate about quarrying – and rocks.

CATCH UP with Russell Vickers Neil Ritchie talks to quarry industry patriarch Russell Vickers at his eponymous quarry in Taranaki and finds him as charming as ever.

B

orn and bred in the small central Taranaki town of Midhirst, Russell Vickers has built the quarrying business on the rock-solid tenets of trust, integrity and generosity.

These are also terms he uses to describe his golden marriage to his wife Marie, who died just before the company celebrated half a century in early 2009.

Four years on, he is still the same self-effacing man with a sense of humour.

When Q&M magazine contacts Russell Vickers regarding an interview his response is not unexpected.

“There must be better people to interview?”

After a little gentle coaxing, “maybe”.

A bit more coaxing, “oh, all right”.

14 June - July 2014 Q&M

And it’s the same when I ask him to pose for photographs around the multi-million dollar quarry operation that he owns with sons Kevin and Noddy.

“You don’t want me in any photos,” he pleads.

“Yes we do,” I say, and the editor insisted that I don’t return without them.

View from the crusher We tour the York Road quarry in his Chrysler Jeep, licence plate VQ5, which is usually parked outside his home alongside his Chrysler sedan, licence plate VQ7.

He points out the buried forest – trees estimated to be more than

Russell in front of his prized Kawasaki 60x48 DT Jaw Crusher – one of the biggest in the country.

3000 years old and perhaps buried in a past eruption of nearby Mount Taranaki.

“Underneath that forest was some very good metal,” he says.

“We will never get back in there, but we still have an almost endless supply of metal … hundreds of thousands of tonnes of big boulders just lying there that are not deteriorating or losing value.”

The nearby, smaller Toko quarry that the company also owns is near the end of its economic life after 36 years of operation.

Further around are several small lakes that have been created by quarrying operations, complete with ducks.

As the site has an elevation of about 500 metres there are some magnificent views of four mountains – nearby Taranaki and the more distant Ruapehu, Tongariro and Ngaruahoe.

Up at the big crusher atop a small hill, Russell says the $1.6 million spent during the past four years, principally purchasing, importing and installing one of the largest crushers in New Zealand, was one of his “best investments”.

The crusher – a Kawasaki 60x48 DT Jaw Crusher capable of crushing boulders up to 1.5 metres thick – can process up to 650 cubic metres of raw rock an hour.

“We never get to that [hourly amount], though we can produce 2000 cubic metres of various products per day.”

Special rock Russell and Marie founded Vickers Quarries at the end of York Road on the then family farm soon after they were married in 1958.

It proved to be an almost ideal location for a quarry, with one of the best supplies of metal in Taranaki.

GNS Science, which says it has some of the best reserves in the Q&M June - July 2014 15

P R O F I L E

Vickers Quarries, though small by Auckland standards, with annual output of only 250,000 tonnes or so, still manages to supply a diverse range of aggregates, offering over 20 different products, ranging from fine sand to boulders weighing several tonnes.

While most product is destined for the Taranaki region, some has gone to the greater Wellington region for prominent projects, including the feature stone of Waitangi Park next to the national museum Te Papa.

Coffee and biscuits

Looking down on operations at the York Road quarry.

region, believes the layer currently being mined came down in a lahar when the cone of Mount Taranaki collapsed thousands of years ago.

Taranaki’s volcanic rock is known to have a lower crushing strength than that from most other regions, due to the extent of air cavities (vesiculation) that may make up to 30 percent of the volume of the rock. These unique characteristics also mean an NZ Transport Agency crushing strength test requirement for the region’s andesite of only 85 to 100 kilonewtons, adds Russell.

At first, the family business only provided raw materials needed for local road construction and maintenance.

But one of the more unusual and biggest early contracts was supplying “most of the metal” for the construction of the giant New Zealand Synthetic Fuels Corporation $2 billion gas-to-gasoline project at Motunui north of New Plymouth during the early to mid 1980s.

These days, road construction and maintenance remains a major market and Russell says the quarry supplies most of the metal for work on State Highway 3 between Mokau and Hawera, which also accounts for just under half the company’s business.

Another big client is Allied Concrete, which uses a variety of sands and metal chip products at various locations.

“The amount of premixed concrete used is a very good indicator of the state of an economy,” Russell adds.

A framed 1998 Taranaki Regional Council environmental award hangs in Russell’s garage and an Institute of Quarrying New Zealand award declaring Russell Vickers to be an Honorary Fellow of the institute hangs in the kitchen.

“We have not got a signed contract with anybody, they all come to us; they trust us,” he says over coffee.

“Everything is loaded in tonnes, but carted in cubic metres … I would rather see them go out with a little more [product] than a little less … and we have never ever had any problems with any of our clients.”

A lot of people regard quarrying as an ugly and dirty industry, he admits.

“But there’s a pretty side,” he muses.

And you only have to look at the rock garden outside his home to realise that.

“I’m just passionate about quarrying, about rocks.”

A wide variety of different sized and shaped rocks – most of them taken from the nearby quarry – are cemented in the slope leading down to a small bridge made from stone and concrete. And imported stones, from such places as Brazil and Kenya, add colour, with their different hues of orange, blue, green and pink – either in the rock garden or inside Russell’s home.

Now in his early 80s the “old bugger”, as he describes himself, says he “may not be around for too much longer”.

And the reason why he only keeps an eye on the Midhirst and Toko quarry operations these days, is that sons Kevin and Noddy are responsible for the day-to-day running of both sites.

And signs at the entrance to the Midhirst quarry also say something of how the Vickers family runs its business – with a sense of humour.

“Our mission statement – serving the IRD since 1958,” says one.

“Caution: elderly machinery operator, but he’s still good looking with all his marbles,” says another.

“Now under review,” says an addition. Q&M

Quarrying patriarch Russell Vickers is passionate about rocks, particularly this rock garden that he built himself outside his York Road, Midhirst, home.

16 June - July 2014 Q&M

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Q U A R R Y N Z

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Northern giants beckon QuarryNZ 2014 will be hosted on July 18-19 in Whangarei by the Northern branch of the IoQ and the AQA, with the theme ‘Our Giants of the North’. Make sure you are there.

W

e like the optimistic mention in the 2014 QuarryNZ online conference promo of “a warm climate”.

Take it with a grain of salt as ‘cut and paste’ stuff from a promotional tourism website for Northland, as these joint winter conferences are notorious for attracting cold weather and even the occasional storm – remember Napier 2009 and the gala dinner marquee about to lift off into the evening storm clouds?

So take warm clothes with you to Whangarei. Mind you – Dunedin last year turned on a couple of the best winter days for the city in living memory, making the field trip to Blackhead Quarry an extraordinary treat for those accustomed to bracing themselves against the southerly gales roaring into the ocean-beach site.

“Northland promises to deliver a conference with lasting memories,” say this year’s conference hosts.

“The conference is an opportunity for all those involved in the quarrying industry to interact and exchange ideas, take the opportunity to hear the experiences of guest speakers and to socialise with old friends and colleagues and to make new contacts.”

We couldn’t say it better and magazine and its staff looks forward to participating.

It’s not only an opportunity to get to talk to many of our readers about the industry, both good and bad, but the perfect opportunity to support the industry and present the Q&M magazine Editor’s award at the Friday Night TransDiesel gala dinner. The certificate and $3000 cheque (which we encourage the recipient to spend how they like) is presented to a person or company that has provided a valuable service to the extraction industry and has been covered in the magazine over the past year. So far, this award has been won by Netta and Gordon Burnside of Brand X; Steve Ellis, the general manager at Stevenson Resources; and the staff of Isaac Quarry in Christchurch.

18 June - July 2014 Q&M

On stage Resources minister Simon Bridges is the first speaker off the rank on the Thursday morning, so expect an earful of election year bravado.

The keynote speaker this year is Dr Susan Tighe from Canada (speaking at 9am on Friday 18th). Professor Tighe from Canada has more titles, academic gongs, and industry accolades than we have space on this page to list. Suffice to say she is an engineer and has been involved in construction, writing standards and specifications, is the author of over 400 technical publications in pavements and infrastructure, and has worked in Australia and New Zealand. And that doesn’t cover a quarter of it. Whatever subject she will talk to us about, it should be very interesting with that experience behind her.

Other speakers Also lined up to talk to delegates are Peter Cenek, who is a mechanical engineer and a partner in Opus International Consultants, having held the position of research manager, engineering sciences at Opus Research since 1986.

He has researched and published widely on numerous aspects of road and runway asset management and has gained international recognition for his research on skid resistance. This is always a debatable subject for road designers.

Kevin Bligh from Golder Associates (NZ) in Christchurch is a senior planner with experience with resource consents, plan change applications, submission preparation, evidence presentation at council hearings, and managing Environment Court processes.

John Donbavand is the National Pavements manager at NZTA and he will present a paper about changes to aggregate specifications and policies that include

revisions to the specification for Basecourse Aggregate NZTA M/4, including adding a requirement for the repeated load triaxial test and a revision to the evaluation of fines.

Janet Lane, the chief of MITO, will talk about the development of new mining and quarrying qualifications. The training agency is working with industry stakeholders through the development process to ensure the best possible outcomes. Janet’s presentation will provide an overview of the proposed qualifications and career pathways, as well as providing an update on current training provision for the industry.

Let the good times roll The social programme features four functions: the Gough Cat Opening Night Dinner on Wednesday July 16; a Field Trip Supper on the Thursday; the Porter Group Lunch on the Friday; and the aforementioned TransDiesel Volvo Gala Dinner on Friday evening.

Field trip The quarry visit is always a highlight and this year Cable Price is sponsoring a trip to Dickson’s Quarry in Whangarei – a family owned and operated quarry that is now 50 years old. Hitachi will show off some gear on site and there will be a display from Prime Explosives.

Partners’ social programme Highlights of the partners’ programme include a bus trip up the east coast and onto Russell for lunch at the historic Duke of Marlborough, before crossing the harbour to Paihia on the ferry for shopping.

On the way home there’s wine tasting and chocolate tasting. Next day a trip to the Kingdom of Zion big cat park.

More information: www.QuarryNZ.com

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M I N I N G

These professors need your help The ninth International Comminution Symposium held in Cape Town in April ended with a panel discussion on the ‘future of comminution’ that was chaired by MEI consultant Dr Aubrey Mainza, of the University of Cape Town (standing). The four panellists were (from left): Dr Rob Morrison from JKMRC Australia; Marcelo Tavares, from the University of Rio de Janeiro; Wolfgang Peukert, of University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany; and Tim Napier-Munn, JKMRC, Australia.

INTEGRATION THE KEY TO COMMINUTION The ninth International Comminution Symposium (Comminution ‘14), an international event when academia and the quarry industry get together to discuss esoteric research and technology in mineral engineering, was held in Cape Town in April.

I

f you are not familiar with the word comminution, you are not alone. It means the reduction of solid materials from one average particle size to a smaller average particle size, by crushing, fine grinding, and other processes. It is pronounced ‘common-new-shun’.

The event this year was organised by Minerals Engineering International and much of the focus of course was on mineral ‘liberation’, or that critical stage in the production of quality mineralogical concentrates from ores to ensure the end concentrates are of a suitable degree of purity for the downstream processes in which they will be used.

Specific topics discussed were around detailed ‘modelling’ to provide a greater understanding of what is going on in a milling circuit, particularly in such areas as crushing and dry comminution and the potential for finer grinding using compression crushers – important where there is a need to conserve water.

Much of the milling process is not yet understood and there is a lack of ideal models for process simulation. Universities are keen,

and prepared, to undertake work on these models if the industry is prepared to get involved, and lack of industry participation has been identified as part of the problem.

Academics at the event said they would like to see at the next Comminution Symposium (Comminution ’16) strong case studies with industry results to demonstrate the effectiveness of modern methods, and a stronger relationship between researchers and industry operators.

Meantime, the organisers of Comminution ’14 were disappointed that the heavyweights of the mining industry did not attend the conference, with the exception of Anglo American, which was present in force.

“Unless the operators, who are the users, drive these new ideas in a constructive and intelligent way, then we will not make progress as fast as we need to,” said one delegate.

“Hopefully the operators will be out in more force at Comminution ’16, which will be held in Cape Town from April 11-14, 2016.”

More information:www.min-eng.com/comminution14/intro.html

WKP Gold project moves forward Antipodes Gold is raising up to C$2 million by a non-brokered private placement financing to advance the high-grade resource potential of its WKP Gold Project – a gold discovery that sits 10 kilometres from Newmont Mining’s Waihi gold mines The move follows an agreement with joint venture partner Newmont (65 percent owner) that gives the company (35 percent) management control of the project, plus an earn-in right to 51 percent.

Funds raised from the placement will be primarily used for drilling and environmental assessment and metallurgical 20 June - July 2014 Q&M

analysis. The goal is to establish a high grade gold resource suitable for integration into Newmont’s existing operations, while enlarging the wider geological understanding (and mineral potential) of the WKP system.

Since 2010, 15 drill holes have been completed at WKP, which currently holds an NI 43-101 compliant inferred resource estimate of 260,000 ounces of gold, at an average grade of 6.1 g/t Au (applying a cut-off grade of 3 g/t Au) held within discrete, high-grade mineralised vein structures.

Small gold dredging op consented The Canterbury Regional Council (E-Can) has granted Otekaieke (North Otago) man Dale Franklin a 10-year resource consent to dredge for gold in the Maerewhenua River.

Franklin got off to a rough start. He thought back last year he already had permission to dredge the river as he held a 10-year permit issued by New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals.

Then he found he needed a land-use consent from E-Can and filed an application with the authority late last year.

He asked the council that it be non-notified, as he would personally arrange for approvals from any person, or body, likely to be affected by such a consent, and Franklin received written approval for his application from bodies such as local Maori sub-tribe Te Runanga O Waihao, the Department of Conservation and the Central South Island Fish and Game Council.

Following this, E-Can decided the information and documentation provided made public notification unnecessary and it was capable of deciding on any potential adverse effects of the project as defined under the Resource Management Act. In this case, it determined that there was only a minor chance that there would be adverse effects on people and the environment.

The resource consent lapses if it is not taken up by March 31, 2019 and permits dredging on 53.43 hectares of the Maerewhenua River. The area of operation is just past the Dansey’s Pass Holiday Park to just below Pringle’s Gully Road.

The E-Can resource consent stipulates that only a 15 centimetre suction dredge can be used and dredging cannot cause any visible change in water clarity 50 metres downstream, and is banned within 20 metres of any structure or water takes, and within 100 metres of the flow recorder at Pringle’s Gully Road Bridge. Any rocks removed in the course of dredging have to be physically returned to their original condition – before and after photos must be supplied to prove this has been done.

Franklin intends dredging with a 2.4 metre pontoon-type boat and a suction pump driven by two petrol engines.

BY PETER OWENS

OceanaGold’s ace card Despite a hit in its share price, OceanaGold is looking forward to a far better year.

OceanaGold Corporation had a tough year in 2013, with rapid increases in the costs of extraction in the face of a lull in demand.

While the company is not the only miner to face tough times, it is the largest gold miner in this country and its troubles are reflected in its share price.

While 2014 may not look any more promising for many gold mining companies, OceanaGold has a very important card up its sleeve. While better known here for its operations at Macraes near Palmerston and in various small mines on the West Coast of New Zealand, it also has an operation at Didipio in the Philippines where it mines copper as well as gold.

This was planned as a gold extraction operation, but the company found that copper was easily extracted from an area very close from where it was mining for gold. Having obtained the necessary consents from the Philippines Government, OceanaGold moved quickly and quietly into the extraction and sale of copper of which there is an international shortage.

This has proved a new, welcome and large source of income for OceanaGold, reflected in its strong first-quarter result for the 2014 year, with revenue hitting a record US$170.4 million ($199.5 million).

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) were US$101 million (compared with $96.5 million for the fourth quarter of 2013) and after-tax profit was US$58.9 million, after a US$28.2 million loss the previous quarter. The 86,568 ounces of gold produced was down 25 percent from the previous quarter, because of lower production from New Zealand operations.

The company is developing a new mine plan for the pit at Macraes, which suffered a large wall slip in April, 2014, which set back production for six days, and still expects production for the calendar year of between 275,000 to 305,000 ounces of gold. In addition, the Didipio processing plant is “well on track” to increase ore throughput to 3.5 million tonnes per annum by the end of the year and will continue generating strong free cash flows. BY PETER OWENS

Farm sale windfall for Solid Energy All the approximately 2000 hectares of Eastern Southland rural property owned by Solid Energy has sold by tender.

All but one of the blocks has been sold to New Zealand interests. The farms, ranging from 33 hectares to 399 hectares, were within a five-kilometre radius between Mataura and Gore.

Solid Energy bought the properties to secure access to the large lignite coal resource in the district, but no longer required the land after hitting hard times last year.

The properties included three dairy farms, two dairy support or conversion farms, and four properties considered as dairy support farms.

PGG Wrightson Real Estate marketed the farms on behalf of the state-owned coal mining company. General manager, Peter Newbold, says the properties met or exceeded price expectations.

“Interest in these properties was strong. Offering a number of farms for sale all at once like this can potentially cause an imbalance of supply and demand, therefore harming values. In this instance, that has not happened, and the prices offered were favourable, indicating the strong demand for Southland rural property is not letting up,” he says.

According to Newbold, interest in the Solid Energy farms came from a broad range of potential buyers, local, national and international, and his company received a total of 38 tenders.

There is a variety of dates for settlement of the sales and Solid Energy spokesman Bryn Somerville could not say how much had been paid for the farms, but said the state-owned company was pleased with the return and “believed it got good value”. The company plans to report the value of the sales at a later date.

With the land sales and thanks to last year’s Government bail-out package supported by its banks, Solid Energy now says it wants to increase its coal production by opening up other land opportunities. BY PETER OWENS Q&M June - July 2014 21

T E C H N O L O G Y

22 June - July 2014 Q&M

BACK TO THE

FUTURE The serene Waikato township of Matamata still holds the title as the country’s ‘extractive engineering capital’. ALAN TITCHALL explains why after a recent visit.

T

he world famous Barmac crusher was, as we all know, was eventually developed into a working model in the little township of Matamata in the Waikato some 40 years ago.

Over the years, Q&M magazine has detailed the history of its development, from a can-like contraption on the floor of Keith Neiderer’s workshop in Auckland, and the finetuning of the final design in a small engineering workshop in Matamata run by a young Paul Tidmarsh.

The idea of crushing stone on stone inside a compacter was dreamt up by Bryan Bartley and Jim McDonald, but it was Tidmarsh who started manufacturing the ‘Barmac’ in any significant volume. So good were those first machines that the very first that came out of his workshop operated at Hunua Quarry until 1997.

It’s a long story of worldwide licence deals (covered in Q&M August-September 2008) until Tidmarsh sold the business to a subsidiary of the Swedish giant Svedala in 1988. After that, in 1991, he set up another engineering business in Matamata called Rocktec.

He sold Rocktec to the Stevenson Group in 2007 and, early last year, the group sold it to the Southern Cross Engineering Group.

Over this time, the Barmac vertical shaft impact crusher continued to be manufactured in

Early days – Rocktec’s new VSI crusher taking shape

Q&M June - July 2014 23

T E C H N O L O G Y

1

2

3

1. Zara, one of two female apprentices in the engineering shop.

2. Jason Tapper, Rocktec’s sales and marketing manager for materials, processing and handling, next to a 10’ x 4’ screen in company colours.

3. Monster 20 x 8 screen being put together for Drury Quarry. As they are manufactured on site – the decks can be designed and made specifically for the medium. The top deck of this screen will have a modular panel system while the bottom deck will feature a double-sided, tensioned woven media.

Matamata. In 2001 Svedala merged with global engineering and technology company Metso, which made the unique crusher at Matamata right up til last year.

At one stage, in 2008, Metso had over 130 staff based in Matamata, but had reduced that number to 25 plus 10 contractors by the time it closed its Kiwi operations in December 2013. Barmac VSI production was transferred to its Metso Park facility in India, and its technical centre moved to Finland.

Mimico in Matamata is the local distributor for all Metso products and parts and has a contract with Masport Foundries as the primary casting supplier of Metso wear parts.

In Matamata, this left only Rocktec and Mimico involved in extraction equipment engineering on a national level.

Rocktec staff include Lance McDonald and Les Ward who are 24 June - July 2014 Q&M

ex Metso veterans (Les is also currently vice president of the IoQ), and Geoff Tappin who goes way back to the Tidmarsh days.

I was hosted on site by Jason Tapper who has been with the company for 14 years, having started as a draughtsman and is now sales and marketing manager for materials, processing and handling, a new title that came after the sale to Southern Cross Engineering (SCE).

The sale last year has brought a powerful symmetry to both companies, covering both islands and Australia. SCE concentrates on the timber industry and Rocktec on the extraction industry, with a lot of crossover of jobs and resources.

Over the past two decades Rocktec has put its stamp on numerous quarry plants, particularly rebuilds, such as Winstone’s Hunua Quarry and supplying screens to its Yaldhurst Quarry near

EPAIRS

Above left: Poster of the original Drury plant designed and made by Rocktec in 2003. The company is now working on an extension that will feature Rocktec’s new 6000 x 2400 heavy-duty screens.

Across the Tasman – major projects in recent years include plant for Sellick Hill Quarry in South Australia, Port Hedline in Western Australia, and the Kimberley Diamond Company. The plant is built in Matamata and shipped to Australia.

O F F-HIGHWAY AX LES, T R AN SM ISSI O N REPAIR S AN D OVER HAU LS D a n a S p i c e r ( Cl ar k) A x l e Te ch ( R o ckwel l ) Kessler Mining

F o res tr y

C o n s t ru c t i o n M a t e ri a l s H a n d l i ng A g ri c u l t u re A LL T RA N S MIS S I O NS DY NA M I C A LLY L OA D T E STED

T 09 270 0052 www.dr iv e t ra inpowe r.co m NZ1403

Q&M June - July 2014 25

T E C H N O L O G Y

1

2

2

1. A plant hopper for Stevenson Drury in the paintshop where temperature and humidity control allows all-year round painting.

2. A customised paint job for a corrosive, ocean-side environment in Western Australia. The customer’s specifications were for five coats of paint. This fabrication was a typical ‘resource sharing’ job with Southern Cross Engineering.

3. Made from scratch – one of the large screen decks being fabricated in the workshop.

3

Christchurch. It also maintains a strong commercial connection with the Stevenson Group.

Even before Stevenson’s six-year ownership of the company, Rocktec had designed and built the massive plant at Drury Quarry, including the telescopic radial luffing conveyor. The three-level operation took nine months to build and was completed in 2003.

Now Rocktec is in the middle of building a whole new plant for Drury that will be tacked onto the original infrastructure to process material coming out from a pit expansion in the north-east corner of the vast, south Auckland quarry.

The Rocktec engineering workshop was full of steel in various stages of fabrication for this project at the time of my visit.

Among the most impressive structures are the huge screens being made for the new Drury plant.

“We are now building 20’ x 8’ (6m x 2.4Mm) extra heavy duty 26 June - July 2014 Q&M

screens. Traditionally our largest screen was engineered to a 16’x by 6’ (4.8m x 1.8m) size,” explains Jason.

“A screen this size has always been a challenge but after a lot of research and development we built our first 20’ x 8’ double deck screen for Stevensons to replace one of their old ones at Drury. It has been working beautifully for a couple of years.

“We were still owned by Stevenson at the time, so it was a good ‘in-house’ opportunity, as we didn’t want to sell it to an independent customer, knowing it was a prototype large screen.”

Following trends overseas, there will be fewer walkways on this new plant than has been the case in the past.

“This is because of the extra engineering demands and our knowledge of the standards required these days for the extractive industry, with the likes of load ratings and structure requirements such as guarding, which all add significant cost.”

1

2

1. Project structure ready to go into the blasting shop prior to painting.

2. Mike Bellamy, project manager for the new Drury plant.

The new Drury plant will also have smaller Rocktec 16’ and 12’ screens, feeders and a new Rocktec-designed crusher.

“A vertical shaft impactor,” says Jason with a smile.

There are so many variations of the original Barmac VSI out in the market, the news is hardly likely to upset the existing VSI distribution in New Zealand, but Rocktec has been encouraged by customer feedback to the idea of another locally produced machine.

“After we mentioned our plans to a few customers we found a lot of interest in the market,” says Jason. The knowledge and experience is already on site he adds, and, at one stage, Rocktec used to rebuild Barmacs.

“We know what works and doesn’t work in VSI design. Some of our service guys have worked on such crushers for years and years, going back to when Rocktec first started.

The first unit was being fabricated in the workshop at the time

of writing, and was expected to be ready for commissioning within a few months (July, 2014).

“We don’t have a name for it yet,” he adds.

Rocktec has always encouraged suggestions from staff members for machine names and it was Jason’s wife who came up with ‘Avalanche’, the brand name for the company’s range of screens.

With so much VSI crusher history already in Matamata, it’s back to the future with this project I comment.

“That’s an idea,” laughs Jason. “We can call it the DeLorean VSI, and bring it out in polished metal?”

Looking forward to coming back in a few months to see it in action, I say.

“Hey – could you mention that we are always looking for dynamic and motivated people to join our team?”

Why not Jason, and you read it here first. Q&M Q&M June - July 2014 27

W H E E L S

I N

28 June - July 2014 Q&M

T H E

W O R K P L A C E

Is a work ute in the driveway over the weekend a right or a privilege? With the capabilities and standard safety spec in even the most humble work mule improving in recent years, the changing nature of how operators use their vehicles outside of work hours means that for many in the industry, the ute is king. But could operators benefit from keeping them locked in the compound after clocking-off time?

By CAMERON OFFICER

A

“...if we were a bigger outfit and had dedicated off-highway utes, I can certainly see there being cost benefits.”

necdotal evidence from overseas suggests that quarry and mine site managers and operations staff in New Zealand often enjoy fewer restrictions around the private usage of their road-going light vehicle work trucks than is the norm in other countries.

In the UK, for example, some entities won’t register vehicles for normal road usage, as fleet vehicles that never go beyond the front gate receive a cheaper rate on fuel.

The idea of saving on on-road Warrant of Fitness and registration compliance for a large fleet also has obvious benefits to the bottom line that would translate here. Savings from the eradication of Road User Charges for diesel vehicles that are never operated on public roads would also no doubt be popular with many operators.

But what about maintenance? Without an authorised WOF programme, how are light vehicles kept fit-for-purpose mechanically and safe for staff to drive?

And what might not be popular is a boss that demands the Hilux’s keys are handed in at the site office on a Friday afternoon.

For Matt Webster, business manager at Havelock Northheadquartered Webster’s Hydrated Lime Company, it’s a moot point.

“We’re a small family-run quarry, so our utes are used by management staff. There are no special regulations around the utes themselves for us, although if we were a bigger outfit and had dedicated off-highway utes, I can certainly see there being cost benefits.”

Matt says the company SsangYongs’ are stock, except for the addition of Tough Deck tray liners, and spend time both in the quarry and on the road.

He has investigated GPS-based fleet management software solutions in the past – such as systems which suspend RUC (Road User Charges) data when a vehicle moves from public to private road networks, like those found in forestry blocks or mines – but

Q&M June - July 2014 29

W H E E L S

I N

T H E

W O R K P L A C E

“We have around 22 utes on site at Waihi, but while any of these might be utilised in underground operations, only about a quarter are road registered.”

with just three utes in the Webster fleet, it isn’t something he’s looking to adopt any time soon.

“The benefit for us is that we have work vehicles which can get us where we need to be inside the quarry, as well as our sales team where they need to be around the region. Any benefit beyond that becomes more subjective.”

For a bigger entity, such as Newmont Waihi Gold, the specialised nature of some light vehicles operating on-site means that many of them never see a public road.

“We have around 22 utes on site at Waihi, but while any of these might be utilised in underground operations, only about a quarter are road registered,” says Kit Wilson, Newmont’s external affairs coordinator.

“The remainder never leave the site. As with all of the mobile plant operating at the combined mine sites, the utes are subject to a stringent maintenance programme, but don’t undergo the standard New Zealand Transport Agency WOF check.”

In January this year chief mines inspector Tony Forster signalled to the industry that the inspectorate would be keeping a closer eye on safety issues involving vehicles at quarry and mine sites. But generally speaking the legislative focus remains on heavy vehicle operation in mines and quarries, rather than light vehicles, with high visibility identification and radio communication deemed the most practical ways of keeping the two at a safe distance from one another.

But New Zealand Safety Council executive director Andy Loader says a one-size-fits-all solution to vehicle safety in mines and quarries is far too simplified.

“Open cast mines and your average quarry offer vastly different scales of operation, with vastly different machinery too,” he says.

“I can’t recall the last time someone got run over by a ute in a quarry in New Zealand; identification measures are fine, but they need to be tailored to the operation in question.

“There is talk about ensuring buggy whip aerials are placed on all light vehicles operating in mines and quarries. That’s understandable in an open cast mine with enormous dump trucks and other moveable plant using the same access roads as the utes.

But will the owner of a small quarry get out and fit the buggy whip aerial every time he arrives at the gate, when there might just be him and one or two other employees on-site? If it interrupts workflow and adds costs to the bottom line, there’s a very real risk this sort of safety measure will just seem like bureaucracy.”

Registered for the road or not, the standard safety specification, 30 June - July 2014 Q&M

even some of the most basic models feature, has improved significantly over the last decade, giving fleet vehicle drivers the same degree of active and passive safety as any other motorist.

The days of the old Ministry Of Works J Series Bedford with a dodgy passenger door are well and truly over.

Anti-lock braking systems, stability control and traction control are to be found on every new ute sold in New Zealand. Other models – generally towards the top of a brand’s range – might feature extra tech such as Hill Decent Control, which “crawls” the vehicle down steep declines, automatically braking individual wheels for maximum control, or Trailer Sway Mitigation software, which will individually brake wheels in order to bring a wayward trailer back in line with the ute out on the open road.

Double cab models feature three-point ELR seatbelts in all three positions across the rear bench; many even include ISOFIX child seat anchor points too, indicative of the fact that, come Saturday, it mightn’t be the work crew occupying the rear.

Airbag counts commensurate with the larger cabin space are also the norm; the likes of Holden’s Colorado featuring driver, front passenger, front seat side and side curtain protection.

Ford broke the mould a few years back when they introduced something as simple as a reversing camera and parking sensors on top tier Ranger utes. While many might consider a reversing camera something Nan needs on her Corolla to stop from backing over the cat, the boon of a clear view behind when reversing a ute in a busy work site (especially one fitted with a canopy, where the driver is essentially looking through three sheets of glass) is nothing to be sneezed at.

And of course, for staff lucky enough to be able to take their vehicle off site when not working, the reversing camera has obvious merits in the driveway, in the supermarket car park and when reversing up to hitch on that trailer stacked with motocross bikes.

“Containing utes inside a work place is obviously a nice failsafe,” concludes Andy Loader.

“The reality is though that – especially in smaller quarries, which make up 80 percent of the industry – the economies of scale mean that a ute has to be all things to all people.

“At the end of the day the onus is on the individual to operate that vehicle in a safe and practical manner. And it’s up to individual entities to foster a culture where anyone driving a company ute – regardless of where or when – respects it and others both on the road and in the work site.” Q&M

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T E C H N I C A L

Protecting mining pump integrity Jacques Visser of Morgan Advanced Materials examines the various technologies available for pump safety and how the use of modern materials and designs is improving performance.

C

entrifugal pumps are critical in most types of mining, primarily for the removal of slurry and water and they operate in demanding conditions. They are subject to pressure build-up when suction or delivery valves become restricted or blocked, which can lead to failure or even an explosion.

The risk is illustrated by several well-documented cases, such as an incident in Virginia, USA, in 2002, when a fine coal transfer pump which had been left standing for two days was started without gland service water and quickly overheated. When the pump was stopped by an operator the gland service water entered the red hot all-metal casing, rapidly creating a build-up of steam which caused the pump to explode and the operator to lose his life.

To combat this risk and to help maximise pump life, a variety of technologies have been developed over the years designed to shut off operation before pressure within the pump reaches a level where it is prone to fail.

Among them is the use of current detection equipment, based on the premise that current drops when pump valves are closed.

However, research on motors between 2kW and 110kW in duty shows there is frequently no relationship between the current change and the size of the pump, or the speed or duty of the motor, making this type of technology of questionable value.

Another alternative is pressure-sensing equipment, although, once again, a question arises as to the relationship between pressure at immediate delivery before and after valve closures or blockages. Furthermore, any rise in pressure is only likely to be detectable at the point when the fluid starts to boil, which is by definition too close to the point at which the pump can explode.

Meanwhile, any probes used with this equipment are likely to have their effectiveness hampered by the presence of chemicals and slurries, while these systems are in the main considered an expensive option.

It is the same with temperature monitoring equipment. While generally a more reliable option than pressure sensing as the temperature increases immediately when valves are closed, this option is also expensive as probes or thermocouples not only have to be hard-wired to the breaker but are also subject to the effects of slurry build-up – impacting on their performance and ability to provide the rapid, reliable data needed to trigger a shutdown.

Strain gauges are a further option for specifiers and system designers, but again are not always found to be reliable, while fusible plugs are reliant on the same technology as temperature

32 June - July 2014 Q&M

and pressure sensing and so do not overcome the issues associated with these technologies.

Meanwhile, pressure relief valves again add to cost while their presence may compromise the leak-tightness of the whole system and they may not react quickly enough to relieve a rapid pressure build-up. And while most pumps are fitted as a matter of course with safety valves, these components require regular testing and maintenance to ensure they will come into action at the desired pressure. Indeed, the issue of maintenance is a key one, given that many mines operate a continuous shift pattern, meaning that downtime for routine maintenance to pumps and associated components has to be minimised.

Concerns over the effectiveness and cost of these technologies and the need for a truly maintenance-free solution, has led to the development of the first bursting discs or rupture discs. A rupture disc is a sacrificial part containing a domed membrane that fails instantly – within milliseconds – at a predetermined pressure and cannot reseal itself. This is ideal in scenarios where pressure may be subject to rapid build-up and other forms of pressure relief may be unable to respond quickly enough.

Many of the early discs were made from foil, which is delicate and can be susceptible to damage such as bending and scratching – most likely to occur when the disc is inserted into its holder – compromising its performance, with the most likely scenario being that it will ‘burst’ at too low a pressure, resulting in unnecessary downtime and the cost of a replacement. This cost is by no means insignificant, meaning that foil discs represent an expensive option given their relative fragility.

The issues with foil discs drove leading materials companies

to seek a more cost-effective and practical solution using a more robust material which did not require a specialist holder, and which was less prone to damage during the installation process and so to premature failure resulting from accidental alterations to the disc’s shape or surface profile.

The solution came in the late 1980s in the form of the first graphite discs. These were (and still are) designed to fit between the bolts within the standard ANSI flanges found on most pumps, eliminating the need for a separate holder and easing installation.

Furthermore, with graphite being a harder and tougher material, the discs can withstand a certain amount of scratching with no compromise to their burst pressure, and can operate at a broad range of temperatures between -50°C and 250°C. The use of a PTFE material bonded to the disc optimises resistance to any alkalis present and ensures their presence does not impact on the disc’s service life or performance.

The flexibility and versatility of graphite as a material enables the production of discs to very precise customer parameters – indeed, there are very few, if any, ‘standard’ products on the market. Rather than relying on calculations using pump casing pressures, burst pressure is typically calculated by taking the working pressure and adding 75 percent, meaning a pump with a working pressure of 1 bar will require a disc with a burst pressure of 1.75 bar. Physical destructive testing of sample discs from individual batches before they leave the facility guarantees that the discs will operate to the agreed customer parameters, with test certificates provided to ensure that local and international safety regulations are satisfied.

The sophistication of modern manufacturing techniques even allows the production of discs which can cope with negative or vacuum pressure.

For these applications, for example where the system is subject to hydraulic back pressure, discs can be manufactured with a vacuum bar inside the orifice, meaning they will still operate effectively in the presence of any vacuum ‘pull’.

Discs can be manufactured in diameters of between 0.5” and 16” in a variety of thicknesses to suit virtually any application. If fitted correctly, graphite rupture discs have an almost unlimited service life, require no interim maintenance, and can typically be changed within a matter of minutes. While they are frequently used in conjunction with a safety valve, a rupture disc on its own is more than capable of ensuring that predetermined pressure within a pump cannot be exceeded.

The latest development has seen the introduction of ‘centreline’ discs to completely negate the issue of scratch damage. The versatility and cost-effectiveness of graphite discs has seen them tested against other methods specified by many of the leading international mining companies as the preferred system for protecting pumps from excess pressure build-up. Q&M

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C O M M E N T

Why OSH practitioners should be certified Andy Loader

ANDY LOADER, chief executive officer of the NZ Safety Council, explains the role of

occupational safety and health professionals within the new workplace safety regulations, and why they need to be certified.

T

he Government announced the most significant reform of New Zealand’s workplace health and safety system in 20 years in August 2013.

‘Working Safer: a blueprint for health and safety at work’ is the Government’s response to the recommendations of the Independent Taskforce on Workplace Health and Safety set up in April 2012.

This Working Safer reform package is aimed at reducing our workplace injury and death toll by 25 percent by 2020 and it will require both leadership and action from business, workers and the Government to achieve this goal.

Work so far has resulted in the Health and Safety Reform Bill, introduced in March 2014. It has had its first reading and has been referred to the select committee for hearing of submissions on the Bill.

With the introduction of this Bill, health and safety should no longer be seen as something that ‘just anyone’ can do as it is now.

The Bill is modelled on the Australian WHS Harmonisation Law and its focus on due diligence and SFARP (So Far As is Reasonably Practicable) will test the knowledge, skills and competency of those who would provide OSH advice.

‘Reasonably Practicable’ is used to qualify duties to ensure health and safety and certain other duties in the WHS Act. Regulators will require an organisation to prove they have reduced the likelihood of injury in their workplaces, to SFARP. Importantly, this due diligence test can be traced back to CEOs and directors.

In this environment, workplaces should be looking for highly qualified and competent people to help them identify their obligations under the new legislation and to implement systems and processes that will ensure the safety and health of their workforce, and to avoid vicarious liability.

Workplaces must to be able to identify capable and credible OSH professionals to provide that expert advice.

This is particularly important in the New Zealand context where the majority of employers are small and medium enterprises.

The New Zealand Safety Council believes that anyone claiming to be an OSH professional must be able to demonstrate competency in OSH through a mix of qualifications, relevant experience and recognition by an OSH professional body. We also believe that all OSH professionals must remain current and be able to demonstrate continuing professional development of skills and practical experience.

Certification of doctors, lawyers, accountants, nurses and other trusted advisors has been in practice for many years, so why not OSH professionals? It is recognised internationally that certification of OSH professionals is important to ensure the credibility of advice that is available to workplaces and certification of generalist OSH professionals is standard practice in countries such as the USA, Canada, the UK and Europe.

Certification of generalist OSH professionals will benefit workplaces and the public as a whole by:

36 June - July 2014 Q&M

• Providing assurance that those offering advice and support in OSH matters have met a minimum standard of competency • Providing a benchmark for competency levels required to provide OSH advice and support • Providing clarity on the role of the OSH professional in line with international best practice • Providing guidance to employers and others in selecting suitably qualified OSH professionals • Providing businesses employing certified professionals with an enhanced public image, a potential advantage in obtaining contracts and improvement of public confidence in the company’s OSH values.

The New Zealand Safety Council has had a voluntary system of certification for generalist OSH professionals in place for over 10 years.

This system has assessed applicants against a set of 10 core competencies which are benchmarked against other professional OSH registration organisations.

Applicants that are assessed competent against an internationally recognised list of core competencies are awarded the grading of Registered Safety Professional (RSP) of the New Zealand Safety Council.

While the above system of certification is an excellent method of measuring the competency of applicants, it does not prevent others (whether they are competent or not) from claiming to be OSH professionals and offering OSH advice to employers and the community in general.

Unfortunately this is compounded by the lack of understanding of the qualifications, certification and experience required of OSH practitioners by many recruiters and human resources departments.

One has only to look at job adverts and position descriptions available online for recruitment in this country to appreciate this point. In reality those who care about their professional standing and the increasing liabilities will apply to be registered and in the absence of incentives others may offer flawed advice and then side step when it all goes wrong, in the knowledge that there is a slight chance of being held to account.

It is our contention that without some form of compulsory certification and/or registration for all OSH practitioners the system will fail those small to medium employers that make up the large majority of employers in New Zealand – many of whom do not employ in-house resources and rely on consultants.

Without compulsory certification, the rogue OSH practitioners are given a licence to flourish with the attendant risk that accident and injury rates will plateau not reduce.

Professional competent advice for employers will greatly assist the Government in achieving its stated aims of reducing occupational injuries and deaths by 25 percent by the year 2020.

We look to the Government to make it clear in legislation that employers must seek professional, competent advice in order to meet their due diligence obligations. Q&M

I N

H E R

W O R D S

Give our provinces a chance NETTA BURNSIDE puts forward a case for returning production to our provinces that has

left our shores in the past for markets with cheaper workforces.

A

fter two decades of an exodus of manufacturing and production from around the world to China and other low-wage countries, many manufacturers are now starting to bring the work back home, particularly manufacturers of appliances, transportation equipment, electronics and machinery.

In the US the move is part of a sea change with American manufacturers such as General Electric, Caterpillar, Toyota and Siemens opting to build, or expand, their facilities back in the States. Over 20 percent of large manufacturers in the US have said they are already returning production, or will do so over the next two years. I suspect this reversal is mostly to do with the cost of labour.

A decade or so ago, when companies seriously started offshoring their manufacturing to Asian markets, labour there was cheap and plentiful, while our workers were comparatively well-off through 100 years of improved workplace conditions with breaks, holidays, maternity leave, bereavement leave, tea, coffee, biscuits, and, of course, a minimum wage. Very nice, but such conditions come at a cost that is added to the end product.

Meanwhile, a market like China with its almost 20 percent of the world population (thank you Wikipedia), did not share our appreciation of workers’ rights and workplace conditions, and literally million of hungry souls were prepared to work a very long day for a very ‘short’ remuneration. The result – cheaper production, and China became the centre of global industrial production.

Bring the story up to 2014 and it appears our Asian neighbours are fast catching up with the luxuries and expected privileges of hard-earned capitalism.

The workers of China discovered that with enough money you can not only feed the extended family, but also educate that child

Netta Burnside

around the world, and with education comes higher expectations about the quality of life. The workforce started to expect conditions over and above basic human rights. I can remember a time when you travelled to such destinations for a cheap bowl of noodles and a cheap t-shirt. Now you only have to travel to Auckland for such items, while China has become a destination for luxury items.

How the world turns.

With the cost of production going up, coupled with poor quality control, China is no longer as competitive as it once was as an offshore market. Rocketing energy costs are also impacting hugely on production costs, along with other infrastructure and logistics costs. In comparison, energy costs in the US have dropped substantially, driven by new oilfield technologies such as shale oil/gas extraction.

With our abundant and reliable energy and a stable workforce in NZ, I think we could see a return to more local manufacturing.

To achieve this we need new infrastructure in our regions, and a new government focus on the opportunity. It’s our regions that need more support because this is where the potential growth is, and, sadly it is the regions that have had funding slashed while Auckland becomes more bloated with investment and an overheated housing market.

To quote sister magazine Contractor; “And while provincial interests, especially in the South Island, might grizzle that RoNS have bled local roading funds dry, the boost that the programme is already delivery to the centres of greatest economic activity seems to be acknowledged,” (Moving Forward, by Hugh de Lacy, May, 2014). The balance does not seem to be right. You see – out here in the provinces we already produce a lot of stuff – energy, meat, and wine, and we have the potential to make a lot more.

Much, much more. Q&M

More lessons in writing propa Understanding overused and misused words within the new school of argumentative journalism and social media blogging.

Refused: As in ‘refused to comment’. Really means – declined to comment, as of right.

Cops: Alternative to the Police – used depending on whether you agree with their actions or not.

Plummeted: Used as a dramatic adjective for a slight decrease.

Hiked: Another dramatic adjective this time applied to minor increases of volume.

Reiterated: Commonly misused. Means a lot of repetition when, usually, the correct word is iterated (repeated).

Racism: Used to describe any cultural or ethnic slur, even though it is based on a redundant 19th century concept of classifying our species by genes.

Collaborative: Trendy corporate parlance that could be construed by the dreaded Commerce Commission as collusion (please note the alliteration in that sentence, not the reiteration).

Carbon: Means carbon dioxide – one of life’s essential gases, now deemed a poisonous gas by the ‘climate apocalypse faithful’ (CAFs).

Carbon neutral/free: Impossible, but it turns on the CAFs.

Sustainable: Woolly meaning adjective mostly used by CAFs as a noun.

Demonstrators: A polite noun used to sanitise what is really a horde of idle, male thugs on a looting opportunity.

Drinking: As in ‘had been drinking before…’, thus turning a legal, and usually harmless, culinary activity into implied reckless, alcoholic impairment.

Denier: Unit to measure the fineness of yarn and now used by CAFs to shout down anybody who even whispers doubt over rising temperatures and sea levels.

Sceptic: Previously an honourable free-thinker, now abuse for anyone not into group thinking or baying with the mob.

Unique: Something is either ‘unique’ or it’s not, so it’s not possible to be ‘very’ or ‘most’ unique.

Icon and iconic: These words are as versatile as peanut butter – good to spread over any subject to improve their status.

Warriors: Used for sanitising any rag-bag, non-Western militia with tones of the 19th century noble savage.

Q&M June - July 2014 37

W O R K P L A C E

S A F E T Y

Risk management too soft Queensland’s risk management programme, now adopted in New Zealand, is inconsistent and leaves the way open to another disaster like Pike River, claims Professor Neil Gunningham of the national research centre for OHS regulation at the Australian National University.

I

n an opinion piece written for the NZ Herald, Gunningham says he is sceptical about our Royal Commission drawing heavily from the current regulatory regime in Queensland as the answer to New Zealand’s appalling workplace safety record.

“Closer investigation of the practices of companies and regulators in Queensland, and those of New South Wales, suggest that all is far from well with regulation in the Australian coal mining jurisdictions,” he says.

Safety legislation in both states is based on a systemic riskbased approach, rather than a prescriptive one, he says, and a focus on general duties, structured risk management and Occupational Health and Safety management systems.

“What this means is that companies are required to ‘riskmanage’ the hazards of work by identifying hazards, assessing risks and controlling them. They are also required to develop and implement a health and safety management system. Both of these requirements are in sharp contrast to the traditional approach, which involves the Government simply prescribing what they should do.”

Although this approach has advantages, such as encouraging companies to go ‘beyond compliance’ with minimum legal standards, much can also go wrong with risk management, and with regulation that insists upon this approach and, on the basis of more than 60 interviews with members of mine management, regulators and union officials in the two Australian coal mining jurisdictions, a disturbing picture emerges, he says.

“The bottom line is that risk management is only as good as the people doing it. If you don’t have the right input from the right people, it’s useless.”

Gunningham claims mines inspectors in NSW and Queensland say the industry there “skirts mining disasters on a regular basis”.

“The Queensland inspectorate warned in its 2012 annual report of ‘a litany of near disasters’ and expressed concern at an influx of inexperienced, poorly trained workers and the appointment

Professor Neil Gunningham

of supervisors lacking understanding of hazard identification or legislative mandates,” he adds.

Stakeholder resistance was also found to be a problem with risk-based regulation, says Gunningham, with some mines inspectors and middle management in mining companies preferring prescription because, “It provides greater certainty, avoids taking initiative and is easier to enforce. For various reasons, this approach is also endorsed by the trade union.

“The result is a mismatch between mining safety legislation and high level safety practice within the coal mining companies on the one hand, and ‘ground level’ implementation on the other.

This ‘implementation failure’ stifles continuous improvement, inhibits innovation and constrains any further step change in safety.”

It should not be forgotten that at Pike River it was poor quality risk management that led to disaster, he adds.

“These failings raise the broader question: if the industry is so inadequate in its embrace of a risk-based approach to management and regulation, would it be wiser to revert to prescriptive standards?

This, however, is not a serious option.

“The limitations of prescription are deep-seated, well documented and incapable of being overcome. In essence, the more prescription there is, the less effective it becomes as organisations become overwhelmed by the large numbers of highly detailed rules with which they must comply.”

So what is the professor’s prescription to effective risk-based regulation?

“Certainly industry leadership is part of the story. So, too, is developing a safety culture within the industry itself. As one mine manager put it: ‘It needs to become a way of life. You need to breathe a safety culture into everyone.’

“Also important is education, training and awareness at mine site level. And above else, building trust between stakeholders who have long been adversaries.” Q&M

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I N N O V A T I O N S

Lessons from Perth Civex Contracting may be better known for it civil construction and demolition projects around Perth in Western Australia, but it also has a very innovative aggregate business.

Family-owned Civex Contracting, previously known as Murphy Plant Hire, has a diverse portfolio of services, which include making reconstituted, precast limestone retaining walls out of a quarry at Wilibinga about 70 kilometres to the north of Perth.

As you can see from the photos, its reconstituted blocks and prefabricated wall panels look like hand-carved limestone blocks.

“We stopped making cut stone years ago because it doesn’t hold its strength and it is porous,” says general manager Michael Murphy.

“But you wouldn’t know the difference between precast and blocks.

They have the same imprint and are appointed exactly the same.”

Michael says that onsite they blend 20mm limestone aggregate with between six and seven percent cement and the quarry team produce a one metre block every 35 seconds.

“We have teams of block layers who go out on sub-division walls projects who move about 35,000 one-metre blocks out of the quarry every month.”

In recent years the quarry has been experimenting with large precast, limestone with no reinforcing in it whatsoever. Designed for embankment retaining, these panels are equivalent to 50 one-metre blocks (five blocks high and wide) that weigh 11 tonnes and are lifted into place with a 40 tonne excavator, fitted with a purpose-built grab.

“Using a four-man team we can lift a block off the back of a truck and put it in place every three and a half minutes, and lay the equivalent of 1000 one-metre blocks in a day.”

Even with a good team of six guys and five machines, the best this team could achieve was placing 750 one-metre blocks a day, he adds.

The quarry has a 20 million tonne resource.

“We have been there seven years already and have another 26 to 27 years at the rate we are moving.

“It was a good score, as we didn’t know anything about quarrying.

My dad just wanted to get out of demolition and myself and two brothers (since gone off on their own separate ways) took on demo for a while and he went off and did the quarry for a while.”

Specifically for good golf

Wearable technology

This new modular wash plant from CDE Global in North Carolina has been set up specifically to produce and supply golf sands to the Pinehurst Golf Club, venue for the 2014 US Open Championship this month (June 19-21).

The old wash plant was over 40 years old and was not processing clay lumps in the material nor was it recovering fine sand from the waste material. The new product requirements were to produce 200 tonnes per hour of concrete sand, top size less than 3/8 inch and less than three percent below 200 mesh, to produce a USPGA golf sand, a mason sand and 40tph of aggregate divided into three different sizes. “As well as production and efficiency requirements we specified that we didn’t want a turnkey, bespoke system that would take weeks and weeks to design. We wanted an off-the-shelf modular package that was ready to work. CDE could provide this,” explains GS Materials quarry manager, Troy Russell.

There is no question that wearable devices will be the next widely adopted form of consumer technology, says David Andersson, director of IFS Labs in Australia.

Samsung has already released two smart watches, while Google Glass went on general sale for a short time earlier last month.

Already there’s a multitude of practical applications for wearable devices for consumers, from wrist fitness trackers to automatic cameras that you clip to your breast pocket.

With consumer demand rapidly increasing, and once widespread consumer adoption takes place, the workplace is never far behind.

While not always immediately obvious, there’s also a whole host of applications for wearable tech in the workplace. I can imagine manufacturing and construction workers consulting information in the field on a smart watch, or even a mechanic seeing vehicle diagnostics through augmented reality (AR) glasses.

“And smartphones are getting bigger and bigger, to the point where it’s not really appropriate to be taking them out to check emails and appointments in a meeting.Imagine being able to discreetly look to your wrist for all the information you need.

“These scenarios are realistic and, perhaps most significantly, would not require a complete overhaul of companies’ IT infrastructure to be put into place. The most successful devices will be those that are simply new interfaces harnessing the power of the smartphones and tablets that most of us already carry.”

Q&M June - July 2014 39

I N N O V A T I O N S

Roads of concrete pavers The African country of Zambia has a roading project. ‘Pave Zambia’ involves upgrading some 2000 kilometres of urban dirt roads with the sort of inter-locking concrete block paving you usually find around swimming pools and garden features.

At a cost of over US$300 million, the project is being built by Zambia’s Roads Development Agency (RDA) and has created (no surprise) about 20,000 labouring jobs. Equipment being used includes 15 segment paving block-laying machines, 15 bowsers, 15 motor graders, 13 front end loaders, 13 tipper trucks and 13 block-manufacturing plants.

The RDA estimates this road constructing technology costs an average of US$137,000 to US$271,000 for every kilometre, compared to bituminous surface roads which cost between US$634,000$906,000 for a similar distance.

The aggregate for the pavers was sourced locally, while the concrete was supplied by Lafarge cement.

Concrete block paving is being touted as Africa’s cheapest answer to upgrading its appalling roads – as cheap to construct and maintain, and for its aesthetic designs and greater visual appeal.

It is also said to be safer in regards to aquaplaning during tropical downpours, better surface braking, and improved marking visibility through different coloured pavers.

The pavers are also easier to remove and replace during the laying and repairing of utility cables and sub-road infrastructure.

Unleash the washers Terex Washing Systems will have two new systems on display at the huge Hillhead quarry show in the UK this month.

The company is showcasing its Terex Aggresand range (between 165 tonnes per hour to 250tph) and the latest addition, the new larger Terex Aggresand 206 (up to 400tph), as well as the Terex® Aggrescrub 150 (up to 150tph) plant. These new innovative modular wash plants will help to revolutionise the washing market on a global level, says the company.

The Aggrescrub 150 is particularly suited

to the C&D recycling market. Key benefits for customers include the improved wear characteristics, reduced costs, and the ability to effectively scrub aggregates and float out clays/silts/lights (wood/plastics) on one chassis.

Combining cone and crusher Metso’s new Lokotrack LT220D mobile crusher is said to be the most compact track-mounted combination of a cone crusher and a screen ever made.

It is said to lower operational costs in a number of way; most notably by substantially lowering fuel consumption and reducing maintenance. Suffice to add, it is also very compact and transportable and weighs in at just 48 tons.

Ideal for smaller contracts, the crusher and screen are run on a single Cat C13 309-kW diesel engine. Hydraulically operated screen lifting and folding side conveyors has this machine ready for action in just minutes.

The cone crusher comes as a choice between the Metso HP200 or GP220. Paired with Metso’s Lokotrack LT106 mobile jaw plant, the new secondary unit is capable of producing up to three calibrated end products.

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BOOTH # 52528

Located in the Central Hall Las Vegas, Nevada • USA

REMco rotors are a viable alternative to over-priced OEM rotors. REMco’s 3-port rotor parts provide longer service life and lower wear cost. Our high performance 4 and 5 port rotors for your existing VSI crusher lowers wear cost and lowers horsepower per finished ton for the most efficient rock-on-rock crushing. REMco solutions don’t stop at the rotor…

Grease lubricated bearing cartridges are fine, however, REMco oil lubricated bearing cartridges run cooler and last 2 to 3 times longer than the traditional method. REMco stocks both oil and grease lubricated MK II and MK III bearing cartridge assemblies for your machine. After you’ve improved your crusher’s performance and reliability, take it to the next level.

Tune up and update your old VSI with a REMco Top Hat Conversion. In addition to a high performance crushing chamber with replaceable gusset protectors, REMco’s easy opening lid makes rotor service quick and easy.

When you’re ready for the best all-around performance a REMco VSI crusher is the most advanced VSI available on the market today, Guaranteed. Ask REMco’s exclusive Authorized New Zealand distributor, Crushing and Mining Supplies (NZ) Limited, what we can do for you.

REMco is proud to introduce our exclusive authorized distributor for the country of New Zealand.

Any Material, Any Tonnage, Anywhere!

Mr. Jon McAllister

263 S Vasco Road • Livermore, CA 94551 • USA Tel: (925) 447-0805 • Fax (925) 447-7038 Email: crush@remcovsi.com • Website: www.remcovsi.com

17 Rawhiti Ave Matamata, New Zealand 3400 Tel: 022 543 1234 Email: jon@cms-nz.co.nz

Rock solid value Top operators know the value of Metso’s mobile crushing and screening plants. Our contracting solutions offer you true mobility, high capacity, quality end products and reliable operation. With Lokotrack, you have the freedom to crush just about any type of feed material – from hard rock to recycling and demolition debris. And every Lokotrack is backed

by Metso’s know-how and distributor support. Simply rock solid.

Our distributor Metso www.metso.com/miningandconstruction For more information contact MIMICO. Phone 0800 806 464, www.mimico.co.nz

New Zealand 0800 806 464