September 2010 by The Mining Advocate

Supporting mining and industry in Queensland and the NT

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New export trade promises massive dividends for Qld

THIS EDITION • Fight-back time for coal communities • Spotlight on Cape York bauxite • Mackay forges ahead as innovation hub • Rescue competition round-up

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NEWS

The Mining Advocate | September 2010

September 2010

3 Community ďŹ ght-back Concerns about the limited resources going back into money-spinning mining towns, brought to a head by recent events at Collinsville and Moranbah, are fuelling a new coalfields community action movement. â&#x20AC;&#x153;People have had enough,â&#x20AC;? says a Queensland mining union leader.

6 Embracing innovation Mackay is continuing to increase its credentials as a mining innovation hub, with a university proposal to start an automation and robotic technology centre coming hot on the heels of a project fostering clever collaborations to harness the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cutting-edge engineering capabilities.

8 Cracow Diggers enter the fray

Leith Luckel and Trent Griffiths lead the Oaky No. 1 rescue team out from an underground exercise during the recent EK Healy Cup competition. For a round-up of rescue action across northern Australia turn to Page 24.

FEATURES

A team from a central Queensland gold operation will be among those taking the field at this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Battle of the Mines rugby league tournament, to be held in Cloncurry on October 16.

25 Full steam ahead

5 Townsville Regional Capacity 6 Mackay Regional Capacity 7 Mount Isa Regional Capacity 10 Coal and Gas Update

The new Middlemount Mine is expected to enter production next year, with expansion plans in the pipeline that should see it start to ramp up almost immediately to a 5.4 million-tonnes-per-annum operation.

News in brief across the coal and gas industries.

14 Industry Update - Hardrock A comprehensive wrap of exploration and operations in Queensland and the Northern Territory.

28 Colliers clamour for more The managers of the Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal (DBCT) south of Mackay have requests for a further 90.7 million tonnes of export capacity just one year after completing a $1.3 billion expansion to 85 million tonnes. They are one of two groups recently named as preferred proponents for the development of new coal export infrastructure at nearby Dudgeon Point.

30 CoalďŹ elds women in print A new book, Women of the Coal Rushes, documents the â&#x20AC;&#x153;gutsinessâ&#x20AC;? of the minersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; wives who have helped build Queenslandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s coal communities and the new wave of female workers entering a male-dominated industry.

16 Between Shifts 19 Living Remotely 20 Cannington feature 24 Emergency Response and Rescue 25 Major Projects 26 Processing 27 Emissions 28 Materials Handling 30 Building Mining Communities

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Advertising booking deadline November edition: October 22 All material is copyright and cannot be reproduced in part or in full by any means without written permission of the managing editor. The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher.

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NEWS

September 2010 |

The Mining Advocate

Growing focus on strategic resource Cape York’s world-class bauxite province is entering a ‘very interesting time’, says one of the region’s emerging mine proponents. China will increasingly turn to Australia for bauxite as Indonesia’s new mining laws create supply uncertainty from 2013, according to Cape Alumina managing director Paul Messenger. “It’s a very interesting time – particularly for Cape York,” Dr Messenger said. “The trends are it’s going to become an increasingly strategic resource very much in demand from China.” Western Cape York Peninsula is one of the world’s great bauxite provinces, with more than 3 billion tonnes of resources. Dr Messenger said it was the only seaborne source of bauxite suitable for high-temperature refining in the Asia Pacific region. This form of bauxite was increasingly being favoured in China, which is expected to import about 27 million tonnes of bauxite this year. However, Rio Tinto has a monopoly on the market on Cape York and Dr Messenger argues that Queensland will only gain the maximum benefit from its bauxite resources with the injection of much-needed competition. Rio Tinto Alcan shipped 16.8 million dry product tonnes from Weipa last year, in addition to its bauxite output at Gove in the Northern Territory.

Paul Messenger Cape Alumina managing director

The company is due to complete a feasibility study next year on the South of Embley proposal to expand its Weipa bauxite mining operations. Cape Alumina has been endeavouring to develop its Pisolite Hills bauxite project on Cape York and Dr Messenger has also made it clear the company would like the option of developing the Aurukun resource that remains at the centre of negotiations between the State Government and Chinese aluminium producer Chalco. Dr Messenger said companies

trying to start new operations on Cape York faced challenges including the remote location of deposits and the high costs that created. But he says it is predominantly the actions of the State Government which have prevented others from breaking Rio Tinto’s stranglehold on the area to date – both through the implementation of Wild Rivers legislation and the handling of the former Pechiney lease around Aurukun. While the government had insisted that a refinery be built in eastern Queensland as part of the Aurukun project, it was clear that was not going to stack up economically, Dr Messenger said. “The government has a great opportunity now to put that project back out to a competitive tender process - we think that’s the only way to realise the value of that resource for the people of Queensland,” he said. “That process should not require construction of a refinery in Queensland.” A spokeswoman for Queensland Infrastructure and Planning Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said the State Government’s ongoing discussions with Chalco were commercial in confidence, limiting their ability to comment publicly at this stage. Premier Anna Bligh in State Parliament in June stressed the government’s commitment to the secondary manufacturing element of the package and the jobs that would produce.

A detailed view of bauxite “pisolites” within a roadside bauxite pit on one of the Callabonna tenements that Monax plans to explore in the Aurukun area.

Mining juniors make headway Privately owned company Gulf Alumina aims to be Cape York’s next bauxite producer, with plans to begin mining at its Skardon River project in 2012. The Skardon River tenements, 80km north of Weipa, cover about 70sq km and a Joint Ore Reserve Committee ( JORC)-compliant estimate released earlier this year placed the resource there at more than 50 million tonnes. The company’s website states Gulf Alumina’s business strategy as being to fast-track the Skardon River bauxite mining operation for an initial output of 1.5 million tonnes per year. Gulf Alumina executive director Weidong Zhang said the company was considering a launch on the Australian Securities Exchange, through an IPO (initial public offering) early in 2011, as a potential fundraising avenue to advance the project. Adelaide-based company Monax Mining also has a firm focus on Cape York’s bauxite potential, having gained an interest in 11 tenements with a total area of 2272sq km after recent option deals with Callabonna and Delminco. The bulk of these are centred west of Coen in the Archer River and Pretender Creek area, with the remaining three sites located further north around Weipa and Aurukun. The company is seeking proof of resources great enough for a project similar in scale to Cape Alumina’s proposed Pisolite Hills mine, with just over 130 million tonnes of in situ bauxite. “If we could prove up resources of similar size it would be a very good project,” managing director Gary Ferris said. Mr Ferris said drilling work would begin after completion of the final grant process on three of the southernmost tenements. He confirmed there had been indications of a pending Wild Rivers declaration for the Holroyd River, but said any impact on Monax’s project area was unknown.

Industry feels the bite from Wild Rivers laws The Wild Rivers legislation will shut down future development for Cape York “no question about it”, according to Federal Member for Leichhardt Warren Entsch. In addition to stopping Cape Alumina in its tracks, Mr Entsch said the Wild Rivers issue had been cited as a key factor in mineral sands company Matilda Zircon’s recent decision to relinquish its Cape York tenements. The company said in June it would drop its interest in more than 1530sq km of exploration tenements and applications on Cape York Peninsula to focus on other projects given the environmental sensitivity of the region and the likelihood of a long and costly approvals process. Mr Entsch fears plans are now

afoot to impose a blanket World Heritage listing over Cape York. He was scathing of the Wilderness Society’s political influence in “locking up” the area. “This is not about an environmental outcome for Cape York, it is not about economic opportunities for the people of the far north Queensland and it is not about opportunities for indigenous people up here,” Mr Entsch said. “It’s all about conning people in the lounge rooms of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra and getting their votes.” A spokeswoman for the Federal Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts said the Australian Government was committed to working with the Queensland Government,

“It’s all about conning people in the lounge rooms of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra and getting their votes”

traditional owners and other landholders to pursue World Heritage listing for appropriate areas of Cape York Peninsula. It was at the start of a process likely to take three to four years to complete, she said. Queensland Mines and Energy Minister Stephen Robertson stands by the State’s Wild Rivers

legislation. He said he recognised that the bauxite resources in Cape York were of a world-class standard. “But we need to get the balance right in terms of allowing our resources to be extracted for all Queenslanders, but also ensuring what is a unique part of Queensland is protected now and for future generations,” he said. “That is why, through the Wild Rivers legislation, we want to retain the pristine standard of many of the rivers of Cape York but also provide certainty for miners who in the past have had exploration permits over much of this area and are seeking to progress to the next stage of this development. But that progression cannot come at the expense of what is a unique part of

Australia and that is why we are committed to getting the process right through our Wild Rivers declaration process.” He believed the decision made in the case of the Wenlock Basin and Cape Alumina was an appropriate and balanced one. Cape Alumina is reviewing its Pisolite Hills bauxite project on western Cape York as a result of the 500m High Preservation Areas imposed as part of a Wild Rivers declaration. Managing director Paul Messenger said the company was considering all options for restoring the value of the project, including investigating alternative development models and continuing to lobby the government regarding the Wild Rivers conditions.

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NEWS

The Mining Advocate | September 2010

Fight-back time for coal centres Recent events in Moranbah and Collinsville have sparked the emergence of local action groups seeking a better deal for their towns. Queensland is seeing a new fightback movement emerge in mining communities angry about the limited resources going back into their regions, a union leader says. Recent events at Moranbah and Collinsville had demonstrated the need for people to stand up for themselves, sparking the formation of community action groups, Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union district president Stephen Smyth said. “I think the feeling has been there all along bubbling below the surface,” Mr Smyth said. “But the actions of the past couple of months with the Collinsville dispute and what BMA want to do at Moranbah with Caval Ridge have built up the pressure. People have had enough.” A dispute between workers at the Collinsville coal mine and operator Thiess was recently settled after a three-week strike. Mr Smyth said community

had been a key issue in that case, with members upset over the lack of support for workers residing in Collinsville as opposed to the drive in-drive out workforce. In Moranbah, news that the BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) was seeking to amend conditions for its Caval Ridge coal project to allow a 100 per cent fly in-fly out (FIFO) workforce was the tipping point. Mr Smyth said about 150 people had attended a community meeting at short notice in Collinsville while 300 joined a Moranbah community meeting on September 2. These meetings had resulted in local residents forming their own action committees, he said. And Mr Smyth expected further groups to come together in regional mining hubs like Mackay as well as smaller communities such as Biloela, Moura and Tieri. The Collinsville and Moranbah groups reflected general concerns

Stephen Smyth CFMEU district president

on the impact of growing FIFO and DIDO (drive in-drive out) rates on local communities, as well as individual issues such as Morris Corporation’s proposal to develop a 2000-person camp at Collinsville, he said Mr Smyth said the failure of mining companies and governments to put resources back into coal communities at a level reflecting their economic contributions was also a key factor. Kelly Vea Vea lives in

Town has much to oﬀer Moranbah Traders Association liaison officer Lyn Busk regularly conducts orientation tours of her home town for staff who are newly employed or considering employment at BMA mines in the district. “The person making the decision that people wouldn’t want to live in ‘these towns’ as I heard someone on the ABC say the other day, would probably be amazed, as the recipients always are,” she said. Mrs Busk said those taking the tour often commented that residents had everything they could want in Moranbah. The business group she represents opposes BMA’s bid to change conditions for the planned Caval Ridge mine outside Moranbah to allow a 100 per cent fly in-fly out (FIFO) workforce. The State Government recently granted conditional approval for the $4 billion mine, expected to create 1200 construction jobs and 495 ongoing operational jobs. In a written statement, BMA (the BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance) said it would continue to conduct an open engagement process with stakeholders. It said the planned application to increase the FIFO workforce from 70 to 100 per cent was informed by operational requirements for the mine and research on workforce conditions. Regional director for

Lyn Busk Moranbah Traders Association liaison officer

recruitment firm Hays, Simon Bristow, said the scarcity and expense of housing in some Queensland resource towns was a factor in companies favouring FIFO arrangements. He said it also reflected the impending skills shortage and the fact that suitable candidates from major coastal centres were increasingly pushing for FIFO options. Mrs Busk said a recent public meeting heard concerns that a 100 per cent FIFO arrangement at Caval Ridge may set a harmful precedent for the many other coal mining projects in the pipeline for the region. “Businesses who have set up in these towns to service these communities are afraid that the

reputation that Moranbah has for being a great town of 11,000 permanent residents will be overtaken and it will be branded as a FIFO centre - when it isn’t,” she said. Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union district president Stephen Smyth said a 100 per cent FIFO arrangement robbed people of the option of living in the local community with their family. “The irony is that BMA has 220 house blocks in Moranbah with power, sewerage and water to them – sitting waiting to go, but they are not opening them up for people to build houses,” he said. A lack of investment in social infrastructure was feeding a cycle that maintained a high cost of living in regional mining centres, Mr Smyth said. A spokesman for the Office of the Minister for Infrastructure and Planning Stirling Hinchliffe said BMA had not yet made a formal request to change the Coordinator General’s conditions which capped FIFO for Caval Ridge at 70 per cent. “The Minister considers any application to change the Coordinator General’s stipulations serious and trusts the Coordinator General will fully explore the implications of such an application if and when it’s received,” he said.

Moranbah with coal miner husband Blair and their two small children, but grew up in Collinsville in a family with a long mining history. She is involved in forming a Moranbah action group and is also secretary of Mining Communities United, formed in Collinsville. “The group is very pro-industry and pro-development, but we need to see the towns progressing with the industry,” Ms Vea Vea said. “The mining camps going in everywhere are not putting money back into the community, they are not supporting local business or putting kids in local schools.” Ms Vea Vea said also while there would always be long shifts at mines and workers who chose DIDO or FIFO options, it was important that they were making those lifestyle decisions with their families rather than having them made for them. With the next 20 years likely to bring unprecedented growth in the Bowen Basin coal industry, she said it was important for concerned residents to be heard and for governments to keep a tight check on powerful mining companies to ensure community welfare was protected. Queensland Minister for Infrastructure and Planning Stirling Hinchliffe said he would encourage community feedback on how mines could be developed to benefit the local community through the delivery of services, jobs and infrastructure while preserving the lifestyle locals loved.

Mr Hinchliffe said the State Government had been a driving force in helping manage the social impacts of mining developments on regional communities, including through delivering the Sustainable Resource Communities Partnership Agreement. He said BMA would have to submit a Social Impact Management Plan, prepared in consultation with the Isaac Regional Council, for Caval Ridge. Meanwhile, the Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ) recently released a position paper proposing how local councils’ concerns could be addressed in booming mining areas. It called for the establishment of a long-term funding stream for local government to support infrastructure projects in resource regions in the order of $150 million per annum or 4.5 per cent of mining and petroleum royalties for five years. In a presentation to the LGAQ annual conference in Mackay, Queensland Resources Council chief executive Michael Roche said that organisation and its member companies strongly supported a more equitable return of royalties and taxes to resource communities in the state. He stressed that resource companies were acutely aware that their social licence to operate was most effectively demonstrated through proactive engagement with local communities.

Feedback sought on memorial design A committee planning the erection of a permanent Queensland miners’ memorial near Ipswich will be seeking feedback on its design from those attending a Blackwater service on September 19. Queensland Commissioner for Mine Safety and Health, Stewart Bell, said organisers expected about 400 people to join the state’s third annual Miners Memorial Day Service in Blackwater. It is the first time the event has been held outside Brisbane and Mr Bell said Mount Isa had been earmarked to host next year’s service. Mr Bell said the permanent memorial planned to honour those who had lost their lives in the industry was expected to be completed in 2012. A site in Redbank, outer Brisbane, above the underground workings of the abandoned Westfalen mine, has been chosen for the memorial. It will include parklands, a memorial garden and a wall displaying the names of those lost. Mr Bell said Brisbane artist Scott Maxwell had been selected to produce a sculptural monument. “He will be in Blackwater at this year’s ceremony to talk to them about what would be the most suitable piece of artwork,” he said. The state Miners Memorial Day Service is held on the anniversary of the worst mining disaster in Queensland’s history - the Mount Mulligan mining disaster of 1921. It commemorates the lives of more than 1450 miners who have died in mining tragedies across three centuries in Queensland.

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Dyno Nobel's new ammonium nitrate plant takes shape at Moranbah

Opportunities don't appear every day. So you must be alert for chances to advance your career and improve your lifestyle. At Moranbah in central Queensland there's an opportunity to do both, thanks to the restart of Incitec Pivot Limited's new Dyno Nobel ammonium nitrate plant. Construction on the $935 million project restarted in May and now the company is looking for skilled men and women to operate it. This provides a rare opportunity to join a landmark project early, be there on day one and grow with the operation. The Moranbah plant will manufacture explosives for the mining industry. It is being built to supply the rapidly growing, high-grade coal mining industry in the Bowen Basin. There are no fewer than 40 mines operating in the Bowen Basin, extracting 100 million tonnes of coal annually. They include operations controlled by some of the world's biggest miners, including BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA), Rio Tinto, Anglo Coal and Xstrata. These operations export metallurgical coal to rapidly industrialising countries such as India and China, linking Dyno Nobel with international economic growth. Thursday Island Bamaga

All these mines need explosives and the Dyno Nobel plant at Moranbah, when it reaches full production, will make 330,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate a year in prill form and emulsion.

Weipa

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So it's not hard to see how it will become an integral part of mining in the region in the years ahead. Cooktown

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To man up the new plant, Dyno Nobel is now preparing to recruit for permanent operations and maintenance roles. We are looking for experienced

Hinchinbrook Island

Moranbah offers first-class facilities for a wellrounded lifestyle process operators at all levels, mechanical and electrical maintenance technicians, chemical, electrical and mechanical engineers and support personnel.

Moranbah has a 10-hole, 72-par golf course

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

Through its Global Manufacturing operations, IPL is the only Australian producer of urea fertiliser (in Brisbane) and ammonium phosphate fertilisers (at Phosphate Hill). This spreads the company's exposure across both the mining and agriculture markets.

Interesting lifestyle

About the project

The Dyno Nobel plant is located just five kilometres from the established town of Moranbah, which itself is just two hours drive from Mackay on Queensland's coast.

The Dyno Nobel ammonium nitrate plant at Moranbah is due to be commissioned in early 2012. In operation it will have 85 employees.

Moranbah has most of the services a family would need. On the education front there is a kindergarten, two primary schools, a high school, a well-equipped library and a day-care centre.

The plant's location close to the major Bowen Basin coal mines will give it a competitive freight advantage. A long-term gas contract enhances its position as a low-cost AN producer.

For health services there is a hospital and five GPs working from two medical centres. For recreation, there is an aquatic centre, team sports facilities, a golf course and access to a range of recreational facilities for boating, fishing, camping and bushwalking.

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

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

Moranbah will be the sixth ammonia plant in the IPL Group, highlighting the company's nitrogen manufacturing competence.

About the company Dyno Nobel provides explosives products and blasting services to some of the world's most successful mining companies. It is the No 1 explosives and mining services supplier in the United States and No 2 in Australia, as well as operating in Asia. Dyno Nobel is a business of Incitec Pivot Limited (IPL), an ASX top 50 company which also owns Incitec Pivot Fertilisers, Australia's premier fertiliser supplier.

Townsville Ayr

HOW TO FIND OUT MORE

Bowen

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Over the coming months, we will be advertising a wide range of opportunities on our website and seek.com.au. To lodge an expression of interest, register your details early by visiting www.incitecpivot.com.au and in the 'Careers' section click 'Apply' and then 'Job Search'. Searching for job number 650390 will take you to Expressions of Interest - Moranbah Operations. Alternatively, email the Recruitment Manager Project Aurora, adan.humphries@incitecpivot.com.au.

Townsville Regional Capacity

The Mining Advocate | September 2010

Mining exports boost ﬁgures Growth in established trade and some new operations coming online have combined to create an exceptional outlook at the local port. Strong mineral exports have helped the Port of Townsville kick off the new financial year with record shipments on top of a bumper performance in 2009/2010. Newly released figures show the port handled 1.267 million tonnes of goods in July 2010 compared to 0.893 million tonnes at the same time last year. “All of our traditional customers are performing very strongly and we have new projects coming online as well,” Port of Townsville Limited general manager business development Mel Marke said. “We had a record year in 2009/10 and you can see how much stronger we’ve started this year.” Details of the port’s official trade results for last financial year cannot be released publicly until they are

“We had a record year in 2009/10 and you can see how much stronger we’ve started this year.”

tabled in State Parliament, however preliminary figures show the value of international exports exceeded $5.58 billion. The high value of the mineral concentrates, refined metals, fertiliser and agricultural produce shipped from Townsville means it accounts for more than 12.5 per cent of the State’s export trade by value, although it handles less than 2 per cent by volume. New players coming online include Curtain Bros-owned

Nominations sought for North Queensland awards Organisers are calling for nominations for the second annual North Queensland Engineering and Resources Excellence Awards. The event, run jointly by Engineers Australia and The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, has attracted strong interest from local companies according to Engineers Australia Townsville local group chair Janice Ballard. The 2010 awards will feature four engineering categories including Townsville Region Project of the Year, Townsville Region Professional Engineer of the Year, the Townsville Region Women in Engineering Award and Townsville Region Young Professional Engineer of the Year. There will also be awards for the Resources Project of the Year and Resources Professional of the Year. Ms Ballard said the awards presentation night was due to be held at the Mercure Inn, Townsville on October 30. •A ceremony planned to mark the Burdekin River Bridge’s listing under Engineers Australia’s Engineering Heritage Recognition Program has been postponed from August 10 to October 5. People wishing to attend should contact Engineers Australia’s Queensland Division office on (07) 3832 3749.

Mt Moss Mining, which plans to export about 250,000 tonnes of lump iron ore in the last six months of 2010, with the first two shipments having left in July and August. The operation expects to export 500,000 tonnes, with an estimated value of around $65-$70 million, in 2011. Meanwhile, CuDeco recently received approval to lease port land for a new mineral concentrate receival and export facility. The company, which is developing the Rocklands copper project outside Cloncurry, aims to commence exports mid to late 2011. Legend International Holdings, which previously planned an early roll-out of direct shipping ore from its phosphate project outside Mount Isa, is now opting to produce higher value fertiliser product from the outset. It may begin high-volume exports from Townsville as soon as 2013. While exports and imports related to north and north-west Queensland’s mining and minerals processing industry played a strong part in recent growth, Mr Marke said increased trade had been experienced right across the port’s major commodity lines. This included sugar exports and motor vehicle imports, he said. “Our motor vehicle importers are doing really well and, while motor vehicles do not represent a large tonnage component for us or major revenue source, I think this is a very good indication of the state of the economy,” Mr Marke said. “In their opinion (the importers) a lot of it comes down to strength in the mining industry.” Port of Townsville Limited has a range of upgrade and expansion projects under way, including construction of the first stage of the new Marine Precinct. Chief executive officer Barry Holden has described the planned upgrades as being vital to allow the region to take advantage of its mining and agricultural potential and the opportunities of a rapidly growing Asian market.

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Mt Moss Mining has exported two major shipments of lump iron ore within two months as it gears up for an expected 500,000-tonne output in 2011. MV Calypso Colossus left Townsville port on August 31 carrying 50,000 tonnes of the China-bound product following a successful trial shipment of 49,160 tonnes in July. Mt Moss mine manager Mike Barr said the operation hoped to achieve a further three such shipments by Christmas and to export 500,000 tonnes to meet orders in 2011. “This is a huge step,” he said. “It means a significant cash flow – that’s the name of the game. We’ve worked long and hard to get to this point.” The first two shipments had been trials not only in terms of proving the quality of supply to the end customer, who has not been publicly named, but

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in optimising transport and logistics, he said. Mt Moss Mining has about 1 million tonnes of ore stockpiled at the mine site, about 105km north-west of Townsville, where material is processed both into export-grade lump iron ore for steel making and magnetite used for coal washing at Bowen Basin sites. Mr Barr said mining at the site, suspended in late 2008, was expected to resume in December this year. “Initially we will start to mine a satellite oxide iron deposit then, in the first quarter of 2011, we’ll commence the Stage-3 strip back of Willets Pit,” Mr Barr said. In addition to achieving its first lump iron ore exports, Mt Moss Mining expects to significantly increase its sales in magnetite for coal washing this year.

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September 2010 |

The Mining Advocate

Push to develop hi-tech hub foster a collaborative approach between firms. Mr Genoff said the public would soon start to see the results of the recent MAIN Game project, with a string of announcements expected in coming months regarding joint venture partnerships involving collaborations within Australia

A university proposal for a mining centre of excellence will add another element to the cutting-edge expertise of local industry. Mackay is positioning itself at the forefront of mining innovation in Australia with plans to build on its industry â&#x20AC;&#x153;know-howâ&#x20AC;? through a new automation and robotic technology centre. Central Queensland University is seeking $42 million in Federal funding to establish a new Sustainable Mining Automation and Robotic Technologies (SMART) Centre in Mackay. The centre would draw on the innovative technology already being applied by local mining services providers and strong links with the Bowen Basin mining industry, according to Pro Vice-Chancellor (community and engagement) and Mackay head of campus Pierre Viljoen. It would put CQU and Mackay â&#x20AC;&#x153;at the spearheadâ&#x20AC;? of mining innovation in Australia, especially given its power of place, at the heart of the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest coal exporting region, he said. In addition to its research and development role, the SMART Centre would offer courses to

Est. 1930

and internationally. MAIN managing director Narelle Pearse said the group viewed the knowledge management sector and innovation as an important way of diversifying the regionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s economy and value-adding to Mackayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s considerable engineering expertise.

With mining marching very quickly toward increased automation, Ms Pearse stressed the importance of Mackay â&#x20AC;&#x153;getting ahead of the gameâ&#x20AC;? in terms of the new skills requirements that would entail. CQU hopes to have the SMART Centre up and running next year.

Protect intellectual property

Pierre Viljoen CQU Pro Vice-Chancellor

prepare people for hi-tech mining industry roles. The proposal comes on top of a recent initiative by the Mackay Area Industry Network (MAIN) in partnership with consultant Rodin Genoff to promote the region as an innovation hub and

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Many firms operating in the local mining sector are squandering opportunities to make the most of their innovations through a poor understanding of Intellectual Property (IP) rights, a patent expert says. Engineering firms coming up with â&#x20AC;&#x153;geniusâ&#x20AC;? solutions for the industry were often happy just to get a contract, whereas their innovative ideas could be worth millions to them if they protected the IP properly, Invention Pathways director Terry Hurlock said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have had a good

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experience with new inventions coming out of the mining industry,â&#x20AC;? Mr Hurlock said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;But a lot of people take the wrong advice and they go in the wrong direction.â&#x20AC;? Invention Pathways has more than 20 yearsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; experience in patenting and commercialisation of inventions. The Townsville-based firm recently opened an Invention Pathways franchise office in Mackay and a Toowoomba franchise is due to be officially opened during September. Mr Hurlock said his firm

would have dealt with more than 100 cases from the Mackay region over the years and the new office would provide better access for clients. He described the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s industrial sector as possessing a very inventive culture. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s partly historical in the sense that they didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have anyone else to go to, so people tended to look at the problems they had and come up with solutions,â&#x20AC;? Mr Hurlock said. The Mackay office can be contacted on (07) 4957 6787 and the Townsville office on (07) 4775 1000.

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The Mining Advocate | September 2010

Thinking big New player Altona Mining is thinking big when it comes to its Roseby copper project, 90km north-east of Mount Isa. Altona managing director Alistair Cowden said the project justified double the production profile of 26,000 tonnes of copper per annum that Universal Resources had been targeting. And he believes it’s time to transform public perception of what is one of the Top 5 largest copper projects in Australia. “I don’t think the world understands that Roseby is a monster,” Dr Cowden said “It’s not a small amount of metal. “One day it will be a large mine and I hope it’s us doing it.” Development of the Roseby project has been placed on the back burner to some extent since Universal Resources merged with Vulcan Resources last year. While Universal had flagged a 2010 start to construction, the new company has its sights set on bringing its Outokumpu copper project in Finland online first. Dr Cowden said bringing the two companies together had allowed “a more measured strategy” towards the development of Roseby.

“The previous Universal decided they wanted to go into production as soon as possible and worked towards that,” he said. “We want to make the project as big as possible before we go into production. “We will reach cash flow in Finland in 2012 and, once we’re a company with cash flow, I think that’s a company that can really tear Roseby apart. “Between now and 2012 we will do all that is necessary to be in a position to make a decision about building a very large mine at Roseby.” The Roseby project already holds 128.54 million tonnes of JORC-complaint resources containing 878,000 tonnes of copper and 239,000 ounces of gold. “It is the largest copper resource in the hands of a junior in Australia,” Dr Cowden said. Yet he said projects with smaller resource such as Rex Minerals’ Hillside discovery in South Australia and CuDeco’s Rocklands project outside Cloncurry had made a bigger public splash. Altona aims to increase the Roseby resource beyond one million tonnes of contained

copper and upgrade the definitive feasibility study to a production target of 40,000 tonnes per annum. Altona recently divested its interest in a number of other north-west Queensland tenements to focus on reaching production at Outokumpu and developing Roseby. It has reached an agreement to transfer ownership of its Bushy Park, Marumba and Malbon Vale exploration licences and its share in the Dronfield joint venture to Syndicated Metals.

Mining contractor leads the way Mining and civil construction company Northern Project Contracting (NPC) is helping fledgling indigenous ventures to follow in its footsteps after achieving business success. The organisation arose from a joint-venture partnership with a crushing contract in the lower Gulf and has grown into a multimillion-dollar, 100 per cent indigenous-owned company with offices in Brisbane and Townsville as well as at MMG Century Mine. NPC employs 80-100 people throughout Queensland, with indigenous people making up 80 per cent of that workforce. Its work was recognised recently with a win in the “social responsibility” category in the National Telstra Business Awards. NPC managing director Derek Flucker stressed it had been necessary to first focus on making the organisation commercially viable and meeting clients’ requirements in order to be in a position to provide community benefit. “We are now the company that is joint-venturing with other indigenous groups and showing them how to win and be successful in mining projects,” Mr Flucker said.

Sensis chief executive officer Gerry Sutton with Northern Project Contracting representatives Dawn Aplin, Derek Flucker, Kevin Cairns, Lila Cairns, Pekeri Ruska and Mitch Rimmer at the National Telstra Business Awards.

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NEWS

September 2010 |

The Mining Advocate

CQ team joins league battle Old hands from the north-west helped spark a competition entry from a new source, writes Belinda Humphries. The Cracow Diggers are lining up for the 2010 Battle of the Mines, injecting some central Queensland muscle into the annual rugby league carnival. About 30 employees from the Cracow gold mine, located 3km from the town of Cracow – about 150km south-east of Biloela, plan to travel to Cloncurry for the October 16 event. The entry was sparked by Cracow miners who had been involved in the tournament during previous jobs “up that way”, according to team member Jay Fong. These included former Eloise mine workers Dave Smith and Scott Hodgson, former BHP Billiton Cannington workers Mark Kennelly and Andrew Gueter, as well as Darrin Myocchi from Xstrata’s Enterprise operation. “One of Cracow’s underground drillers, Gary Hughes, has pushed it over

the last couple of years,” Mr Fong said. “We were trying to do it last year, but that fell through due to other commitments. He started really early this time and really got the ball rolling.” Battle founder John Green has long been keen to get central Queensland mines involved in the competition – which raises funds for the Royal Flying Doctor Service. “I think it’s a really good event that costs next to nothing to run,” he said. “I’d like to see the coalfields do it on the back of what we do and have the winners (of the central Queensland competition and of the Cloncurrybased competition) playing a curtain raiser at the Cowboys or something along those lines.” Mr Green, a construction and logistics engineer for CuDeco’s Rocklands copper project, confirmed that operation planned to field a team for

the second time in 2010. Nine teams entered the tournament last year, when the MICO Devils notched up their third consecutive victory. Battle of the Mines co-ordinator Larinda Turrell said concerns had been raised last year about the proportion of nonaffiliated players allowed to represent a mine. While the main aim of the tournament was to raise funds for the RFDS and other community groups, Ms Turrell said the Rotary organising committee appreciated the competitive spirit that arose among the mines. It had moved to quell concerns by introducing new regulations this year concerning the number of non-affiliated players allowed on each operation’s team, she said. This works on a sliding scale, allowing mines with smaller workforces to bring in a greater number of non-affiliated players. “We hope we have found a good compromise scenario where smaller mines will still be able to get up a team,” Ms Turrell said.

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A pilot program has kicked off in the Northern Territory to help mines prepare people from remote indigenous communities for employment on their sites. The Northern Territory Indigenous Mine Training Program evolved as a result of discussions with mining companies late last year, Minerals Council of Australia NT Division training and education coordinator Chris Natt said. “They were finding it increasingly difficult to get indigenous people from the communities close to their mine sites up to a job-ready standard,” Mr Natt said. “They were looking to start a course that was a very basic preemployment program to bring the participants up to an acceptable level for

Chris Natt Minerals Council of Australia NT Division training and education co-ordinator

employment and, over a couple of months, we devised a program that we felt was appropriate to suit the needs of the mining companies.” The first students began the new six-month course in two intakes in July. It involves rotations of

a week at a time between the mine site, training at the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education and rostered days off. The participants are studying to complete a Certificate I in Resources and Infrastructure and also undertake the Workplace English Language and Literacy program. “The other thing we have built into the program is a life skills component covering such things as hygiene, health and time management,” Mr Natt said. Participants include trainees from BHP Billiton Groote Eylandt Mining Company (GEMCO), Energy Resources of Australia (ERA), HNC Australia Resources (HAR) and Newmont mining operations.

NEWS

The Mining Advocate | September 2010

Watchdog has its eye on water Another compliance campaign is rolling out to target discharge from mine sites after some problematic years, writes Belinda Humphries. Mining companies are being warned to place high priority on water management this wet season, with the Queensland Government expected to take a tough line on the issue. Extreme rain events and a lack of preparation in some quarters had contributed to a significant number of prosecutions and inspections over the past two years, NRA Environmental Consultants director Neil Boland said. Mr Boland believed the figures also reflected the fact that the Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) was out to show it meant action. “The mining companies should be focusing on this in the lead up to the wet season,” he said. “There will be a lot of scrutiny as there was last wet season. “DERM were watching and very sensitive about any potential releases - I think that will be the case this year as well.” The deluge of 2008/09 and heavy rain again last wet season caused problems across northwestern and central Queensland

mine sites, including discharge of contaminants into waterways, resulting in a spate of inspections and legal action by DERM. Queensland Climate Change and Sustainability Minister Kate Jones believed the state’s mining sites were better prepared this wet season, having collectively spent millions of dollars conducting

NRA environmental scientist David Campbell collects water samples as part of an aquatic ecology investigation in north western Queensland. Photo: courtesy NRA

“There will be a lot of scrutiny - as there was last wet season” creek clean ups and improving water management. And she said DERM had implemented a Mine Discharge Response Plan that ensured early staff mobilisation and notification of affected stakeholders should a contamination event occur. The government’s message to mining operations was simple. “If they are complying with their environmental authorities and the

legislation, they have nothing to worry about, but we will not allow illegal and reckless environmental harm from their activities,”Ms Jones said. Mr Boland said in many cases mines suffering discharge problems had adhered to design requirements for dams and onsite water storage, but were let

down by failing to implement or maintain appropriate site drainage. He said segregating water according to quality and managing it accordingly could be especially difficult in severe weather events. Meanwhile, Mr Boland said DERM was generally increasing the emphasis on site-based water quality criteria, placing an onus

on companies to determine the impact of releases on the receiving environment rather the relying on set contamination trigger levels. “This means having long-term monitoring programs,” he said. DERM conducted more than 50 inspections across 22 north Queensland mines prior to the 2009/10 wet season, with two Environmental Protection Orders issued. The minister’s office said departmental officers were undertaking a similar level of compliance inspections ahead of the upcoming wet season. DERM issued six infringement notices and 11 warning notices as a result of breaches at mine sites last wet season, in addition to a raft of actions as a result of events during the 2008/09 wet season. Ernest Henry Mining was fined $100,000 recently over a stormwater discharge that occurred during the widespread flooding in north-west Queensland in that wet season. MMG Century Mine was fined $130,000 in March on charges relating to the discharge of contaminants into Page Creek in early 2009. Cases involving Mt Gordon mine, the Great Australian Mine and former operators of Lady Annie Mine remain before the courts.

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INDUSTRY UPDATE - COAL | GAS

September 2010 |

Winning ways

Anglo streamlines portfolio Anglo American has agreed to sell its interests in five undeveloped Australian coal assets for $580 million to a consortium involving Korea Electric Power Corporation, POSCO and Cockatoo Coal. The assets comprise two coal deposits in New South Wales and Anglo American’s share in the Collingwood, Ownaview and Taroom deposits in Queensland. Anglo American Metallurgical Coal chief executive officer Seamus French said the company would focus on developing its strong Australian project pipeline of large-scale, long-life projects such as Grosvenor and Moranbah South.

Training award organisers praised the top line-up of contenders.

Photo: Ashley Roach

Anglo American Metallurgical Coal, Gladstone Area Group Apprentices and Queensland Alumina were among the top performers recognised at the 2010 Mining Industry Skills Centre Training Awards Dinner. Organisers said an overwhelming number of high-quality nominations had been received from around Australia with finalists being selected from New South Wales, the Northern Territory, Western Australia and Queensland. Winners included Apprentice of the Year Mitchell Green from Anglo American Metallurgical Coal and Trainee of the Year Bonita Orr from Gladstone Area Group Apprentices. Justin Murray from Anglo American Metallurgical Coal won the individual award for excellence in training, Reserve Training and Safety won the best training processes and practices award for a registered training organisation, while Queensland Alumina won in the company category. The innovation award for workforce planning and development went to Lennon Training, with QMEA - Moranbah State High School highly commended.

On the starting blocks Syntech Resources expects to produce the first shipment of coal from its Cameby Downs project, outside Miles, in late October or early November.

infrastructure at the moment,” he said. The mine will kick off with an annual production rate of about 1.4 million tonnes of coal, to be exported via Brisbane.

Syntech chief executive Darian Hielscher said recently the thermal coal project had reached the final commissioning stage.

Syntech proposes a second stage of development to expand production by a further 10 million tonnes per annum, to be exported through Gladstone’s Wiggins Island Coal Export Terminal.

“We have started overburden removal, we’ve started coal mining and are just commissioning various bits of

Mr Hielscher said the company was continuing discussions on the required rail and port access.

The Brisbane-based business recently announced it had delivered a record half-year production across all coal products of 14.4 million tonnes. Mr French said the company was making progress with the first stage of its 8.6 million-tonnes-per-annum premium-grade hard coking coal Grosvenor project, near Moranbah. It expected to submit the project for Anglo American board approval in late 2011.

Bumper year for coal A record year for coal exports and haulage helped drive a 21 per cent increase in the value of Queensland merchandise exports last financial year, Treasurer Andrew Fraser said. Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed the state’s merchandise exports totalled $13.3 billion over the year. “The 21 per cent increase was largely driven by our traditional strengths such as coal, meat and base metals, but we are also diversifying, with textiles and education in great demand,” Mr Fraser said. Asian demand for Queensland coal saw a record 183.1 million tonnes exported to June, an increase of 14.9 per cent over 2008-09. Meanwhile North Queensland Bulk Ports Corporation (NQBP) recently

announced that coal exports out of Abbot Point set a monthly record in August with 1,884,359 tonnes loaded in 24 ships. “This is a good indicator of what is yet to come at Abbot Point and a sign of continued growth within the industry,” NQBP chief executive officer Brad Fish said. “The previous record was set in December 2009 with 1,748,883 loaded in 22 ships.” NQBP remains on track to deliver capacity of 50 million tonnes per annum with construction of the X50 expansion project running on schedule.

Linc’s $3b tenement deal Linc Energy has sold its Galilee Basin coal deposit to Indian firm Adani Mining in a $3 billion deal. The tenement changing hands has a JORC-compliant resource of 7.8 billion tonnes of coal. Linc will take a $500 million upfront cash payment for the tenement in addition to a royalty payment of $2 per tonne for the first 20 years of coal production. The Adani group and DBCT Management were recently named as preferred proponents for the development of new coal export infrastructure at Dudgeon Point, Mackay.

Uplifting figures for Eagle Downs Aquila Resources has released an upgraded resource statement for the Eagle Downs hard coking coal project. The total resource has increased to 948 million tonnes from the previously reported 894 million tonnes, with significant upgrades in resources classification. The project is located in the Bowen Basin, immediately down dip from BMA’s Peak Downs mine. The feasibility study proposes an underground longwall mine, producing initially up to 4.6 million tonnes per annum and then up to 8 million tonnes when the second longwall is installed.

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INDUSTRY UPDATE - COAL | GAS

The Mining Advocate | September 2010

Thumbs up for Washpool The feasibility study for Aquila Resources’ Washpool hard coking coal project, 24km north-west of Blackwater in the Bowen Basin, has confirmed its technical and economic viability. The study proposes an open-cut operation mining 4 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of run-of-mine coal, to produce 1.6mtpa of high-rank hard coking coal over 25 years, with the coal to be exported through the proposed Wiggins Island Coal Terminal in Gladstone. Aquila Resources says construction of the mine could commence in 2012 with first coal mined early in 2013, subject to statutory approvals and completion of further technical studies. The project is expected to cost $320 million to develop.

Safety record recognised Two central Queensland coal mines have taken out Rio Tinto’s top global safety awards. The Hail Creek Mine, near Mackay, has been presented with a Chief Executive Safety Award for 2010, following one of its best years in safety performance since operations started in 2003. The award recognises sites for their past two years’ safety performance, focusing on innovative safety systems, effective communication and a strong safety culture. Meanwhile the Blair Athol Mine, near Clermont, won one of two Chief Executive Safety Awards for the most improved sites in Rio Tinto’s global portfolio over 2008 and 2009. The Queensland mine sites were selected ahead of the many operations within the Rio Tinto Group, which encompasses aluminum, copper, diamonds, energy products, gold, industrial minerals and iron ore businesses around the world.

Kunioon mine on backburner Tarong Energy has confirmed Meandu Mine will continue to supply Tarong Power Station, 180km north-west of

Coming together

Brisbane, until at least 2025. The announcement follows extensive investigations to determine the quantity of economically viable coal at the mine. Tarong Energy chief executive officer Helen Gluer said the corporation had scaled back its activities at the Kunioon site as there was no longer an urgent need to establish a mining lease. “Since taking ownership of the Meandu/Kunioon resources in February 2008, Tarong Energy has undertaken an extensive program to determine the quantity, quality and cost of extracting the coal from both resources,” she said. “This information has provided the basis for our decision to continue at Meandu Mine.”

Haulage deal announced The Macarthur Coal and Noble Group joint venture developing the Middlemount Mine has signed a long-term take-or-pay contract with Pacific National for coal haulage to the expanded Abbot Point Coal Terminal. The contract, commencing in January 2012, will see about 3 million tonnes of coal per annum transported to the North Queensland port via the new Goonyella-Abbot Point rail link. Macarthur Coal chief executive officer and managing director Nicole Hollows said alternative infrastructure options were necessary given long-term demand projections for coal. “This contract provides the Middlemount Mine with access to expanded port capacity and diversification from the existing Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal,” Ms Hollows said.

Bounty in German Creek deal Bounty Mining has secured a twoyear contract with Anglo American Metallurgical Coal to provide bord and pillar mining services at the Aquila and Bundoora mines in the German Creek complex. Chairman Gary Cochrane said Bounty would provide services to reopen and operate the Aquila Mine, where the company had operated previously for four years.

The dragline under construction at Isaac Plains.

Photo: Erica Smith

Mackay-based firm G&S Engineering has started assembling the tub and revolving frame for Isaac Plains coal mine’s new dragline. The dragline is expected to be commissioned in April next year, ready to commence production at the Moranbah district mine’s N1 pit from May. Site operations manager Phil Nobe said introduction of the dragline would increase output to about 2.8 million product tonnes, compared to around 2.4 million product tonnes achieved last year, despite increased strip ratios as mining went deeper. “As it gets deeper the strip ratios are increasing, so even though the coal production isn’t increasing very much, the amount of dirt that needs to be moved is increasing substantially,” Mr Nobe said. “The introduction of the dragline allows us to reduce the costs.” The Isaac Plains operation is erecting a used Bucyrus Erie 1370W dragline that was dismantled and shipped from the United States.

Bounty has been providing some minor services at the site with a small maintenance crew but this will be expanded to a full seven-day operation. Bounty will also start bord and pillar production at the Bundoora Mine from January 2011 to extract remnant high-quality coking coal and maximise resource recovery for Anglo American at German Creek. The company said this operation would utilise Anglo American mining equipment to extract more than 750,000 tonnes of coal over an 18-month period.

“We are delighted to resume our relationship with Anglo American,” Mr Cochrane said.

Maiden resource at Norwood MetroCoal has announced a maiden inferred resource of 156 million tonnes for its Norwood project area in the Surat Basin. The project is down dip from the Pony Plains deposit and adjacent to Xstrata’s recently submitted Wandoan Extended Mining Lease.

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INDUSTRY UPDATE - COAL | GAS

September 2010 |

QME still growing

Stanmore Coal managing director Nick Jorss said the company would complete a concept study in September to confirm the key parameters of the tenement and outline its path to production.

Support for rehabilitation studies

Mines and Energy Minister Stephen Robertson checks out the exhibits with Sandvik Mining and Construction product line manager - surface drilling equipment, Neil Emery.

The organisers of Mackay’s Queensland Mining and Engineering (QME) exhibition believe there is still room for growth after the event attracted record visitor and exhibitor numbers in 2010. While local infrastructure constraints, including availability of accommodation, continued to place a handbrake on QME’s expansion, exhibition manager Soren Norgaard of Reed Exhibitions said the host city would continue to develop in line with expected growth across the region over the next 20 years. “Hopefully the show will continue to grow in line with this,” he said. “One of the things we’re looking at going forward is we’re doing a geographical analysis of where the visitors come from – which mine sites – to see if there are any particular mines that have decided not to come to QME and target those.” The number of QME trade visitors rose by 5.2 per cent to 10,700 in 2010 compared to the 2008 event, while exhibitors increased from 530 to 560. QME will return to Mackay on July 24-26 2012.

Mackenzie River shapes up Stanmore Coal has reached a milestone at its Mackenzie River Project west of Blackwater, announcing an initial JORC inferred resource of 99 million tonnes of coking coal for the tenement. Stanmore Coal managing director Nick Jorss said the defined resource re-affirmed that the Mackenzie River Project could potentially support an open-pit mining operation. The company has established an additional exploration target of 70 to 80

million tonnes within the project area. “We will continue further appraisal drilling at the project with the aim of increasing the JORC resource tonnages and move to undertake a conceptual mining study to firm up mining methods and the path to production,’’ Mr Jorss said.

Progress on The Range Stanmore Coal has announced an increased JORC inferred resource of 219 million tonnes at The Range tenement in the Surat Basin.

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The Queensland Resources Council (QRC) is inviting applications for two scholarships worth up to $35,000 each per annum to support research into coal minesite rehabilitation. The postgraduate scholarships, offered under the Coal Minesite Rehabilitation Trust Fund, support students in Queensland universities who undertake research aimed at improving the environmental management of coal mine sites. Research priorities in 2011 include evaluating the economic return from post-mining land uses, particularly the potential for CO2 offsets and sequestration within native ecosystems.

Mastermyne masterstroke Mastermyne has taken the top award at the Mackay Chamber of Commerce and MAIN 2010 Best in Business Gala Event. As well as winning the overall Best in Business Award, Mastermyne topped the best mining and engineering services category. Rio Tinto’s Hail Creek Mine was named best large business and G&S Engineering won an award for best community development.

Housing boost for resource centres The Queensland Government has declared Urban Development Areas in Roma, Moranbah and Blackwater to help fast-track affordable housing growth. Premier Anna Bligh said the UDAs would result in more than 900 new

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homes to take pressure off the three communities. “This will be done in full co-operation with local councils which have asked for our help to deal with housing stress,” Ms Bligh said. Planning Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said the declarations would mark the start of the Urban Land Development Authority’s (ULDA’s) Resource Town Housing Affordability program. “The ULDA will be responsible for planning and assessing development applications in these areas, and in some instances act as developer,” he said. “The ULDA has the resources to enable faster planning decisions and get affordable land and homes to market much faster.” The declarations in Roma, Moranbah and Blackwater will bring the number of UDAs in Queensland to 10, with four within Brisbane and three more at Gladstone, Townsville and Mackay.

Land policy ‘must not be rushed’ The Queensland Resources Council (QRC) has responded cautiously to the State Government’s release of a ‘strategic cropping land’ policy framework, intended to identify Queensland’s premium cropping land and exclude it from urban and resource development that permanently alienates the land. QRC chief executive Michael Roche predicted the journey from policy to implementation would be far from straightforward and must not be rushed. “There is a substantial gap between the large-scale regional maps released today by the government and the detailed, paddock by paddock information that farmers and resource developers will need to put a policy into practice,” Mr Roche said.

Contact RUSSELL HOCKINGS www.hastingsdeering.com.au

INDUSTRY UPDATE - COAL | GAS

The Mining Advocate | September 2010

Boost for GLNG project

New online tenure system

One of the world’s largest liquefied natural gas companies, Total, has taken a 20 per cent interest in the Santos/ Petronas GLNG project to be based in Gladstone.

The Queensland Government has launched a new online system to significantly improve the processing of tenure data from the state’s petroleum and gas industry.

Santos recently announced it was selling a 15 per cent interest in GLNG to Total for $650 million, while Petronas has agreed to sell a 5 per cent interest.

Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation executive director for mining and petroleum operations, Jim Grundy, said the electronic system reduced manual handling of petroleum well and borehole forms and reports by allowing tenure holders to lodge and record data online.

Santos chief executive officer David Knox described the sale agreement with Total as a landmark agreement for the Australian LNG industry. GLNG has also signed a binding Heads of Agreement for the sale of 1.5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of LNG to Total for a period of 20 years commencing in 2014 as well as securing an increased off take agreement with Petronas. It now has binding agreements for the sale of 5 mtpa of LNG in aggregate, underpinning the development of a two-train project. The combined value of the GLNG off take agreements exceeds $100 billion.

Blackwater construction kicks off Principal contractor Clarke Energy has started construction on Bow Energy’s 30-megawatt gas-fired Blackwater Power Project, about 15km north-east of Blackwater in central Queensland. The project is expected to create more than 200 direct and indirect jobs during the construction process, with additional staff required for operation and maintenance upon its expected completion at the end of the first quarter of 2011. The plant will draw coal seam gas (CSG) from Bow’s nearby Blackwater CSG field. “Bow sees the new power project as a model which could be replicated across the company’s strategic CSG fields in Queensland’s Bowen Basin in addition to the potential for larger scale integrated power generation developments,” Bow chief executive officer John De Stefani said.

Kingaroy. DERM director-general John Bradley said the new notice would require Cougar Energy to supply information the company failed to provide in response to their original notice, as well as additional information relevant to a contamination incident on the site earlier this year. In a recent letter to shareholders Cougar Energy chairman Malcolm McAully stressed that the company maintained that no environmental Service harm had been Trucks caused to the Kingaroy site and surrounding farm lands. State Government tests confirmed there were no concerns with water quality in the local bores, he said.

www.equipmentplacement.com.au “It will also make analysis of this data by the “There is no evidence to indicate that department easier,” Mr Grundy said. the Kingaroy project presents any Mines Online forms part of the danger to human health or local farming government’s Streamlining Approvals activities,” Mr McAully said. Project to improve the efficiency of Queensland’s regulatory and approval processes for mining and petroleum tenures.

Arrow takeover Shell and PetroChina have announced the successful completion of their joint acquisition of Australian coal seam gas company, Arrow Energy. The acquisition follows an offer in March to purchase 100 per cent of the shares of Arrow for a total consideration of approximately $3.5 billion. Arrow will remain based in Brisbane with a board of directors composed of Shell and PetroChina executives.

Kingaroy assessment continues The Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) has issued Cougar Energy with a new notice for an environmental evaluation for the company’s Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) plant, near

“Your board, senior management and staff are working intensively with the Queensland Government and other stakeholders to enable the resumption of the gasification operations at the Kingaroy pilot plant at the earliest possible time.”

Reforms target CSG industry Landholders dealing with the coal seam gas (CSG) industry will get more information and have greater access to State Government services under a package of reforms announced recently. The package of changes includes: · the investment of more than $2 million to employ an additional 20 staff specifically in south-western Queensland to respond to groundwater and environmental complaints; · a commitment by the Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) to sample approximately 300 monitoring bores in

2011 and 2012 to monitor the accuracy of information provided by the CSG operators through environmental authority reporting; · new requirements for CSG operators to assess landholder bore status before drilling to support their “make good” obligations and streamline dispute resolution; · new requirements for CSG operators to notify affected landholders about works such as the drilling of bores.

Carbon Energy moves forward Carbon Energy has executed an agreement with Arcadia Energy Trading regarding the development of two Queensland power stations fuelled by syngas produced from its Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) project. The projects include Carbon Energy’s 25-megawatt power station proposal at Bloodwood Creek, west of Dalby in south-east Queensland, and a 300-megawatt plant at the company’s proposed Blue Gum Energy Park. Carbon Energy managing director Andrew Dash said the agreement with Arcadia represented a clear development path for the company’s Stage 2 and 3 power generation projects. Stage 1 involves a 5-megawatt power station in the final stages of construction and commissioning at Bloodwood Creek, with the electricity generated to be connected into the local electricity grid and initially to be sold to Ergon Energy.

Large gas field potential Drilling at Bow Energy’s Norwich Park block, about 300km north-west of Gladstone, has identified three high potential coal seam gas (CSG) prospects. The first four wells of a seven-well initial CSG exploration program have intersected an average of about 63m of gassy coals. The company has scheduled initial pilot production wells later this year.

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INDUSTRY UPDATE - HARDROCK

September 2010 |

Innovators

They include an indicated and inferred resource of 4.5 million tonnes at 1.12 per cent nickel and 0.08 per cent cobalt at Greenvale and an indicated and inferred resource of 2.4 million tonnes at 0.57 per cent nickel and 0.20 per cent cobalt at Lucknow. The new nickelcobalt estimates follow the release of Metallica’s maiden resource estimate for scandium mineralisation at the Lucknow deposit.

Queensland Mines and Energy Minister Stephen Robertson (centre) presents the Innovation Award to Xstrata Copper’s Townsville refinery superintendent - continuous improvement Noel Kimlin and machinery operator Peter Clifford. Photo: Mark Duffus

An innovation that makes their workplace safer while saving time has earned Xstrata Copper’s Townsville refinery employees a prestigious safety award. A cathode nodule catcher developed for the refinery’s cathode stripping machine wash water system claimed the Innovation Award during the recent Queensland Mining Industry Health and Safety Conference in Townsville. By containing copper waste, the device has reduced the amount of manual cleaning required in the plant’s wash chamber and eliminated the need for employees to lift heavy floor plates. The People’s Choice Award for innovation went to Rio Tinto Coal Australia’s Kestrel Coal mine for its belt lifting and roller replacement tool. A highly commended award went to MMG Century Mine for its windrow delineator, which helps heavy machinery operators to more clearly see the edge of in-pit roads at night. Safety conference spokesman Stewart Bell said the near record attendance of about 700 at this year’s event showed the commitment of government, the industry and unions to work together toward their shared goal of “zero harm”.

Work starts on Merlin decline Ivanhoe Australia has awarded Byrnecut Australia the construction contract for the decline access into the planned Merlin molybdenum and rhenium mine on the company’s Cloncurry project in north-west Queensland. Mobilisation of equipment and personnel would commence immediately and be closely followed by the start of excavation of the box-cut on the Mt Dore ridge, chief executive officer Peter Reeve said.

“While Ivanhoe Australia will retain a strong focus on exploration, work on the decline marks the point at which Ivanhoe Australia starts the transition from explorer to producer, ” Mr Reeve said

NORNICO resource announcements Metallica Minerals has released the first formal JORC resource estimates for the Greenvale and Lucknow nickel-cobalt laterite deposits within its NORNICO project, north-west of Townsville in North Queensland.

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plant at Paradise South. A feasibility expansion study on increased production scenarios is expected to be completed soon.

Golden growth potential Recent drilling at the Red Dome copper-gold project in the Chillagoe region of North Queensland has intersected substantial widths and grades of mineralisation Water Trucks outside of the known resource boundary.

This took Metallica’s combined scandium resource from the Lucknow Owner Mungana and Kokomo Goldmines deposits to more says the results than 15 million have confirmed tonnes at 133g per the potential tonne (using a cutfor significant www.equipmentplacement.com.au off grade of 70g additions to the of scandium per current resource. tonne). Metallica The Mungana and Red Dome gold said the indicated resource was sufficient deposits have combined measured, for initial pit design and scheduling. indicated and inferred resources totalling 1.85 million ounces of gold, Paradise plan an $11b earner 180,000 tonnes of copper and 13 Legend International Holdings recently million ounces of silver. announced positive results from its Mungana Goldmines, which listed on feasibility study for the Paradise the Australian Securities Exchange in Phosphate Project in north-west June, is targeting a resource capable Queensland, with more than $11 billion of sustaining production of 150,000 in revenue expected over 30 years on the ounces of gold and 15,000 tonnes of base case development scenario. copper annually. This would involve mining at the company’s Paradise North tenement from 2013 and Paradise South from 2017 and processing phosphate ore to produce 600,000 tonnes of DAP/ MAP fertiliser and 15,000 tonnes of aluminium fluoride per annum.

Decision soon on Mt Oxide Perilya is continuing a study into the potential development of the Mt Oxide copper project north-west of Mount Isa.

The company estimates the project will involve $743 million ($US688 million) of capital expenditure over the first three years for mining, transport infrastructure, associated working capital and the construction of a Mount Isa phosphate fertilizer complex. A further $130 million ($US120 million) would be required in 2016/17 for the establishment of a beneficiation

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The Australian company’s most recent quarterly report described the study as well advanced, with the board expected to be in a position to make a development decision by December. Perilya has committed about $10 million this year to completing the development study. The Mt Oxide mineral resource estimate currently comprises 17.9 million tonnes at an average grade of 1.3 per cent copper for 224,000 tonnes of contained copper.

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INDUSTRY UPDATE - HARDROCK

The Mining Advocate | September 2010

Concentrator contract awarded A major Chinese mining and manufacturing company has come on board as CuDeco pushes ahead with plans to start mining at its Rocklands Group Copper Project outside Cloncurry next year. Sinosteel Equipment and Engineering recently signed a contract for design and engineering for the Rocklands copper/ gold/cobalt concentrator plant and auxiliary facilities. CuDeco hopes to commission that plant in 2012, with a production throughput of 10,000 tonnes per day. Lycopodium Minerals Queensland, which is in the final stages of a definitive feasibility study for the project, will continue to act as CuDeco’s engineering consultants throughout the design, construction and commissioning phases. CuDeco released an updated resource estimate for the project in August of 30.9 million tonnes at 1.24 per cent copper equivalent, which it says supports a three-million-tonne-perannum operation over 10 years. Chairman Wayne McCrae said he envisaged the tenement would require another five years of exploration before the company could say it had completed a thorough geological investigation of all areas identified as high probability target zones for mineralisation.

Gold operation for sale ERO Mining has announced it will sell its Georgetown gold project, south-south-west of the township of Georgetown in central North Queensland. Site inspections by interested purchasers were scheduled to commence in mid September, the company said.

Mt Garnet consolidates The resource for Consolidated Tin Mines’ Mt Garnet project outside Cairns has been boosted with news the Queensland Government has granted

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the Windermere development licence. The Windermere Project has a current inferred JORC resource of 2.1 million tonnes at 0.55 per cent tin, taking the total resource at the Mt Garnet project to 7.3 million tonnes at 0.60 per cent. The Windermere mineral development licence was purchased from Bluestone Nominees in 2008 and has been proceeding through government departmental processes to grant.

Stuart project strengthens Queensland Mining Corporation has announced a major resource upgrade at its Stuart project, 120km south of Cloncurry in north-west Queensland. The total JORC resource is now 2.29 million tonnes at 0.86 per cent copper, representing an 88 per cent increase in tonnage from the resource announced by previous owners Matrix Metals and a 47 per cent increase in the contained copper. The resource upgrade is the result of an independent review by Golder Associates. The Stuart project lies within a suite of mining leases recently acquired by QMC from the administrators of Matrix Metals.

PNG trade appointment Cairns business leader Jeremy Blockey has been appointed as the Queensland Government’s new Special Trade Representative to Papua New Guinea (PNG).

major opportunities arising from multi-billion-dollar resource sector developments including LNG and mining, as well as associated construction and infrastructure, and training,” Mr Fraser said.

New study for Mount Peake Australian resource company TNG has commissioned a new scoping study for its Mount Peake Vanadium Project in the Northern Territory based on a recent metallurgical processing breakthrough. TNG announced in May that the project had received a major boost with the joint development of a new metallurgical process for extraction of all three key commodities – vanadium, titanium and iron – from the Mount Peake ore. The new hydrometallurgical process route was jointly developed with the company’s metallurgical consultants, Mineral Engineering Technical Services (METS). TNG has now commissioned METS to undertake a new scoping study to incorporate hydrometallurgical processing for the recovery of the valuable products, which is the subject of a new patent application. TNG believes that the new process will significantly boost the economics of the Mount Peake project.

Batavia takes full share

State Treasurer Andrew Fraser said the appointment would support far North Queensland’s push into a key growth export market.

Batavia Mining has exercised its right to take full ownership of the Roper River iron ore project in the Northern Territory.

Mr Blockey is President of the Cairns Chamber of Commerce and Director of Advance Cairns.

As part of the decision to acquire the project, it is proposed that Batavia will change its name to Sherwin Iron.

The Cairns-based Special Trade Representative to PNG is an initiative under the Cairns Economic Future Plan released in November 2009 to create new jobs in the region.

The acquisition from North Australian Iron follows a due diligence process which has included an extensive drilling program and preliminary metallurgical testwork.

“These are exciting times for Cairns and far North Queensland with

Batavia also recently announced that it had entered into a Heads of Agreement

with the Darwin Port Corporation covering the handling and shipment of an initial two million tonnes of iron ore a year from 2012.

Frances Creek lifespan increases Territory Resources says a reoptimisation of deposits has extended the life of its Frances Creek iron ore mine, with a 50 per cent increase in ore reserves that will underpin continued production until at least 2013. Territory has also unveiled a threepronged program to further extend mine life at the Northern Territory operation, which produces about two million tonnes per annum. A total budget of $4.67 million has been approved this financial year to aggressively explore for and develop iron ore resources both in the near-mine environment and within a 30-35km radius of the Frances Creek operation. Territory Resources recently won the regional exporter category in the 2010 Chief Minister’s Northern Territory Export and Industry Awards.

Mt Todd re-opening ‘attractive’ Colorado-based Vista Gold has announced positive results from a preliminary feasibility study for the Mt Todd gold project in the Northern Territory. The proposed re-opening of the Mt Todd gold project would be technically, operationally and economically attractive at a conservative gold price of $950 per ounce and very attractive at current gold prices, the company said. Vista said the preliminary feasibility study for the Batman deposit within the project indicated that annual production of about 187,500 ounces of gold over a nine-year mine life would be viable. It also recently announced a mineral resource estimate of 179,000 ounces of measured and indicated resources and 277,000 ounce of inferred ounces at the Quigleys deposit, which is one of several satellite deposits at the Mt Todd project.

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September 2010 |

LCJ Engineers party

The Mining Advocate

PHOTOS: Stewart McLean

LCJ Engineers, Townsville

Mick Whittle and Frank Seardamaglia (Skilled) with Zoran Stefanovic and Brian Milanovic (LCJ Engineers).

Andrew Franzmann (PDM) with Peter Ellis (LCJ Engineers).

Mark Arnold (Douglas Partners) with Danny Johnstone (LCJ Engineers).

Steve Hollway (Rowlands Surveys), George Milford (Wolter Rowlands), Erin Berthelsen (Brazier Motti) and Leo Campbell (Wolter Rowlands).

Bruce Stewart (Douglas Partners) and Bill Hutton (LCJ Engineers).

Andrew Porter (LCJ Engineers) with Steve Jones (Pacific Marine Group).

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Rhys Jones (Xstrata Copper Refineries) with Ben Hogg and Adam Jensen (both with Xstrata Mount Isa).

Anthony Green (Xstrata) and wife Kylie.

Sarah Barker, Meegan Smith, Jacinta Ogilvie and Anthea Barrow (all from Xstrata operations).

Daniel Turner, Jodie Mulder, Lauren Hannah and Paul Campion (all from Xstrata operations).

Nathan Bullock (AusIMM), Neil Williams (Siemens Australia) and Davey Cawood (Engineers Australia).

Steve de Kruijff (Xstrata Copper) and Alice Clark (AusIMM).

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The Mining Advocate | September 2010

Cairns Chamber of Commerce mine managersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; familiarisation welcome function

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Andrew Mortlock (Kangaroo Resources), Grant Calderwood (Marengo Mining) and David Snowman (Telstra Country Wide).

Julie Haines (Mantra Group) with Michael Ganza (Engineering Testing Services).

Steve Jones (Skytrans) with Steve Spinaze (Heli Charters Australia).

Sandy Whyte (Cairns Chamber of Commerce) with Lea and Ross Byers (MMG Karumba port facility).

Annette and Chris Potter (MMG Century Mine), Joann Pyne (Tropical North Queensland Institute of TAFE) and Leslie Lofthouse (Precruitment).

David Finney (RPS), Jo-Anne Kempster (Harmony Gold Mining) and Greg Gurt (Morobe Mining).

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Mackay Golf Club

Liz Underwood, Carole Dawes and Tam Kiln (all from Central Queensland University).

Betty Mulhall, Jason Demarco, Bruce Newport and Greg Mulhall (all from TSL).

Derek Best, Stephen Burgess, Bill Hall and Liam Wilson (all from Rio Tinto Hail Creek Mine).

Pete Mizen, Darren Snell, Rob Hasson and Sheree Hasson (all from Tropical Safety and Identification).

Ryan Haynes, Alan Haynes and Laurie Willett (all Haynes Mechanical) with Sue Willett (WIN).

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Bruce Wills (Blackwater Mine), Graeme Radshaw (Yarrabee Coal) and Greg Bourke (Goonyella Riverside Mine).

Shane Hellwege (BMA Norwich Park), Rebecca Vogels (Bullivants) and Neville Stanton (Moranbah North Mine).

Peter Howe and Ben Anderson (both from Maxam Australia).

Darren Reher and Mark Phillips (both Xstrata Copper Mount Isa).

Monique Swanan and Mitch Talbot (both from RTIO).

Gary Christison (Verifact Security), Hag Harrison (Australian Workers Union) and Dan Crowley (Verifact Security).

Natalie Edmiston (Thiess) and Andy Hamill (Rio Tinto).

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The Mining Advocate | September 2010

Flexibility appeals to jobseekers Offering top-quality accommodation camps and the chance to live on the coast can give employers an edge in a tightening market. Good candidates are increasingly demanding the flexibility of a fly in-fly out (FIFO) work arrangement that allows them to remain based in a major coastal city as resource companies face heavy competition for skills, according to a Brisbane-based recruitment specialist. Davidson Recruitment practice leader – mining and resources Jennifer Revie believed this expectation would grow not only among executive-level candidates but also in semiskilled roles where workers will be required in large numbers, making the market very tight. “Overlaying the skills shortage in Queensland is the looming competition between the mining industry and the oil and gas industry for semi-skilled labour,” she said. Mining companies and industry groups needed to focus on solutions to attract and retain skilled employees in Queensland, particularly the FIFO option, Ms Revie said. She said the standard of accommodation camps had risen enormously in recent years and this would also be a factor in attracting employees. Chevron’s Barrow Island accommodation village, being built at a cost of $500 million for its Gorgon gas project in Western Australia, was setting the bar high, Ms Revie said. The 3000-plus-bed

Davidson Recruitment practice leader - mining and resources Jennifer Revie. Photo: Fiona Harding

construction village will include two fully equipped gymnasiums, three large swimming pools, cricket nets, multipurpose tennis and basketball courts, two soccer pitches, golf driving nets, two bocce courts, putting greens and two wet messes, each with a large relaxation and BBQ area. Each bedroom will include an en suite bathroom, card key access, custom-designed furniture, a wall-mounted flat screen cable TV, internet connectivity and a phone.

Ms Revie said mining operations in high-growth areas were being forced to offer more FIFO options with on-site village facilities attached rather than placing extra pressure on nearby communities that were “bursting at the seam” to accommodate mine workers. “This has a social impact on communities that needs to be addressed,” she said. “A transient population has an effect on communities just as much as FIFO has an impact on families. “Ultimately industry needs to weigh up the impact and what measures they can take to alleviate community and personal stress.” Ms Revie shifted to Davidson Recruitment’s Brisbane office recently after seven years in the mining industry in Western Australia. She said the market had swung dramatically in recent months from the previous clientdriven market. “In the last couple of months it has become candidate-centric again,” Ms Revie said. “We could learn from what happened (in the last boom) about what companies need to do to attract and retain the right candidates. “The quality of candidates in the market place is exceptional at the moment. “The mining industry’s success relies on people and we need to look after that most valuable resource.”

The MAC’s Coppabella Village, north-west of Nebo in the Bowen Basin.

Village people lift the tempo The MAC Services Group has secured contracts for an additional 1050 rooms to be installed at its accommodation villages at Moranbah, Dysart, Middlemount and Nebo. The MAC chief executive officer Mark Maloney said the group expected to have most of the expansion works complete by the end of this financial year. He said the group was still working through local development approvals for 400 of the additional rooms. The MAC also recently announced it had renewed three major accommodation contracts covering 2050 rooms at Moranbah, Dysart and Nebo. “We are pleased our key customers continue to renew the accommodation contracts in our Bowen Basin villages,” Mr Maloney said. “That is a real endorsement of our unique accommodation and services package.”

The group – Australia’s largest mining accommodation and services company – announced a net profit after tax of $27.5 million for 2009/10, an increase of 16 per cent from the previous year. And it expects the next two years to be a period of continuing growth. The company aims to continue to expand its portfolio through new developments in key markets in New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia. The company said the planning process was continuing for villages at Calliope, outside Gladstone, and at Wandoan to service the Surat Basin’s coal and LNG industries as well as associated infrastructure developments. The MAC purchased the 50ha Calliope site from Rio Tinto earlier this year and has Gladstone Regional Council approval for the development of 300 accommodation units over 10ha.

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20 Cannington Feature

Cannington Community

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20th Anniversary Dinner > Friday 24 September A night of laughs with comedian Mike van Acker Music by Cats Tango Dress standard: Cocktail McIntyre Park Julia Creek 6pm – 10pm

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Community Open Day > Sunday 26 September Mine tours • BBQ lunch Jumping castle • Art classes Mini golf • Jump Rope for Heart Heart Foundation art exhibition Free buses from Mt Isa, Cloncurry and Julia Creek Cannington Mine (via McKinlay) 9am – 4pm

F more information or to For cconfirm your attendance > Call 1800 025 377. C Bookings essential. B

September 2010 |

The Mining Advocate

A plaque marks the site of the Cannington discovery drill hole.

The road to riches The discovery of the Cannington silverlead-zinc deposit in north-west Queensland 20 years ago was the culmination of many years of work by what was then the BHP Minerals exploration team. The company was searching for “the next Broken Hill” and had its sights fixed on the Soldiers Cap group of rocks in the Eastern Succession of the Mount Isa block in north-west Queensland. The area was identified as prospective for mineralisation of the same type as the landmark New South Wales deposit on which the Broken Hill Proprietary Company was founded in 1893. In the 1980s the company began its exploration efforts in an area about 60km south-east of Cloncurry, resulting in the discovery of the Eloise copper-gold deposit. Another group of tenements was pegged to the south and in 1989 a detailed aerial magnetic survey led to a series of anomalies being defined.

The Cannington deposit was discovered in 1990 by drill testing one of those anomalies about 4km north of the Cannington pastoral station. The company completed its full feasibility study in 1995 and the mine was commissioned in 1997, the result of more than $500 million in investment by BHP. Today BHP Billiton Cannington is the world’s largest tonnage and lowest cost single-mine producer of silver and lead as well as being a substantial zinc producer. BHP Billiton Cannington mines about three million tonnes of ore per year to produce 500,000 tonnes of concentrate. The operation employs more than 700 people, including contractors, and its Cannington Community Fund provides about $1 million in grants each year for schools, sporting groups and other community organisations within the Townsville to Mount Isa economic corridor.

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We congratulate management and staff of Cannington on their success. We are proud to have contributed and look forward to continuing our partnership.

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BHP Billiton Cannington Feature

The Mining Advocate | September 2010 Cannington

Happy 20th ‘Canniversary’ BHP Billiton Cannington is inviting the local community to join the party as it marks a milestone in the mine’s history. The operation will host a community open day at the north-west Queensland mine site and a dinner at Julia Creek to celebrate the 20th anniversary of discovery of the Cannington ore body. “The discovery of the Cannington deposit was a defining moment in local history,” BHP Billiton Cannington asset leader Bob Fulker said. “We attribute our success to not only our team of dedicated staff and working partners, but those who have welcomed us as part of their community. “The community dinner and open day are opportunities for locals to celebrate 20 years since the discovery of Cannington with some great entertainment and activities. “Music, laughs, food, art, tours – there’s something for everyone and we would like to encourage as many locals as possible to come along and join us in celebrating.” The Cannington 20th anniversary dinner, including live entertainment, will be held at McIntyre Park, Julia Creek on September 24 and is open to all interested residents and employees. This follows a gala dinner held at Jupiters Townsville on September 3 for 150 invited guests including staff members, clients, contracting partners, North Queensland business leaders and other industry representatives. BHP Billiton Cannington will also host a community open day on September 26, with free buses running from Mount Isa, Julia Creek and Cloncurry to the mine site. It will include mine tours, a barbecue lunch and a range of family fun activities.

Formal gala dinner - Jupiters Townsville Photos: Stewart McLean

Ruth Kaurila and Bob Fulker (BHP Billiton Cannington).

Jeff and Jean Farrell (BHP Billiton Cannington).

Congratulations

Sang Bum (SB) Lee and Ki Deok (KD) Park (Sun Metals).

Melanie and Graeme Nielsen (BHP Billiton Cannington).

Townsville-based supplier to BHP Billiton Cannington, NPS Corporate, has issued congratulations to the operation as it celebrates the 20th anniversary of the deposit’s discovery. “NPS Corporate would like to acknowledge how important the BHP Billiton Cannington operation has been in developing our regional economy,” business owner John Larkin said. “To come from nothing to be one of the world’s largest and lowest cost producers of silver and lead says much about Australia’s mining expertise, the faith of BHP Billiton in our natural resources and, not least, the ability of our community to support such an operation. In turn, there has been great encouragement from the mine for local business to participate as suppliers.”

Jo and Dew Penny (BHP Billiton Cannington).

Cherie and Stewart King (BHP Billiton Cannington).

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BHP Billiton Cannington Feature

The Mining Advocate | September 2010

Cannington

Proposal to lengthen lifespan Studies are continuing in a bid to determine the best way to take Cannington operations into the future, writes Belinda Humphries. A proposal undergoing evaluation and approvals could significantly extend the life of BHP Billiton’s Cannington mine in north-west Queensland. After ruling out an immediate conversion to large-scale opencut mining, the company is now evaluating a mix of underground and open-cut operations with the potential to extend the site’s life about three years beyond 2019. Health, Safety, Environment and Community (HSEC) superintendent for the potential open cut, Mark Daniell, said the potential remained for a staged project that would see the silver-lead-zinc mine operate even longer if the present approach proved successful. “We believe what we’ve put forward in the Cannington Life Extension Project EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) is a really good starting point, but it may in the longer term evolve into another scale of project as well,” he said.

In addition to the environmental studies being carried out as part of the EIS process, he said technical and financial evaluations were continuing. “It’s quite a complex ore body and working out the best way to go forward on this is fairly important,” Mr Daniell said. “Once we start, it locks in a particular way of development and infrastructure requirements.” Among the challenges facing the technical team is the fact that the new open-cut operation at Cannington would be breaking through previous underground workings in order to exploit lower-grade ore surrounding the high-grade areas already extracted. Underground mining would continue in the deeper, adjacent Southern ore zone while the operation’s current shallower Northern zone is converted to an open pit. After construction, the open

THE FACTS The proposal seeks to extend the life of the mine by three years. It is estimated to create 140 jobs in construction and 60 new permanent positions. Depending on approvals, open-cut mining may start as early as 2012. pit is expected to reach an overall length of approximately 1km and depth of 200m. “Also, the current site is situated between the Hamilton River and Trepell Creek and as part of the project we’re going to divert Trepell Creek,” Mr Daniell said. “There are some interesting engineering and design challenges.” If approved, Mr Daniell said the project would be expected to create about 140 jobs during construction. It also has the potential to create an estimated 60 new permanent long-term positions, in addition to working to secure the future of the current

The headframe at BHP Billiton’s Cannington mine.

900-strong workforce beyond 2019. While the operation would be processing more ore under the proposed changes, Mr Daniell said it would be a slightly lower grade material – meaning Cannington’s total annual output of lead and zinc concentrate was expected to remain around the same as current figures.

Keeping communities informed Cannington’s mine life extension plans were a key point of interest at the operation’s annual round of community engagement meetings in July and August. About 70 local people attended the forums, which were held in the north-west Queensland centres of Cloncurry, Winton, Julia Creek and McKinlay. Cannington asset leader Bob Fulker said the meetings provided an opportunity for the mine to talk directly with the local community and share ideas. Key points covered in the recent round included the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Cannington Life Extension Project as well as a general update on Cannington operations and an overview of the company’s community

investment within the region. Health, Safety, Environment and Community (HSEC) superintendent for the potential open-cut project, Mark Daniell, said people at the meetings had been keen to discuss the employment and business opportunities arising from the project. They had also asked questions regarding a range of environmental issues, he said. “There was interest in our water use and water draw from the Great Artesian Basin as well as general interest around air and water quality issues and what the site may look like when mining is finished,” he said. Mr Daniell said the proposal under study would involve a minimal increase in the water licence.

Mark Daniell with local resident David McGinnis at the recent community engagement meeting in McKinlay.

BHP Billiton Cannington began the EIS process for the Cannington Life Extension Project more than 18 months ago. Public and government

agency submissions, which closed on August 23, are being collated by the Queensland Department of Environment and Resource Management.

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EMERGENCY RESPONSE AND RESCUE

September 2010 |

The Mining Advocate

Oaky shows who’s No.1 Emergency response teams from throughout central Queensland put their skills to the test in a recent challenge at Carborough Downs. A rescue team from Oaky No.1 mine at Tieri on the Central Highlands has claimed the 2010 EK Healy Cup. Chief assessor Lindsay Creighton said this year’s competition had included what participants described as one of the toughest underground exercises they had encountered. “That’s basically what we set out to achieve – we wanted to give them a difficult run to make sure they could cope with any rescue activity that they may be asked to complete,” he said. The event was held at Vale’s Carborough Downs mine, outside Moranbah, on September 2. Mr Creighton, who is operations manager for the Queensland Mines Rescue Service, said the top four teams from the EK Healy Cup challenge would represent Queensland at the national competition, to be held at Grasstree West Mine in the Middlemount district in October. They included teams from Grasstree, Broadmeadows and Kestrel coal mines as well as the winning team from Xstrata’s Oaky No. 1 operation. Mr Creighton said this year’s challenge had not included traditional fire and first-aid exercises. “We stuck more with the procedural side of things, with an FAB (Fresh Air Base) controller exercise and also getting back to the basics with plan reading and

the knowledge to utilise the plan of a coal mine to determine where to go,” he said. The underground exercise had been very demanding physically, Mr Creighton said. The scenario involved an exploratory entry into a mine seven days after an explosion to determine ventilation issues and locate dead or missing personnel. The team was later advised that someone else had entered the mine from another point and inhaled noxious gas, requiring extrication by stretcher to the surface. In addition to the top four placing teams, emergency response crews from Newlands, Gregory Crinum, Moranbah North and North Goonyella joined this year’s EK Healy Cup competition. Jason O’Connor from the Broadmeadows Mine won the Matt Best Memorial Shield for best captain in the competition. Mr Creighton said three participants had tied for the Chief Inspector’s Cup, a theory-based challenge.They were Mike Walker from Gregory Crinum, Steve Reed from Oaky No. 1 and Dallas Dorney from North Goonyella. Queensland mines rescue teams have made a strong showing in the national competition in the past. A Gregory Crinum team won the Australian Mines Rescue Competition at Lithgow last year, while teams from Kestrel and Oaky No. 1 placed third and fourth.

The McArthur River Mining team tackles the road accident scenario. They were the overall winners of the Northern Australian Emergency Response Competition and also performed best in this event.

McArthur River shines Xstrata’s McArthur River Mine (MRM) topped the results at the recent Northern Australian Emergency Response Competition, with BHP Billiton Cannington placed second overall. The remodelled north Australian rescue competition, organised by Darwin Coordinators, supersedes the Northern Territory Mines Rescue Competition run by the former NT Resources Council. It attracted entries from four mines including MRM and Newmont’s Tanami Operations from the NT as well as Cannington in Queensland and Rio Tinto’s Argyle Diamonds in Western Australia. Scorekeeper Chriss Ellem believed competition organisers had been successful in devising scenarios that were challenging enough to give participants reallife experience without the trauma that goes with real-life incidents. In addition to a range of team challenges, the competition included individual skills events. MRM’s Graham Howard was judged best performer overall,

with Rob Gelson from Argyle second. Julie McGinnigle from MRM was judged best medic followed by Andrew Boughton from BHP Billiton Cannington. Kane Hartell from MRM was named best captain, with Steve Hambrecht from BHP Billiton

Cannington placing second. Darwin Co-ordinators director Linda Young said the rebranded event was hoped to attract broader participation from across the region’s emergency service groups in future rather than being confined to mine rescue teams.

Mount Isa challenge draws region’s mines together The north-west’s hardrock operations are banding together to resurrect the Queensland Mines Rescue Challenge, according to BHP Billiton Cannington supervisor of emergency services Steve Hambrecht. Mr Hambrecht said a competition to be held in Mount Isa in October should help pave the way for a return to that format. The Queensland Mines Rescue Challenge has been in hiatus since 2008. The organisers of an internal competition for Xstrata’s Mount Isa operations helped fill the gap last year by inviting Cannington and others to join them. Senior mine rescue supervisor for Xstrata Mount Isa Mines Ron Pippenbacher said that organisation had been running internal mine rescue challenges since1931 and the competition had been held every year since 1971 in its present form. The 2010 competition will be held at the Hard Times mining complex in Mount Isa on October 21-22.

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MAJOR PROJECTS

The Mining Advocate | September 2010

Full steam ahead Expansion plans should see this Bowen Basin operation start ramping up to 5.4 million tonnes per annum soon after mining starts. Contractor Sedgman has started commissioning a $65 million coal handling and preparation plant for the new Middlemount Mine, which is expected to enter production in 2011. While the present mining licence allows for an output of 1.8 million tonnes of run-of-mine coal annually, the owners expect to receive approvals by the second half of next year to increase that to 5.4 million tonnes. “The ramp-up to full production will be progressive from the start-up of operations,” Middlemount Coal chief executive officer Michael Gray said. The Middlemount project is a joint venture between Macarthur Coal and the Hong Kong-based Noble Group, although Noble is in the process of selling its interest to Gloucester Coal.

The mine is being developed at a total cost of about $350 million over two stages. Middlemount Coal, an independent company owned by the Macarthur-Noble joint venture, is continuing work on the environmental impact statement for the planned expansion. Middlemount will become Macarthur’s third mine after Coppabella and Moorvale, with the development underpinning that company’s plans to achieve sales of 9.2 million tonnes per annum by 2014. The company also plans to commence a fourth project within that timeframe and is currently completing detailed feasibility studies for its Codrilla project. The mining lease for Middlemount Mine, located 6km south-west of the town of Middlemount in central

Construction work on the coal preparation and handling plant at Middlemount Mine earlier this year. Photo: Orin Lucke

Michael Gray Middlemount Coal chief executive officer

Queensland, was granted in September 2009. Mr Gray said the approval had been delayed due to the additional impact assessments required for such developments throughout the Bowen Basin in the wake of the 2008 floods. “As a result of the delay we

were in a position to hit the ground running with construction of the project when the mining lease was granted,” he said. “It (the construction) has gone really well – there’s been good progress despite weather and safety has been very good. We’re certainly happy with that.” Sedgman designed and constructed the wash plant and will also be responsible for operating it when production commences. Brisbane-based MCG Contractors have supplied civil services to the site. Mr Gray said the Isaac

Regional Council had recently issued development approval for a rail spur and loop linking the mine to the Goonyella rail system. An alliance involving John Holland and GHD has been contracted to construct the line. The Middlemount Mine will initially export from the Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal, shifting to Abbot Point once QR National’s “Northern Missing Link” rail project is complete. Mr Gray said the operation was expected to employ about 150200 people when running at full capacity.

Industry commitments move dam a step closer Construction work is expected to begin by March 2012 on dam and pipeline projects worth more than $1.5 billion to supply the coalfields of the Bowen and Galilee basins. SunWater aims to make a final investment decision early next year on its Connors River Dam and Pipeline and Galilee Basin Pipeline projects. The water supplier recently confirmed it had received the necessary commitments from foundation customers to move ahead to the pre-construction investigation stage. Within an eight-week expressions-ofinterest phase, the corporation successfully secured commitments from the industrial sector to take up 84 per cent of the project’s total water yield.

Project facts • The dam will be located 100km south of Mackay and 110km east of Moranbah on the Connors River near Mt Bridget. • 300,000 cubic metres of concrete and 2300 tonnes of reinforced steel will be used in its construction, while 753,000 cubic metres of excavation will be required. • A 133km large-diameter pipeline will transport water from the dam to storage in Moranbah. • A 235km large-diameter pipeline will transport water from Moranbah to the Galilee Basin. “This strong foundation customer support for the project will enable us to undertake necessary pre-construction activities including detailed engineering

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infrastructure development general manager Mark Browne said. The proposed 373,662-megalitre dam and 368km of pipelines will provide up to 49,500 megalitres of additional water security for the booming Bowen Basin and the crucial water supply needed to enable development of the Galilee Basin. Construction of the dam is expected to generate about 260 jobs while the two pipeline projects are each expected to require about 300 workers at the peak of construction. SunWater expects to call for construction contractor involvement by November this year. Completion of the dam and pipelines is scheduled for early 2014.

PROCESSING

September 2010 |

The Mining Advocate

Employee ideas reap rich reward Yabulu refinery workers are boosting the plant’s bottom line with a positive new approach to problem solving, writes Belinda Humphries. Queensland Nickel has highlighted the potential for employees to come up with “million dollar-ideas” to improve processing operations when they are given motivation and opportunity. Just ask Yabulu refinery senior process engineer Mark Fisher,

who has been able to implement three sets of initiatives that have added an estimated $14 million annually to his employer’s bottom line. Dr Fisher, who has worked at the North Queensland plant for eight years, said he had previously had ideas for improvement at the

back of his mind but didn’t really have the opportunity to take them further. New owner Clive Palmer motivated staff to strive to improve performance at the refinery by introducing the Business Initiatives Award scheme and setting up a quarterly rewards system based on meeting budget. He had also assured workers that any profits made in the first three years under his ownership would be ploughed

Novel copper treatment A small miner in north-west Queensland has developed a process to produce high-grade copper concentrate, leaving only inert tailings as a waste product. Corella Valley Corporation director Duane Rush said his operation had spent about 16 years in process development aimed at finding economic ways to treat small oxide ore bodies. It had a concentrator operating at its Lady Jenny tenement near Mary Kathleen that could produce copper sulphide concentrate at 50 per cent or higher from oxide ores, Mr Rush said. “We can produce that with no tailings – no waste chemicals in our discharge,” he said. Mr Rush said also the process had a very low carbon footprint – with the ability to produce a metal tonne in concentrate with 40 kilowatts of power. While the process has been developed in a very small operation, Mr Rush said the technology could be effectively applied on a much larger scale. Mr Rush said people may doubt his team had been able to achieve such results where experts had fallen short or presume that the process could only work in a small-scale operation.

However, he said “outsiders” were often the source of innovative breakthroughs and all he could do was encourage people to visit his plant for proof. The plant as it stood was capable of processing about 200 tonnes of oxide material a day, but could be expanded to process 500 tonnes a day with little effort, Mr Rush said. He said Corella Valley Corporation was also working on a process for treating copper sulphides without tailings. “The first stage works, the second stage we are still testing as far as liberating the metal in such a fashion that we should be able to do it without chemical reagents,” Mr Rush said. Corella Valley Corporation produced about 15 tonnes of high-grade copper concentrate at Lady Jenny last financial year and Mr Rush expects to produce 500 tonnes this financial year. Mr Rush’s time has been dominated recently by his role as project manager for expansion works at the CopperChem operation at Cloncurry, which is being boosted by the addition of a grinding mill and concentrator.

Senior process engineer Mark Fisher in front of the Yabulu refinery’s pre-boil solids belt filter. Photo: Stewart McLean

back into the Yabulu operation, Dr Fisher said. “Those three things motivated me, in terms of knowing any improvements I made would be building into my own future here at Yabulu, as well as the award itself,” he said. He said also his managers saw the value of developing such ideas and, importantly, gave him the time to do it. Dr Fisher is taking a trip to Europe with his family as his reward after winning the Gold Award at Queensland Nickel’s inaugural Business Initiatives Award dinner. Dr Fisher’s winning initiative will help recoup about $2 million per year in nickel and cobalt. It involved redirecting mineral-rich pre-boil solids that were being diverted to the plant’s leach circuit when the belt filter failed or was offline for maintenance. “Instead of pumping them into the leach circuit, where we sustained a loss, we now pump them to an alternative location – which is actually part of the MHP (mixed hydroxide precipitates) plant we developed (to process ore from Ravensthorpe under BHP Billiton ownership),” he said. “Some of the storage tanks are no longer utilised for MHP, so we can fill them up with the solids

during the period when the belt filter is offline and, when that is fixed, we can return the solids for processing through the belt filter.” A second initiative is saving the plant an estimated $2 million a year by diverting a cobalt-rich acid waste stream back to product liquor, rather than sending it to the last thickener in the wash circuit where half the cobalt was being lost. Dr Fisher also implemented a series of steps to de-bottleneck the ammonia solvent extraction plant, with the resultant increase in flow translating into an extra $10 million worth of production each year. “The circuit had reached its hydrological limit at feed flows of 7600 litres a minute in the second extract cell,” Dr Fisher said. “I implemented a number of ideas to de-bottleneck that flow and it’s now 8800 litres per minute.” Dr Fisher, Sean Coffey, Gary Maloney, Garry Coonan, Zac Komur and the 352 Area operations crew received a Team Effort Award for their contribution to de-bottlenecking the plant. Other employees recognised recently for their innovative contributions included David Bowe, Rob Haddow, Scott Turner and Stephen Rodgers.

EMISSIONS

The Mining Advocate | September 2010

“Green power” goes to work A Tarong Energy site is playing host to a pioneering system to turn flue gas into fuel and stock feed, writes Belinda Humphries. Technology harnessing the power of algae to digest industrial emissions is moving from research to reality with construction of a pilot project in southern Queensland. Civil works are starting for a 1ha installation that will use algal synthesis to capture carbon dioxide from Tarong Power Station’s flue gas. The process, being advanced by MBD Energy, is expected to pay its own way when established on a commercial scale through the harvest of two saleable byproducts – bio-oil and animal feed. MBD managing director Andrew Lawson described the start of the pilot project as a “real step change” for the company.

MBD’s oil-rich algae double in mass every 24 hours when fed on flue gas emissions in a patented membrane.

“We’ve been in operation for five years now and really have a world-class research and development facility at James Cook University,” he said. “This takes us out to operate in the field. “It’s a very exciting moment for the company because it gets

the process out to be one of the first large-scale synthesis options that is commercial. “We have real interest from all over the world, people watching this project. “The next two years will get us to a commercial project and we will then look at expansion elsewhere in Australia and overseas.” MBD’s Bio Carbon and Capture Storage (Bio CCS) technology speeds up the natural carbon cycle, with the algal synthesis it has developed taking as little as a day to produce oil and other biomass from greenhouse gases. The company, which counts coal giant Anglo American as a major stakeholder, is not alone in turning to algae as a means of carbon sequestration and fuel production. Mr Lawson said there were

about 280 companies worldwide working in the field, including ExxonMobil’s partnership with genomics pioneer Craig Venter and the Bill Gates-funded biofuel operation, Sapphire Energy. However, he believed MBD’s project would be the first trial operation of its kind at a power station. Mr Lawson said Australia had been a little slow to grasp the potential of this technology, however the Federal Government recently supported MBD’s efforts with a $5.4 million grant provided through the Advanced Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre. MBD’s pilot plant at Tarong is expected to cost $4 million to set up and should commence operation in April 2011. MBD plans to run it throughout a winter and a summer to prove the concept

before determining whether to expand to an 80ha installation in 2013. This larger algal synthesiser would be able to consume more than 70,000 tonnes of fluegas emissions per year while producing 11 million litres of oil and 25,000 tonnes of feedstock. While that amount still represents less than 1 per cent of Tarong Power Station’s flue gas, Mr Lawson said there were plans for a much larger expansion that could significantly cut emissions – subject to test results. Sales of bio-oil and algae meal should cover the cost of the 80ha project within three years, he said. Mr Lawson said local primary producers were keen to take the high-protein meal as a feed supplement, while the oil would be sold to a local bio-diesel company.

Cutting-edge facility tackles greenhouse gas at Yarwun

MBD Energy managing director Andrew Lawson

Rio Tinto Alcan has successfully commissioned a new gas-fired cogeneration facility that promises to reduce the Yarwun refinery’s greenhouse gas intensity by 26 per cent. The facility was constructed as part of the $2billion Yarwun 2 expansion project at Gladstone. It consists of a turbine which burns natural gas to produce heat for steam production while also turning a generator to produce electricity. Rio Tinto Alcan Yarwun 2 commissioning manager Pat Fordyce praised the efforts of the team involved, saying the unit was fully commissioned almost three weeks ahead of schedule. Rio Tinto Alcan general manager operations Mike Dunstan said the early completion of the

facility would provide some great benefits for the operation. “The cogeneration unit is cutting-edge technology and will not only ensure Yarwun continues to kick goals in the production arena, but reinforces our commitment to sustainability, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and the local Gladstone region,” Mr Dunstan said. Focus for the Yarwun 2 project and commissioning team now turns towards delivering other key pieces of equipment for handover including completion of the wharf extension and calciner. The expansion project is expected to be completed in the latter half of 2012.

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MATERIALS HANDLING

September 2010 |

The Mining Advocate

Colliers clamour for more Concept design work has started for new export facilities at Dudgeon Point to cater for growing demand from the Bowen Basin. The managers of Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal (DBCT) have requests for a further 90.7 million tonnes of export capacity just one year after completing a $1.3 billion expansion project at the Mackay district facility. North Queensland Bulk Ports Corporation recently named DBCT Management and Indian-based conglomerate the Adani Group as the preferred proponents for the development of new coal export infrastructure at Dudgeon Point. The site lies within the Port of Hay Point and is about 4km north of the existing Mackay coal terminals. DBCT Management general

manager for operations Greg Smith said that group was now preparing a concept design for a new terminal at Dudgeon Point to cater for requests it had received from coal producers. “We have received a total demand profile of an additional 90.7 million tonnes, over and above the 85 million (achieved through the expansion project),” Mr Smith said. “While we don’t think all of that tonnage would come to fruition, at least up front, we do think there are definitely firm demand requests for anything between 30 million and 60 million tonnes.” The demand arose from a

Ships loading at the Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal, south of Mackay.

combination of existing mines and new projects in the central Bowen Basin, he said. Mr Smith said throughput for the expanded DBCT facilities was running slightly under capacity at the moment due to supply chain issues. While 44 vessels were waiting off the terminal on September 1, only

Coal stockpile expansion works near completion Queensland Bulk Handling is close to completing a $60 million expansion project that will more than double stockpile capacity at its Brisbane coal terminal. Terminal manager Kevin Rayfield said the new facilities were due to come online in October. The terminal exports coal for New Hope Coal as well as Peabody Energy’s Wilkie Creek operation. With the completion of the expansion works it will also take product from Syntech Resources’ new Cameby Downs mine. “At the moment we have a stockpile capacity of 377,000 tonnes over four discrete stockpiles,” Mr Rayfield said. “The expansion takes that to eight stockpiles areas and just over 900,000 tonnes of static stockpile capacity.” The expansion project, which began in December 2008, includes installation of two above-ground chain

reclaimers for each of the four new stockpiles as well as a light-weight Tenova stacker. Mr Rayfield said also the control system had been upgraded to a CITEC system using PLCs (Programmable Logic Controllers). The extra capacity would cater for increased output from New Hope’s New Acland mine, west of Toowoomba, and a new customer in the form of Syntech, he said. The expanded facilities should produce an annual throughput capacity of more than 10 million tonnes based on the present turnover rate for stockpiled coal. “Our throughput is totally dependent on how much coal our colliers can rail to QBH and the consistency of shipping,” Mr Rayfield said. The Queensland Bulk Handling terminal exported 6.68 million tonnes of coal in 2009/10, a 9 per cent increase on the previous year.

about 20 had coal available for loading, for example. The North Queensland Bulk Ports Corporation is managing the master planning process for Dudgeon Point. DBCT Management is waiting to see how the available land will be divided between it and the Adani Group. North Queensland Bulk Ports

Corporation has held the land for development since 2000. “Should the preferred proponents decide to proceed after the planning process, they will be required to fund their own construction and operations with the State Government retaining ownership of the underlying land,” corporation chief executive officer Brad Fish said.

Abbot Point project audit to iron out supply chain issues FAM Queensland (FAMQ), which is contracted to deliver four new stacker reclaimers for the Abbot Point coal terminal, has welcomed a State Government-sponsored audit of supply chain issues arising during the project. FAMQ director Craig Dixon believed the QMI Solutions audit would benefit the FAMQ partners - German design and fabrication company FAM and Australian asset manager BMHA - as well as second and third-tier suppliers. FAMQ opted to use Mackay-based firm G&S Engineering Services to erect the stacker reclaimers and for metal fabrication work. Victorian-headquartered contractor Nilsen is carrying out the electrical design and installation works. “We would definitely use them both again,” Mr Dixon said. “Most of the improvement opportunities lie with the third-tier suppliers.” The audit would identify problems and their solutions so in future suppliers would be better able to meet project delivery schedules, commercial and quality expectations, he said.

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Building Mining Communities

September 2010 |

The Mining Advocate

Coalﬁelds women show true grit A new book documents the experiences of the wives, mothers and pioneering female workers at the heart of Queensland’s coal industry. communities have it. And the women who confront tradition to work in the mines – sometimes by themselves, unaided by brothers, fathers or husbands – have it in buckets. They are proud people living in what are, despite all the changes, proud towns.” Ms Pierce features prominently in a chapter titled “Don’t mess with Bitches Holding Placards” for her efforts on the picket line, including a “housework day” when some women added humour by bringing out their ironing board. Married to CFMEU Mining and Energy district vice-president Steve Pierce, Mrs Pierce recently visited the picket lines again – this time to support workers during recent industrial action at Collinsville. The Pierces have been living in Mackay for the last seven years and Mrs Pierce recently began work with the local Maritime, Mining and Power Credit Union. But she has fond memories of her 21 years as a miner’s wife in Dysart, particularly for the sense of community and family she found there.

Anne Pierce was a mother of two with a part-time job at the local ANZ when she joined her husband on a union picket line at Dysart in 2001. It was a time of redundancies and great turmoil in the local mining industry. “The women formed their own group and protest line in support of the men and also to support each other in these turbulent times,” Mrs Pierce said. “The women’s protest line lasted seven weeks until the EBA (Enterprise Bargaining Agreement) was finally signed off.” Mrs Pierce’s actions as a founder of the Dysart Miners Support Group are among the many stories from the Bowen Basin that feature in a new book Women of the Coal Rushes. Authors David Peetz and Georgina Murray spoke to more than 100 women from Queensland coal mining towns including Collinsville, Moranbah, Dysart, Tieri, Middlemount and Biloela. Within the book’s pages they write of the “gutsiness” demonstrated by those they interviewed. “Women who move with their husbands from places far away to work in an uncertain industry must have it or they would not survive,” they write. “Those women who stand up and fight alongside their men for decent living conditions and viable

Women of the Coal Rushes was officially launched at the CFMEU Mining and Energy 2010 Women in Mining and Energy Conference in Moranbah in August. Co-author David Peetz, professor of employment relations at Griffith University, said research for the project had been made possible through the financial support of the union.

Anne Pierce hams it up during the 2001 protest.

Anne Pierce (centre) at the Moranbah book launch with authors Georgina Murray and David Peetz. They are flanked by Vanessa Southey and Liz Gilligan on the left and Debbie Fisher and Frank Baker on the right. Photo: Colette Landolt

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Building Mining Communities

The Mining Advocate | September 2010

A load oﬀ his shoulders Moura’s Coal and Country Festival may have proved a fitting swansong for a local resident with a proud track record in an unusual sport. After 25 years as a competitive coal shoveller, including five world-title wins, Moura’s Jim Parsons has decided it is time to down tools. The 65-year-old mine worker had a surprise win in the singles event at the Queensland Coal Shovelling and Roof Bolting Titles recently, taking just 36 seconds to get a half-tonne (508kg) load into the bin. He also won the doubles event with Barry Parmenter. “At my age it’s a bit of a surprise,” Mr Parsons said. “I surprised myself and I think I surprised a few other people around the place. “I didn’t give myself a chance of winning the singles – but I did in the doubles, we won that in 17.2 seconds or something, which was pretty good – probably one of the fastest times.” The events were held during Moura’s Coal and Country Festival, which is in its 39th year. Mr Parsons said he may continue to partner Mr

the wife’s a bit worried I might tear the rest of it off one of these days.” Mr Parsons said he had joined the world coal-shovelling competition at the Fingal Valley Festival in Tasmania most years since 1986 and had only finished out of a place twice in that time. However he has not been able to take top honours in a singles title for some time. “About the last four years in a row I have finished second or third in the world titles and about three or four years ago was

the last one I won up here (in Moura),” Mr Parsons said. His first taste of competitive coal shovelling was not promising. Mr Parsons entered a competition in Moura which involved pairs of men shovelling coal into a rolling skip and pushing it along a course. Mr Parsons said his partner had told him to start pushing before their load had reached the required level, so he had to push the skip back again to top it up and the pair was well beaten.

“I never went to shovel again for another 10 years after that,” Mr Parsons said. “Then, after they introduced the singles event I decided one day to have a bit of a go.” Mr Parson said his first job in the coal mines at 19 had involved manually shovelling coal at a small operation at Bluff, in the Blackwater area. “When it closed I came over to the mechanical mines and didn’t do much shovelling then,” he said. He is now employed as a truck operator at the Dawson mine.

Origin boosts local trades Coal shovelling champ Jim Parsons.

Parmenter in doubles contests, but the Moura win seemed a suitable way to end his singles career. “I think I’ve finished with the singles (competition) now, I just can’t keep going,” Mr Parsons said. “I’ve got a dicky shoulder and

Jim Parsons shows his competitive shovelling form.

Roma mother-of-three Sandra Wendt was just 15 and living in Woodford when she first tried to get a start as a butcher’s apprentice. She had nothing but knockbacks from about 30 businesses and was told flat out “this is no job for a sheila”. Twenty years later – after roles including working on a abbatoir kill floor, some part-time jobs at butcher shops and being a parent to three small boys – Mrs Wendt is finally learning her trade behind the butchery bandsaw. The Queensland Country Meats employee is among more than 50 apprentices and trainees in south-west Queensland who have received assistance under Origin Energy’s Community Skills Scholarship program and she is full of praise for the philosophy behind the scheme. “I take my hat off to Origin,” she said. “This is a fantastic thing for rural Queensland, to try to keep tradespeople in the area.” The scholarship program,

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now in its fourth year, aims to help towns in the booming Queensland gasfields maintain their skilled workforce in other industry sectors. “Origin has provided funding to support boilermakers, butchers, hairdressers and carpenters in the towns of the Darling Downs and Maranoa,” Origin oil and gas executive general manager Paul Zealand said “This ensures that local residents have access to a range

of services in these towns, as well as career opportunities.” Mrs Wendt, 34, is about 16 months into a butcher’s apprenticeship to be completed over six years on a part-time basis. She said the Origin scholarship was of great assistance in paying for her training – some of which had to be completed in Toowoomba. The scholarship winners receive up to $13,500 each.

Queensland Country Meats owner Paul Lavelle and Sandra Wendt with Origin EIS and stakeholder relations manager Ken Horton.

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Building Mining Communities

September 2010 |

Mining Supporting Communities

NT women embrace networking forum

BROUGHT TO YOU BY Cultural awareness trainer Alicia Styles (right) takes Cannington administrator Catherine Macleod through the North West Queensland Indigenous Awareness Course.

'ERRMRKXSR

Employees gain cultural insight Cannington employees are being offered the opportunity to learn more about the rich culture and history of the local region through a new training course. In an effort to provide insight into the traditional owners of north-west Queensland and the history of settlement in the area, BHP Billiton Cannington has commenced the roll-out of cultural awareness training sessions over the next 12 months.

The first courses were delivered in August to a broad crosssection of the mine’s workforce, including BHP Billiton employees and contractors. The North West Queensland Indigenous Awareness Course was developed by traditional owners of the region and covers a variety of subjects including government policies towards Aborigines, a history of tribes and trade in the region and some

elements of Native Title. BHP Billiton Cannington asset leader Bob Fulker said the level of interest was encouraging and everyone involved had walked away with a new perspective on cultural issues. “The course was very well received and we’re encouraging everyone on site to take advantage of the opportunity to find out more about our area of operation,” he said.

Funds for community precinct Ernest Henry Mining has pledged $750,000 towards the Cloncurry Community Precinct project under its Xstrata Community Partnership Program North Queensland. The $6 million project, launched recently, involves the redevelopment of the current shire hall and library complex to create a central community hub for Cloncurry. Ernest Henry Mining general manager Myles

Johnston said delivering social infrastructure projects was crucial in developing sustainable communities. “This partnership with Cloncurry Shire Council and the Queensland Government reaffirms our commitment to the Cloncurry community to ensure the creation of a modern facility and a central hub for residents of our local community,” said Mr Johnston.

Firm backs sporting groups Queensland Nickel has announced a new partnership with five junior sports associations in Townsville. Townsville Football, Townsville Junior Rugby League, Townsville Basketball, Townsville Netball and AFL Townsville will each receive $30,000 a year to promote junior participation, stabilise affiliation and registration fees and further develop the sport locally. “We want to create the best sporting experiences for young people at all levels and ease the financial

The Mining Advocate

Marcia Kelly SkillsDMC regional manager

Northern Territory women working in the resources industry have embraced a new networking forum. SkillsDMC regional manager Marcia Kelly kicked off the initiative recently as a result of the feedback received from the women she comes into contact with across the Territory. “Many women work in remote areas and often feel isolated and during my visits have indicated they would embrace the opportunity to catch up and discuss some of the challenges and issues around working in a male-dominated industry,” Ms Kelly said. She decided the best solution was to organise a quarterly event to bring women together and discuss points of interest, including through presentations from guest speakers. Women in Resources NT kicked off in July with a networking meeting in Darwin

that attracted 45 women from areas as far afield as Alice Springs, Groote Eylandt, Gove, Jabiru, Katherine and the Tanami region. “I was really testing the waters to see what interest we had and it far exceeded my expectations,” Ms Kelly said. She said she was expecting even greater attendance at the next event, to be held from 4.30pm on September 21 at the Hanumun restaurant. Manager for the Office of Women’s Policy, Janette Galton, will be the guest speaker at the function. “I’m working closely with the Minerals Council of Australia to build the network and maximise exposure of the network,” Ms Kelly said. “Other people and peak bodies such as the Civil Contractors Federation for the Northern Territory have also expressed interest and want to get involved.” Ms Kelly said women accounted for about 18 per cent of the resource sector workforce in the Northern Territory across corporate and operational roles. However they represented just over 3 per cent of employees at mine sites and minerals processing operations. “We want to use the network to raise awareness of career opportunities and increase the participation rate in the sector” Ms Kelly said. A calendar of events and strategic plan are being developed for 2011 to determine the future activities and structure of Women in Resources NT. For more information contact Ms Kelly on (08) 8941 5940 or at mkelly@skillsdmc.com.au.

burden on clubs and parents to allow children to learn new skills and potentially compete at representative levels” Queensland Nickel general manager Trefor Flood said. “Our sponsorship support with the junior sport associations also includes an annual educational scholarships program for Under-16 and Under-18 players. Queensland Nickel has also negotiated a deal with local fitness business Fit Solutions, who will provide the clubs and children with specialist cross-training and healthy lifestyle mentoring.”

Golf day assists cancer cause The 2010 Mackay Area Industry Network (MAIN) golf day has raised more than $4000 for the Mater Foundation’s work on prostate cancer. More than 90 people joined the Hail Creek Mine-sponsored event, held recently at the Mackay Golf Club. MAIN member services co-ordinator Renee Meares said a survivor of prostate cancer had

delivered a speech before tee off to stress the importance of early detection of the disease. “We decided that the Mater Foundation was an appropriate charity to raise funds for because the mining services industry is such a male-dominated industry and the occurance of prostate cancer is increasing,” she said.

The winner of the AustalianSuper QME iPod competition was Amber Johnston of Mackay. Amber is pictured here with AustralianSuper national business development manager Peter Reynolds and AustralianSuper account manager Ray Robinson.

resourcing g the e future 'ERRMRKXSR

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LIMITED NUMBER OF DEVELOPERS APARTMENTS AVAILABLE AT SUBSTANTIAL DISCOUNT • Priced from $300,000 • Views over Townsville City, Magnetic Island and Cleveland bay • 1, 2, & 2 bed plus study & dual keys • Pool, spa, gym and under ground car parking • Absolute waterfront on Ross River. • 25 restaurants at your door step on Palmer Street • 24 hour reception on site to ensure your property is looked after, while you are at work. CONTACT: Nicole Plozza 0415 624 609 nicole.plozza@raywhite.com www.gatewayonpalmer.com.au

It takes a travel expert to get you the best mining rates. At Corporate Traveller, we understand that managing travel for the mining sector requires unique industry expertise. Mining sites are often harder to access, accommodation options can be limited and site regulations for vehicles mean that car hire is complex. Corporate Traveller understands this and has an unrivalled track record servicing the mining sector. We have more than 17 years mining industry specialisation and actively service over 200 mining clients. As a client of Corporate Traveller, you’ll get access to: y Preferred contracts with over 40 of the world’s leading airlines y Over 40,000 contracted hotels around the world y 24/7 worldwide emergency assistance y Personal account management and a dedicated booking team y Strict travel policy compliance y Exclusive value adds

Here’s how Corporate Traveller has worked with a leading supplier to the mining industry: Corporate Traveller’s client benchmarking shows Ensign International Energy Services achieved a saving of more than $226,000 on its domestic airfares during 2009 and over $1.1 million for international airfares. “Through a dedicated group of travel consultants, Ensign International is assured a quality service, which is closely aligned to Ensign International’s safety protocols and to its quality service approach to its business activities.” Ensign International Energy Services.

$500 credit offer. Available to all new clients that make three domestic return flight bookings with Corporate Traveller by 31 December 2010*. Contact our team for more information.

Call 1300 133 019 corporatetraveller.com.au

*Terms and conditions apply. 1. This offer is exclusive to companies who a) are not currently clients of Corporate Traveller, b) agree to ensure that all travel is booked through Corporate Traveller and transfer their entire business travel account to Corporate Traveller c) have a minimum annual business spend of $50,000 (incl GST). 2. This offer is only available to companies who do not require management services for private fares or gross fare offers from airlines. 3. $500 credit will be issued after the first three domestic return flight bookings made with Corporate Traveller. 4. $500 credit can be used on any Corporate Traveller air, car and/or land product (a) Credit is non-transferable (b) Credit is not redeemable for cash or foreign exchange. 5. Offer expires at 5pm EST on 31 December 2010. 6. Corporate Traveller have the right to change or cancel this promotion at any time without notice. Australian OpCo Pty Ltd (ABN 20 003 279 534) trading as Corporate Traveller. Licence numbers: NSW 2TA002547, VIC 32360, TAS TAS160, ACT 18800566, QLD 3124259, NT LTA149, SA TTA192799, WA 9TA1362. FCMBT45163