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The Mining Advocate | May 2013
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COVER IMAGE: One of the many rigs working the booming Surat Basin gas fields. Photo: Andrew Coates - courtesy of Easternwell
May 2013
FEATURES
3 Degrees of difficulty
12 Industry Update - Coal News in brief across the coal industry.
Regional universities are reporting solid demand for engineering graduates despite a general softening in the Queensland market. Meanwhile a new national initiative aimed at meeting the mining industry’s engineering needs is set to kick off next year with an associate degree pilot scheme.
13 Industry Update - Hard Rock A comprehensive wrap of exploration and operations in Queensland and the Northern Territory.
7 Dry argument North-western leaders are pushing for an additional major water storage facility in the Mount Isa area as this year’s dry conditions start to bite.
14 Between Shifts
9 Liquid asset
18 Drilling and Exploration
Australian Workers’ Union stalwart Bob Boscaci shares his memories of the big build that produced the Burdekin Falls Dam, which has been providing North Queensland with crucial water security for 25 years.
19 Living Remotely 20 Building NW Queensland
11 To the rescue
21 Building Mining Communities
Carpentaria Gold hosted emergency response crews from other local operations in a recent joint exercise at Ravenswood. Xstrata Mount Isa Mines is gearing up for a similar cross-site rescue challenge in July.
22 New Products
24-32 Riding the wave
23 Big Boys’ Toys
This edition highlights the major coal seam gas developments transforming Queensland’s Surat Basin region and opening up a raft of opportunities – and challenges – for local business and communities.
24 Surat Basin - The Future
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NEWS
May 2013 |
The Mining Advocate
Electricity industry expert says it is . . .
Time to power up Baseload generation at Pentland is the focus of a new $2.5m study, writes Belinda Humphries. The time is ripe for North Queensland to put up a “real” baseload power station proposal and beat potential rivals in the Surat Basin to the punch, an electricity industry expert says. Arc Developments International principal Tim Duignan was commenting on news the Federal Government is backing a $2.5 million feasibility study centred on power generation at Pentland, about 200km south-west of Townsville. The power station, proposed to be built and fuelled by Guildford Coal, is one component of a massive project put forward by Federal Member for Kennedy Bob Katter which would also involve constructing a dam and producing sugar in the area. Mr Duignan stressed the benefits a local baseload generator would bring for major industrial operations in North Queensland, which pay more for power than those further south due to losses in the transmission system from central Queensland. It would boost the viability of Townsvillebased mineral processing plants
and should even reduce electricity costs for mines in the northern Bowen Basin, he said. Mr Duignan said it could be expected to take five years from the time studies began to a coal-fired plant coming online, matching the potential timing of an NQ plant to the window when electricity demand forecasts indicated a new power station would be required in Queensland. “For North Queensland there’s an opportunity now to get in front of the game and have a project ready to go, because as we get closer to 2018-2020 there’s a lot of coal miners down in the Surat Basin who are looking for access to market for their coal,” he said. Mr Duignan said meeting the expected electricity needs of massive Galilee Basin mining projects further south than Pentland was likely to require a separate plant with a capacity around 1000MW. Guildford Coal chairman Peter Lindsay said the company was excited about the prospect of proving up the viability of
a baseload power station at Pentland and had received many expressions of interest from other parties about becoming involved. About $350 million which the Federal Government had set aside for the shelved CopperString transmission line project is also expected to be available for the Pentland project. Mr Lindsay said the lack of a local baseload power station had been a long-running issue for North Queensland, with the competitiveness and sustainability of operations such as Sun Metals zinc refinery dependent on cheaper power. Guildford Coal has interests in a raft of thermal coal tenements around Pentland and Hughenden including the Clyde Park coal project. “There’s an obvious synergy for us to be able to supply a power station at Pentland,” Mr Lindsay said. “But a baseload power station on its own will not create sufficient demand for our product (an expected output of up to 10 million tonnes per annum), so Guildford Coal is moving forward to secure the necessary approvals to export thermal coal from North Queensland.”
Engineering student Hannah Campbell at IPL’s Phosphate Hill site in northwest Queensland.
Fertile career starts Fourteen newly graduated engineers recently began their working careers with fertiliser and explosives manufacturer Incitec Pivot Limited (IPL). All but one of the graduates are working at IPL operations in Queensland, including at Phosphate Hill in north-west Queensland, Moura in central Queensland, the Gibson Island fertiliser plant in Brisbane and Townsville. “We are very pleased with the calibre and number of graduates joining our 2013 graduate program,” IPL president of global manufacturing Bernard Walsh said. “This is our biggest intake yet and we are particularly pleased to see five young women embarking on careers in the manufacturing industry.” Half of the group went to university in Queensland, with others coming from NSW, Victoria and South Australia. IPL also runs a manufacturing vacation program for engineering students looking to gain site-based experience. Hannah Campbell, a chemical engineering student at the University of Queensland, spent 12 weeks at Phosphate Hill as part of IPL’s summer vacation program. She described her hands-on experience as priceless.
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NEWS
The Mining Advocate | May 2013
3
Uncertain outlook Engineering graduates face a softening jobs market, writes Belinda Humphries. The number of engineering students receiving job offers from resources companies well before they complete their degrees is a fair guide of the economic climate, according to James Cook University head of school Professor Yinghe He. “In the good times quite often a big proportion of our graduates secure jobs before they’ve finished their university degree,” Prof He said. “They quite often get offers in the middle of the year before they graduate.” Last year was about average in terms of the number of engineering students snapped up early, he said. Industry association Consult Australia recently released data revealing significant cutbacks in the engineering sector. The association’s annual skills survey found that 44 per cent of the industry was reducing
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recruitment activities and a quarter was making targeted redundancies. And the latest edition of the Engineers Australia Salary and Benefits Survey showed a 3 per cent average drop in engineer salaries over 2012. Engineers Australia director of policy Brent Jackson said the jobs market for engineers had certainly softened across Queensland. “The growth seen in the engineering construction industry over the past decade is slowing. This will slow demand in engineering employment more broadly,” he said. However, he said some cities and regions would still show strong employment figures due to their proximity to mining and energy sector projects, and this was unlikely to show any major change in the short term. Dr Jackson feared some graduate programs may come under pressure as organisations focused on their bottom lines in what looked to be a year of uncertainty. “Engineers Australia believes that our ageing population base means that it is critical that organisations continue to support their graduate programs to ensure a future supply of suitably qualified and experienced engineers will exist,” he said. “As we’ve seen over recent years, even a small spike in demand can cause major workforce issues, including skills shortages, so it is very important that
engineering employers continue to invest in the growth and development of their graduate workforce.” Central Queensland University school of engineering and technology dean Euan Lindsay did not believe there had been any decline in demand for CQU engineering graduates. “No, is the short answer. And with our co-op (co-operative education) program, employers are trying before they buy - they have already seen them operating and can say ‘yes’ this is a quality engineer,” he said. CQU offers professional engineering degrees and postgraduate degrees as well as engineering and geoscience associate degrees targeting the mining industry. About a third of the 80-odd CQU engineering graduates produced each year end up in jobs related to the resources industry, according to Prof Lindsay. Ninety-six students graduated across a range of engineering disciplines at JCU in North Queensland this year and, while he did not have exact figures, Professor He believed the majority were bound for resource sector jobs. While opinions varied on the level of demand for engineers across industries, Prof He said the employment rate for JCU engineering graduates had always been above average. The Good Universities Guide for 2013 had ranked JCU second in the state after the University of Queensland for employment of engineering graduates, with an employment rate of 92 per cent in 2009 and 2010, he said. Prof He said many regional mining operations favoured local graduates as they were likely to remain in the North longer.
University of Southern Queensland professor of civil engineering Ron Ayers.
Engineering a national solution A new nationally recognised associate degree to help address the mining industry’s engineering demands will kick off next year with the first students joining pilot programs. University of Southern Queensland professor of civil engineering Ron Ayers said the pilot model for the Minerals Industry National Associate Degree (MINAD) project was launched in Melbourne recently and the first courses were planned in 2014. “We see that the majority of the (initial) enrolments will come from people in industry who seek to upgrade or gain a qualification to better themselves in the workplace,” he said. Prof Ayers is part of the team leading the development of the MINAD project for the Minerals Council of Australia. The initiative stemmed from National Resource Sector Employment Taskforce recommendations on the need to graduate more engineers and geoscientists. “In the past they’ve had professional people in the mining industry, engineers and geoscientists, who are basically four-year trained at university,” Prof Ayers said. “This project
is about trying to introduce a paraprofessional level or subprofessional technician in to the workforce that hasn’t been well recognised in the past in the resources industry.” People with this expertise – from a two-year associate degree – would be able to carry out some of the tasks that were either taking up the time of professional engineers on mine sites or falling into the hands of people who did not really have the appropriate level of knowledge, he said. Various universities already offered such associate degrees across a range of engineering disciplines, however establishing a nationally recognised qualification in mining meant the industry would know exactly what standard it was getting regardless of where the person had gained their degree, Prof Ayers said. Central Queensland University school of engineering and technology dean Euan Lindsay said CQU was very keen on the MINAD program, which looked like it would produce a nationally recognised associate degree course very close to what that university already offered in mining.
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NEWS
May 2013 |
The Mining Advocate
Going for gold reaps rewards Queensland Premier Campbell Newman with Evolution Mining chief operations officer Mark Le Messurier at the official mine opening.
Insight into Chinese operations helped get this venture off the ground, writes Robert Dark. Mt Carlton, Queensland’s first new gold mine in more than a decade, has been officially opened by Premier Campbell Newman. Located about two hours’ drive south of Townsville, the operation has not been without its challenges - which previous owner Conquest found difficult to address. New owner Evolution Mining points out that Conquest initially tried to market the concentrate from Mt Carlton essentially as a copper concentrate. This led them down a number of dead-end streets as the concentrate is a specialist precious metal concentrate that is very unusual by Australian standards. On the other hand, Evolution executive chairman Jake Klein’s experience in China has proven invaluable in the success of the operation. Mr Klein’s Sino Gold was the first western gold mining company allowed to operate in China in a period that stretched from the late ’90s to 2009.
THE FACTS Production: To peak at 120 x two-tonne bags per day shipped through the port of
Photo: Andrew Rankin
Townsville. Gold concentrate: 45 g/t gold and 6 per cent copper. Silver concentrate: 3000g/t silver. Cost/construction time: $180m over 18 months. Staff : More than 130 once at steady state.
Mr Klein and his team were familiar with the geology at Mt Carlton as it was considered the standard in Shandong Province in China’s north-east, the major gold producing region in China. That alignment sealed the marriage between the North
Queensland operation and Chinese processing operations. Evolution has off-take agreements with two smelting operations in Shandong Province. Customers from the Guoda Gold Company and the Humon Smelting Company were represented at the opening ceremony. Mr Klein points out that Evolution is the largest Australian-listed gold mining company operating in Queensland.
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“We put ourselves in a position as Evolution to be a mid-tier company where we’ve actually got the scale and capacity to withstand the inevitable bumps you get in developing and commissioning a mine,” Mr Klein said. “… There are four other mines, three of them are in Queensland, so we have the capacity to withstand any bumps. “This is a 12-year-plus project so any sort of bumps of days or weeks, Evolution is very
comfortable to take care of.” Evolution Mining’s four Queensland operations include Mt Carlton, Pajingo near Charters Towers, Cracow in central Queensland and Mt Rawdon near Bundaberg. Mt Carlton is expected to produce more than $1 billion in revenue over its anticipated 12-year life. While gold is the prized commodity, production is diversified - with significant amounts of silver and copper generated as by-products.
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NEWS
The Mining Advocate | May 2013
5
Port on verge of next leap forward Various Abbot Point expansion proposals are making headway, writes Bruce Macdonald. GVK Hancock is on the threshold of receiving its final approval to start work on a coal loading facility at Abbot Point, near Bowen. North Queensland Bulk Ports Corporation is making recommendations to the Federal Government on its preferred location for dredging spoil. “Once the Government approval is in place, GVK Hancock will be in a position
to proceed with its T3 project,� NQBP general manager of corporate relations Mary Steele said. The nominated site will also accommodate dredging spoil from the BHP Billiton T2 facility and the proposed expansion of Adani’s existing T1 terminal, which is labelled T0. GVK Hancock recently signed an agreement with rail company Aurizon to progress development
Gearing up for growth The Whitsunday Regional Council is laying the groundwork for the next significant wave of mine and construction workers associated with the continued development of the Bowen Basin and up-and-coming Galilee Basin coal industry. The council’s Whitsunday Coast Airport Masterplan has made provision to triple the size of the Proserpine airport terminal and parking apron. The runway will be lengthened from 2100m to 2400m, giving it the same capabilities as the Gold Coast airport. A 2200-lot real estate development at Cannonvale has also been backed by the council and the first 50 lots are being prepared for sale. The Gold Coast-based Latitude Development Group is anticipating sales of about $70 million in the first four years of the project, which could span 15 to 20 years. Real estate agent with the Whitsunday division of Ray White Real Estate, Mark Beale, said sales last year were 63 per cent up on 2011 and tracking at similar levels so far this year. He said many of the recent sales involved mining families who had moved from Mackay and Moranbah because of the lifestyle benefits of the Whitsunday region.
of port infrastructure and a greenfield rail project to pave the way for export of up to 60 million tonnes per annum from the proposed Alpha, Kevin’s Corner and Alpha West coal mines in the Galilee Basin. Ms Steele said a site with a dredge spoil capacity of 3 million cubic metres had been selected about 23km off shore. Seabed close to Holbourne Island, a turtle and bird nesting site 37km east of Bowen, was originally selected as the preferred site - which angered conservationists. Ms Steele said there was never any risk to Holbourne Island and it was two other issues which influenced a shift. “Professional fishermen expressed concerns that
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The Abbot Point coal terminal outside Bowen in North Queensland.
dumping dredging waste there would impact on mackerel stocks and scuba divers were concerned about the impact on a World War II Catalina wreck in the area,� she said. Meanwhile the Queensland Government recently announced
a shortlist of two consortiums for the further potential staged expansion of coal export capacity at Abbot Point. Aurizon and Lend Lease have combined to form the NorthHub consortium against rival Anglo Coal to move to stage two of the process.
Bowen’s time to shine? Bowen has long been touted as a major growth area in North Queensland and speculation is again mounting that its time has arrived with progress on Abbot Point expansion plans and related rail infrastructure linked to massive Galilee Basin coal projects. Bowen Collinsville Enterprise chairman and manager of the Bowen Independent newspaper Steve Darwen is taking a measured but optimistic approach. “We have seen this before and really only about four businesses benefited,� he said. Mr Darwen, whose father Henry was a strong advocate of the Abbot Point facility, saw hundreds of construction workers move into the area in 2009 when the
X21, X25 and X50 projects came and went. The projects lifted Abbot Point’s coal loading capacity from 15 million tonnes per annum to 50 million tonnes. “Construction workers weren’t interested in the town, they would rather do overtime than come into town,� Mr Darwen said. “Sure some businesses did well as did accommodation places, but the impact was not what many people expected.� But Mr Darwen said Bowen was ready to accommodate the needs of workers who may again move into the area. Mr Darwen said he was committed to seeing his father’s dream realised and was also pushing for a State Governmentbacked development area for industry established to give the community year-round business. Bowen currently relies on agriculture and tourism as its major cash generators.
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6
REGIONAL ROUND-UP
May 2013 |
The Mining Advocate
Mingela
Dingo
Queensland Rail has rejected suggestions a rusty rail was to blame for a derailment on the Mingela Range, about 80km west of Townsville, amid calls for an independent rail safety audit, according to the Townsville Bulletin. The paper reported Rail Tram and Bus Union northern organiser Les Moffitt’s calls for an urgent upgrade considering the increasing size of the trains being used on the line, which links the North West Mineral Province with the Port of Townsville. Twenty-one carriages carrying zinc concentrate tipped over at the base of the range on March 24. About 1200 tonnes of ballast and 400m of new track was needed for repairs. Transport and Main Roads Minister Scott Emerson said a plan to upgrade the Mount Isa line formed part of Queensland’s submission to the Federal Government’s Nation Building Program. However Member for Mount Isa Robbie Katter accused the State Government of flick-passing responsibility to the Federal Government and said it should take the lead in significantly upgrading the line.
Orica has received the green light from the Central Highlands Regional Council to develop a new explosive manufacturing plant east of Dingo. Approval for the ammonium nitrate facility scraped across the line by five votes to four, CQ News reported. Planning and Development Services manager Luke Lankowski said environmental and workplace health and safety issues had been referred to the relevant State Government agencies, who had rubber-stamped the proposal. Orica general manager corporate communications Simon Westaway said the company welcomed the council approval to construct and operate a new ammonium nitrate emulsion plant and ammonium nitrate storage facility on the Capricorn Highway near Dingo. If constructed, it would help enable security of supply to mining customers during flooding as it would be located west of the major river systems, he said.
Bowen
Mount Isa Mount Isa residents were warned to stay indoors after a plume of toxic chlorine gas was released from Incitec Pivot’s acid plant. The incident also caused workers to be evacuated from the nearby mine as a precaution, the North-West Star reported. Incitec Pivot corporate affairs manager Sandi Harwood said the plume was created during a routine procedure at the plant when an adverse chemical reaction occurred in a water treatment cooling area. “As a result, the area was evacuated and as a precaution, emergency services were alerted. Police and fire brigade attended the scene. There were no injuries,” she said.
Gladstone Companies featured in an ABC Four Corners program raising doubts about the coal seam gas industry have fought back over allegations the approvals process for LNG projects centred on Gladstone was rushed. Santos chief executive officer David Knox said the Santos GLNG project was subject to an extremely comprehensive environmental approval process which had taken more than four years to complete, involved 20,000 pages of environmental submission and resulted in 1200 specific environmental conditions. QGC also rejected suggestions it had not provided adequate information such as baseline study data on the impact of its CSG activities and said its QCLNG project had more than 1500 state and federal environmental conditions underpinned by a further estimated 8000 sub-conditions. The Four Corners show raised concerns about issues such as leaking methane in the gas fields as well as senior environmental specialist Simone Marsh’s argument that the final stages of the three-year approval processes for the major CSG-LNG projects were rushed and the environmental impacts not properly assessed by State Government.
Rockhampton
A coal ship continued on its course to South Korea after six Greenpeace activists boarded it off the North Queensland coast recently. The activists were demanding to be delivered back to port at Abbot Point terminal, north of Bowen, however the MV Meister headed into international waters with the six still on board, ABC News reported. Greenpeace spokeswoman Georgina Woods said they were protesting against the expansion of coal production. The Queensland Resources Council described the boarding of the coal ship in the Coral Sea as being as pointless as it was potentially dangerous. “It’s difficult to understand exactly what the crew of Rainbow Warrior 3 was trying to achieve, but it is clear from real-time vessel tracking images that Greenpeace was laying in wait for its photo opportunity,” QRC chief executive Michael Roche said. “While we will leave it to the authorities to determine the legal status of this stunt, Queensland’s largest export industry did not skip a beat.”
A New Zealand-born mine worker must pay almost $11,000 after being found guilty of charges relating to smoking underground at the North Goonyella coal mine near Moranbah. The Morning Bulletin reported that Travis Brown, 24, faced two counts under the Coal Mining Safety and Health Act 1999 in the Rockhampton Magistrates Court. He was found guilty on both counts and ordered to pay costs of $10,841.70. No conviction was recorded. A Department of Natural Resources and Mines spokesman said the successful prosecution reinforced the necessity for all mining workers comply fully with safety and health laws. “Underground coal mines are difficult working environments at the best of times,” he said. “The presence of combustible gases and coal dust means there is a potential for fire or explosion if strict safety procedures are not followed to the letter. This person, through his actions, was not only endangering himself but the lives of his fellow mine workers.”
NEWS
The Mining Advocate | May 2013
7
North West’s dry argument A new dam is crucial to cater for the mining province’s growth, say key regional leaders. Continued dry conditions in the Mount Isa region this year have highlighted the need for a third local major water storage facility, an economic development group says. Mount Isa to Townsville Economic Development Zone (MITEZ) chief executive officer Glen Graham said the group had highlighted the necessity for such a facility in its response to a Queensland Government discussion paper. He said planning must start now given the long lead time for such infrastructure and the crucial role water played in the region’s expanding mining industry. Mr Graham said the dry year Mount Isa had suffered highlighted the need for the Government – in the throes of developing its 30 Year Water Sector Strategy - to look seriously at the issue. “This failed wet is going to test the true capacity and ability for our storages to keep us all running. In 2008 things got very grim, but they’re saying this is even grimmer at the moment,” he said. Cloncurry Shire Mayor
Andrew Daniels said he had been screaming about the need to build another dam in the North West since being elected in 2008, but it had been falling on deaf ears. The consultation period recently closed for the discussion paper released as part of the state’s 30-year water strategy. A Department of Energy and Water Supply spokeswoman said the MITEZ submission would be considered as part of that strategy and underlying work programs such as regional water supply strategies. But she said the region already had unutilised water in excess of 14,400 megalitres per annum and the Cloncurry pipeline had extra capacity for mining operations. The department has identified that further water could be supplied via existing unused dams such as Corella and East Leichhardt, while a possible new dam on Gunpowder Creek with a potential yield of up to 20,000 megalitres per annum is subject to further assessment. Mount Isa’s main water source, Lake Moondarra, dropped below 50 per cent capacity in late April, while Lake Julius was just
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Cloncurry Shire Mayor Andrew Daniels and MITEZ chief executive officer Glen Graham at the Cloncurry River. Photo: courtesy Cloncurry Shire Council
above 80 per cent full. Mount Isa Water Board chief executive Greg Stevens said the region had received about 40mm of rain in the January-March quarter,
when it would be normal to receive something like 280mm. Mr Stevens stressed that the area had sufficient supplies to ensure it would not run out, but said it
would be wise to be conservative in water use due to the extra costs involved in pumping from Lake Julius. Infrastructure issues such as water, energy and roads are likely to be a key focus of a new economic development strategy described by Mount Isa Mayor Tony McGrady as stage two of the Carpentaria Mount Isa Mineral Province. Mr Graham said stage one spurred projects involving about $50 billion in capital investment in the region, so it was realistic to expect that the next stage would identify projects worth several billion dollars. A working group was being formed to come up with a framework for the new development strategy, he said.
Yabulu refinery set for $1b revamp Queensland Nickel has announced a $1 billion infrastructure upgrade and expansion for The Palmer Nickel and Cobalt Refinery, 25km north-west of Townsville. The refinery expansion at Yabulu will include work on the tailings treatment facility, which is set to open up the opportunity for an iron ore extraction project. Townsville Enterprise general manager economic development Ross Contarino said
the expansion was important for the region in terms of employment and introducing a new industry. “Not only does it lock in the Yabulu project for quite a while, but an expansion of that project into new fields means it will employ a lot more people over a longer period of time and obviously a lot of the services industries that utilise Yabulu will have some extended value,” Mr Contarino said.
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NEWS
The Mining Advocate | May 2013
9
North’s mega-dam milestone The Burdekin Falls Dam was a major construction feat, writes Bruce Macdonald. The last mega-dam built in Australia celebrates its 25th birthday this year. The Burdekin Falls Dam was completed in 1987 but didn’t fill until 1988. At full capacity it holds the equivalent of four Sydney Harbours and has drought-
proofed the downstream sugar growing industry centred around Ayr and Home Hill as well as providing the major population centre in North Queensland, Townsville, with a back-up water supply. It has also ensured the ongoing viability of the coal mining industry around
Water crashes over the spillway at the Burdekin Falls Dam
FAST FACTS The Burdekin Falls Dam is Queensland’s largest water storage with a capacity of 1.86 million megalitres. Its catchment is the size of Victoria and takes in a number of large river systems. Burdekin Falls Dam spilled continuously for 257 days in 2012, from January 16 to September 28. The record continuous spill at the dam was reached in 2010/2011 when the dam spilled for 321 days. The highest the dam got was in February 1991 when it had 6.8m of water going over the spillway, releasing around 1.6 million megalitres per day. Moranbah in the Bowen Basin. A 218km pipeline was completed in 2006 at a cost of $270 million with the capacity to deliver 16,800 megalitres per annum to storage at Moranbah.
Bob looks back on big build Australian Workers’ Union Northern District delegate Bob Boscaci was only a year into his new job when he was cast into a potential confrontation with contractors doing preparatory work on the Burdekin Falls Dam project, one of the biggest engineering projects undertaken in North Queensland. The 67-year-old, who retired from full-time union duties on June 30, 2009, was weaving his special brand of negotiating charm before a cubic metre of concrete had been delivered to the dam site on the Burdekin River in 1982. The 50-odd carpenters, electricians, plumbers and labourers who were building the accommodation village were not happy campers when they opened their pay packets and discovered they had been paid no remote site allowances. Mr Boscaci made one of his numerous trips from home base in Townsville to talk with the angry workers. It was everybody out as the workers downed tools for a week. “They voted to go on strike for a week and then gathered a week later in Anzac Park on The Strand in Townsville to discuss their next move,” Mr Boscaci said. “Even the wives of the workers had their say and the strike action continued until an agreement was negotiated for better pay a couple of days after the meeting.” Mr Boscaci was heavily
Bob Boscaci Australian Workers’ Union Northern District delegate
involved in negotiations, not only to secure better pay but for an agreement with a raft of conditions linked to the project. Mr Boscaci paid tribute to Leighton Constructions project manager Rob Williams whose innovative techniques led to the dam being completed ahead of schedule. “Sadly Rob died soon after the project was completed,” Mr Boscaci said. The pair became good friends after the dam was completed and would swap yarns over lunch in Townsville. “I told Rob right from the start that food and safety would be issues he should keep an eye on,” Mr Boscaci said. And he was right on the money - with stop work meetings occurring on three occasions over
the food during the construction phase of the dam. “Rob sacked the first caterer on the site and introduced hot lunches or salads and cold meat for the workers at the dam site,” Mr Boscaci said. “I reckon it was the first time in Queensland that happened on a big construction project site.” Mr Boscaci is disappointed that his diaries and paperwork associated with the dam project have been thrown out. When he returned to the AWU office in Sturt St, Townsville to do some research on the project they were gone. “They must have thrown them all out in a clean up,” he said. But Mr Boscaci’s memory is still sharp. One of the interesting aspects of the dam construction was the extensive use of ice. Mr Boscaci said an ice-making plant was built near the dam wall. “The ice was mixed into the concrete to ensure it didn’t set before the rest of the pours were completed,” he said. Though happily retired on acreage at Alligator Creek, south of Townsville, Bob is still involved with the AWU. The Ingham-born unionist is still the vice-president of the national executive of the AWU and Northern District representative on the Queensland branch executive. Mr Boscaci started his career with the union on April 1, 1981 and resigns from all his current positions on June 30, 2013. He is a stickler for dates.
The Burdekin Falls Dam under construction.
More than four million kilometres were driven by project vehicles, including a fleet of 25 trucks and trailers which hauled about 350,000 cubic metres of sand extracted from the Bowen, Suttor and Isaac rivers. But the pipeline construction is dwarfed by the scope of the dam project, which was costed at $75 million in 1977. The Queensland Government spent $8.4 million in 1979/80-1982/83 for on-site investigations, detailed design of the dam plus design and construction of an access road. Construction started in 1982. The dam, about 125km southsouth-west of Townsville, has a wall 876m in length and a 504m spillway which drops 37m to the Burdekin River bed.
The union rally at Gladstone.
With a storage capacity of 1.86 million megalitres and occupying an area of 22,400ha, it is the largest dam in Queensland and among the biggest in the country. Stanwell Corporation has undertaken a feasibility study into a proposed 37MW power station below the dam wall. SunWater, which manages the dam, has no plans to mark the 25th anniversary but Burdekin MP Rosemary Menkens is keen to see a celebration. “I didn’t realise the dam was 25 years old. It has greatly improved the district and the Burdekin is one of the top sugarcane growing areas in the country,” she said.
Photo: Chrissy Harris
CFMEU hits the streets About 400 people took to the streets of Gladstone recently in a Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union “Let’s Spread It Around” campaign rally, organisers say. The Gladstone rally called on politicians to make changes so that mining boom profits are shared more fairly. The key concerns of the rally were improved training, more job opportunities for local workers, and less reliance on cheap overseas labour. CFMEU official Ben Loakes said the rally gave union members and people from the general community a chance to be heard.
“If we do nothing it’s only going to get worse,” he said. “We pull the resources out of the ground and they’re our resources. We demand that employers take on Australians, train up the young ones, put on more apprentices and spend a bit more money on the locals.” Mr Loakes said the Gladstone rally had been successful in sending out a strong message, but the CFMEU campaign would continue. “It’s not done and dusted as far as the campaign, the campaign is being run on a national level,” he said.
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NEWS
May 2013 |
In a new series, The Mining Advocate profi les regional communities feeling the impact of mining and energy development. This edition sees Bruce Macdonald focus on Chinchilla. Weir buried water pipeline is expected to be commissioned this year. What makes the SunWater project significant is that it will deliver 84 megalitres a day of treated water used in the capture of coal seam gas (CSG). Treating CSG water is not new, but piping it into a town’s water supply is ground breaking and a first in Queensland, according to SunWater general manager of infrastructure development Mark Browne. It has won favour with irrigators who will be guaranteed continuity of water supply all year round. The treated water is undergoing rigorous testing ahead of approval under the Recycled Water Management Plan. The nearby CS Energy Kogan Creek coal-fired power station is expanding, with the Solar Boost Project expected to come online later this year. The project, adding 44MW to the power station’s capacity, will be the largest integration of solar power to a coal-fired power station in the world. Brisbane-based Linc Energy has had a presence ? in and around Chinchilla “ CALL JAMESTECH “ for 12 years operating * Electrical Trades and Technical Labour Hire * a UCG demonstration “Supplying the right man for the job” plant which is now ready James Technologies Pty Ltd ACN. 079 932 513 to move to commercial * Electrical Construction and Engineering * production.The Queens“Job satisfaction from start to finish” land Government is yet James Technologies (Projects) Pty Ltd ACN. 135 411 728 Electrical Contractors License QLD 66397, NSW 128976C, NT C2197 to give the UCG process * Electrical Safety & Risk Awareness Courses * the go-ahead but a “Learning to stay safe” spokesperson said Linc James Technologies (Training) Pty Ltd ACN. 116 604 230 Registered Training Organisation - National Training Provider (RTO) No. 31908 Energy’s presence in the Chinchilla district would Ph. 1300 732 881 (inside Australia) Ph. +61-7-5549 3471 (Brisbane direct) continue. Ph. +61-7-4725 7706 (Townsville direct) Chinchilla Community, www.jamestech.com.au
Chinchilla in the western Darling Downs is at the epicentre of significant environmentally friendly resource industry initiatives plus an underground coal gasification (UCG) project using technology on the threshold of being marketed worldwide. The town, about 260km west of Brisbane, has been in the spotlight in recent years for a succession of floods, two in 20102011 and others weeks apart in January and March this year. Charley’s Creek, a tributary of the Condamine River, runs through the township. Agriculture is the mainstay of the community, underpinned by beef and pork production, wool and horticulture. And it is a link between growers and the mining industry which is also garnering much attention. The 20km Kenya to Chinchilla
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The Mining Advocate
Chinchilla
Downtown Chinchilla, on the western Darling Downs.
Commerce and Industry president Jason Johnston said Chinchilla’s population had doubled in the past five years. Business in Chinchilla is
Photo: courtesy of Western Downs Regional Council.
experiencing mixed success, with the retail sector struggling as it is elsewhere in the country. But Mr Johnston said success stories had occurred as
property owners moved into the earthmoving business in partnership with miners. • Surat Basin - The Future, special feature from Page 24
Region is hot property for Greg Fourth-generation Chinchilla area resident Greg West may have severed his farming links but not his commitment to the land, community and family. Mr West spent his early years growing up on farms before the family moved into Chinchilla to run a local supermarket. After finishing Year 12 at Chinchilla High School, he found his calling first in aeronautical engineering then moving on to ownership and management of a business and software training company and running a major retail operation. In 2005 life took another twist for Greg and wife Debbie when he sensed the Western Downs was in for a major shift from agriculture with the arrival
SBPG managing director Greg West (right), with SBPG property development director Warren Daniells (left) and Western Downs Mayor Ray Brown (centre) at the company’s Miles residential project, The Pines Parklands Estate.
of gas exploration companies Origin and Arrow to join Santos. He was a prime mover in the formation of the Surat Basin Property Group, which is a major player in the residential
and industrial property business with more than 2000 residential blocks in its portfolio plus 250ha of industrial land. “I love Chinchilla and have no plans to be going anywhere else,” Mr West said.
NEWS
The Mining Advocate | May 2013
Rescue rendezvous Carpentaria Gold opened its doors to some neighbourly rivalry in a recent challenge. Crews from two other gold operations in the Charters Towers region joined Carpentaria Gold at Ravenswood in North Queensland recently for the site’s inaugural mines rescue competition. Emergency response and safety co-ordinator for the Resolute Mining-owned operation, Justin Gersbach, said the two-day exercise had been a huge success. “It began as an internal competition for four Carpentaria Gold teams. We then invited a couple of nearby operations – Citigold and Evolution’s Pajingo,” he said. Mr Gersbach said the support of Carpentaria Gold management and sponsors had enabled the broader competition to kick off. “Everyone loved it and we were talking on the presentation night about doing it again next year,” he said. Mr Gersbach said the Carpentaria Gold Mines Rescue Challenge was a good chance to put emergency response
personnel through their paces and to witness other teams’ approaches. “What we’re after is best practice,” he said. The challenge included a firefighting scenario, triage, vertical rescue, a hazardous materials exercise, underground search and rescue, and a theory component. Casualties, acted by sponsors and suppliers of the challenge, were put in situations including explosions, chemical leaks, scaffolding incidents and car accidents.
A Carpentaria Gold team dubbed DNA, consisting of underground mining and processing staff, took first place under the leadership of captain Brad Malvicino. Mic Lucas from Pajingo Mines Rescue was named as the best captain, leading his crew to second place, and Carpentaria Gold’s “TNT” team was voted the Esprit de Corps winner by the other teams. Citigold’s team numbers were boosted by members from Evolution Mining’s Mt Rawdon site, south-west of Bundaberg.
Glenn Cook and Dominic Wood from Carpentaria Gold bring a mock casualty to safety in the vertical rescue exercise.
Mount Isa Mines hosts north-western competition The newly formed Lady Loretta emergency response team will be among the crews testing their skills at the North West Mineral Province Rescue Competition on July 11 and 12. The competition is an extension of the one-day internal challenge traditionally held by Xstrata Mount Isa Mines, according to emergency and protective services superintendent Darren Bracey. “Since the cessation of the QRC Queensland Mines Rescue Challenge, we’ve enhanced our internal competition to give our operations and surrounding mines an opportunity to practise their skills whilst taking part in a competition,” he said.
THE AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION: PUTTING MINERS SAFETY FIRST ARE YOU WORRIED THAT YOUR ENTITLEMENTS AND WORKPLACE PROTECTIONS MAY BE UNDER THREAT? ONLY THE AWU - QUEENSLAND STRONGEST UNION - IS COMMITTED TO PROTECTING MINERS’ JOBS AND ENTITLEMENTS. THE AWU HAVE WORKED HARD OVER THE PAST 127 YEARS IN ENSURING THAT THROUGH THE GOOD TIMES AND THE BAD, WORKERS REMAIN STRONGER TOGETHER NOT AN AWU MEMBER YET? THEN JOIN THE AWU TODAY TO FIND OUT HOW TO PROTECT YOUR ENTITLEMENTS NORTH QUEENSLAND AWU MINING OFFICIALS: TOWNSVILLE-COWBOY STOCKHAM 0419 737990 MT ISA-HAG HARRISON 0428192985 FOR FURTHER QUERIES PLEASE CONTACT AWU BRANCH OFFICE TOLL FREE ON 1800 671 449 OR www.qld.awu.net.au BY STANDING TOGETHER AS A TEAM AWU MEMBERS CAN ENSURE THAT THEIR INTERESTS ARE PROTECTED Authorised by Ben Swan, The Australian Workers’ Union, Queensland
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Mr Bracey said the competition would be held on the Mount Isa Mines site and was expected to include four internal teams. They will be joined by crews from Xstrata Copper’s Ernest Henry Mining, BHP Billiton Cannington and Xstrata Zinc’s developing Lady Loretta site, which began ore production last September. “They only recently finished their training at Brisbane at the Queensland Fire and Rescue Service (QFRS) facility and are very keen to come along and participate,” Mr Bracey said of the Lady Loretta entry.
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INDUSTRY UPDATE COAL
G&S snags Hay Point work
May 2013 |
Winning ways
Peak Downs ditches Leighton
G&S Engineering Services, part of the Calibre Group, has been awarded a new $140 million contract for the onshore upgrade of Hay Point coal terminal for the BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) in central Queensland.
Leighton Contractors has lost a contract worth about $260 million at BMA’s Peak Downs coal mine to Perth-based HSE Mining. Leighton said the under the terms of the contract, it would be entitled to compensation for early termination from the Moranbah area site.
BHP Billiton’s development report for the March quarter showed that the Hay Point stage three expansion was 60 per cent complete, with the extra capacity expected to come online next year.
A BMA spokeswoman said the company continued to focus on reducing overheads and operating costs against a backdrop of increasing costs and falling commodity prices. “This includes reviewing contractor arrangements and making the necessary adjustments to ensure operations can remain cost competitive,” she said.
First coal at Daunia BMA’s new Daunia mine near Moranbah has delivered its first coal to the coal handling and preparation plant. The company reported that the greenfield mine development was almost 90 per cent complete by the end of the March quarter. Meanwhile its Caval Ridge mine development was 59 per cent complete and first production was achieved early this year from the Broadmeadow life extension project, which increases that mine’s capacity by 400,000 tonnes per annum.
Carbon Energy resource climbs Carbon Energy has announced a 48 per cent increase in the inferred coal resource across its Surat Basin tenements, taking it to two billion tonnes. The company has previously reported the results of a conceptual study that identified at least three longwall mining areas, each with the potential of mining 5mtpa of thermal coal, in its Surat Basin tenements. “The continuing increase in our JORC resource using publicly available information at our wholly owned tenements demonstrates the worldclass potential of the Surat Basin,” Carbon Energy acting chief executive officer Morne Engelbrecht said.
Heather Bell at the 2013 Resources Awards for Women.
executive officer Glenn Simpson said the drill program at the Bundaberg project had successfully demonstrated a significant discovery of hard coking coal.
Industry park planned
International Coal has announced a JORC inferred resource estimate of 28.5 million tonnes at its project in the Maryborough Basin near Bundaberg.
Melbourne-based Gibb Group has secured a 25ha site at the entrance to the recently completed $50 million Gracemere overpass on Somerset Rd and has plans for a major industrial hub just 10km from central Rockhampton. Gibb Group managing director Matthew Gibb said the Gracemere overpass was a major reason for the location of the initial investment and creation of the park. Gracemere Industry Park is expected to cater for high, medium and low-impact
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A female mining engineer who moved up the ranks to become a regional manager in the coal industry while balancing a young family and completing her executive MBA has taken top honours at this year’s Resources Awards for Women. The honour – presented by the Queensland Resources Council - went to Rio Tinto Coal Australia’s New South Wales manager for resource development, 33-year-old Heather Bell. The Brisbane-based executive has had an 11-year career covering a range of sites in Queensland and New South Wales in technical, corporate and managerial roles. “I’ve probably spent more time out of my comfort zone than in it across my entire career and I still have the drive to keep pushing on,” Ms Bell said. “I’ve been able to have a family and complete my executive MBA while working for Rio Tinto Coal Australia thanks to flexible working arrangements and a very supportive team and home life. “Having said that, I’ve definitely had some crazy moments, including sitting a three-hour MBA exam at 39 weeks pregnant.”
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Push for Gold Coast route
A $75 million industry park is planned for Rockhampton’s Gracemere Industrial Area.
Bundaberg bounty
The tenement is part of a joint venture with Gina Rinehart’s Queensland Coal Investments. International Coal chief
The Mining Advocate
Mackay Airport is continuing a push for direct flights to the Gold Coast. Mackay Airport general manager Rob Porter said mining contractor Mastermyne had noted increasing numbers among their workforce based in south-east Queensland who commuted to and from their site operations via Mackay Airport. “This is consistent with the information Mackay Airport has gathered via passenger surveys which identified demand for direct services to the Gold and Sunshine Coasts,” Mr Porter said.
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NEWS
The Mining Advocate | May 2013
Aurukun shortlist The Newman Government has finalised a shortlist of five groups to progress to detailed proposals to mine the Aurukun bauxite resource on Cape York Peninsula. The five are Aluminum Corporation of China Limited (CHALCO), Australian Indigenous Resources (AIR), Cape Alumina Consortium, Glencore International and Rio Tinto Aluminium. Chalco Australia in 2010 allowed a $2.5 billion development deal for the resource to lapse. The former Bligh Government had run what the Newman Government describes as a flawed strategy whereby it would only lease the bauxite to a company under the condition it established a refinery or expanded refinery capacity in Queensland.
Bauxite study bankrolled Gulf Alumina has secured $3.5 million to complete the definitive feasibility study for its Skardon River bauxite project on Cape York and help take it to construction phase. The company recently announced it had signed a convertible loan note agreement with an international mining investment fund to raise the money. The deal follows news of a 40 per cent increase in the bauxite project’s JORC resource volume from 50 to 71 million tonnes.
Dugald River deal sealed Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang witnessed the signing of a deal paving the way for MMG’s Dugald River project to go ahead. The financing support framework agreement sets out a commitment for China Development Bank to provide a loan of up to $US1 billion to fund the development and construction of the Dugald River zinc, lead and silver mine 65km north of Cloncurry. The $US1.5 billion project is expected to be commissioned in 2015, with first concentrate shipment expected to take
place by the end of 2015. MMG said the financing arrangements were expected to be completed by June 2013.
Mt Gordon mothballed
while maintaining and enhancing the sector’s competitiveness in increasingly tough global markets.
Syndicated splits from JV
Aditya Birla Minerals has placed its Mt Gordon operations in north-west Queensland under care and maintenance. “At current production rates, the unit operating cost per pound of copper produced at the Mt Gordon operations has become unacceptably high, which is adversely impacting the profitability of the operations and the company,” Aditya Birla said in a statement to the market.
Syndicated Metals has formally withdrawn from the Kalman joint venture with Cerro Resources, covering a number of tenements within North West Qld Specialists its southern project Crane Hire hub in north-west Boomlifts and Scissor Lifts Queensland.
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Syndicated said it had spent about $2.2 million to date, however in the current market Ph: 07 4743 3366 Fax: 07 4743 8511 conditions the Mobile: 0412 634 760 company believed Email: enquiries@barklyhire.com.au it was not in the 9 Enterprise Road, Mount Isa QLD best interests of shareholders to spend the remaining $1.8 million required to complete the earnA scoping study in to the Kalman had identified an JV. Syndicated Metals managing director opportunity to transform Mt Gordon Andrew Munckton said the companies into a high-production operation with lower per unit operating cost would revert to another joint venture by converting the present open stope arrangement which had no expenditure trucking haulage method into a sub-level obligation on Syndicated for about caving hoist shaft haulage method, the one year, allowing it to focus time and company said. With a strategic review resources on its northern hub projects of operations under way the board of – in particular the Barbara copper-gold directors decided not to deplete the project, about 50km east of Mount Isa. existing high-grade resources at current high costs. New Barminco boss
Local supply drive Queensland minerals and energy sector companies are uniting under a voluntary code of practice to strengthen linkages with local suppliers. Welcoming the code’s recent tabling in State Parliament, Queensland Resources Council chief executive Michael Roche described it as the right vehicle to pursue the twin goals of facilitating a high level of Queensland content in Queensland resource projects,
Hard-rock mining contractor Barminco has appointed Peter Bryant as chief financial officer. Mr Bryant has held leadership roles at Seven West Media and engineering and development group GRD.
Start-up at Starra 276 Ivanhoe Australia has started stope production at its Starra 276 underground mine in the Osborne copper-gold
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complex in north-west Queensland. Starra 276 is the third underground mine that Ivanhoe Australia has successfully re-commissioned for its Osborne project. The company said mining at Starra 276 would continue to ramp up until its full production rate of approximately 650,000 tonnes per year was reached – expected in the second quarter 2013. “The Starra 276 mine contains another two to three years of ore that we will be able to exploit at current rates, with our expectation being that further ore will be identified, potentially increasing the mine’s life,” Ivanhoe Australia chief executive officer Bob Vassie said. Development ore from Starra 276 has been processed at the Osborne mill since late February with ore from the Osborne and Kulthor deposits.
Online earthmoving tool A syndicate of Queensland-based mining and civil project managers has launched a website to assist those hiring heavy machinery for the mining, civil and construction industry. The website, iseekplant.com.au, connects plant users with plant hire businesses of all sizes across Australia based on their capability and availability. “A group of us got together and built an online tool designed to search for heavy machinery based on equipment specifications, locations and project requirements. From that simple idea, we’ve created a platform capable of that and much more,” Townsville-based earthworks project manager Drew McPherson said.
Status update for Mt Todd The Northern Territory Government has granted Vista Gold’s Mt Todd mine site major project status. Vista Gold is currently preparing the area at Mt Todd with a view to reopening the gold project, which it acquired in 2006 for $2.1 million.
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BETWEEN SHIFTS
May 2013 |
Annual Geoscience Exploration Seminar (AGES)
The Mining Advocate
PHOTOS: NT Department of Mines and Energy
Alice Springs Convention Centre
Steven Orban (Valvoline), Fred May (May Drilling) and Seamus May (May Drilling).
Russell Fulton (Minemakers) and Andrew Stacey (GeoScience).
Matilda Thomas (GeoScience), Brad Keane (GeoImage) and Anna Petts (Flinders Mines).
William Fraser (Con Minerals), Ian Scrimgeour (NT Geological Survey) and Karl Lindsay (GMIV).
Chris Edgoose (NT Geological Survey), Gregory Street (GeoScience), Roymond Johnson (Armour Energy) and Dorothy Close (GeoScience).
Annette Duncan (NT Government), Jill McBain (Tanami Gold), Wendy Jettner (CTM) and Jay Ashton (BOC).
AusIMM President’s Dinner
PHOTOS: Evan Morgan
Townsville Brewery
Geoff Sharrock (AusIMM) with Dr Rowena Duckworth (Mintex).
Stuart Moore (Minerals at Mantle Mining) with Stewart Parker (Mega Uranium).
Moses Bosompem (MMG Century) with Trevor Pilcher (Bullabulling Gold).
Jodi and Neal Valk (Ivanhoe Australia) with Kaylene Camuti and Ian Morrison (both from Lantang Explorations).
Chrissy Maguire (Gnomic Exploration Services) with Helen Sharrock.
Jim Morrison (AusIMM) with Marisa and Glen Beere (consultant geologist).
Whilst some pay the ultimate sacrifice, others return requiring assistance RSL (Queensland Branch) supports over 45,000 current and ex-service personnel. Your support of the RSL will help provide vital services to these men and women. Your direct donation, bequest or sponsorship will make a real difference and enable the RSL to continue with this vital support and assistance. Make a donation at www.rslqld.org or call (07) 3634 9444
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REMEMBERING the past • Supporting the future
BETWEEN SHIFTS
The Mining Advocate | May 2013
Xstrata Mount Isa Mining Expo opening function
15
PHOTOS: Roslyn Budd
Mount Isa Irish Club
Adam Purkis (Xstrata Copper) and David Jones (APA).
Clayton Stenhouse, Andrew Monahan, and Glenn Coghlan (all Diamantina Power Station).
Mal Edwards, Mark Griffin and Steve O’Keefe (all from Cat Rental Power).
Phil Bradford, Jen Finlay and Jason Tuttle (all Ausfuel Gull).
Jeremy Hewitt, Ray Adolphus and Brad Sandilands (all from Coates Hire).
Jodie Shepherd (4LM Radio) with Lorena Martyr and Joyce McCulloch (both Mount Isa Chamber of Commerce).
Mt Carlton mine official opening Mt Carlton mine site, North Queensland
Arend Kaptein, Fred (Stephen) Stricklen and Phillip Tracey (from Evolution Mining).
Rubi Brittain (Morris Corp), Nathan Hutchins and Tom Spann (Coolgarra Mining).
Tony Richardson (Pan Process), Dean Osborne (MSS) and Paul Sugrue (Morris Corp).
Jade Solman, Georgia McNeil and Zoe Grivas (Evolution Mining).
Tammy Twine, Bryan O’Hara and Rachel Fabbro (Evolution Mining)
Roric Smith (Evolution Mining) with Shannon and Jason Chalmers (Colls Earthmoving).
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BETWEEN SHIFTS
May 2013 |
Central Queensland Transport, Trades and Mining Expo (CQ Expo)
The Mining Advocate
PHOTOS: Michael Kennedy
Rockhampton Showgrounds
Ifor D’Monte, Greg Perddis and Mike Sheehan (all from Hellermann Tyton Australia).
Chris Garth, Leah Shapland, Mick Busby and Ray Busby (all Busby Group).
Vicki Mackay, Derek Leach and Rachael Ward (all McCosker Contracting).
Garrett Wells and Chennoa Wells (both RLW Training).
Ian Westley and Chris Collocott (both ISS Facility Services).
Matt Stirling, Jamie Wills, Jasmine Snore and Mandy Lutteral (all Site Skills Training).
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Paul Lavelle (AMVL Migrations), Graham Webb (ANZ), Anna Mickleborough (ANZ) and John Young (AMVL Migrations).
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Matt Shandley and John Morrow (Fyfe) with Warren Daniells (Surat Basin Property Group).
Craig Kimmorley (Diamantina Village) and Gary Gardner (FKG) with John Wagner and Shane Charles (both from Toowoomba Surat Basin Enterprise) and Paul Antonio (Toowoomba Regional Council).
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BETWEEN SHIFTS
The Mining Advocate | May 2013
MEM Group Mackay facility opening
17
PHOTOS: Damien Carty
Paget, Mackay
Ellie Madam, Demme Madam and Duane Madam (MEM) with Peter Koutlis and Hardy Hess (both One Steel).
Dennis French (MEM), Mark Ford (Paget Welding Supplies), Clive Rosendahl (IWS) and Terry Peck (IWS).
Joe Keleher, David Bain and Jason Rose (all MEM Rockhampton) with Niell Clur (DPSA Holdings).
Jeff Attewell (Southern Queensland Steel), Laurie McCourt (MEM) and Neil Mercer (Southern Queensland Steel).
Bernie Jansen and Peter Drew (both from Robertsons) with Jeff Walker (Statewide Industries).
Alan Ruming (Group Engineering), David Blower (DPSA Holdings), Rory Corbett (MEM) and Tim Mulherrin (State Member for Mackay).
Bowen Basin Mining Club luncheon
PHOTOS: Damien Carty
Souths Leagues Club, Mackay
Stuart Cunningham (NORTS) with Jeff Steine and Chris Dowd (Alpha Finance and Leasing) and Grant Harrison (Nationwide Hire).
Michael O’Keefe (Applied Research of Australia), Michael Woods (DSI) and Andrew Scalia (AWX).
Julie Thomson and Darb Thomson (both Dajwood) with Johno Drayton and Ben White (both EMS).
Glenn Riley (SEW), Debbie Neame (Westfund), Ross Noble (JJ Richards) and Derek Curd (MTU Detroit Diesel).
Rosie Lawson (Complete Staff Solutions), Peter Cory and Graham Parminter (both Downer EDI), Nicole Armitage (CQ Health Assess) and Kristie Wealleans (Parklands Mackay Business Hub).
Shae Woodley and Tolita Dukes (both Quarrico Products) with Phil Conroy (HMA Greenbank) and Robert Hargreaves (Expressway Spares).
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18
DRILLING AND EXPLORATION
May 2013 |
The Mining Advocate
Evolving designs A Brisbane-based firm founded by four long-time drilling industry workers is preparing to release its latest rig designs to the market. Evolution Drill Rigs, which has been running for three years, already has one model out in the field – the FH3000. General manager John Slattery said 10 of the FH3000 rigs had been sold and were working at sites in Western Australia, South Australia, New South Wales and the Northern Territory. The company has a further two models, the FH2000 and FH1300, in advanced design stages and expects to release them to the market late this year and early next year respectively. The Evolution Drill Rigs business partners – Mr Slattery, engineering manager Graham Little, workshop manager Peter Quinn and sales manager Andy Turner – each bring decades of drilling industry experience to the venture including in rig operation, maintenance, design, distribution and marketing. “We saw an opportunity in the market and decided to do something for ourselves,” Mr Slattery said. “The overall scope of the business is we design and manufacture exploration rigs and accessories.”
The company also carries out general drill repair and maintenance work on all makes of drill and associated equipment as well as supplying spare parts. Mr Slattery said there was no doubt the Australian minerals exploration industry was going through a downturn. “It’s not the first time it’s happened and it won’t be the last time,” he said. “(The resources industry) has gone into the cycle of cutting costs and reducing exploration budgets. However there is still demand for raw materials and a need for drilling to support the mine life cycle.” While demand for new
equipment had slowed, Mr Slattery said Evolution Drill Rigs had seen an increase in repair and maintenance work as operators tried to get the most out of existing equipment. Evolution Drill Rigs’ FH3000 model is a deep-hole mineral exploration rig capable of NQsize coring to depths of 2950m as well as RC (reverse circulation) drilling to about 600m. Mr Slattery said the soon-tobe-released FH2000 would have a shallower depth capacity and would include an on-board air compressor for RC drilling. It offers NQ coring to 2030m and RC drilling to 600m. The smaller FH1300 was
The Queensland-made FH3000 rig out in the field.
most suitable for greenfields coal and mineral exploration, with a capacity for NQ-size coring to 1300m and RC drilling to 250m.
“The FH1300 can be mounted on a truck or crawler tracks, depending on the drilling contractor’s requirements,” he said.
AMEC seeks tax breaks to help keep industry ticking The Association of Mining and Exploration Companies has made an election-year plea for tax breaks through the recent launch of its Federal Policy Platform. “AMEC believes policy reform now is critical in order to maintain and enhance Australia`s position as an attractive jurisdiction for mineral exploration and mining investment,” AMEC chief executive officer Simon Bennison said.
The AMEC policy platform - released in the lead-up to the Federal Budget recommended that the diesel fuel credit be reinstated to its pre-carbon-tax levels, that the government rescind the minerals resource rent tax (MRRT), rescind the carbon tax, and address concerns surrounding environmental reform, regional infrastructure, and industrial relations and workplace issues. “AMEC’s key initiative at the Federal
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LIVING REMOTELY
The Mining Advocate | May 2013
19
How to beat the booze trap Establishing a clear after-work routine that does not involve alcohol is among the key tactics a psychologist recommends to help FIFO workers beat the trap of regularly drinking too much. Cameron Brown is an Australian-based aftercare provider for The Cabin Chiang Mai, a drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility in Thailand that is seeing an increasing number of miners seeking help. Mr Brown said more than a third of the patients treated at the facility were Australian and about 11 per cent of those worked in the mining or construction industry. “We see a large number of our clients who work in the mines struggling with an
alcohol addiction and, because of factors unique to the industry, it appears this trend is slowly on the increase,” he said. Mr Brown said the number of Australian miners seeking help for substance abuse increased 30 per cent from 2011 to 22 last year. Shift work and separation from family were among the factors blamed, with alcohol often used to cope with the stress, boredom and loneliness that could accompany a fly infly out (FIFO) lifestyle, he said. Workers concerned they were drinking excessively or heading down that path should try to establish a good post-shift routine for their stints at the work camp to avoid slipping into a heavy drinking habit, Mr Brown said.
Alcohol abuse was among the concerns highlighted in a recent report on FIFO lifestyles. Photo: shutterstock.com/stephenkirsh
A supportive home environment – allowing them to speak about the issues concerning them - also helped. Mr Brown said a supportive
New guide for families A mining families support group is targeting the oil and gas sector with its latest survival guide for remote living. MiningFM’s new release, The Survival Guide for Families in Oil & Gas, is a 32-page booklet featuring professional advice from psychologist Angie Willcocks and practical tips for families dealing with lengthy periods apart. MiningFM co-founder Alicia Ranford said the publication built on the success of The Survival Guide for Mining Families. “We’ve had a fantastic take-up of that guide – we’ve sold 83,000 copies, and they have gone to companies all around Australia,” she said. While much of the content in the new oil and gas publication was the same as the original mining survival guide, Mrs Ranford
said it included some sections and terminology specific to the energy sector. “Families in oil and gas come up against many of the same pressures as other FIFO families,” Mrs Ranford said. “But there are some unique issues, including the added pressure of longer rosters, plus limited communication from offshore rigs and remote sites. “We urge families to focus on the positives of the job – like the extended periods together during time off and the good wages – but we also arm them with simple strategies to cope if the going gets tough.” MiningFM is urging oil and gas companies to consider supplying the guide to workers on FIFO (fly in-fly out) and DIDO (drive indrive out) rosters, or living in remote communities. “We’re still in the first print run, but we’ve had lots of requests for samples,” Mrs Ranford said.
work group and peer network would also assist, rather than being surrounded by companions who encouraged the individual to join in heavy drinking after work or binges on off-site breaks to blow off steam. The nature of alcohol addiction meant it often took a watershed event such as losing a job or relationship for someone to seek help, he said. The recent House Standing Committee on Regional Australia report on FIFO workforce practices in regional Australia highlighted concerns about excessive use of alcohol among workers. It also stressed that little detailed research had been conducted about the prevalence of alcohol and drug misuse among FIFO workers compared to the general population. Lives Lived Well chief executive officer Mitchell Giles said that body – an alcohol and drug service provider – supported the call for additional research. “This is particularly crucial given the increasing number of employees working under
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FIFO/DIDO arrangements, and the use of this employment model across not only the mining sector, but also construction, transport and healthcare services,” he said. “Lives Lived Well would like to see research that explores how the lifestyle influences some people to misuse alcohol and other drugs, while others don’t. “We would like to see employers engaged in the research as they are likely to play a significant role in managing the issue. “The research could also identify what treatment options are most appropriate and relevant for FIFO workers.” Lives Lived Well recommends that FIFO workers concerned about their drinking habits speak to their GP as their first point of contact for professional help. “GPs will not just look at the problem with alcohol or drugs but will also address the other medical and mental health conditions that come with addiction,” Mr Giles said.
20
BUILDING NW QUEENSLAND
May 2013 |
The Mining Advocate
Help on horizon for jobs campaign The rebirth of Queensland’s uranium industry is hoped to boost an initiative to employ more indigenous people in northwestern mines. The Uranium Mining Implementation Committee has recommended that the State
Government set up a trust to fund projects tackling barriers to indigenous jobseekers and businesses. It’s a prospect welcomed by Michael Limerick, partnership facilitator for the North West Queensland Indigenous
Uranium mining committee delivers recommendations The Queensland Resources Council has welcomed the Uranium Mining Implementation Committee report to the Newman Government as the regulatory foundations for the development of a world-class uranium mining industry. Queensland Natural Resources and Mines Minister Andrew Cripps received 40 recommendations from the implementation committee. They included that exports should operate through existing uranium handling ports in Darwin and Adelaide. Mr Cripps said an inter-departmental committee would submit a report to the Resources Cabinet Committee outlining an implementation strategy. “We will also establish a uranium mining stakeholder committee comprising representatives from local governments, indigenous groups, industry, environment and natural resource management groups in accordance with the report’s recommendations,” he said.
Resources Industry Initiative. That initiative, which kicked off in 2007, hinges on a memorandum of understanding between governments and mining companies – represented by the Queensland Resources Council – to increase indigenous employment and economic participation in the mining sector. It has seen a local working group bring company representatives together to discuss best practices, improve mentoring for indigenous employees and trainees, and identify training priorities. But Mr Limerick said the initiative’s funding did not stretch to setting up the training programs required. “The light on the horizon is that the Uranium Mining Implementation Committee handed down its report a few weeks ago and they made a strong point about the need for more training for indigenous people to get into mining in the North West,” he said. “They recommended that the Government set up a trust
Partnership facilitator Michael Limerick addresses the North West Queensland Indigenous Resources Industry Initiative working group at a meeting in Mount Isa. Photo: Roslyn Budd
with funding for overcoming all those barriers holding people back - like driver’s licensing and work readiness training, accommodation, literacy and numeracy. So we are hopeful that the Government might put some money into that. “It’s potentially a game changer for the North West. It would provide some funding for us to do a lot of these things we’ve been talking about.” Mr Limerick said progress had been slower than he would have liked when it came to increasing indigenous participation in the region’s mining industry. “When we look at the census data for 2006 to 2011, the number of residents working in mining in the North West increased
from about 2600 to 3800, but the number of indigenous people only increased by 33 – so it’s a pretty damning indictment, I guess, on the mining industry efforts during that period to engage more indigenous people,” he said. However, he said the census was taken before Xstrata Copper’s push to employ more indigenous people kicked in and they had since had regular intakes of indigenous trainees. And Xstrata Zinc had since started its BIG 6 indigenous training program. Mr Limerick said also that the census data for north-west Queensland did not include those indigenous people who travelled from centres such as Cairns and Townsville to work in mines in the Mount Isa region.
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Building Mining Communities 21
The Mining Advocate | May 2013
SUPPORTED BY BHP BILLITON CANNINGTON
Donation on target Shooting enthusiasts in the Cloncurry region are hoping a $25,000 donation from the BHP Billiton Cannington Mine Community Fund will trigger a continued rise in membership. The Cloncurry Clay Target Club has just taken delivery of two target machines built by Canterbury Trap International in New Zealand. Club president Jim Molloy said the machines were the latest on the market and would provide members with a more consistent range of clay targets. “One of our machines is 20 years old and it isn’t as consistent as it should be,” Mr Molloy said. “The two machines cost $27,000 and we are grateful to Cannington mine assisting the club in the purchase.” Mr Molloy said the club boasted 35 members who were
registered with the Australian Clay Target Association. “We’ve had a rise in membership over the past few years and hopefully the arrival of the new machines will continue the trend,” he said. The Mount Isa club recently lost its shooting range and shotgun enthusiasts from the mining centre travel regularly to shoot the Cloncurry range. The club has been running since 1995 and Mr Molloy said it was a constant battle to find
the money to purchase new equipment, which is expensive. Club members can now enjoy a full range of events for single and double-barrel shotguns. “The machines allow members to shoot at targets which exit from the left and right as well as up and down,” Mr Molloy said. In addition, the new machines allow members to try their hand at double rise events (two clay targets launched simultaneously). For more information contact Mr Molloy on 0419 775 187.
Above - Steven Curley takes aim as Al Pearce and Jim Molloy wait for their turn to shoot.
Left - One of the two new clay target firing machines.
Golf for a good cause Gladstone Engineering Alliance has named Roseberry Community Services as the beneficiary of this year’s GEA Charity Golf Day. Roseberry Community Services Limited has been assisting socially and financially disadvantaged members of the Gladstone community for more than 25 years. The charity golf day is to be held on July 19 at the Gladstone Golf Course and will see more than 100 GEA members and friends hitting the green for a fun day of networking and friendly competition.
BMA aids wetlands About 10ha of nationally recognised wetland in Sandringham Bay Conservation Park near Mackay has been rehabilitated thanks to an 18-month, $90,000 partnership between BMA and Reef Catchments. Sandringham Bay Conservation Park is home to a variety of birds, marine fauna and threatened and rare species like the mangrove mouse. The rehabilitation project included restoration of a section of salt-marsh habitat in Sandy Creek, an important fish and mudcrab spawning area, and works to improve the amenity of the area
for nature-based tourism. BMA Hay Point Coal Terminal Expansion Stage 3 project director Francois Joubert said the rehabilitation work highlighted the project’s high standards of environmental management.
Arrow spreads benefits Arrow Energy invested more than $3.7 million in organisations across the Surat and Bowen basins, Gladstone, other regional communities across Queensland and in Brisbane last year its Brighter Futures Report for 2012 shows. Arrow chief executive officer Andrew Faulkner said the company would continue to contribute to the communities where it operated. “Brighter Futures allows Arrow to help regional community groups get results and build capacity in local education, health and safety and environmental endeavours,” Mr Faulkner said. Some of the Brighter Futures achievements in 2012 included 190 hours of community service from the Surat Basin Gas Industry Aero Medical Evacuation Service, safer beaches at Tannum Sands due to upgraded life-saving safety equipment and a partnership with Condamine Alliance to help restore native fish populations near Dalby.
Tobi-I allows Stephany Johns, 10, to express herself.
Kids go hi-tech thanks to Thiess Technology purchased with funding from Thiess and its team at Burton Coal has opened up a new world for profoundly challenged special-needs children in the Mackay area. In an Australian first, Mackay District Special School has introduced Tobi-I eye-gaze technology, allowing children to perform the mouse functions of a computer simply by using their eyes. School principal Sheina Treuel described the application as the biggest leap in the history of special education. “Now our kids have an opportunity to make a choice in their environment. It’s about quality of life, suddenly our kids have an opportunity to say what they want and what they don’t want, and if they want people to back off,” she said Ten-year-old Stephany Johns has been silenced and profoundly disabled by Rett Syndrome, but can now clearly express herself through Tobi-i. “The system is brilliant, absolutely brilliant,” her father Jason said. “One of the main things of independence is communication and to have that is just awesome.”
LNG chopper lifts off Queensland’s four liquefied natural gas (LNG) proponents joined forces to fund a new medical evacuation helicopter, launched in Gladstone recently. The helicopter will provide a dedicated response to on-site incidents for workers on Curtis Island and on mainland project construction. The joint $30 million funding commitment by Australia Pacific LNG, QGC, Santos GLNG and Arrow Energy will also provide additional aero-medical services for central Queensland communities. Santos GLNG vice-president Rod Duke said the service would add to LNG workforce safety as well as giving the central Queensland community access to an additional resource that could operate in a 250km radius of Gladstone. The new service, run by CareFlight Group Queensland, would work with the existing Capricorn Helicopter Service, he said. “Each of the four companies shares this vision and that’s why we’ve introduced the helicopter for our staff, their families and the wider community,” he said. The service is contracted for a period of five years. The LNG industry funds a similar aeromedical service in the Surat Basin, which has conducted almost 200 community retrievals since it began in April 2011. Meanwhile BMA recently renewed partnerships with RACQ CQ Rescue and the Capricorn Helicopter Rescue Service, contributing a combined $330,000 over three years to the organisations.
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22
NEW PRODUCTS
May 2013 |
The Mining Advocate
Tuff-A-Tank Townsville-based manufacturer Gough Plastics has created a 25-litre water tank with built-in hand cleaner to help workers on the move to meet workplace health and safety standards. The company said the new Code of Practice for Mobile, Temporary or Remote Workplaces required workers to have access to hand hygiene facilities. The Tuff-A-Tank can be mounted underneath most work vehicle tray bodies, saving space for more tools and supplies.
Hard Yakka Protect
Evo-Crete cable ladder blocks Cable ladder blocks are among a range of products Evolve Composites is producing in its ultra-lightweight Evo-Crete. Manufactured in Brisbane, the Evo-Crete cable ladder blocks are fast gaining a reputation in mining and industrial applications as the preferred solution for stable and durable equipment foundations, according to Evolve mining and industry manager Angus Wood. He said the key to Evo-Crete’s success was the proprietary blend of Evo-Fibre polyolefin fibre reinforcing.
I-Site 8200 Maptek has released a new laser scanner designed specifically for geologists and surveyors working underground. The I-Site 8200 can be coupled with a range of accessories to provide a complete scanning system for underground drives, tunnels and stopes, as well as surface stockpiles and silos. Maptek laser scanning solutions manager Athy Kalatzis said co-ordinated development of all the elements - scanner, accessories, scan control interface and processing software - allowed Maptek to “build in” the underground workflow from the outset.
Hard Yakka has launched a new range of fire retardant workwear to tackle the issue of work-related burn injuries. The Hard Yakka Protect range with Tecgen Select offers oil, gas, electrical and mine workers protection from arc flash, flash fire and heat stress. The Bi-National Burns Registry 2011 found that 14 per cent of adult burn injuries in Australia occurred at an industrial and construction area or a trade and service area.
Sandvik MD Rockbolt Hard and fast rule for Sandvik Mining’s latest rock bolting system. The company describes the Sandvik MD (Mechanical Dynamic) Rockbolt as a relatively new concept in ground reinforcement for underground hard rock mines. Developed in Australia, the MD Rockbolt is designed to replace a range of ground support systems including resin bolts, stiff splitsets, and even cable bolting in some instances. “The problem with resin bolting is that it’s not reliable due to the relatively large-diameter holes which have to be drilled in hard rock mines,” MD Rockbolt designer Mietek Rataj said. “This is because the resin is frequently poorly mixed so the bolts are not anchored properly in the rock. In addition, their installation can be very slow, and they are relatively rigid two-pass bolts, so they are not suitable for dynamic ground conditions. “In contrast, the MD Rockbolt is a dynamic bolt which is able to yield and withstand changing ground conditions, it’s a one-pass system, with no need for any grouting.”
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Genie GS-4069 RT Terex’s new Genie GS-4069 RT work platform, available in three heights, is designed to excel on uneven ground and in boggy conditions. “These rough terrain scissor lifts have increased platform space plus increased lifting capacity. It’s a win-win on the work site,” Terex Aerial Work Platforms Australian general manager Brad Lawrence said. He said the active oscillating axle was designed so that all wheels remained on the ground to deliver superior traction, even on undulating surfaces, making the Genie GS-69 RT series a smooth operator inside a processing plant while still being a rugged performer outside on the work site.
BIG BOYS’ TOYS
The Mining Advocate | May 2013
23
Isa car club shows real muscle Car enthusiast enth Ben McDonald he turns heads when he hits the streets Mou Isa in his 1968 Dodge of Mount Charge Charger. ge cars pulling over and “I get lookin as I go by, or following me looking aroun town, and people waving,” around sa “It draws a crowd.” he said. M McDonald imported the Mr f car from the United States two years ago and although it cam in good condition he has came changed “pretty much
Mount Isa Muscle Car Association president Ben McDonald with his ‘68 Charger.
Photos: Roslyn Budd
everything” since. “I’ve made it my own by adding stuff,” he said. A boilermaker by trade, Mr McDonald said he had taught himself the mechanical skills required as he went along, with the help of a few friends. Mr McDonald had the Charger back in the shed again in April for more work, but said he had probably now reached the end of the line in terms of modifications. “I’ve pretty much done everything now and my wife won’t let me spend more money - so I’m pretty sure it’s done for a while,” he said. Mr McDonald, who works as a maintenance planner at Mount Isa’s copper operations, recently founded the Mount Isa Muscle Car Association. He said the city was home to quite a lot of people with muscle cars, although many were tucked away in sheds. The Mount Isa Muscle Car Association will help get those hidden gems out on show, with events in the pipeline including a gathering to coincide with the Fast & Furious 6 movie premier in the northwest Queensland city in June. Club members boast vehicles including a 1968 Ford Mustang Fastback, a 1973 Ford XA Coupe, a 1970 Ford Galaxie, 1969 Dodge Charger and a 1966 Ford GT40. Mr McDonald, the club president, said the Mount Isa Muscle Car Association was looking to attract increased membership from throughout north-west Queensland. Interested car owners should contact him on 0409 762 200.
Riders get wired for sound Whether a rugged mountain bike or streamlined Triumph Sprint is more your style, the latest technology lets riders talk to each other or enjoy music in comfort when they take to two wheels. Cardo Systems recently took out a Red Dot product design award for the Cardo BK-1 – described as the world’s first Bluetooth communication and entertainment system developed especially for bicycle riders. The Cardo BK-1 allows intercom conversations between small groups of cyclists, mobile phone connectivity, inthe-ear instructions from GPS devices and
MP3 music streaming. All are delivered via high-end speakers that hover above the ears without touching them. The company’s Cardo Scala Rider G9 for motorcyclists has also gained good reviews, including in GQ and Motorcyclist magazines. The G9 offers similar features to the Cardo BK-1 and allows bike-to-bike intercom communication for ranges up to 1.6km, with sound delivered via boom or corded microphones to suit any rider helmets.
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Surat Basin - The Future
The Mining Advocate | May 2013
25
Riding the great Surat surge While Toowoomba and Surat Basin Enterprise is only a couple of years old, the peak representative body has grown in stature along with the tens of billions of dollars in investment in the region in that time. And there is more spending to come as the deadline for the first LNG exports through Gladstone draws near. Robert Dark recently caught up with TSBE chief executive officer Shane Charles, who outlines some of the challenges in managing this unprecedented regional growth. Who are the three most influential people in the coal seam gas industry? SC: Jeff Seeney first of all as Deputy Premier. Particularly important in terms of the Arrow project going forward, which ties into my second choice of John Cotter who is chair of the Gasfields Commission. I am a little bit biased because I am on the commission. But he is particularly important. And then, potentially, Andrew Faulkner - who is chief executive officer of that Arrow project - is the third. And I say him over and above the other CEOs of the other three companies because they have already got their approval, they
are already up and going and it is an established industry and it is happening, where Arrow are still going through that process and have a little bit of work to do, particularly around the Condamine region which they are working really hard on.
collaboratively. They are spending $150 million to $200 million per company addressing social impacts … I don’t know that we’ve looked hard enough at sustainable outcomes, so QGC and Origin are certainly looking at these things.
So you see yourself as a leader? SC: One of the values of our organisation is that we are passionate about our region, so we do see ourselves as leaders in TSBE and we like to think of ourselves as influencers and if there is something that is happening in our patch, which is predominantly the Surat Basin, we want to be in the thick of it.
Going to Xstrata’s Wandoan project, it doesn’t seem to be moving at a great rate of knots. SC: I’d be pretty confident it is not going to proceed in the short term … Now if I was a betting man, we’ve got to see coal prices rebound a little bit at this stage to try and get this project back off the ground ... If I was completely honest I would probably suggest that a bit of a delay is a benefit. I think we are pretty stretched at the moment in terms of the energy industry. So potentially,
What is the single biggest infrastructure project the South West needs? SC: The (Toowoomba) range by-pass. It has been the No. 1 issue for 20 years. The (federal) Coalition has committed to start working on it in its first term in government. We went to Canberra last week to talk to the Labor party to get their position and they’re also looking at the Nation Building Program from 2013/14 to 2018/19. Their comment to us was that our timing was excellent and they are negotiating that with the states at the moment. The state has got it in its top two priorities. It is going to be built, I’m sure. Can you see the benefits of gas investment being translated in the smaller towns? SC: Not quite. I think they are doing a pretty good job. Don’t get me wrong. It is unprecedented in Queensland
Shane Charles TSBE chief executive officer
that the State Government has essentially mandated these companies to have a social impact. They are not doing it
with a couple of years’ gap for coal, it might be one of the best things that happens for us. Local content? SC: I think the companies again have been pretty good at getting local businesses involved with local projects. Local content from the Australian point of view means Australia and New Zealand and we’ve seen between 60 and 70 per cent of Australian companies being used during the construction process, which I think is pretty good. If you were to mark them you would give them 8½ out of 10. But when we talk about regional content, which is the business engaged in the communities in which they operate, I’d mark them down a little bit.
Energy boom delivers at Dalby Dalby is the unofficial capital of the Western Downs region and clearly reflects the benefits the resource boom is bringing to the district. Dalby and district boast a workforce of 9022, a 4.2 per cent increase from 2011 to 2012, while the value of residential building approvals jumped a whopping 53 per cent to $31 million between 2011 and 2012. Construction jumped 15 per cent during the same period and the accommodation and food services business rose 14.6 per cent on the back of the influx of workers employed on gas pipeline construction and associated infrastructure. To keep pace with the activity, the population of Dalby and district is on the rise, sitting at more than 17,000 people.
Western Downs Regional Council economic development senior officer Craig Tunley said the region had been able to return positive figures in key indicator areas despite extensive flooding in recent years. “The predictions remain good for 2013 despite the slowdown in the coal industry, not just in the Western Downs but the country as a whole,” he said. Western Downs has operating coal mines at Wilkie Creek, Kogan Creek and Cameby Downs. Dalby also experienced a 13.6 per cent jump in the rental, hiring and real estate sectors plus a 12.5 per cent jump in retail trade between 2011 and 2012.
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Surat Basin - The Future
The Mining Advocate | May 2013
27
Gas growth no flash in the pan Easternwell chief operating officer Darren Greer has witnessed massive growth in the Surat Basin oil and gas industry since his early days as a drilling engineer. And he stresses that the spurt of activity being experienced in the region as companies work to bring three major CSG to LNG projects online is the precursor to decades of related work. Mr Greer said Roma was a very different place when he first turned up to work for Santos as a graduate engineer 16 years ago. “It was a very quiet place. Now the whole region is booming,” he said. “A lot of associated industry is popping up around the major (CSG) projects, like fabrication industries. “We generally try to get most of our equipment locally where there is local manufacturing or supply available. We certainly use a number of companies from Toowoomba through to Roma so we can build a local capability in industry and I think there will be a lot more of that in coming years. “The major companies are spending billions of dollars and these projects have lifespans that are decades long. There’s a big spur of activity right now, but continued activity to drill wells,
Easternwell rig manager Jason Benson.
connect wells, do maintenance work on compressor stations and then the next stages of development will go on for decades.” Easternwell, which has been operating in the Surat Basin since the early 1980s, employs about 1250 people nationwide in a business that includes well services, drilling and mobile camp management. Mr Greer said the company operated 70 drilling and maintenance rigs – about 24 in the oil and gas sector and the remainder devoted to mineral drilling projects. The last five years had seen
activity step up in the Surat Basin, from there being only a handful of rigs working in the area to it becoming the busiest oil and gas hub in Australia, he said. “Right now we have 12 rigs in the region – a mix of rigs between Santos, QGC and Arrow Energy (projects),” Mr Greer said. “Most of the places we work are very remote, but the closest population centres would be Chinchilla, Roma and Injune. “Our head office is in Toowoomba and we employ all personnel through Toowoomba.” Mr Greer said Easternwell had combated the challenge
of finding skilled personnel by starting its own RTO (registered training organisation). It offers training from the entry level leasehand positions through to driller and rig manager. “We bring on a couple of hundred new hires each year, at varying levels of experience,” Mr Greer said. Among the workers who have entered the training program and risen through the ranks is Rig 20 manager Jason Benson, who grew up on a cattle property at Yuleba – east of Roma. He had just finished school and was unsure what direction to take with his future when he was offered a start with Easternwell.
“I really enjoyed it. We had a really good crew on Rig 2, which was where I did my roughnecking (entry level positions of leasehand and floorhand),”he said. “Then I started climbing up through the ranks.” As well as bringing friendship and a good lifestyle for an outdoor-loving type, Mr Benson said the job had allowed him to buy a house in Roma after his first 12 months. Mr Benson, who now lives at Kingsthorpe outside Toowoomba, said many of those who began their careers on Rig 2 with him and had risen through the ranks were from the Roma and Mitchell districts.
Easternwell chief operating officer Darren Greer with Easternwell chief executive for energy Warren Willmington at the 2012 Surat Basin Energy and Mining Expo.
Local investment takes off under APLNG Origin Energy is investing heavily in the $24.7 billion Australia Pacific LNG project which will pipe Surat Basin coal seam gas to a processing plant on Curtis Island off Gladstone. Origin’s funding requirements from January 1 this year are estimated at $4.4 billion. While the company’s main focus is on completing its onshore portion of the project by mid-2014, it is also investing in the communities around its gas wells and compression hubs. Origin manager for external affairs, Queensland, Christopher Zipf said work would soon be completed on a $15 million upgrade of the Miles airport and the company had invested $2.05 million in affordable housing from a pledged kitty of $10 million. The upgraded airport about 20km south of Miles will comply with Civil Aviation Safety Authority standards allowing aircraft to land in all weather, day and night. Mr Zipf said as work continued on the pipeline, it was estimated that the airport upgrade would take 1.2 million kilometres of load off the road network in the council area. The first nine homes under the affordable homes initiative were released in March to young couples, families and individuals
living in Miles. Australia Pacific LNG is an incorporated joint venture between Origin (37.5 per cent), ConocoPhillips (37.5 per cent) and Sinopec (25 per cent).
Key to Origin’s financial investment in the project is a 20-year supply agreement with Sinopec (China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation) which
Want to be a supplier? Work and supply contracts are broken into two distinct areas within the Australia Pacific LNG project. Australian company Origin has responsibility for the upstream component of the project - which comprises drilling, gas gathering, water facilities, electrification and water treatment. Origin numbers among its leading contractors Savanna - drilling and work-over rigs; Siemens - compressors; Hutchinson Builders - construction of temporary accommodation; Leighton Contractors - construction of two water treatment facilities; MCJV - construction of the main gas pipeline; NACAP - construction of the smaller gauge pipeline connecting gas plants to the main gas export pipeline; Laing O’Rourke - construction of seven gas processing facilities and east coast pipeline, installation of polyethylene pipe for wells at Spring Gully. Visit the project’s website at http://www.aplng.com.au, click on “careers” and follow the link to the dedicated suppliers’ portal. American multi-national company ConocoPhillips is responsible for the construction and operation of the LNG plant on Curtis Island. The downstream work is being undertaken by international construction company Bechtel Corporation. Visit the project’s website at http://www.bechtel.com/curtisisland_lng.html. Origin regional offices: Chinchilla - 1 Warrego Highway, (07) 4672 6600 Miles - 105 Murilla St, (07) 4558 0300 Roma - 93 Arthur St, (07) 4620 1500
will see the company purchase 7.6 million tonnes per annum of LNG from Australia Pacific LNG’s annual production of 9mtpa. Japan’s Kansai Electric Power Company has also agreed to purchase 1mtpa over 20 years. With a workforce of about 9500 employees and contractors, the project is reported to be on schedule with around a third of the construction upstream and on Curtis Island complete. Start-up of train one is expected in the second quarter of
2015 and train two in the fourth quarter. Activity in the drilling sector will be stepped up to feed the processing plant when it comes online. A total of 467 Phase 1 well locations are in the “land bank” with 209 drilled to date. To ensure progress isn’t hampered during the year, two additional drill rigs have been contracted to complement the three Savanna hybrid coil rigs and one Ensign rig which are operating.
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Surat Basin - The Future
The Mining Advocate | May 2013
29
Piping hot progress for Santos Santos pipeline layers are working 10 hours a day, seven days a week to complete the 420km project on time and reach the Santos GLNG target of first gas delivery to the Curtis Island processing plant off Gladstone in 2015. The high-pressure gas transmission pipeline has been designed to transport coal seam gas from Roma, Fairview and Arcadia Valley gas fields in the Surat Basin to the plant. More than 180km of the pipeline route has been cleared and graded and 140km of pipeline has been strung. The $US18.5 million project is now half complete, with a significant milestone reached in April when tunnelling began on the Narrows crossing of Gladstone Harbour to Curtis Island. It took a team of 12 people six weeks to assemble the 100m long, 277-tonne tunnel boring machine on site. The 4.3km tunnel to encase the gas pipeline will take about 12 months to complete. Santos GLNG pipeline manager Greg Jones said Thiess would undertake the project. Work at Curtis Island is on track with all ground work
completed, while two LNG storage tanks are nearing completion with roof installation under way. More than 2000 workers are on the site. A total of 2000 people are also working in the gas fields and this will be ramped up to 3000 as the
pipe laying and construction of two hubs at Fairview and one at Roma reach peak activity levels. Gas turbine alternators to power operations are arriving at the hubs, the sites where gas is compressed, with some kits already installed.
Want to be a supplier? The Santos GLNG project has been broken up into three distinct areas of expertise – professional, construction and operations. Fluor was awarded an engineering, procurement and construction contract by Santos in January 2011 for its Gladstone Liquefied Natural Gas (GLNG) project. Santos GLNG recently increased the scope of work for another key contractor - Saipem -within the framework of the Santos GLNG gas transmission pipeline project to include engineering, procurement and construction for the underwater tunnel for the crossing of the wetlands between the Gladstone State Development Area and Curtis Island. International construction company Bechtel has been tasked with building the project’s LNG processing plant on Curtis Island. The Santos GLNG Project has engaged the Industry Capability Network to help Australian suppliers, subcontractors and service providers register their interest in working on the project. Santos GLNG regional offices: Gladstone - 114 Goondoon St, (07) 49 788 410 Roma - 80 McDowall St, (07) 4624 2176
Santos is no stranger to Queensland, operating in the state for 50 years. It has a strong presence in Roma and works closely with the Maranoa Regional Council. The joint venture behind the LNG project includes Santos (with a 30 per cent stake), Petronas (27.5 per cent), Total (27.5 per cent) and Kogas (15 per cent). Petronas is Malaysia’s national oil and gas company and the world’s second largest LNG exporter while Total is the fifth largest publicly traded integrated international oil and gas company. Kogas
(Korea Gas Corporation) is the world’s largest buyer of LNG. Santos has experienced an overall cost blowout from $US16 billion to $US18.5 billion for the period from the final investment decision until 2015. It says the increase “primarily relates to additional upstream development in the Fairview and Roma fields, such as additional compressor stations, wells, gathering production facilities, water handling facilities and other infrastructure.” A total of 480 wells have been drilled to feed the LNG plant including 143 last year.
Construction of one of the Santos pipeline hub sites.
QGC pours $1 billion into water initiatives The $US20.4 billion Queensland Curtis LNG Project is set to be the first of the three major consortiums to bring its Gladstone plant online, with expected commercial delivery of LNG in 2014. And it will set a communityrelated benchmark when it invests more than $1 billion by 2014 on water-related treatment facilities, research, modelling,
monitoring and management – including desalinating underground water and making it available for use on farms, by industry and to supplement town water supplies. QGC, which is overseeing the project, recently awarded Veolia Water Australia a contract spanning 20 years and worth $800 million to operate and maintain three water treatment
QGC is investing $1 billion into water initiatives and infrastructure including this treatment plant at its Kenya facility near Tara in the Surat Basin.
plants in the Surat Basin. Contractors are building two major water treatment plants which have a combined capacity to treat 200 megalitres a day – the equivalent of about 80 Olympic-sized swimming pools – during peak production.
These facilities and one smaller plant are located at each of the project’s two major development areas. QGC’s lead communications advisor, policy and corporate affairs, Cubby Fox said water from a development area west of
Want to be a supplier? The Queensland Curtis LNG Project has 57 suppliers on board for the construction phase of the project. These cover three elements - drilling, pipeline construction and the Curtis Island LNG processing plant off Gladstone. Larger suppliers include ABB Australia which has the main automation contract plus a long-term services agreement; Atlas Drilling - drilling rig and associated services; Basecamp Management - field accommodation; Emerson Process Management Australia - the main instrument vendor; GL Industrial Services Australia pipeline inspection services; Halliburton Australia - well site services and diagnostic fracture injection testing; Iplex Pipelines Australia - pipeline supply; Laing O’Rourke water treatment plants plus construction and installation services for the main accommodation camp; nkt cables - high voltage cable package; Schlumberger Australia - integrated project management services; Thiess - early works contract and compression facilities; Transfield Services - upstream integrated services contract, construction services; and Weatherford Australia - provision of coal seam gas rigs and wireline logging services. QGC regional offices: Chinchilla - 81 Heeney St, (07) 4672 6700 Gladstone - 72 Goondoon St, (07) 4971 6601
Wandoan would be transported by pipeline to the company’s northern water treatment plant at Woleebee Creek. “Water produced at Miles and Dalby will be transported by pipeline to our central water treatment plant at our Kenya operational facility,” she said. The United Kingdom-based BG Group - parent company of QGC - has invested $11 billion into the QCLNG project so far. QGC communications manager Paul Larter said about 9000 staff and contractors were employed on the project. Milestones have been many during the past 12 months but the most significant include lifting in place the steel roof on the first of two LNG storage tanks in February and a world-class engineering feat in completing a pipe pull across Gladstone harbour. “We expect first gas in the LNG plant around the end of 2013. This will enable commissioning to start,” Mr Larter said. Nearly all the QCLNG pipeline’s 540km easement has been cleared and more than half the total pipeline has been lowered into trenches and back filled.
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Surat Basin - The Future
May 2013 |
Arrow advances Arrow Energy has notched up another step in its planned CSG– LNG export project, gaining State Government approval for its Arrow Bowen Pipeline. The 580km pipeline would deliver coal seam gas from the company’s proposed Bowen Gas Project gas fields in the Bowen Basin to a two-train LNG plant at Gladstone. Arrow Energy chief executive officer Andrew Faulkner said the State Government approval was another important milestone after the Arrow Surat Pipeline was approved in 2010. “This is welcome news for our overall project and demonstrates we’re meeting the rigorous government approvals process,” Mr Faulkner said. Arrow recently reported a 16 per cent increase in CSG reserves, thanks to record gas production and drilling levels in 2012, taking its proved and probable (2P) reserves in Queensland to about 9500 petajoules. The Arrow CSG-LNG project consists of five major developments - an LNG plant on Curtis Island, off Gladstone; the Arrow Surat Pipeline and the Arrow Bowen Pipeline; the Surat Gas Project and the Bowen Gas
Arrow Energy’s Dalby-based farming overseer Samuel Banks performs a water quality check.
Project. The Surat Gas Project covers about 300 existing Arrow gas production wells at Tipton West, Daandine, Stratheden and
Kogan North near Dalby, as well as a broader area extending from Wandoan to Dalby and south to Millmerran and Goondiwindi.
The Mining Advocate
Micro-LNG plant kicks off for BOC Gas and engineering company BOC expects to be producing liquefied natural gas at its new plant in the Chinchilla area by April next year. The micro-LNG plant will purify natural gas fed into the Roma-Brisbane pipeline by project partner QGC to produce 50 tonnes of LNG per day. “We’re right in the throes of commencing construction – we’re just waiting for final approvals from government,” BOC general manager for LNG Alex Dronoff said. About 40 people would be on site during the construction phase, which should take about a year, he said. Mr Dronoff said the Surat Basin plant, near the Condamine power station, would be a replica of BOC’s micro-LNG plant in Westbury, Tasmania. It is the company’s third LNG plant in Australia, with the oldest – the Dandenong Air Separation Unit and LNG facility - having undergone a $65 million upgrade in 2010. BOC technology will liquefy the natural gas in a refrigeration process and the resulting LNG will be transported in vacuum
Alex Dronoff BOC general manager for LNG
tankers to a network of truck refuelling stations as part of the company’s “LNG highway” scheme. It will also provide an additional energy option for industry in the region. “(The LNG) will be contracted to customers that need it. It will be for the fleet fuelling market for the LNG highway that we’ve already announced between Melbourne and Brisbane as well as stationary energy customers who might require LNG for fuel,” Mr Dronoff said.
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Surat Basin - The Future
The Mining Advocate | May 2013
31
Liberty keen to fast-track $1.4b plant Liberty Resources plans to pounce on an emerging opportunity in the domestic gas market by bringing a $1.4 billion plant online in the Surat Basin. Construction could start as early as 2015, allowing about two years for approvals and the environmental impact statement process, according to managing director and chairman Andrew Haythorpe. The Perth-based company holds a package of 17 tenements in Queensland and has earmarked one near Injune and one near Miles as being the most attractive potential sites for the first stage of development. It has been working on plans for the inland plant as part of a $4 billion gas, electricity and fertiliser project – with a urea production facility to be based in Gladstone. But Liberty recently announced that eastern states gas market conditions, rising domestic gas costs and future anticipated gas supply shortfalls favoured the much earlier stand-alone development of the gas treatment component of the proposal. The opportunity stemmed from the large volumes of gas in Queensland now dedicated to long-term LNG contracts for processing facilities being developed at Gladstone to serve the export market. Mr Haythorpe said rather than developing a gas “clean-up” plant to directly supply a coastal fertiliser plant, Liberty was now looking at establishing a syngas plant which would produce pipeline specification gas. “That gives us the freedom where we can start selling that gas as soon as that intermediate step has been completed, and later we can follow on with the large ammonia-urea fertiliser facility,” he said. Liberty plans to use technology that involves injecting saline water and oxygen into coal seams to generate hydrogen-enriched syngas from deep, unmineable coal seams across the company’s tenements. The company saw the process it was pursuing as the next step beyond the underground coal gasification that had been trialed in Queensland, Mr Haythorpe said. Salt from the water used in the process would be buried at depth – almost like salt sequestration, well below any aquifers.
RED Industrial owner and general manager Ashley Geldard with packer assembly units, which are assembled at the workshop and shipped to coal seam gas extraction sites.
Andrew Haythorpe Liberty Resources managing director
Mr Haythorpe said the Gladstone fertiliser plant was likely to be developed a year or two after gas production began, however Liberty was likely to continue to supply gas to the market as well. “What we envisage is we’ll almost be in a continual development of additional (gas) plants,” he said. “We’re looking at more than 100 years of resource life, so we’d be looking at more gas, which we’d be looking to sell and value-add if required.” The initial gas plant development was likely to generate about 1500 jobs in construction and 200 full-time roles when operations began, Mr Haythorpe said.
Farmer behind thriving venture Fourth-generation western Darling Downs farmer Ashley Geldard was a disillusioned and frustrated man in 2008 when drought had ravaged the region. He, like his forebears who arrived in 1909, was at the mercy of the elements. The cotton, wheat and sorghum producer is a natural tinkerer with a knack for designing equipment and it was his creation of purpose-built gear to recycle batteries for a Brisbane business that sent him down a new career path. That project was an unqualified success and in 2008 RED Industrial was born with Mr Geldard and one staff member on the books. Fast forward to 2013 and Mr Geldard has a staff of eight designing equipment for the coal seam gas (CSG) industry from a farm shed at Condamine. He services a footprint bounded by Roma to the west, east to Dalby, north to Dingo and south to Mooney. He numbers among his clients the Queensland Gas Company, Schlumberger and US mining services company Tam International. The father of four young children divides his time between the office and home on the farm.
“If equipment is being fabricated at the shed then I’m there to oversee the project but I do most of the designing at home,” Mr Geldard said. Mr Geldard has taught himself to use a 3D computer program allowing him to display his design solutions to clients from a laptop. “Using the program has allowed me to show clients exactly what I have designed and how it will work,” he said. RED (an acronym for robust engineering and design) Industrial is now the focus for Mr Geldard, but he hasn’t severed his farming roots. “I’ve scaled back the farming activities since RED Industrial has got going,” he said. He maintains a strong connection with his community, employing a local apprentice and with another undertaking a school-based apprenticeship. “You must invest in the future. We have a strong focus on training and, where I can, I always employ locally,” he said. All the steel and aluminium used in the fabrication process at RED Industrial is sourced from Queensland suppliers as are all laser-cut components of equipment assembled at the shed.
Wandoan waiting game talk of the town The fate of Xstrata’s $6 billion Wandoan coal project is a regular source of speculation at the bar of the Juandah Hotel Motel in the town of Wandoan. “Here in the hotel you hear a lot of stories, but honestly nobody knows – they’re all guessing,” hotel manager Rhonda Stretton said. “Some people say it’s dead in the water, other people say nothing will happen until after the (federal) election, other people say it depends on overseas investment - you hear it all.” The greenfields project - a joint venture between Xstrata Coal Queensland, ICRA (Itochu) and Sumisho Coal Australia – would see an open-cut mine producing 30 million tonnes per annum of thermal coal develop in the region. Xstrata says the project is still in the feasibility stage and remains subject to final approval. “Following the Queensland Land Court’s recommendation to award a mining lease for the Wandoan project, Xstrata Coal continues to work towards the final grant of this lease by the Queensland Government,” Xstrata Coal manager – media and external affairs Francis de Rosa said. But the company’s merger with Glencore International has
increased doubts on the project’s future, with Glencore chief executive Ivan Glasenberg recently telling investors the merged company would be avoiding greenfield projects. Western Downs Mayor Ray Brown said it would be great to see Xstrata’s project go ahead, but stressed there were about half a dozen other proponents with coal projects in the region on top of the burgeoning gas industry development, which was having a huge impact on Wandoan. Cr Brown said the local communities really wanted some surety. He also believed that placing the Wandoan coal project on hold need not spell the end of the proposed Surat Basin Rail linking the area to Gladstone given the raft of other coal proponents who would have an interest in seeing such a link developed. Meanwhile, the town of Wandoan keeps getting busier amid the surge of work in the area related to coal seam gas developments. Ms Stretton said the hotel fielded at least a dozen calls a day from people looking for rooms as the town struggled to cope with a huge increase in demand for accommodation. “You just can’t keep up with it,” she said.
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Surat Basin - The Future
May 2013 |
The Mining Advocate
Rental pressures on the rise Affordable housing advocacy group Queensland Shelter has called on the State Government to adopt a Western Australian policy supporting marginalised workers seeking accommodation in mining communities. Rents in the Surat Basin have followed a similar trajectory to those in the coal-rich Bowen Basin, with many long-term residents who don’t own property faced with the prospect of
leaving their rural communities or seeking rental assistance. The small community of Miles, 340km west of Brisbane, now has the dubious honour of fetching among the most expensive rents in the State’s smaller mining communities. Based on the Queensland Residential Tenancy Authority’s latest median rental figures for a three-bedroom home, a renter living in Miles faces a weekly
cost of $400. That cost, from the March 2013 quarter figures, is a jump of $130 on the same quarter in 2012. In the same period the rental cost for a three-bedroom home in Chinchilla rose from $350 to $400 and Roma went from $450 to $425. Miles is up with Moranbah in the Bowen Basin where a three-bedroom home fetched $450 in the March 2013 quarter One of the new Horizon Housing semi-detached homes, which are being rented in Miles at well below average rates
New horizons for housing Queensland’s largest not-for profit affordable homes provider, Horizon Housing, is rapidly expanding its presence in the Surat Basin opening an office in Roma to keep the public abreast of its activities. Roma is the site of its latest foray into easing the affordable rental shortage with work expected to start in May on 16 fully furnished apartments aimed at apprentices working in the Western Downs region. Horizon Housing chief executive Jason Cubit said the company’s aim was to provide opportunities for people with an
array of budgets and lifestyles, offering products from compact one and two-bedroom properties through to larger, traditional family homes. In addition to the construction side of the business, Horizon Housing recently took over Santos GLNG’s Rent Assist Program which offers support for people with an existing tenancy. Subject to meeting employment and income requirements, residents in the Maranoa Regional Council area can apply for assistance with ongoing rental payments, bond money and emergency funds following an
Miles residents help guide their community’s future The Miles community has banded together to take a hands-on approach to controlling the destiny of their township and the wider community. The rapidly growing resource sector is having a massive impact on community and business across the Western Downs region according Miles District Chamber of Commerce member Rachel Mullins. The Miles Community Investment Plan aims to support and benefit community, businesses and organisations on many levels, ultimately ensuring that there is a proactive and purposeful approach to future projects, initiatives and benefits. Ms Mullins, a businesswoman and mother of five children between the ages of 17 and 25, has seen many families leave the district because of a steep rise in accommodation costs – a trend that concerns her. “The population of Miles is about the same, but the fabric of the community has changed. There are more single men living in the community who are flying in and out,” she said. The Western Downs Regional Council has been impressed by the group’s professional approach to preserving the community, pledging $50,000 over two budget years. A further $31,000 has been raised in pledges from community, business and industry, according to Ms Mullins.
accident or illness or temporary accommodation. “Now having a team in the community will help us communicate and work with residents more directly,” Mr Cubit said.
according to RTA figures. That is a staggering drop of $1550 from the March quarter in 2012. The cost in nearby Dysart dropped from $1400 to $300 in the same time. The massive decline is linked to a slowdown in the coal mining industry and workers opting to move their families to centres like Mackay and the Whitsunday Regional Council area. Overall Mount Isa tops the list for mining community rental rates, at $570 per week for a three-bedroom home in the March quarter this year, up $70 on the same period last year. Queensland Shelter’s senior policy adviser Noelle Hudson said the peak body had lodged policy proposals with the State Government ahead of Premier Campbell Newman’s first budget in May. “The West Australian Government was collecting royalties of $355.5 million for affordable housing in mining communities in 2011,” Ms Hudson said. “The mining industry in Western Australia is bigger than Queensland, so we are not expecting that amount of money to be spent on affordable housing.” Ms Hudson said the State Government had traditionally spent mining royalty money on infrastructure such as roads and ports but not enough on affordable housing. The focus was on people coming into country communities, not the people who already lived in those towns,
Ms Hudson said. “I have seen examples of teachers seeking rent subsidy to work in places like Roma, where at least one private school is offering rent assistance packages,” she said. “I’ve also heard of cases where police and ambulance officers have decided against moving to these centres because the rents are too expensive.” On a positive note, Ms Hudson said she had been encouraged by the progressive approaches being taken by the Western Downs and Maranoa regional councils which are aware of the shortage of affordable housing. Both have been working closely with State Government representatives to secure land parcels for affordable housing projects. The State Government has unveiled a range of initiatives to address the special needs of smaller mining communities in the midst of an upswing in mining and energy activity. A spokesman for Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney’s office said he could not speculate on what funds would be made available for affordable housing in mining communities in the 2013/14 Budget. “But I can say Mr Seeney will be making a number of announcements in the coming months,” he said.
Gas boom adds up for Mark Accountant Mark Treasure is a keen sportsman and at 48 still packs down in the scrum for the Roma Echidnas in the Toowoomba Rugby Union competition. But he won’t be making the weekly commute for quite a few weeks after breaking his arm in the opening fixture of the season. He’s keen to get back on the field again and hasn’t ruled out playing on until he’s 50. “I’m keeping my options open at this stage and will take it season by season,” he said. Mr Treasure has parlayed those key sporting qualities of fair play and determination to succeed into his accountancy practice partnership with Rory Condon. CondonTreasure was formed in 2003 and the “union” has gone from strength to strength since with branches in Charleville, Maroochydore and Rockhampton in addition to the Roma office. The business has won a string of industry awards including a State Small Business Award for professional services.
CondonTreasure now has a staff of more than 50 professionals including a team of six finance planning experts. As the resources boom continues, Mr Treasure and his team have widened their services to include structuring businesses for contractors working in the mining industry. “We were going well before
Roma-based accountant Mark Treasure.
the boom but it’s got better since they started building the gas pipelines (to the Curtis Island LNG plants),” Mr Treasure said. CondonTreasure maintains a rural focus but has diversified its services over the years to meet the changing needs of clients. The business prides itself in supporting regional events and services.
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