Australian Mining March 2023

UNDERGROUND OPERATORS

COMMODITY SPOTLIGHT

INDUSTRY OUTLOOK

UNDERGROUND OPERATORS

COMMODITY SPOTLIGHT

INDUSTRY INSIGHT

TURNING WASTE INTO VALUE

RE-THINKING THE TRAJECTORY OF MINING TYRES

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PAUL HAYES paul.hayes@primecreative.com.au

KEEP UP WITH THE UPKEEP

Amine site is a veritable hive of human and machine activity.

From drill rigs to trucks to excavators to conveyor belts and beyond, the list of machines – and the people required to operate them – is just about endless.

And those machines need to be kept in the best possible condition. You can have the best gear in the world, but it’s not worth much if it’s not kept in tip-top shape.

That’s what makes maintenance such a fundamental aspect of a successful mining operation. Failing to undertake the necessary maintenance as and when it’s needed could result in faulty equipment.

A site with well-maintained gear can limit unexpected downtime and maximise production. Machines kept in the right condition are also safer for the people on and around them.

Maintenance can also have a major impact beyond a mine site. Keeping everything in the best possible shape helps to limit the need to purchase new equipment on a regular basis, which in turn offers mining companies a chance to generate social, environmental and reputational value.

Add it all up, and that’s why the March edition of Australian Mining has taken the opportunity to highlight the numerous approaches to maintenance, including new technologies, innovations, products and services, that are contributing to a more efficient resources industry.

Elsewhere in this issue, we have a special section appearing ahead of the AusIMM Underground Operators Conference 2023, where we look at some of the companies set to make a

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER JOHN MURPHY

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

CHRISTINE CLANCY EDITOR

PAUL HAYES

Email: paul.hayes@primecreative.com.au

JOURNALISTS ALEXANDRA EASTWOOD

Email: alexandra.eastwood@primecreative.com.au

TOM PARKER Email: tom.parker@primecreative.com.au

LEWIS CROSS Email: lewis.cross@primecreative.com.au

splash at one of Australia’s premier underground mining events.

We also sit down for an exclusive chat with industry decision-maker Gabrielle Iwanow, the new managing director and chief executive officer at Mincor Resources.

Having been appointed in July 2022, Iwanow provides some fascinating insights into the current state of the resources industry in Australia, especially the when it comes to nickel production.

And we provide some industry analysis of our own.

The end of 2022 saw some record results for Australian mining companies, as we show in a comprehensive round-up of the final quarterly reports for the year.

We also examine the answer to what has been an especially pertinent question at the start of 2023: what does the end of China’s coal ban mean for Australia?

While the move has been met with cautious optimism by local industry analysts, questions remain as to whether this seemingly major market shift will ultimately it prove more symbolic than meaningful.

FRONT COVER

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Paul Hayes Managing Editor

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REGULAR AND EFFECTIVE MAINTENANCE MIGHT JUST BE THE LIFEBLOOD OF A WELL-RUN MINING OPERATION.

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AUSTRALIAN MINING PRESENTS THE LATEST NEWS FROM THE BOARDROOM TO THE MINE AND EVERYWHERE IN BETWEEN. VISIT WWW.AUSTRALIANMINING.COM. AU TO KEEP UP TO DATE WITH WHAT IS HAPPENING.

both competitive and predictable, we are unable to make significant new investments in Queensland.”

BHP has been reassessing Queensland investments since August 2022, when the royalty hike was

That same month, BHP put plans for the Blackwater South mine in central Queensland on hold for the foreseeable future.

Queensland Resources Council (QRC) chief executive Ian Macfarlane has been vocal in his opposition to the coal royalty rates, calling on the Queensland Government to urgently review its decision.

“You can’t over-tax an industry, let alone Queensland’s most important economic driver, and expect business to continue as usual,” Macfarlane said.

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Alliance (BMA) sites could be “earlier than previously anticipated”.

Queensland due to the state’s coal royalty tax.

In BHP’s operational review, the company said that, while the market for coal is expected to be boosted due to increased demand from China, Queensland has become “uncompetitive” as a result of its controversial tax.

highest maximum rate in the world makes Queensland uncompetitive and puts investment and jobs at risk,” BHP stated.

“We see strong long-term demand from global steelmakers for Queensland’s high-quality metallurgical coal; however, in the absence of government policy that is

“Our mining and energy sector is the number-one contributor to the state economy, number one regional employer and number-one export industry.

“We support the jobs of 450,000plus Queenslanders and 14,000-plus businesses, who all pay taxes to help fund doctors, nurses, teachers and other government services.”

BHP said in August that the royalty hike was “quite sudden” and the end of operations at the BHP Mitsubishi

FORTESCUE EXPECTS RENEWABLES TO OUTPACE ITS IRON ORE BUSINESS

Fortescue, one of the five largest iron producers in the world, expects renewables to “play a very big part of our overall earnings in the future”.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, former Fortescue chief executive officer Elizabeth Gaines said the company would continue building its iron ore business, but the scale of the world’s green energy transition would see a major increase in demand for renewable energy.

“There’s no lack of ambition for growth in our iron ore business, but when you look at the scale of

the green energy transition, it’s not unreasonable to think that ultimately renewable energy will probably outscale our iron ore business significantly,” Gaines, Fortescue’s non-executive director and global green ambassador, told the Reuters Global Markets Forum.

“I think we will see renewable energy play a very big part of our overall earnings in the future.

“There’s a view that businesses are doing this just for ESG (environmental, social and governance) reasons, but it’s also a smart thing to do, because the economics absolutely stack up.”

Fortescue is putting its money where its mouth is in terms of decarbonisation.

September 2022 saw the major miner pledge to exit fossil fuels by 2030 as part of a $9.2 billion plan to hit net-zero emissions and to not rely on carbon offsets by the end of the decade.

“We must accelerate our transition to the post-fossil-fuel era, driving global-scale industrial change as climate change continues to worsen,” Fortescue chairman Andrew Forrest said at the time.

Macfarlane said it was disappointing to hear State Treasurer Cameron Dick continue to say in the media that “coal royalties are worth fighting for”.

“Queensland’s resources sector is made up of Queenslanders, working and earning a living to support their families, so this is an odd statement for a treasurer to make,” Macfarlane said.

“Why fight the resources sector at all?

“We need the State Government to work with us, to keep Queensland strong.”

Gaines’ comments in Switzerland came after Forrest saying a string of executive resignations does not represent dysfunction at the senior levels of the company.

“As far as having high turnover, this was completely in the plan and we don’t consider it high turnover at all,” he said at the World Economic Forum.

“When we’re filling positions with different skills, the same responsibility, we need people to retire move on, or change.

“People move on, they retire, or they were bad choices. That happens everywhere.”

BHP HAS CALLED QUEENSLAND UNCOMPETITIVE IN RELATION TO ITS COAL TAX.

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Federal Resources Minister

Madeleine King said the grants would help to develop Australia’s critical minerals sector, support downstream processing, create jobs across regional Australia and support global efforts to achieve net-zero.

The Government has raised its loan to Hastings Technology Metals by $80 million to account for higher costs and the recent strength of magnet rare

Program will provide up to $50 million in grants of between $1 million and $30 million to support projects that will strengthen Australia’s sovereign capabilities in critical minerals, which are crucial for low-emissions technologies such as electric vehicles, batteries and solar panels, as well as aerospace and defence applications.

“The grants program will help Australia become a trusted and stable global supplier of critical minerals and rare earths which

half of eligible expenditure on projects that will strengthen global supply chains and help Australia build capacity to process critical minerals into strategically important technologies such as lithiumion batteries, rare earth element magnets, semi-conductors, and communications components.

“We expect the grants will support projects that will create jobs and investment in regional Australia, while generating further collaboration with

FORREST DISPUTES SUGGESTION FORTESCUE EXECUTIVE IS IN DISARRAY

Following a number of exits at the senior level, Fortescue boss Andrew Forrest recently rejected suggestions of executive dysfunction at the major miner.

When Fortescue’s chief financial officer (CFO) Ian Wells abruptly resigned in early January, eyebrows were raised across the resources sector.

Wells’ departure was the latest in a string of senior resignations at Fortescue –nine executives in two years – a situation the financial community reportedly described as “challenging” and “not ideal”.

“The optics of the short notice and timing of Ian’s departure are challenging, particularly given FMG has stated that Ian has resigned to pursue new opportunities,” Morgans analyst Adrian Prendergast said.

Wells’ resignation came two months after the departure of another of Fortescue’s senior financial executives, Guy Debelle.

But Forrest has said the high level of executive turnover is more like business as usual.

“As far as having high turnover, this was completely in the plan and we don’t consider it high turnover at all,” the Fortescue

executive chairman said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “When we’re filling positions with different skills, the same responsibility, we need people to retire move on, or change.

“People move on, they retire, or they were bad choices. That happens everywhere.”

Forrest also said the changes represent a natural progression after the departure of former chief executive officer Elizabeth Gaines in late 2021.

“I said categorically when we were talking about the future of this company with our brilliant chief

rare earths project, located in the Gascoyne region of WA, 250km northeast of Carnarvon.

The project was the first in Australia to receive Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) funding.

“The road to net-zero runs through Australia’s resources sector,” King said.

“We need Australia’s critical minerals if we are to reach net-zero.”

Applications for the grant closed on February 20.

executive Elizabeth Gaines, that I would need to bring on 10 to 12 people who would be best in class,” Forrest said.

“And Elizabeth said, ‘You’re not going to be able to do that while I still hold this seat.’ And that was a very unselfish act. And I’ve simply gone ahead and done that.”

While Fortescue initially released a statement saying Wells has resigned to pursue other opportunities, the outgoing CFO shed further light on his departure a few days later by saying he was keen to “spend time with family and friends”.

THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT HAS RELEASED GUIDELINES FOR NEW GRANTS TO DEVELOP AUSTRALIA’S CRITICAL MINERALS SECTOR.

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MT MORGANS GOLD MINE TO CLOSE

Dacian Gold has announced that its Mt Morgans gold mine in WA will close at the end of this month.

The mine is located 37km westsouth-west of Laverton.

Mining was first suspended at Mt Morgans in June of last year after managing director Leigh Junk stepped down.

The company is now processing historical dump leach material before the near 2.9-milliontonne-a-year mine is placed on care and maintenance.

“The decision to place Mt Morgans on care and maintenance was not taken lightly, especially given the impact on our loyal employees and contractors, and the community in which we operate,” Dacian non-executive and independent chairperson Craig McGown said.

“However, a period of care and maintenance will ultimately benefit all stakeholders by providing time to develop a robust, low-risk, sustainable plan,

NSW COAL TO STAY IN AUSTRALIA

New South Wales Treasurer Matt Kean will unveil requirements that force coal companies to reserve 10 per cent of their output exclusively for domestic use.

The requirements are being put in place to ensure the state has enough coal to fire its power stations.

Currently, some miners are forced to set aside coal for the state’s energy needs while others are not. Kean said the new requirement would help to even up this imbalance.

companies to provide 7–10 per cent of their output for domestic supply will be issued at the end of this month.

“This coal cap scheme will see NSW doing our part at the request of the Albanese Government to contribute to the national solution of this national problem,” Kean said.

“I know those currently providing coal for the local market will appreciate that companies enjoying super profits on the back of the war in Ukraine will now do their part for the domestic market. Of course they should provide Australian production for Australian

necessary to underpin the future resumption of operations.”

While Dacian announced the closure would result in some redundancies, the company plans to work to redeploy employees under a shared management services agreement with Genesis Minerals, its largest shareholder.

Genesis holds a 78.3 per cent interest in Dacian.

The cost of placing the mine on care and maintenance is estimated at $4–5 million and will

NSW coal mines run by BHP, Whitehaven and all other miners will be brought under the scheme, which originally required only 12 NSW mines to reserve a portion of their coal for domestic power generators and prevented them from charging more than $125 a tonne for intermediate grade coal.

BHP and Whitehaven have sold virtually all of their coal to exclusively foreign buyers in recent years.

Whitehaven said it was “reviewing

be funded from existing cash and gold on hand.

Comments from Genesis and St Barbara have suggested that ore from the Ulysses gold project could now be re-directed to St Barbara’s Gwalia mill, rather than Mt Morgans mill.

The news came after Dacian announced that gold production in the December quarter was 12,039 ounces, down from 21,525 in the September quarter of 2022.

A Glencore spokesperson said the NSW Government needs to better explain how the coal price cap would flow through to household power bills.

“We believe the focus should be on the shortfall of thermal coal supply required by NSW power stations,” the spokesperson said.

Sources close to the NSW Government have reportedly emphasised the policy’s intent is to bring equity for the state’s coal requirements to the industry, rather than seeing a small group of companies

NEW REQUIREMENTS WILL SEE 10 PER CENT OF NSW COAL OUTPUT STAY IN THE COUNTRY.

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MINRES SCORES A WIN IN RACE FOR WA GAS ASSETS

When Norwest directors recently recommended shareholders accept Mineral Resources’ (MinRes) increased takeover offer, it solidified the latest chapter in an increasingly competitive battle for gas assets in the Perth Basin.

Norwest Energy and MinRes reached an agreement in their monthslong takeover talks, with Norwest directors urging shareholders to accept the increased takeover offer of $497 million.

MinRes initially made an unsolicited $403 takeover bid for Norwest in December last year.

And while MinRes managing director Chris Ellison called the initial offer a “no-brainer”, Norwest knocked back the deal, calling it “opportunistically timed”.

“MinRes is seeking to secure control of Norwest and its Perth Basin assets without paying an appropriate premium,” Norwest said in a statement at the time.

“Accepting the offer would reduce shareholder exposure to the Lockyer

project … while increasing their exposure to the risks associated with MinRes’ other businesses and commodities.”

The Lockyer project is a major gas discovery in WA’s Perth Basin that is seen as a future source of inexpensive gas to power downstream processing in the resources-rich state.

MinRes’ sweetened offer of $497 million, which also waived the defeating condition to its offer such that the revised offer will be unconditional, won over the Norwest board.

“The Norwest board is satisfied that MinRes’ improved offer is now a good deal for shareholders and, in the absence of a superior offer, unanimously recommends shareholders should accept the revised offer before it closes,” Norwest chair Ernie Myers said.

“We have worked with MinRes in the interest of our shareholders to achieve the valuation and terms reflected in its revised offer.

“The revised offer provides Norwest shareholders with an opportunity to maintain an interest in the Lockyer project through an investment in MinRes, being a company with significantly greater balance sheet strength and underpinned by a diverse portfolio of operations.”

MinRes’ successful takeover of Norwest may mark a new chapter in mining companies’ race to get their hands on WA gas assets.

In addition to this latest deal, Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting remains in a holding pattern in its takeover efforts of efforts of Warrego Energy.

Hancock recently upped its bid to $0.36 per share, valuing Warrego at $440 million.

Warrego Energy has proven to be an especially hot commodity in WA, with Hancock Prospecting locked in a battle with Strike Energy for control of the Perth Basin company.

Kerry Stokes-backed Beach Energy had also previously been in the

takeover mix but bowed out of the race in December 2022.

And although MinRes reportedly entered the fray for Warrego by buying up 15 per cent of the energy company earlier in January, Ellison ruled out a full takeover bid.

The jewel in the Warrego takeover crown is the West Erregulla gas field 230km north of Perth.

The site is said to be a source of inexpensive gas for power generation and mineral processing, which will prove especially important as the resources sector faces a more difficult fossil-fuel market in coming years.

In the face of an ongoing energy crisis and deceasing gas supplies following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, access to gas assets such as those in the Perth Basin has become an especially hot ticket in the resources sector.

Time will tell how far mining companies are willing to go to get their hands on these vital energy reserves.

BHP’s accelerator program, BHP Xplor, has announced its first cohort of seven companies to help with copper, nickel and other critical mineral discoveries.

BHP Xplor was introduced by the major miner in August 2022 and has since gone through hundreds of applications.

The seven companies have been selected to receive funding and support under the BHP Xplor program, designed to provide participants with the opportunity to accelerate their growth and the potential to establish a long-term partnership.

“We are amazed by the diversity and quality of the submissions we

reviewed and selected,” BHP Xplor vice president Sonia Scarselli said.

“We are confident that the BHP Xplor program will support the seven companies chosen to accelerate their concepts and ideas to help take it to the next level.”

BHP Xplor also provides BHP the opportunity to access exciting exploration prospects around the world, including new geographies and geologic concepts, helping to drive the company’s pipeline of new opportunities.

“Through this program, we hope to create disruptive results in copper and nickel exploration by identifying new concepts, leveraging new data

and testing opportunities at a much faster pace than discoveries to date,” BHP chief development officer Johan van Jaarsveld said.

Each of the seven companies will receive $US500,000 cash payment from BHP and access to a network of internal and external experts.

The seven selected companies:

• Tutume Metals – a junior exploration company searching for critical minerals in Botswana

• Impact Minerals – a junior ASX-listed explorer with a variety of battery metals projects across Australia

• Asian Battery Minerals – a junior exploration company focused on finding economic

deposits of critical minerals in the Asia-Pacific region

• Red Ox Copper – an Australian exploration group specialising in generating grassroots, greenfield conceptual plays

• Bronzite Exploration Corp – an early-stage exploration for copper in northern Canada

• Nordic Nickel – a new nickel sulphite ASX-listed explorer, focusing on two projects in northern Finland

• Kingrose Mining – a junior ASXlisted exploration company with regional projects in Norway and Finland targeting nickel, copper and platinum elements

BHP XPLOR ACCELERATES COPPER AND NICKEL EXPLORATION

NORWEST AND MINRES HAVE REACHED AN AGREEMENT IN THEIR MONTHS-LONG TAKEOVER TALKS.

PRIMERO LOCKS IN $62M CONTRACT

Pilbara Minerals has awarded Primero Group a $62 million contract for construction work at its Pilgangoora project.

The project, located 120km from Port Hedland in WA, is one of the largest hard-rock lithium deposits in the world.

Considered strategically important within the global lithium supply chain, the project has access to the first-class supporting infrastructure, including road and port, and

The contract is for works pertaining to the construction of the primary rejection facility and preliminary works for the new crushing and ore sorting facility.

Primero will be responsible for earth and concrete works associated with the facilities, as well as the structural, mechanical, piping, electrical and instrumentation installation.

“We are pleased to welcome the Primero team back to Pilgangoora for this important construction

MINING TOWNS PREPARE FOR THE AGE OF AUTOMATION

“Primero is a long-standing partner of Pilbara Minerals from an early stage having undertaken packages of work for Pilbara Minerals from the commencement of the project in 2017, as well playing an integral role in the successful commissioning, rampup and optimisation of the Pilgan Plant in 2019.”

The existing Pilgan Plant at the project will be integrated into the new rejection facility.

“The Primero team has an

exposure across many of the recent projects within the lithium sector,” Henderson said.

“We look forward to working closely with Primero for the safe and successful delivery of this package, which will step up our production run-rate to the next level with a total of 680 kilotons per annum of spodumene concentrate across the combined Pilgangoora operation.

“The successful completion of this project will further cement Pilbara Minerals’ position as

Just weeks after Roy Hill announced its plan to become the world’s biggest automated mine, towns across the Pilbara have been preparing for more operations to follow suit.

Automating mine sites has long been touted as a way to improve safety, productivity and efficiency, with major miners keen to adopt more of the technology.

Shire of East Pilbara president Anthony Middleton said his council understood the need for automation, but there were concerns about what it would mean for smaller towns.

said. “We always want to see a more permanent residential community. That is what contributes to the social fabric, the vibrancy and livability of regional locations.”

Towns such as Newman, located over 1000km from Perth, rely heavily on surrounding mines. Some locals are concerned that automation may impact population numbers.

“Governments have invested billions of dollars into these communities to make them habitable and now we’re moving the jobs away,” Western Mining Workers Alliance joint secretary

contacting companies and getting undertakings for the workers regarding their future employment, looking for alternate jobs and tasks within the company for these people.”

Roy Hill has already put a plan in place to re-train workers, offering reskilling programs and new roles to its truck drivers.

“Today you may be a truckie, tomorrow you might be an apprentice or ship loader operator, as we continue to build the best mining company in Australia,” Roy Hill chief executive Gerhard Veldsman said

operations over the next few years, we are going to need lots of people and different skill sets to run our operations.”

WA’s peak resources sector representative body, the Chamber of Minerals and Energy (CME), said there would always be a need for people in and around mining.

“Even where we see increasing use of automation, there are still really important jobs filled by people that support that process,” a CME spokesperson said.

TOWNS ACROSS THE PILBARA ARE PREPARING FOR LARGE MINES TO TURN TO AUTOMATED TRUCKS.

RAVENSTHORPE NICKEL MINE SWITCHES TO WIND POWER

In an effort to lower carbon emissions, the Ravensthorpe nickel mine on WA’s south coast has switched to wind power.

The proposed installation will take advantage of the strong winds coming in from the Southern Ocean and will likely generate 18–20 megawatts, reducing the mine’s reliance on diesel generators.

First Quantum Minerals’ Perthbased regional manager of projects and operations Gavin Ashley described

Ravensthorpe as a prime location for wind energy.

“We’re not connected to the grid,” he said.

“The way we produce power is from waste heat in steam turbines as we burn sulphur to generate the sulphuric acid, which we use in the nickel process.

“We also have stand-by diesel generators and recently we’ve identified that we’re short of power and we’re using our diesel generators a lot more,

FORTESCUE SETS MINING START DATE FOR BELINGA

The Belinga Iron Ore project in West Africa is set to start mining in the second half of the year.

The joint venture between Fortescue and Ivindo Iron SA is located in north-east Gabon and has worked to open growth opportunities for Fortescue throughout Africa.

Fortescue and Ivindo Iron have signed the mining convention for the project with the Gabonese Republic.

The mining convention governs all the legal, fiscal and regulatory regimes for the 4500 square kilometres that comprise the Belinga project, including early development for production of up to two million tonnes per annum.

“The Gabonese Republic chose Fortescue to develop Belinga not only due to our strong track record of delivering major projects, but due also to our company-wide commitment to use our major industrial scale and expertise to assist heavy industry combat climate change,” Fortescue founder and executive chairman Andrew Forrest said. “Geological mapping and sampling programs have confirmed our initial thoughts that this new West African iron ore hub may well one day prove to be among the largest in the world.

“The key aspect of this particular geology is its potential to dovetail

so that’s triggered this motivation to look at how we can offset that.”

First Quantum Minerals, a Canadianbased company, owns 70 per cent of the Ravensthorpe mine, with South Korean steelmaker POSCO holding 30 per cent.

Ashley said the company was part of a wider movement in the mining industry to embrace renewable energy.

“Five (turbines) is probably the most likely scenario … we’re just completing the study,” he said.

with Fortescue Pilbara ore blends. In doing so it will preserve and enhance the iron ore industry of both Australia and Gabon.”

The capital estimate for the early stage mining development is approximately $US200 million (100 per cent basis) with investment over 2023–24.

The development involves conventional open-pit mining methods to produce the ore, which will be trucked and railed over existing infrastructure and will be shipped from the Owendo Mineral Port, near Libreville.

“This emerging iron region is potentially massive. If it fulfils its

“We’re hoping to have that wrapped up in the next month, and then we’ll be looking at presenting to the board for approvals and funding.

“The ultimate timeline will depend on two real factors — the time it will take to do the various environmental and government approvals and the supply chain availability of turbines in the market.”

Ashley said the wind turbines should be operational by late 2024 or early 2025.

promise, it will complement our Australian operations through enhancing our blended products, extending our mine lives and opening new global markets,” Forrest said. “Due to its clear and unambiguous industrial leadership away from climate change, FFI (Fortescue Future Industries) has attracted respect from governments around the world.

“This support, as indicated by Fortescue’s selection to develop Belinga by the Gabonese Government, has facilitated Fortescue’s transition to a global green resources, green energy and products company.”

THE RAVENSTHORPE NICKEL MINE WILL SWITCH TO WIND POWER TO REDUCE CARBON EMISSIONS.

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WHAT DOES AN END TO CHINA’S COAL BAN MEAN FOR AUSTRALIA?

THE RECENT PARTIAL LIFTING OF CHINA’S COAL BAN WAS MET WITH CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM IN THE AUSTRALIAN RESOURCES INDUSTRY. BUT WILL IT PROVE MORE SYMBOLIC THAN MEANINGFUL?

hen China made the decision to ban imports of Australian coal – among other items – at the end of 2020, it came as a blow on multiple levels.

Not only had Australia had been China’s second-largest coal supplier in 2019, buying up nearly $14 billion worth of coal (21 per cent of Australia’s coal exports for the year), but it marked a negative point in diplomatic relationship between the two countries; the ban came about amid escalating hostilities driven by disagreements over health matters relating to the origins of COVID-19.

WAccording to reports in the state-run Global Times, China was to prioritise imports from Mongolia, Indonesia and Russia, leaving hundreds of millions of tonnes of Australian coal anchored off the Chinese coast.

Wang Yongzhong, director of the Institute of Energy Economy at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, reportedly said that “as the relationship between China and Australia has been deteriorating” Australia was “gradually losing the Chinese market” to neighbours such as Mongolia.

In addition, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at the time that the country’s actions regarding imported Australian products, including

coal, were in line with Chinese laws and regulations.

And while then-Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the ban would be in breach of World Trade Organisation rules, the decision stood and China was effectively no longer a customer for Australian thermal and coking coal.

Until January 2023.

News emerged on Thursday January 5 that as China was seeking more coal for its power and steel plants amid disruptions caused by the Russia–Ukraine war, it was planning to partially lift the ban and allow three governmentbacked utilities and the country’s top steelmaker to resume imports.

According to two people familiar with the matter, reports said, China’s National Development and Reform Commission held talks that week on allowing four major importers – China Baowu Steel Group Corp., China Datang Corp., China Huaneng Group Co. and China Energy Investment Corp – to make purchases in 2023.

That news was followed by January 10 reports that China Energy Investment Corp placed an order for Australian coal, and later by the arrival of 72,000 tonnes of coal in the southern city of Zhanjiang on February 9.

But assuming China is lifting its ban, what does it mean for the Australian coal industry?

CHINA IMPLEMENTED ITS BAN ON AUSTRALIAN COAL IN LATE 2020.

One could be forgiven for thinking the loss of such a key international customer would be a fundamentally damaging blow to the Australian coal industry.

But it has not been that simple.

Since China implemented its unofficial ban on Australian product, the price of coal has soared to neverbefore-seen heights. The spiking price has been largely driven by a global energy crisis and the geopolitical catastrophe that came from Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

The price of coal exceeded $US400 per tonne in 2022 and was hovering around $US268 at the time of publication (early February 2023).

These prices have in turn resulted in record profits for many of Australia’s major coal players.

New Hope Corporation delivered a net profit before tax of $1.401 billion for the year ended July 31 2022, which chief executive officer Rob Bishop said was due to strong demand and global supply constraints that pushed thermal coal prices to record levels.

Whitehaven Coal reported a record net profit after tax of $2 billion for the year ended June 30 2022, as well as EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation)

South32 posted record profits of $3.76 billion in the 2021–22 financial year. The windfall profits represented a massive 432 per cent jump from FY21 ($US489 million), along with a 156 per cent increase in underlying $US4.76 billion.

In addition to these types of eyeopening profits, Australian coal producers have also taken steps to diversify their customer base since China shut its doors in December 2020.

“The Australian coal industry has been successful in finding alternative markets,” a spokesperson for Australia’s Federal Resource Minister Madeleine King said in early January amid word of China easing its coal ban.

Queensland Resources Council (QRC) Ian Macfarlane echoed that sentiment, and while the QRC was clear that it would welcome the lifting of the ban, the industry’s successful efforts to broaden its customer portfolio had made it less of an imperative.

“It is worth noting that increased exports to other countries, particularly India and (elsewhere) in Asia, over the last two years have seen longterm relationships built with these countries,” Macfarlane said.

“These alternative markets to China are now seen by Queensland coal

SUCCESSFUL IN FINDING ALTERNATIVE MARKETS (SINCE CHINA IMPLEMENTED ITS BAN).”

IMAGE CREDIT: JACKSON STOCK PHOTOGRAPHY / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

AUSTRALIA HAD PREVIOUSLY EXPORTED BILLIONS OF DOLLARS OF COAL TO CHINA EACH YEAR.

SINCE THE BAN, COAL HAS OVERTAKEN IRON ORE AS AUSTRALIA’S TOP EXPORT EARNER.

news of the ban potentially being lifted on January 9, expectations of a major boost for exporters were more muted the following day and the overall market rose just 0.6 per cent at the time.

Australian coal doing just fine

As it happens, Australian coal has been doing quite well over the past couple of years despite not having China as a customer. In fact, coal has outpaced iron ore as Australia’s top export earner.

With prices at historical highs, Australia’s combined coal exports, which includes metallurgical coal and thermal coal, are forecast to earn $132 billion in 2022–23.

“Many Western nations are having to pay substantially more for energy, on the high chance that sanctions on Russia will see some Russian production – particularly gas and coal – become stranded from world markets,” the Australian Government’s

Resources and Energy Quarterly: December 2022 stated.

“Gas/LNG (liquid natural gas) shortages are causing some Northern Hemisphere nations to seek thermal coal to generate power for heating during winter; many Western European nations need high-quality thermal coal for their coal-fired power stations.

“Australian coal is likely to take the place of some lost Russian contracts.”

While China’s return as a customer for Australian would no doubt be welcome, industry analysts doubt a return to the previous levels of trade between the two countries.

“That doesn’t mean the move is without significance,” Reuters reported in January 2023.

“But the impact is likely to be more about improving ties between China and Australia, which became strained when Canberra called for an investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, resulting in China banning imports of several goods from Australia.”

Prior to the ban in 2020, China was importing 3.5–4.3 million tonnes of thermal coal from Australia, with the 2020 peak coming to 4.26 million in April of that year, according to data compiled by commodity analysts Kpler.

Reuters, however, reported “there are several reasons why Australian coal won’t once again become a major factor in China”.

“The first, and most important, is that Australian coal will struggle to compete on price in China, especially thermal grades used to make electricity,” the outlet stated.

China has since come to rely heavily on the availability and affordability of coal from Russia, despite ongoing sanctions, importing 2.96 million tonnes of Russian thermal coal in December 2022.

“The question is whether Australian coal miners can compete on price with Russian thermal supplies, and the answer is probably not,” Reuters stated.

Industry analysts have also speculated that while Australian producers would

COAL PRICE CAP

China looking to ease its ban on Australian coal is not the only major thing to happen in the industry in recent months.

In an attempt to curb runaway energy prices, the Australian Government announced a temporary $125-per-tonne cap on coal prices in December 2022 as part of its Energy Price Relief Plan. Australia’s electricity prices have been tipped to increase by 56 per cent by the end of 2023.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said at the time that the urgent action, taken in partnership with state and territory governments, would shield Australians from the worst impacts of predicted energy price spikes, and deliver responsible and targeted relief to families, small businesses and manufacturers.

The governments in major coalproducing states New South Wales and Queensland took action by effectively setting a ceiling for the price of coal used for electricity generation to $125 a tonne, with the Commonwealth to contribute to costs.

“The reality is that due to global circumstances and a decade of energy policy mismanagement, Australians will continue still see high energy prices for some time,” Albanese said.

“The average family would be $230 worse off (in 2023) if we do not take action.”

certainly find a way to reengage with China, many may be wary of casting a shadow over deals and relationships that have been established with new international customers like India and Vietnam.

Regardless, China’s hunger for coal will certainly grow as the country continues to emerge from its stringent zero-COVID policy, which brought much the country – including its construction and housing markets – to a standstill.

It is unquestionably in both countries’ interest for China and Australia to resume their coal business. But once that relationship is indeed back up and running, it seems clear, at least to industry analysts, that the volumes in question will be moderately small.

All of this would suggest that while another export avenue would be welcome, China as a customer for Australian coal may not be as important as it once was and any gains would be relatively modest. AM

RUSSIA’S INVASION OF UKRAINE HAS IN PART SPURRED A GLOBAL ENERGY CRISIS AND DRIVEN COAL DEMAND.

Expect more sustainability

Solving the challenge of scrap tyres in a way that’s ethical and sustainable could be around the corner for Australia. After opening a thermal conversion OTR tyre recycling facility in Chile that converts scrap tyres into its base elements, Kal Tire hopes to bring this scalable solution to other regions.

AN ESTEEMED OEM SETTLES IN NEWCASTLE

AFTER LAUNCHING A NEWCASTLE SERVICE FACILITY IN LATE 2022, ALTRA MOTION HAS ESTABLISHED A DEDICATED LOCAL ENGINEERING DIVISION TO SUPPORT ITS NSW MINING CUSTOMERS.

Already recognised as a global designer and manufacturer of motion control and power transmission solutions for the local mining sector, Altra Motion Australia is taking things up a notch in 2023.

The original equipment manufacturer (OEM) recently underwent a restructure, with a dedicated engineering division introduced to accompany its existing sales and service divisions.

Altra Motion national marketing manager Gabriel Brooks said given the OEM’s strong global engineering presence, it was a natural evolution to establish greater

engineering capability in its key markets within Australia.

“If you look at our products and you look at our customers, all of our products are engineered, so as well as having engineering support from our 26 BUs (business units) overseas, such as Svendborg, Twiflex and all of our other internal brands, we wanted to have a really strong engineering team in Australia which can be hands on for our customers,” she told Australian Mining

Altra Motion’s New South Wales clients are already seeing the benefits of this new structure, with the OEM’s recently opened Newcastle facility a strong base for all sales, service and engineering enquiries. Brooks said the new structure has enabled a “cleaner

ALTRA MOTION RECENTLY SET UP A TWIFLEX BRAKES CRITICAL SPARES PROGRAM FOR A NSW CUSTOMER.

ALTRA MOTION NSW SERVICE MANAGER CRAIG KELLY IS BASED OUT OF THE NEWCASTLE FACILITY.

integration” of the business, ensuring that engineering requests or enquiries can be actioned immediately.

“We found that having local engineering support and technical advisors was necessary to ensure our customers get the appropriate real-time assistance,” she said.

“In the past, the sales team would go directly to our BUs overseas, but now having a local engineering team that are educated and responsible for specific products, then they can provide real-time support.”

Altra Motion will still have continued support from its factory engineers where necessary.

“But the idea is the local engineering team can filter what goes through to them to ensure a more immediate response,” Altra Motion national technical product specialist Paul Boland told

gathering so that if an enquiry does have to go back to the appropriate manufacturing team, we’ve gathered the correct information, rather than having to go back and forth between sales personnel and a factory engineer.

for the customer. As soon as it gets technical, the engineering team is called in to represent the product, whatever the brand is.”

demonstrate his point.

pre-planned program for our ICC (International Clutch Company) shovel brakes at local mine sites in the Hunter Valley,” he said. “So now it’s not just the service program, it’s also the stocking program that goes with it and the entire pricing structure.

its entirety so that the flow from the customer’s perspective is much more seamless. They come to us with an ICC brake, we know whether we’ve got it in stock or not, or where our stock order is in relation to importing stock.”

stock orders arriving shortly, with more stock to be ordered throughout the rest of 2023.

here in Newcastle to support the ICC program, which is going to make a huge difference to turnaround times,” he said. “If we’ve got the components in stock, we can supply the part in a matter of weeks, not months.”

also recently assisted a mining company operating in the central west region of NSW establish a customised critical spares program.

The project, led by Altra Motion national technical product manager Daemon Flack, initially saw the mine site install a new set of Twiflex brakes.

“A set of brakes was removed from site and sent to our service team for a major overhaul,” Altra Motion NSW service manager Craig Kelly told Australian Mining. “Once the brakes were fully overhauled, they were sent back to site and then a new set of brakes were delivered at a later date.

“During the next shutdown, the new set of brakes will be installed into the

be overhauled at our Newcastle facility.”

As part of the critical spares program, the customer always has a spare set of brakes on hand to install whenever there is a shutdown, accelerating the maintenance process and reducing downtime. This applies not only to Twiflex brakes, but other Altra Motion products as well.

Since Altra Motion has opened its Newcastle facility, the city and surrounding mining sector are enjoying the benefits of having a globallyrecognised OEM at their doorstep.

often unspecialised and can result in reverse engineered products being manufactured and installed.

And the community is not just benefiting from Altra’s new local engineering capability, but also the established sales and services arms that have long supported NSW customers.

“As a service team, we don’t limit ourselves to just being arms and legs on-site ,” Kelly said. “We offer on-site training where we show the customer how we service products and how brakes should be set correctly.

REDUCING LINE-OF-FIRE DANGER WITH SMART TOOLS

SAFEGAUGE HAS CREATED A RANGE OF INTUITIVE TOOLS THAT ARE INDISPENSABLE FOR THE SAFETY OF MAINTENANCE PERSONNEL WHEN COMPLETING THE LIVE TESTING OF HEAVY MOBILE MACHINERY.

Technicians’ reliance on wireless sensors and the need to access data when servicing mobile equipment is nothing new.

But smart, simple and safe technology for technicians working on heavy mobile machinery has been missing from that equation.

This gap in the market has been filled by SafeGauge and its awardwinning range of diagnostic tools that significantly reduces the risk of being severely injured when undertaking live testing.

“SafeGauge has squarely focused on designing and manufacturing a range of diagnostic tools that are as accessible and intuitive to use as possible,”

SafeGauge’s sales manager Josh Conroy told Australian Mining.

“When you’re a technician out in the field, you don’t want to spend half an hour trying to work out how to use the tools you’re given.”

The company has worked hard developing the core functions of a product line that includes the SafeGauge Pressure Transducer (PT) series, Dial Indicator (DI) series, Tachometer (TM) series and the Wireless Multitool (W-MultiTool).

“A significant period of field testing – adjusting, refining, simplifying –ensured the fundamental basics of the tools were right and would result in a seamless operating experience for technicians,” Conroy said.

SafeGauge is a technology company that has long been focused on providing maintenance technicians with the best equipment to do their jobs safely and efficiently.

“The risk involved with human and machinery interaction has always been significant, and although many of the maintenance tasks are routine, the dangers are ever-present,” SafeGauge founder Luke Dawson told Australian Mining

“Our technology removes technicians from those dangerous zones and, in essence, eliminates that safety risk.”

SafeGauge solutions mean multiple equipment tests can be completed simultaneously.

For example, a SafeTest PT Series kit consists of two, four, six or seven PTs, plus the W-MultiTool and charging

to plug a mechanical pressure gauge connected through a high-pressure hose into different parts of a machine or hydraulic system in order to complete a pressure test – and in doing so place themselves in unsafe, potentially dangerous positions – that requirement no longer exists,” Dawson said.

The PT connects to the W-MultiTool, which displays the live pressure readings, has a battery life of more than 20 hours, and is easily recharged using the rugged case.

The SafeGauge DI is a Bluetooth device designed to measure displacement within 0.01mm. With Bluetooth connectivity from up to 50m away, technicians retain the ability to complete maintenance safely and more efficiently.

“With the requirement to measure wear on large pins and bushes on various parts of the frame of a machine, the DI is also designed to move the technician away from crush areas while testing is underway,” Dawson said.

SAFEGAUGE DI IS A BLUETOOTH DEVICE DESIGNED TO MEASURE DISPLACEMENT WITHIN 0.01MM.

THE SAFETEST PT SERIES KIT IS SUITABLE FOR MEASURING GAS OR FLUID IN A VARIETY OF PRESSURES.

GROUND AND WATER CONTROL SOLUTIONS

Minova brings the full portfolio of solutions for underground mining. Every work environment has its own specific challenges.

BRINGING COATINGS MAINTENANCE INTO THE DIGITAL AGE

AKZONOBEL’S INTERPLAN ASSET INTEGRITY SOFTWARE HELPS MINES IDENTIFY CORROSION AND SAFETY ISSUES, PRIORITISES AREAS REQUIRING REWORK, AIDS IN DEVELOPMENT OF SCOPE OF WORK FOR TENDERING, AND OPTIMISES MAINTENANCE INTERVALS.

Interplan was launched in the 1990s to help International Paints – an AkzoNobel company – add value to paint sales and assist its customers with holistic maintenance solutions

Originally, a mine site would be inspected, with photographs taken using a film camera, that would then be developed and glued into a paper report that was written up on a typewriter.

As the technology developed and computers became more powerful, reports were digitised with paint specifications included into the report, but there was still room to improve. Working in partnership with PK Technology, USA, AkzoNobel developed the next generation of Interplan software, using direct data and mobile technologies to complete site surveys faster, more efficiently and more comprehensively.

Grant Woolnough, strategic accounts manager for maintenance and repair at AkzoNobel, has worked with Australian mine sites for the past 20 years, performing countless coatings inspections in that time.

He told Australian Mining that the industry has changed dramatically since the Interplans were introduced.

“A lot of the time when people think about maintenance, they think about replacing pumps, motors, belts, that kind of thing,” he said.

“We focus on condition assessment of the structural steel, the skeleton of the whole operation. Twenty years ago, mine(s) may have had someone dedicated to coatings assessment, but nowadays industry has changed, and this is a lot less likely.

“We have the expertise to inspect assets using NACE (National Association of Corrosion Engineers)-certified personnel, providing an accurate assessment of the facilities’ condition.”

Painting steel is up to 10 times cheaper than replacement, especially when considering operational downtime and environmental implications.

Interplan allows AkzoNobel to identify corrosion and coating issues, so the asset owner can address issues before they escalate into bigger problems. Working in conjunction with the site, AkzoNobel inspects the mine operation using a tablet to upload images and data via cloud-based software

This data is then analysed and uploaded to an interactive dashboard which the customer accesses online. This

dashboard uses a traffic-light system run in conjunction with the mine’s safety management plans, identifying exactly what needs rectification

Interplan is a live tool. When maintenance work is carried out or replacements are installed, the data is updated to reflect the changes in the assets condition so the mine can actively see what is improving and what area next requires maintenance.

AkzoNobel regional maintenance, and repair manager for south Asia, David Johnstone, said Interplan provides an accurate assessment of the facilities coating condition, which can then be used for budgetary and tendering purposes. The software also provides efficiencies by managing coating lifecycle costs, tracking repair contracts, and providing quality information for better operation, accuracy of measurement and control.

“The beauty of the Interplan is the traffic-light system on the dashboard – green means the coating is in good condition, red and purple means the coating needs immediate attention,” he said.

“Asset owners can then calculate where they need to budget capex (capital

expenditure) dollars to bring them back to spec with far greater accuracy.”

The system allows an asset manager to drill down and see what is happening at specific areas on the site.

Woolnough said AkzoNobel’s global reach and extensive expertise means customers know it can provide results.

“We’ve been around for more than 140 years internationally, and we have specialised in coatings for industry,” he said. “Customers like us because we know their systems and we talk their language. We know the industry never stops, which is why we’re always ready to send someone out to a site.

“Over the years we have created firm relationships with our customers, and we can see the results from the repeat business. If you’ve been the supplier for a business for more than 48 years, you must be doing something right.”

AkzoNobel is continuing to develop the product and is looking to incorporate new technologies and processes into the Interplan system.

Drones, automated equipment readings, and 3D analysis software will allow AkzoNobel the flexibility to assess structures at heights, underwater and underground. AM

INTERPLAN ALLOWS AKZONOBEL TO IDENTIFY CORROSION AND COATING ISSUES.

PAINTING STEEL IS AROUND SEVEN TO TEN TIMES CHEAPER THAN STEEL REPLACEMENT.

TURNING WASTE MINING TYRES INTO VALUE

The mining industry is one of world’s biggest users of offthe-road (OTR) tyres. As a consumable product, these items have traditionally had a linear make–use–dispose trajectory, with few options for refuse or reuse. However, mining companies’ increasing focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance in recent years has shone a spotlight on their waste management practices and the possibility of building greater circularity into business models.

This, combined with impending regulation in various mining countries, is pushing organisations to take another look at the possibility of tyre recycling.

There is a common misconception that tyre recycling is an additional operating expense, one that companies would rather not shoulder when margins

are already squeezed by low ore grades and high energy and labour costs.

But there is a chance to generate significant social, environmental and reputational value while helping businesses towards their immediate goal of carbon neutrality and longer-term net-zero targets.

How many tyres?

According to Tyre Stewardship Australia’s 2020 Off-the-road used tyre analysis report, the Australian mining industry generated 68,100 tonnes of used tyres in 2019. Of that, 93 per cent was disposed of on-site (ie piled up or buried) three percent was sent to landfill, and just one per cent was recycled, with the remainder stockpiled or used in civil engineering.

In the five years from 2014–19, Australian mines collectively generated 315,500 tonnes of used tyres.

Mines are long-term operations, and some have commercial lives spanning more than 40 years. This means there are likely millions of tonnes of used tyres at mine sites across the globe.

“There are huge quantities of OTR tyres awaiting final deposition at mines around the world,” Kal Tire’s Mining Tire Group senior vice president Dan Allan said.

“Finding management solutions is difficult, because very few recycling facilities can handle mining tyres. Some ultra-class products weigh approximately five tonnes apiece, so they require specialist lifting equipment and transportation, in some cases, over long distances to reach the facility, and then dedicated shredders to reduce their size.”

Although in most mines used OTR tyres are buried or used to create final landforms upon closure, some companies are doing their best to repurpose them

in the interim; for example, cutting the tyres in half and using them as safety berms along haul roads or passing them to agricultural neighbours to use as cattle feed troughs.

Regardless of such measures, the problem that tyres don’t degrade remains. While their component materials are chemically inert, tyres used on-site or sent to landfill will remain in the landscape indefinitely.

“Shredding is better than burying but, ultimately, it’s just delaying their journey to landfill,” Allan said. “The world only needs so many tyres in playgrounds or lawn mulch. It really doesn’t need any more oil-based products to be burnt.

“We should be seeking out the highest and best uses for these materials. By breaking tyres down into their fundamental elements – carbon black, steel and petroleum-based products – we can reuse them to create new tyres.

KAL TIRE BUILDS THE BUSINESS CASE FOR OFF-THE-ROAD TYRE RECYCLING.

THE MINING INDUSTRY IS ONE OF WORLD’S BIGGEST USERS OF OFF-THE-ROAD TYRES.

“That is the optimal use because it provides a substitute for new carbon products and helps to reduce their total carbon footprint.”

Elevating awareness through ESG

While they are chemically inert, there are still many safety risks associated with storing waste tyres. But the biggest risks (and opportunities) are related to ESG.

Investors, stakeholders and landowners are becoming increasingly interested in the way in which mining companies steward the land.

In time, outdated practices such as burying tyres could pose a reputational risk for a sector whose environmental and social performance is increasingly under a microscope.

Ontario, Canada, was one of the first major mining destinations to introduce tyre recycling legislation in 2016; however, this mainly centres on shredding and repurposing the rubber.

Other Canadian provinces have voluntary initiatives; for example, Kal Tire’s Mining Tire Group has partnered with Liberty Tire LLC to offer shredding services for earthmover tyres across western Canada.

have indicated the system there has problems which have led to tyres being stockpiled.

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cent in 2027 and 100 per cent in 2030.

To help enable this transition, Kal Tire’s Mining Tire Group opened

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KAL TIRE’S RECYCLING FACILITY IN CHILE CAN HANDLE UP TO 20 TONNES OF TYRES PER DAY.

TYRE RECYCLING OFFERS A CHANCE TO GENERATE SOCIAL, ENVIRONMENTAL AND REPUTATIONAL VALUE.

an OTR tyre recycling facility in Antofagasta in 2021 which can handle up to 20 tonnes of tyres per day, including ultra-class products.

The company has developed a unique thermal conversion process that uses heat and friction to convert the tyres back to their base elements – 100 per cent of the material can be repurposed – with no harmful emissions.

The solution is scalable and could be replicated in other mining markets, and Australia looks set to be next.

Tyre Stewardship Australia recently received a federal grant to deliver a business case that will improve OTR resource recovery in various sectors, including mining. The final report is slated for delivery in March.

Regulations such as these are a step in the right direction; however, they are only applicable from the date of introduction. Many mines will have operated prior to this and built up a stockpile of waste tyres and/ or could find themselves exempt due to incumbent regulation at the time of permitting.

While it’s unlikely that buried tyres would ever need to be dug up, as more legislation is introduced mining companies will need to evolve their used tyre management and mine closure practices in order to be compliant.

Finding the funding

The desire for change is real, but the question of how to pay for it remains.

Regardless of the chosen method, the recycling of OTR tyres is costly and if there is no regulation mines can struggle to make the case for capital allocation.

“One way to tackle this is through accessing mine remediation budgets,” Allan said.

“Every mine has money set aside for reclamation and eventual closure. The challenge lies in accessing that budget

today, so that mines can recycle tyres progressively rather than waiting until closure when there are thousands of products awaiting disposal.”

Regulators across the globe are starting to support this thinking.

In April 2022, British Columbia introduced an interim reclamation security policy for the mining industry which requires that reclamation liability cost estimates include conventional reclamation (such as re-sloping and revegetation) and environmental liabilities (such as water treatment).

The policy also requires bonding for specific liabilities and actively

encourages progressive reclamation throughout the life-of-mine consistent with industry best practices to reduce site liabilities, closure timelines and ongoing monitoring requirements.

Carbon taxes are also on the horizon. In the places that currently have recycling legislation for OTR tyres, re-treading or extending the operating life of used tyres is an integral part of the process.

“The carbon-trading landscape is still evolving; however, it’s possible to see how re-treading and recycling could potentially be harnessed to create a carbon-positive effect,” Allan said.

“For example, Kal Tire’s Maple Program uses a third-party accredited carbon calculator to quantify and reward mining companies for the oil and carbon emissions they save by using its Ultra Tread re-treading and Ultra Repair services.”

Greater uptake of recycling can also drive social prosperity. Through committing to recycling and building partnerships with Indigenous businesses to create reliable and sustainable supply chains, mining companies have the chance to boost the local skills base and technological capabilities and leave a positive legacy for the communities in which they operate.

“Companies can create a virtuous circle,” Allan said.

“Because carbon doesn’t degrade, OTR tyres can provide a source of carbon black which can be used to reduce pressure on primary production.

“Approximately 8.1 million tonnes of carbon black are produced worldwide each year, and 90 per cent of that is used in rubber applications.

“Imagine the impact the mining industry could have on the circular economy if it worked to turn its waste tyre stream into a source of value.”

Working together to generate value

Ultimately, a diverse approach is required to boost uptake and accessibility in OTR tyre recycling.

This approach includes governmentled policy, standards (to ensure safety and quality in the collection and recycling process), proactive investments from mining companies, technological and product innovation from tyre manufacturers, and willingness from local businesses to build the skills and capacity required to turn these ‘waste’ products into a source of value.

That change necessitates openness, communication and collaboration across the complete value chain.

“To enable this transformation, mining companies should find ways to build bridges from their boardrooms to mine sites, to raise visibility of this issue and to help teams to access remediation budgets,” Allan said.

“Companies might consider ways to access those funds to meet today’s reclamation needs – they don’t need to wait until year 25 to begin turning their waste tyres into value.” AM

KAL TIRE’S MAPLE PROGRAM USES A PROPRIETARY CARBON CALCULATOR TO QUANTIFY AND REWARD MINING COMPANIES FOR THE OIL AND CARBON EMISSIONS THEY SAVE.

KAL TIRE OPENED AN OFF-THE-ROAD TYRE RECYCLING FACILITY IN CHILE IN 2021.

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RINGING IN 150 YEARS IN THE BUSINESS

ATLAS COPCO HAS GONE FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH SINCE STARTING IN 1873, AND THE COMPANY IS LOOKING TO THE FUTURE AS IT CELEBRATES ITS 150TH BIRTHDAY.

or a company to survive for 150 years while still growing and being profitable, it has to have a credible way of going forward. And that’s what Atlas Copco has.”

That is Roshan Kumbla, business development manager at Atlas Copco.

Kumbla and Atlas Copco product manager Sonik Barot agree that the 150th anniversary is a proud moment for the company, which now boasts over 40,000 colleagues and customers in more than 180 countries

Atlas Copco dates back to 1873, and the company began operations in Australia in 1950. In that time, it has been on hand for some of the country’s major historical events.

Take, for example, the rescue mission of the Granville train disaster in NSW in 1977, which was aided by Atlas Copco RH-series rock drills, a Darda rock-splitter and PRHS700 portable.

Or when palaeontologist Thomas H. Rich used assistance and equipment from Atlas Copco to help unearth a new dinosaur species in Victoria in 1984. The new species was subsequently named after the company: Atlascopcosaurus loadsi.

Having such a wide and varied history has allowed Atlas Copco to get to know its customer base and anticipate the next trends in compressors.

“F“Our continuous development and improvement processes are the keys to our growth,” Barot said.

Much of this development has been focused on sustainable solutions.

“It comes down to using less rare earth materials and using energyefficient motors,” Kumbla said. “Every product that we evolve creates real value for our customers, especially since those evolutions create less of an impact on the environment.

“We can confidently say that we’re going to be able to create more energyefficient compressors and solutions for our customers.”

For Atlas Copco, sustainability means delivering greater value to all stakeholders in a way that is economically, environmentally and socially responsible.

“Considering that the world is moving toward carbon-neutral, Atlas Copco can support this with green hydrogen production,” Barot said.

“Mines are transitioning to the minimisation of environmental harm and Atlas Copco is in a good position to be a part of this process.”

The company is already putting these future-facing plans into action by visiting mine sites and recommending environmentally friendly solutions.

“One of the gold mines we visited had multiple machines running at one time and I suggested they try our solutions which minimises their power and personal costs,” Kumbla said.

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EQUIPMENT

“They had about eight machines running, and my suggestion was to change to one centrifugal technology which gives them the bulk load demand while turning down the power atomically based on the usage.

“This not only minimised the energy consumption, but also decreased their operational costs.”

Atlas Copco’s focus is not just on selling equipment but providing a complete solution for the customer, from selecting the correct size of compressor to the remote monitoring and diagnosis of the system.

“What makes Atlas Copco so powerful as a solutions-provider is that it is involved with every aspect of the compressed air business, supported with a broad product portfolio,” Kumbla said.

“Our 150 years of experience makes us stronger and more equipped to handle challenges, ensuring that every new product is 15–20 per cent better than its predecessor.

“So when we say a new product is being developed, it’s not just a new model. This continuous evolution makes us a leading provider.”

While Atlas Copco has a proud history, it’s these new solutions that have the company excitedly looking forward as it approaches its 150th birthday.

“One of our missions is to sell all machines with variable-speed technology by 2030, meaning that the technology will save energy from day one,” Kumbla said.

“We have a lot of confidence in our ability to do this, and in our ability to have a lesser impact on the environment.”

And Barot concurred.

“It’s not just state-of-the-art solutions that we provide, but reliable ones as well,” he said.

“Customers are looking for energyefficient, innovative and reliable solutions that work to give them peace of mind, and we are always pushing toward this.” AM

ATLAS COPCO HAS COME A LONG WAY SINCE ITS START IN 1873.

PALAEONTOLOGIST THOMAS H. RICH USED ASSISTANCE AND

FROM ATLAS COPCO TO HELP HIM UNEARTH THE ATLASCOPCOSAURUS LOADSI.

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RESHAPING ENGINES WITH REMANUFACTURING

PENSKE AUSTRALIA HAS RESHAPED WHAT IT MEANS TO BUY AN ENGINE WITH ITS MTU REMANUFACTURING PROGRAM.

For those after a reliable, high-performing and sustainable engine, a Rolls-Royce Power Systems’ mtu engine remanufactured by Penske should be at the top of the list.

“As our population grew, we found ourselves as the national distributor for Rolls-Royce Power Systems’ mtu engines and that meant we needed to have greater control of the quality, process, outcomes and costings,” Penske Australia mining business manager Jim Livermore said.

“The only way we could do that was to evolve into a remanufacturing-specific business for large engines.”

An mtu engine remanufactured by Penske isn’t just any remanufactured engine; it delivers long engine life while burning the least amount of fuel per hour, making it sustainable and highly cost-effective.

In fact, engine life between overhauls of the remanufactured product is the same as a new engine straight out of the factory.

“Mining companies appreciate that we are using an asset that they already had,” Livermore said.

“That gives them an idea of the environmental impact and they can use that to inform their ESG (environmental, social and governance) programs.”

Penske undertakes a whopping 98 per cent of the remanufacturing process in-house, an initiative that allows customers to see progression first-hand.

“We actually invite the customers to come and have a look at their remanufactured engine and inspect it to give them reassurance that it is done the right way every time,” Penske Australia remanufacturing and production general manager Greg Dobe said.

“This lets our customers have confidence in the standard of work.”

Penske Australia currently operates two remanufacturing centres: one in Kings Park, New South Wales, and another in Hazelmere, Western Australia. The company has plans to expand these centres further across the country, driven largely by the popularity of the service.

“We consolidated all of our remanufacturing into one facility in 2012, which quickly grew into needing another facility over in WA,” Livermore said.

“Over time, it’s become such a success that every branch now relies on our reman centres to rebuild those large engines and provide them back to the branch at a low cost.”

Ensuring the majority of the remanufacturing work is done in a way that supports the Australian economy is an important point for Penske.

“The more we can do in Australia, the more taxes stay in the country and the more people are employed here,” Dobe said. “You want to be able to give the customer a timely solution, so having remanufacturing centres on both sides of the country allows us to get them back up and running quickly.

“Our customers can see that the person working on their engine has a passion for their job and they walk away wanting that person to keep working on their engines in the future.”

The company has a dedicated training facility and team that ensures the highest level of training for its technicians.

These technicians can be found across the country in Penske’s expanding national footprint of over 13 branches and two remanufacturing centres.

Penske has bold ambitions for the mining sector, aiming to have a population of 800 mtu engines (remanufactured and new) operating in the sector at any given time.

When asked about the future of Penske, Livermore and Dobe agree that “the future is bright”.

“We’re going to be working with our OEM (original equipment manufacturer) partners to help them sell more equipment with mtu engines,” Livermore said.

“We have proven that we have the best engines for the mining space; it’s the most fuel-efficient, it’s got the longest life and it’s the most reliable that you can get.

“Penske’s future is looking very exciting.”

Decarbonisation will be a particular focus for Penske as the sector moves toward net-zero.

“We’re working with our customers in the decarbonisation space, developing our business to evolve with the times is an important step,” Dobe said.

“Whether that is battery technology, alternative fuel, synthetic fuels or biodiesel fuels, the future for Penske and our operations is bright.” AM

PENSKE HAS A DEDICATED TRAINING FACILITY AND TEAM, ENSURING THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF WORK.

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MINING’S MAINTENANCE SPECIALIST

MINPROVISE HAS A HARD-WON REPUTATION FOR COMPLETING ROUTINE, PREVENTIVE AND BREAKDOWN MAINTENANCE ON TIME AND UNDER BUDGET.

Minprovise has always had a clear goal: reduce risks associated with the operation and maintenance of mining equipment and machinery.

Over two decades, the company has grown in expertise, significantly broadening its range of mining products and service offerings, while continually meeting technological and personnel challenges along the way.

Emerging out of the mining downturn of 2013, Minprovise focused on supplying clients with specialist fixed plant services, along with mineral processing and bulk handling equipment.

The company has more recently diversified, undertaking contracts to conduct remedial services and structural

offering shutdown services.

“The company has extensive shutdown services group. We’re able to service and maintain productioncritical plant and equipment for many ASX-listed or privately-owned mining companies, as well as governmental facilities,” Sutton said.

“We form strong relationships with our clients, looking to move beyond simply doing maintenance work.

“Our approach is to analyse how equipment is performing by monitoring wear rates, seeking to maximise efficiency gains, reduce downtown and ensure mine site machinery lasts longer.”

A key aspect of Minprovise’s commitment to its mining clients has been the requirement to undertake technological innovation.

A key example is the many hours that

and cost-effective solutions.

“With our fabrication expertise and highly knowledgeable industry workforce, we are strongly positioning ourselves in the specialised fixed plant space and that’s ultimately were we as a company see ourselves,” Sutton said.

“We’re a low-risk company; our maintenance teams understand safety and always work safely. We undertake extensive safety training with all our personnel and employ cascade coaching to build a supportive employee-centric culture of peer learning.

“It’s old-fashioned coaching, it’s visible leadership and it works.”

Minprovise is also a proud member of Austmine and fully embraces the collaborative and supportive environment fostered by the organisation across the mining, equipment, technology and services (METS) sector.

In 2023, Minprovise is squarely focused on fostering a new generation of workers, placing an emphasis on training, while seeking to replenish a workforce that has been disrupted by the COVID pandemic.

“Through face-to-face training and support, we are continuing to build the next generation, passing along to them the knowledge and expertise required to fulfil leadership roles within our company,” Sutton said.

“It’s an exciting time for Minprovise.” AM

SINCE 2013, MINPROVISE HAS FOCUSED ON SUPPLYING SPECIALIST FIXED PLANT SERVICES, AND MINERAL PROCESSING AND BULK HANDLING EQUIPMENT.

MINPROVISE CONTINUES TO DIVERSIFY AND BROADEN ITS RANGE OF MINING PRODUCTS AND SERVICE OFFERINGS.

Liebherr is a leader in proven low emission solutions, utilising grid electrification.

2030,

Liebherr strives for long-term sustainable solutions, providing different modular options centred on environmental sustainability, safety, cost, flexibility, and maintainability including:

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– Tier 4 Final certified engine available on trucks, excavators, and dozers

– Liebherr AC drive system on all truck models providing a modular platform for future powertrain technologies

Liebherr‘s roadmap includes batteries, combustion engines using green fuels, and hybrids.

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fossil fuel free solutions will be established.

PROVIDING DEDICATED MAINTENANCE SOLUTIONS

RINGSPANN’S SERVICE PORTFOLIO INCLUDES EXPERT MAINTENANCE ADVICE FOR CUSTOMERS IN THE MINING AND MATERIAL HANDLING INDUSTRIES.

With nine manufacturing facilities in Germany and other countries, RINGSPANN’s service portfolio ranges from consultation, design and development, production of ready-to-install components, customer training, aftersales and maintenance support.

Founded in 1944 with headquarters in Bad Homburg near Frankfurt, RINGSPANN is a specialist in the manufacturing of freewheels, industrial brakes, shaft-hubconnections, overload clutches (positive torque limiters, friction torque limiters and force limiters), shaft couplings, precision clamping fixtures and remotecontrol systems.

Having operated through a distributor in Australia for several years, the company recently shifted its sights to pursue a globalised business model.

It opened a dedicated office in Melbourne in 2018, a wholly owned subsidiary of RINGSPANN GmbH, with general manager Seshan Ramaswamy instrumental in highlighting the significant opportunity for stronger communication and greater interaction with Australian customers.

“As a company we are always proactive and always on the front foot in terms of supplying optimal solutions, as well as the right product to meet our customer requirements,” Ramaswamy told Australian Mining

“We strive to understand the requirements of our customers’ projects, particularly in the design phase, seeking to be prominent in the market with a comprehensive range of standard products but also with customisable and tailored applications.

“We can optimise any customer request across various applications in the mining and material handling industries, with our research and development team constantly working to ensure our components are up to date and meeting industry standards.”

RINGSPANN aims to go above and beyond customer expectations, often providing unique solutions that are typically not available in its official catalogue of products.

“We talk to our colleagues globally especially our HQ in Germany, for new ideas and share their successes with our local customers,” Ramaswamy said.

With all of RINGSPANN’s factories based overseas, coupled with the uneven supply chain that has plagued so many industries in recent times, Ramaswamy understand the importance of ensuring

all product lines in Australia remains fully stocked.

“We are constantly monitoring our stock levels, ensuring we are able to meet customer demand and provide quick turnaround times,” Ramaswamy said.

“We want to make sure downtime is minimised for our customers.”

RINGSPANN’s key product offerings fall under six key categories, with the freewheels componentry accounting for the largest aspect of the business.

RINGSPANN recently built its biggest and most high-performance housing freewheel to date for an Asian plant construction company. The extraordinary unit was shipped is now used by a chemical factory as an overrunning clutch in the energy recovery system of a fan with oversized dimensions.

With its nominal torque of just over 40,000Nm, the company believes the unit sets a new benchmark on international standards.

Maintenance is also a critical dimension to the operational success of RINGSPANN’s products.

“Our products are working under very arduous and harsh conditions, so it is important that they are reliable and efficient,” Ramaswamy said. “And that’s

correctly and that we can complete planned servicing or unplanned repairs.

“Condition-monitoring of our products can be conducted either on site or remotely and this flexibility ensures optimal results.

“We aim to ensure our components are fully operational to avoid downtime, which can be expensive, and to ensure they are safe for operators which is a critical consideration.”

On large-scale projects, RINGSPANN Australia can send in expert technicians from either a local office or an overseas factory.

“It’s always possible and we are quite happy to bring out our team from Germany during the installation phase of a project in order to provide technical expertise and training if required,” Ramaswamy said.

“We believe our products are extremely well-suited to Australian mining conditions and as a company we want to make sure we are supplying our customers with robust and reliable components and are backing it up with information, education and maintenance support.

“We want our customers to know that we are fully behind them with optimised solutions.” AM

RINGSPANN MANUFACTURES A NUMBER OF POWER TRANSMISSION COMPONENTS FOR BELT CONVEYORS IN THE MINING INDUSTRY.

RINGSPANN STRIVES TO UNDERSTAND THE SPECIFIC NEEDS OF CUSTOMERS’ PROJECTS.

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A TEACHER TURNED MINING PROFESSIONAL

JESSICA NICHOLLS HASN’T FOLLOWED A CONVENTIONAL PATH TO THE MINING INDUSTRY, MAKING HER STORY ALL THE MORE INSPIRING FOR THE SECTOR’S NEXT GENERATION.

Jessica Nicholls joined National Group, one of Australia’s premier mining services companies, in 2015 after beginning her career as a kindergarten teacher in Newcastle.

Her first role at National Group was as a receptionist at the company’s head office on the Gold Coast, and she has blossomed in the years since, promoted to a full-time accounts role in 2017 and later to accounts payable manager.

Nicholls is now employed as National Group’s site administrator at Yancoal’s

Moolarben coal mine in NSW, where she assists the maintenance team with parts ordering and delivery.

This comes after National Group’s contract-mining arm – National Mining Services – was awarded a three-year mining-services contract at Moolarben in July 2022, creating an additional 75 jobs. National Mining Services is providing works such as the safe pre-stripping of a minimum of 15 million bank cubic metres of overburden each year at Moolarben.

National Mining Services has used National Group’s ultra-class

mining equipment on the contract, including Liebherr R9800 excavators, Liebherr T282 dump trucks and other ancillary equipment.

Nicholls said she joined National Group because it offered career progression and growth opportunities. The company’s national footprint also appealed to her.

“I wanted to join a company that offered career progression,” Nicholls told Australian Mining “And if I got my foot in the door in the mining industry, then it could open up doors for me all around Australia.

“National Group seemed like a large company, and I knew they had mine sites all over Australia, so I thought, ‘I’ll start at the head office and see where that takes me’.”

Nicholls said National Group has been supportive of her the whole way.

“My growth with this company has always felt really collaborative,” she said.

“I might come forward and say, ‘We need more people in this area; for example, in accounts’, and that I’ll manage it, and they would completely support me with that.

JESSICA NICHOLLS ON-SITE AT THE MOOLARBEN COAL MINE.

“Or they might come forward to me and say, ‘This area of the business is really growing, and we need someone here. What do you think?’ and I would always be happy to do that.

“It just always feels like we’re a team at National Group and we see where we need improvement and perhaps where we need more staff. We call a meeting, come together and see if it’s viable and go from there.”

Nicholls reflected on her time as a receptionist when she offered to take on more responsibility.

“When I was a receptionist, I wasn’t as busy at that time because the mining industry wasn’t as busy as what it is now,” she said. “I came forward and said, ‘I have time on my hands, I’m happy to learn accounting if that helps you guys’. So I took on a greater role.”

Nicholls said there is always open dialogue about new opportunities at National Group, and input is not just reserved for the executive team, with all employees able to communicate their ideas and desires.

More recently, Nicholls took on extra responsibility to assist other mine sites with their administrative work. But when she realised the workload was too much, she wasn’t shy in being honest.

“Once I took on the extra work, I realised there was a large workload, and I felt comfortable saying to them, ‘This is too much. I need more help’, and they’re always happy to assist with that,” she said.

“You can be honest and transparent and ask to take on more responsibility or you can say you’re struggling and that you need more help, and they’re always more than happy to figure that out with you.”

With the current labour shortages in the Australian mining industry, National Group’s employee-first

focus creates an inclusive, accessible work culture and enables greater staff retention. Employees can dictate their own journey, which is particularly attractive in today’s job market.

As site administrator at Moolarben, Nicholls plays an important role in ensuring orders are communicated correctly to National Group’s head office on the Gold Coast.

“I enter the orders the maintenance team place into our accounting system, and I do the same for the parts or any items that are received here on site,”

“This is very important because it’s directly linked to our accounts team at head office. When the accounts team receives an invoice for parts that we’ve ordered, they can go into the system and check that we have in fact ordered those items and we have received those parts which we’ve been

“I’m basically the middleman between what’s happening here on site and at head office. I oversee the expenses, the financials, how well machines are operating.

“This helps head office with their monthly reporting to track how well the company is doing and where we may

With National Group’s expanding Moolarben team, Nicholls has also been tasked with managing the onboarding process for new staff and subcontractors to ensure they comply with Yancoal’s requirements.

On-boarding tasks include booking accommodation for new employees on-site, collecting and processing information such as trade certificates

and licences, and arranging medicals if required.

Nicholls said she didn’t know what to expect of the mining industry when she first began at National Group; however, her natural inquisitiveness meant she has become increasingly curious of the sector’s inner workings.

The interconnectedness of a company of National Group’s stature has also proved intriguing.

“The whole process of mining is really interesting to me,” she said.

“Everything we do out here on-site is so pivotal to everything they do at head office, but also everything they do at head office is so pivotal to keep everyone in jobs and moving out here at the mine site.

“So I just became really intrigued with how the whole business works and I think the step of coming onto a site after working at head office, it was that next thing I wanted to learn so much about and get really involved in the nitty gritty of what was happening.”

Nicholls hopes more women will consider a career in mining and at National Group, with more opportunities on the horizon given the sector’s continued growth.

“As a kindergarten teacher, I remember spending lots of time after work preparing for class the next day,” she said.

“Now I’m ordering parts for giant mining equipment at a coal mine and overseeing admin for the contractmining operations. I’ve always been happy to step outside my comfort zone and experience new things.

“For me right now, that’s life at the Moolarben mine for National Group.” AM

NATIONAL GROUP’S EMPLOYEE-FIRST FOCUS CREATES AN INCLUSIVE, ACCESSIBLE WORK CULTURE.

NATIONAL GROUP WAS AWARDED A THREE-YEAR MINING-SERVICES CONTRACT AT YANCOAL’S MOOLARBEN COAL MINE IN JULY 2022.

EXPLORING UNDERGROUND OPERATIONS

THE FIRST OF AUSIMM’S TECHNICAL CONFERENCES FOR 2023, THE UNDERGROUND OPERATORS CONFERENCE SETS THE BENCHMARK FOR SHARING UNDERGROUND OPERATIONAL EXPERIENCES AND INDUSTRY BEST PRACTICE.

With a year of inperson events now officially in the books, AusIMM has revitalised its conference calendar to ensure its events are the best the industry has to offer.

The Underground Operators Conference 2023 is a worthy first event.

Held in Brisbane from March 27–29, the conference will feature worldclass topical presentations on themes such as operating practice, supplier collaborations, feasibility studies and mine design.

The Underground Operators Conference has come a long way since the first edition of the event was held in Broken Hill in 1977.

“Over time it’s moved from a few papers and a bit of a get-together to a major event,” conference board member Peter Hills told AusIMM’s Life of Mine podcast.

“People say if you only go to one thing, you go to the Underground Operators Conference.”

Preparation for this year’s conference started in 2021 to ensure attendees would get the most out of the event.

“We typically get over 80 abstracts submitted, and we get them sent in about 18 months out. Choosing the abstracts can be a six-month process,” conference board member Chris Carr said.

The program will also feature a large exhibition that will allow attendees to get some hands-on experience.

“We’re offering bigger exhibitions, bigger events, and more opportunities for the industry as a whole,” AusIMM head of events Julie Allen told Australian Mining.

“Shared conference experiences grow relationships, ideas and collaboration opportunities. It’s a chance to learn something new and to grow networks.”

Another exciting aspect of the Underground Operators Conference is the chance to attend premier tours of the Brisbane tunnel Cross River Rail project, and the Cloncurry and Cobar regions.

The Cross River Rail is a 10.2km line spanning Dutton Park to Bowen Hills. The project includes construction of four new underground stations and the tour

will provide attendees with an in-depth visit of site facilities.

The Cloncurry and Cobar tours are set to be held after the conference itself and feature a two-day visit to a number of major operations.

In Cloncurry, attendees can look forward to seeing Evolution Mining’s Ernest Henry copper-gold operation and the Dugald River, one of the world’s highest-grade zinc deposits.

In Cobar, attendees can visit the CSA mine, one of Australia’s longest running, highest grade copper mines, the Peak gold mines, and the Tritton Complex.

“These conferences aren’t just an overview; they’re really hands-on and allow attendees to get into the nitty gritty of what the conference is about,” Allen said. “It’s about building on people’s professional development and personal learning.”

There will be an abundance of opportunities to connect and gather knowledge at the Underground

Operators Conference, with each keynote speaker a renowned industry leader and global expert.

Attendees can look forward to hearing from Turquoise Hill Resources chief operating officer Jo-Anne Dudley, Luxford Mine Management Services principal Joe Luxford, and Safemap International chief executive officer Corrie Pitzer.

The topics covered in the conference program range from the evolution of digital technologies to automation and artificial intelligence and will focus on the innovations that are making it possible to mine lower grades at greater depths.

“The days of narrow-vein mining are probably not behind us, but narrow high-grade deposits are not the ones that will get the sheer bulk of material that’s going to be required to provide the resources that society is going to need going forward,” Carr said.

Other topics on the agenda include electrification and other advancements in technology.

“Mine electrification will be a big topic. It’s a bit of sleeping giant,” Hills said. “The trend that I’ve seen in the last couple of conferences is the movement of technology from information flow to underground Wi-Fi.”

Above all, the Underground Operators Conference will provide attendees with a chance to get to know like-minded people in their field.

“Networking at the conference is a great way to pick up contacts and meet people. I found that meeting people at this conference has really allowed my career to progress,” Hills said.

“You can read the papers and you can watch the webinars, but to be there in person is a huge benefit.

“The conference tailors to every part of the industry, from managing directors to small business owners. Everyone can get something out of it.” AM

THE UNDERGROUND OPERATORS CONFERENCE 2023 WILL FEATURE PRESENTATIONS AND HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE FOR ATTENDEES.

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REDUCING DANGEROUS HAZARDS AT THE FACE

The development face is one of the most hazardous work areas in an underground mine, particularly where seismicity and other geotechnical hazards exist.

While many tasks have benefited from advances in mechanisation in modern times, the reality of underground mining is that many jobs still require workers to spend long periods directly exposed to hazards at the face.

In 2019, Orica and Epiroc partnered to co-develop Avatel, the world’s first fully mechanised development charging unit using wireless initiation technology.

Built on Epiroc’s M2 carrier platform, Avatel takes the proven reliability of Epiroc’s boomer jumbos and digital capability of their rig control system (RCS 5) and integrates an automated explosives delivery system comprising new and existing Orica technology.

“Avatel is truly the first meaningful shift in the mechanisation and automation of explosives-handling and use in modern times,” Orica senior manager – underground IPT, new technology commercialisation Ben Taylor told Australian Mining

A key enabler for Avatel is WebGen 200 Dev, the world’s first completely wireless blast-initiation system that allows wireless primers to receive an initiation signal from hundreds of metres away through rock, water and air.

WebGen eliminates the need for manual connections and tie-ins, a requirement of traditional initiating systems that is complicated and potentially risky to mechanise.

Avatel also takes advantage of Orica’s HandliLoader bulk emulsion system to deliver a range of explosive energies into the blasthole, controlled by the onboard LOADPlus system to ensure repeatable

delivery of Orica’s Subtek bulk emulsion. The energy control available with Avatel is, according to Orica, superior to any current development charging system.

The last year has seen Avatel reach some important milestones, including the transition to live blasting at Agnico Eagle’s underground mine in Kittilä, Finland, in November 2022.

“This is a critical stage as it has allowed us to embed Avatel into the production environment, better validate how the solution fits within the mining cycle and take those learnings onboard for further improvements to the system,” Taylor said.

“We’ve had some promising outcomes during live operations. One of the obvious challenges for a machine like Avatel is being able to replicate the tasks normally completed by a human with what’s effectively a 14m robot.

“For example, clearing debris away from the toe of the face to access lifter holes normally requires a person to dig at the face with a pelican pick to expose lifter tubes. We’re pleased with how effectively we can clear faces with the booms to access lifters and then clear the holes with the onboard compressed air system.

“It’s particularly impressive when we have as-drilled data available to use for navigation through Epiroc’s RCS 5, allowing the operator to position over a known collar position quickly and precisely.”

Avatel represents a significant step forward in safety for underground charge crews.

“When we consider the exposure time across the various steps of the development cycle, charge crews spend significantly more time at the at the face than any other worker,” Taylor said.

AS UNDERGROUND MINING EXPANDS IN MAGNITUDE, COMPLEXITY AND DEPTH, KEEPING WORKERS FROM HARM IS INCREASINGLY CHALLENGING. FOR ORICA, AUTOMATION IS THE KEY.

IS DESIGNED TO ALLOW WORK TO CONTINUE IN AREAS WHERE SAFE ACCESS IS NOT POSSIBLE.

WE’RE NOW IN A POSITION WHERE CUSTOMERS CAN SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVE THEIR RISK PROFILE, ALLOWING THEM TO SHIFT AWAY FROM EXPENSIVE AND TIME-CONSUMING CONTROLS … AND FOCUS ON SPENDING MORE PRODUCTIVE TIME AT THE FACE.”

“We’re now in a position where our customers can significantly improve their risk profile, allowing them to shift away from expensive and timeconsuming controls that are necessary to conduct work safely with traditional methods, and focus on spending more productive time at the face.

“A good example is temporary ground support as a method of controlling the risk of rockfall while personnel are working directly in the line of fire.

“It’s a common inclusion on many Australian mining operations over the past decade and has undoubtedly had a positive impact on a reduced frequency of significant injuries from rockfall, but it’s not the silver bullet of controls as critical risks such as working in heat, working at height, manual handling and equipment interaction remained unaddressed.

“Importantly, it’s not always effective. We still see incidents occurring where personnel are exposed to or injured by rockfalls while working at the face, so we can do better.”

There is now a strong push to transition to a nil-on-foot work environment where personnel are removed from the line of fire and

ultimately away from the work area completely through remote operations.

The intent of Avatel is not necessarily to replicate the speed of a charge crew in good operating conditions. Rather, it’s designed to allow work to continue in areas where safe access isn’t possible at all.

“In that sense cycle time isn’t the primary driver for Avatel, but we can’t be too far off the mark,” Taylor said.

“We made the decision very early on to replicate the twin boom jumbo format, knowing that simultaneously loading with both booms would minimise idle process time while at the face.”

Test results to date have demonstrated that it’s possible to load a standard face of close to 70 holes in around just over two hours.

“When you consider the number of tasks happening in that time – clearing the face, unlocking holes, assembling primers, loading every blasthole and tramming away with the face ready to blast – without the operator ever leaving the cabin, the technology is quite revolutionary,” Taylor said.

“Integrating with Epiroc’s boomer jumbo carrier also means we’re building on a platform with proven

performance and reliability around the globe.

“Our vision is to transform how drill-and-blast is used to unlock mining value, utilising digital and automated technologies to create safer and more productive blast outcomes for customers.”

Automation and digitalisation are a recurring theme in Australian mining that supports this trend, and solutions like Avatel are fundamental building blocks of Orica’s future automation vision in surface and underground mining applications.

This year will see the conclusion of field trials with Orica’s prototype unit and the transition toward commercialisation.

The first complete Avatel service will commence at Newcrest’s Cadia Valley Operations in New South Wales early in the year.

“Newcrest has long been an early adopter of new technologies and became a foundation partner of the Avatel program in the very early stages of the project,” Taylor said. “Industry partners are critical to the adoption of any new technology, particularly disruptive innovations like Avatel.

“We’re extremely proud to be working with Newcrest, being the first in the world to fully embed Avatel into their operations.

“In parallel, we will continue the Avatel build program to support rollout around the globe. Construction of the third machine is underway, destined for Canada toward the end 2023.

“With almost 150 years of experience and expertise in innovation, research and technology development, Orica remains committed to unlocking value for our customers along every stage of the value chain.” AM

VITAL DATA FROM THE FACE CAN BE FED BACK TO A CENTRAL CONTROL ROOM.

EXAMPLE OF AN UNDERGROUND FACE SCAN.

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SUPPORTING CUSTOMERS UNDERGROUND

ENSURING BEST PRACTICE AND COMPREHENSIVE SAFETY STANDARDS IN THE RESOURCES INDUSTRY CAN BE DIFFICULT WHEN CONSIDERING THE DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTS AND CIRCUMSTANCES OF

As a ground-support business, Minova helps companies navigate safety. It provides not just products, but considerable experience in safely running underground operations.

With a focus on prioritising best practice and developing close relationships with customers to provide the best possible tailored support, Minova’s vice president Ross Wotherspoon said growth in all areas was a key aspect of the company’s direction.

“The Minova strategy remains the same,” he told Australian Mining. “We are a ground-support business and that will always be our core focus.

“But we have a desire to grow, and that growth focus is really based around our customers.

“Being really intimately involved with customer sites, understanding what products and what product variations they need to help them be more profitable and productive.”

With that business model in mind, Wotherspoon said the company

plans to continually bring out innovations and products to better assist its customers.

Minova supplies rock bolts, resin capsules, anchoring grouts and support equipment for underground operations, with a key focus on providing fit-for-purpose solutions to customers who may not necessarily know exactly what they require for their operation.

As a way of delivering those values to customers, Minova is working to combat ever-present supply issues by developing, where appropriate, a dual supply chain, locally and internationally, to ensure the products needed in the Australian market are always accessible.

“It’s beneficial to make sure that lead times are going to be appropriate for the type of task that product is required for,” Wotherspoon said.

“Having a dual supply chain allows us to cater towards the best outcome for the customer in both a safety and a financial sense, with the best options available for solutions needed immediately and replacements which have been planned for.”

Broadening the range of products on offer and further innovating within the industry, Minova has based its business model around each mine site, especially underground operations, as being “fundamentally different and routinely dealing with different challenges”.

It’s this understanding that is helping Hillgrove Resources, following a visit from the Minova team, improve productivity and utilise new technology that is available on the market.

Working with Hillgrove Resources, Minova is developing a product called Tekflex Rapid, a high-tensilestrength thin spray liner that can be applied to a development face, in place of bolting and meshing the face.

“They really liked what they saw when it came to the installation time and there being a lot less safety concerns about it,” Wotherspoon said.

“The time savings and safety improvements are so appealing to businesses, and it also improves their downstream productivity. We are setting up additional validation trial with other miners interested in the latest innovations from Minova.”

The use of Tekflex Rapid is a key example of another concern for Minova – demystifying the difference surrounding unit cost and unit value. This difference is admittedly a figure that can be difficult to quantify, but Wotherspoon says the Minova model helps businesses determine the value of utilising its products.

“It’s not a customer’s responsibility to determine whether a product is worth its investment,” Wotherspoon said.

“Suppliers have a responsibility to demonstrate the quality of the product in relation to the unit cost, so customers can make good purchase decisions based on that.”

Minova is built on its people, as well as the way it continues to innovate and improve in terms of its products and its relationships with customers.

“Because we’re working across multiple sites nation-wide, any innovations and solutions that we come up with we can then demonstrate to other sites and they can adopt that solution as well,” Wotherspoon said.

“We’re looking to lift the whole industry. That’s what our business model is all about.” AM

EACH MINE – BUT MINOVA IS HERE TO HELP.

MINOVA PROVIDES STRONG SUPPORT TO ITS CUSTOMERS UNDERGROUND.

A LOOK INTO THE XS

Thousands of mine workers are tasked with transporting equipment and performing tasks through narrow underground tunnels every day.

And to get to where they are needed, the workers often drive vehicles designed for highways, not underground mines.

According to Mark Ryan, vicepresident for equipment and new technology at Normet, the stringent demands on underground equipment require a purpose-built solution.

“Our research and development department has created a rock-solid transportation solution to help the mining industry achieve a new level in safety and productivity,” he told Australian Mining

Normet’s Variomec XS carrier is a completely new product family that was developed to expand the company’s

equipment offering. It is designed to be a purpose-built and agile platform for several different transportation application needs in underground mining operations.

The carrier can be equipped for multiple applications, and can be changed out when required. It can transport up to four tonnes of payload or personnel – or both.

“In personnel transportation, the Variomec XS outperforms existing 4WD light vehicles, with superior safety, transportation capacity and effectiveness due to its multi-purpose capabilities,” Ryan said.

“The Variomec XS was designed to be extremely robust and compact to fit and manoeuvre easily and safely in small tunnel envelope sizes.

“Its amazing turning radius will make the Variomec XS carrier the new standard for underground operations.”

Underground work is hard work, which is why the Normet designers started with a durable, suspended chassis for the rough roads. A strong cabin structure meets the demanding standards for falling objects and rollover protection.

All daily routine checks can be done from the ground level, increasing safety and improving the effectiveness of daily workflows.

The compact carrier also features the safety and ergonomic characteristics that are included in larger Normet units. Inside the cabin, particular care has been taken to ensure the driver and passengers are as comfortable as possible.

The driver has strong visibility to maximise reaction time at any given moment, and a maximum speed of 30km per hour means the Variomec XS can achieve a good incline speed, even when carrying a full payload.

Ryan said the Variomec XS uses the same cabin, axles and engine for each of the different applications, which keeps maintenance simple and allows for enhanced modularity.

“At the moment, we have the personnel carrier, crew carrier and flat deck,” he said.

“We plan to continue developing other models for more applications.”

The new Variomec XS material carrier will be showcased at the Underground Operators Conference 2023 in Brisbane on March 27–29.

“We encourage our customers to come and see the Variomec XS in real life at our stand,” Ryan said.

“On the first day of the conference, we will also launch our new Utimec XL with technology never seen in this industry. We have created a virtual reality (VR) experience so customers can walk around the machine, see its features and sit in the cabin.

NORMET WILL SHOWCASE SEVERAL NEW TECHNOLOGIES AT THIS YEAR’S UNDERGROUND OPERATORS CONFERENCE. AUSTRALIAN MINING SAT DOWN WITH THE COMPANY’S VP OF NEW TECHNOLOGY TO LEARN MORE.

THE VARIOMEC XS WAS DESIGNED TO BE EXTREMELY ROBUST AND COMPACT.

“ The Utimec XL showcases the continuous expansion of our offering. While the Variomec XS is our most compact product family, the Utimec XL will expand our offering from the opposite end.”

Normet SmartDrive

Ryan said the new vehicle was developed after listening to the needs of the underground mining sector.

“We always listen to what our customers are saying, which is why we have also been expanding our range with regards to zero-emission technology,” he said.

Normet SmartDrive is a modular battery-electric vehicle architecture designed to optimise energy consumption and performance in underground mining and tunnelling applications.

The architecture includes the latest lithium-ion battery technology with a fast-charging capability. Hightorque electric motors provide instant torque and efficient operation without any local emissions, and the fully reversible 4WD ensures safe and sure movement in difficult underground conditions.

Ryan said the mining industry is looking to increase safety and undergo a green transformation, which SmartDrive allows it to do.

“One of the key benefits of the SmartDrive system is it eliminates diesel particulate matter (DPM) underground,” he said.

“DPM includes nanoparticles, things so small the body has no natural resistance to them and no way of removing them from the lungs.

machinery, you aren’t emitting DPM. This is a game-changer for customers.

“Not only is the mine safer, but there’s less need for ventilation to dilute DPM in the air, offering potentially massive savings.”

equipped with the SmartDrive system generate less heat and noise. Its fully electric powertrain is also several times more efficient than diesel power, boosted further by built-in recuperation technology that stores regenerative

braking energy during downhill driving and deacceleration.

In addition, efficient hydraulic dualcircuit oil-immersed brakes provide additional braking power when needed.

In January 2022, Normet’s new Charmec MC 605 V SD completed a trial at Goldfield’s Invincible Gold Mine located in the centre of Lake Lefroy, a large salt lake complex south of Kambalda, Western Australia.

Byrnecut operated the SmartDrive Charmec and saw the benefits of the technology. The machine could handle high incline speed, driving up to the surface to fill explosives each day. These time savings in driving could create opportunities to increase productivity, as the mine is able to blast more rounds per year.

The feedback from operators was very positive, noting that driving downhill was a smooth ride and there was no need to shout over a loud diesel engine.

Ryan said Normet understands and listens to the concerns mines might have when it comes to adopting SmartDrive.

“They’re concerned about whether or not they have the right power infrastructure, if there are health-andsafety considerations, whether they have enough people to repair, what they need to do with their current fleet, and how their employees might react,” he said.

“That is why Normet can now offer customers green fleet renewal solutions.”

The Normet team can offer customers turn-key green service models (including full cost-perhour service agreements), process and technology expertise, electrical infrastructure (including charging and energy storage stations), Internet of Things solutions, diesel-toSmartDrive replacement programs, and training in of all aspects of the SmartDrive solution.

“We map out a transformation plan and can gradually phase in the SmartDrive technology, and we can work alongside our customer to find the right method of handling the transformation,” Ryan said Normet has over 50 offices and services centres around the world, including several in Australia. Ryan said the company values the Australian market very highly, which is why it has been undertaking testing in the country to ensure its products are fit for the harsh local conditions.

“We are also working on implementing SmartDrive technology into our XS carrier vehicles,” he said.

“We’re excited to reveal more at the Underground Operators Conference and will have more information available for attendees on the day.” AM

CARE HAS BEEN TAKEN TO ENSURE THE DRIVER AND PASSENGERS ARE AS COMFORTABLE AS POSSIBLE.

THE VARIOMEC XS WAS DESIGNED TO FIT AND MANOEUVRE EASILY AND SAFELY IN SMALL TUNNEL ENVELOPE SIZES.

SOLVING PROBLEMS WITH THE POWER OF ONE

HEXAGON IS HELPING MINE DECISION-MAKERS FIND THE BEST WAYS TO INTEGRATE, AUTOMATE AND OPTIMISE CRITICAL WORKFLOWS TO GAIN A COMPETITIVE EDGE.

Now more than ever, mining companies must cut costs while reducing environmental, social and governance (ESG) hazards in order to meet shareholder expectations.

In a highly competitive landscape, mines operate in a complex ecosystem characterised by price volatility, increasing operational challenges and shifting regulations.

Operators face accelerating disruption against a backdrop of declining ore body grades, continued focus on shareholder returns, and a mandate to adopt sustainable practices and greater safety procedures.

But many of these obstacles are being solved through smart mining.

Hexagon is at the forefront of this digital transformation, offering a smartmining approach that is empowering operators to do more with less, and to do it sustainably by improving safety and increasing efficiency, productivity and profitability, all while accelerating the journey to carbon neutrality.

The company is a leader in the creation and integration of digitalreality solutions, with combined sensor,

software and autonomous technologies assisting mines in becoming situationally aware, self-learning and autonomously connected.

Hexagon call this the Power of One – a holistic approach that empowers mines to connect all parts of their business with technologies that make sense of data in real-time, while integrating, automating, and optimising critical workflows that deliver a competitive edge.

Hexagon goes beyond traditional smart mining technology to allow clients to create, capture and deliver 100 per cent of a site’s value throughout the life of the mine.

“The Power of One achieves significant integration across our various solutions, allowing us to provide a seamless experience for our customers,” Hexagon’s head of product – underground Mateus Quintela told Australian Mining Hexagon’s mining technologies provide surveying, design, fleet management, production optimisation and collision-avoidance capabilities in a single solution. This solution connects people and processes, reduces costs and improves the safety and productivity of mine sites.

“It’s an intelligent and powerful monitoring system that via the cloud provides visibility to everyone on mining operations across the life of the mine,” Quintela said.

In the underground mining cycle, drill and blast is arguably the first and most important step to get right. Drill-and-blast operations affect the entire process, from mining equipment efficiency to crushing and grinding circuit performance to recoveries and final product quality.

Costs and energy usage increase throughout the comminution process. Efforts targeted at optimising the blasting process can pay huge dividends downstream, reducing costs and energy consumption.

In 2022, Hexagon procured Minnovare, a leading provider of drilling technology, producing integrated solutions by combing sensors, software and data analytics to address deficiencies in existing drilling processes across resource definition, development and production phases.

Minnovare specialises in eliminating the manual, labour-intensive and often unproductive processes in underground mining that lead to blast-hole deviation, dilution and downtime.

“The integration of Minnovare into the Hexagon workflow has been really successful and has led to greater integration of our underground solutions for our customers,” Quintela said.

Hexagon is making a significant step into the underground mining space in 2023, with Power of One set to deliver major improvements in the speed, cost and accuracy of drilling through its employment of sophisticated digital technology.

“Power of One is capable of calculating and analysing the efficiency of each step in the drill-and-blast process via a tailored feedback loop, ensuring continuous improvement through accuracy and precision for our underground mining customers,” Quintela said.

As drilling remains a critical dimension of underground mining, it must be completed with significant accuracy. Once blasting has occurred, the material must be moved efficiently and safely.

“Power of One is a critical tool in monitoring these complex drilling and blasting processes,” Quintela said. “And as a fully integrated technology solution it ensures clear, reliable and repeatable outcomes with safety foremost.” AM

HEXAGON’S POWER OF ONE ALLOWS MINES TO CONNECT ALL PARTS OF THE BUSINESS WITH TECHNOLOGIES THAT USE DATA IN REAL-TIME.

NEW ELPHINSTONE WR810 MODELS ON THE HORIZON

WITH AN INCREASED DOMESTIC FOOTPRINT, NEW MODELS SOON TO BE RELEASED AND A PROGRESSIVE BATTERY-ELECTRIC VEHICLE PROGRAM, THE FUTURE IS LOOKING BRIGHT FOR ELPHINSTONE.

cycle times and increasing production.

The WR810 Fuel and Lube provides in-situ top-up servicing of production machines and equipment within the mine, reducing servicing time and traffic on haul routes.

Featuring a large flat deck, the WR810 Flat Deck has proven itself to be a popular alternative to the delivery truck (with crane), providing optimal space for the transport of parts, components, and equipment. Boasting a maximum payload of 15,000kg, the flat deck can easily accommodate eight standard-size pallets.

Elphinstone is also excited to be releasing a new WR810 underground support vehicle at the Underground Operators Conference 2023 in Brisbane from March 27–29.

BTasmania, Elphinstone sits comfortably among the most successful names in Australianproduced underground mining equipment.

The company specialises in the design, manufacture and support of quality equipment for the global underground and surface mining industries.

Elphinstone introduced the highly configurable WR810 (10-tonne) underground base platform to the mining sector in 2019. This unit is engineered to withstand the rigours of the harsh underground hardrock environment.

One of the biggest challenges with any new product is seeding it into a mine to enable the customer to evaluate the benefits gained by their operation. But Elphinstone put its money where its mouth was with the WR810, offering the machines to customers in Australia to trial and test the results for themselves.

The approach proved successful, resulting in machine sales and a marked increase in Elphinstone’s domestic footprint.

Each machine is integrated with a proven Caterpillar powertrain and

more robust chassis.

“If you were to compare our machines to others in the market, our larger, more robust chassis provides greater structural reliability,” Elphinstone global sales and marketing manager Tim Mitchell said.

“It’s engineered to outlast our rivals in the field while providing greater value and a lower cost of ownership.”

Component commonality across all platforms and applications provides a high level of reliability and durability. When combined with exceptional parts availability through the worldwide Caterpillar dealer network, it all adds up to contribute to a reduction in the total cost of ownership.

“Each machine is designed and manufactured to be safe, reliable, productive, ergonomic, and easy to service, maintain and re-build,” Mitchell said.

Integrated into the WR810 operator station is a ROPS/FOPS –a roll-over protective structure and falling object protective structure for greater protection.

The operator cabin comfortably seats three people, allowing an entire crew to travel together rather than deploying an additional light vehicle for personnel transport.

on grade, the WR810 features an electromagnetic retarder with electronic speed control. The innovative electronic design significantly reduces the retarder’s energy consumption, preserving electric circuits. The retarder is controlled via an integrated multifunction joystick controller located on the operator’s right-side armrest.

The series

The WR810 Water Cannon is a dualapplication machine that washes down ore fines, blasts material hang-ups, and fights fires. In addition, the side and rear water sprays suppress haul-road dust and wash down internal surfaces of tunnels.

Offering a flexible transport solution, the WR810 Delivery provides lift-on or lift-off capability, ideal for moving parts, components, equipment, and maintenance personnel safely and securely throughout the mine site.

The WR810 Scissor Lift has a purpose-built underground elevated platform, ideal for safe transportation and installation of components and services into the mine ceiling.

Specialising in transporting smaller batches of concrete to backfill voids, the WR810 Agitator 6m3 has a top speed at capacity, improving

Offering both Tier 3 and Tier 4 engine arrangements, Elphinstone believes the new configuration will be a strong addition to the existing suite of vehicles, maintaining component commonality and parts availability across all applications, adding value to the customer’s operations.

In January 2022, Elphinstone announced its intention to develop a suite of battery-electric vehicles for underground hard-rock mining to address the increasing decarbonisation efforts and expectations of its global customer base.

Now that the world’s biggest mining companies have pledged to cut carbon emissions to net-zero by 2050, the challenge is to develop a future-proofed and sustainable battery-electric vehicle solution while technology advances.

Elphinstone has formed a development team with a vision to provide a battery-electric vehicles solution at the forefront of technology while maintaining its reputation for high-quality, premium and reliable products, wellpositioned and recognised globally in the underground hard rock mining industry.

The project scope encompasses an end-to-end research, design, development, testing, validation, manufacturing and market commercialisation of a leading batteryelectric powertrain integrated into the existing range of Elphinstone underground support vehicles. AM

WR810 SALES HAVE INCREASED ELPHINSTONE’S DOMESTIC MACHINE FOOTPRINT.

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ON THE TOP TIER

CUMMINS IS DESIGNING THE NEXT GENERATION IN ENGINE TECHNOLOGY, BENEFITING MINE SITES ACROSS THE COUNTRY. AUSTRALIAN MINING TAKES A CLOSER LOOK AT THE COMPANY’S OFFERINGS.

According to Cummins, the cleanest highhorsepower diesel engines operating in mining in Australia today are its QSK50 and QSK60 Tier 4 Final units powering haul trucks and excavators in the NSW Hunter Valley.

In fact, the company says these are the only high-horsepower engines in service in Australia with Tier 4 Final compliance, the most stringent off-highway emissions standard in the world.

Of course, the challenge is producing cleaner-running engines while not compromising lifecycle costs, and Cummins is working with mining companies to deliver a technology roadmap that not only reduces fuel consumption but also results in increased engine life and longer service intervals.

These benefits are vital as mining companies commit to a decarbonised future.

Tier 4 Final has required the most significant change ever in highhorsepower engine technology.

cylinder combustion and integrated selective catalytic reduction (SCR) exhaust aftertreatment.

SCR was selected for a number of reasons, including lower heat rejection (compared with exhaust gas recirculation), minimal base engine changes and simplified maintenance.

Cummins’ entire high-horsepower engine family – which includes the QSK19, QSK23, QST30, QSK38, QSK50, QSK60, QSK78 and QSK95, and spans 800–4400 horsepower – is now offered with Tier 4 Final compliance using SCR technology.

Diesel particulate emissions are significantly reduced with the Cummins Tier 4 Final engine – by 80 per cent compared with its Tier 2 product, which means less soot loading in the oil.

“The cleaner-running Tier 4 engine means longer oil drain intervals because of this reduced soot loading in the oil,” Cummins South Pacific OEM business manager Stewart McKeddie said.

“In fact, oil drain intervals are doubled, so a 250-hour interval becomes 500 hours with a Tier 4

Cummins’ Eliminator oil filtration system – replacing the traditional spin-on filter elements – and increased engine oil capacity through a larger oil pan are other features enabling longer oil-drain intervals.

A 3–5 per cent improvement in fuel consumption with the Tier 4 Final engine over the Tier 2 unit provides another significant maintenance benefit, as well as a huge reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

“The fact the engine is burning less fuel means engine life is extended by up to 12 months in some mine operations in Australia,” McKeddie said.

“At the same time, mid-life component change-out is significantly reduced, with most components returned to the engine on an ‘inspect and re-use’ basis.

“In fact, belts and belt tensioners are the main components that need to be replaced mid-life.”

Cummins’ remote engine monitoring system, PrevenTech, is another critical element in the maintenance equation.

A real-time digital monitoring and reporting system, PrevenTech provides complete 24–7 enginehealth management, helping reduce downtime by prioritising and notifying when actions are required.

Alerts and recommendations are sent through by the Cummins Care team via email, phone and a webbased customer dashboard. The system increases technician safety and efficiency by viewing live engine data remotely without the need for technician or engine interaction.

Whitehaven Coal uses the PrevenTech system and reports it is

achieving significant benefits through its implementation. The miner says it’s now being more proactive, rather than reactive, with maintenance practices, leading to reduced operational and maintenance costs.

The system is being used at Whitehaven’s newest and largest open-cut mine at Maules Creek in the NSW Gunnedah Basin, which has production approval for 13 million tonnes run-of-mine coal per annum. The Whitehaven fleets at Tarrawonga and Werris Creek mines, with three million tonnes and 2.5 million tonnes per annum production approvals, respectively, are also being connected to PrevenTech.

All up, around 100 Cummins engines in haul trucks and excavators will have PrevenTech connection at the three Whitehaven mines.

PrevenTech works by applying connectivity, algorithms and analytics to a machine’s engine hardware, helping a mine identify and diagnose issues faster and more accurately. The system works with Internet of Things (IoT) technology and global security standards.

Whitehaven reports that during a trial with PrevenTech it had only had 10 engines connected but still prevented some potentially major downtime events. The machines were diagnosed and repaired without interrupting production.

Cummins not only boasts a range of offerings that improve operational efficiency and sustainability, but the company is also designing the next generation in engine technology, and the Australian mining industry is better for it. AM

DIESEL PARTICULATE EMISSIONS ARE SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED WITH THE CUMMINS TIER 4 FINAL ENGINE.

CUMMINS IS AT THE FOREFRONT OF ENGINE TECHNOLOGY IN THE MINING SECTOR.

PENSKE AND mtu

When it comes to remanufactured mining engines, Penske Australia delivers the ultimate solution. Penske’s remanufactured mtu engines boast long engine life and achieve low fuel burn yielding a sustainable and highly cost-effective solution.

EPIROC SUPPORTS ROY HILL ON ITS AUTONOMOUS JOURNEY

As Roy Hill enters the final stage of its transition to an autonomous haulage system (AHS), the iron ore miner is already seeing the operational benefits of the project.

Epiroc and automation specialist ASI Mining have been working sideby-side with Roy Hill on the project, which has progressed from a two-year product verification phase that aimed to determine the possibilities of an AHS transformation.

The AHS system has been designed to be interoperable and scalable regardless of the manufacturer, enabling the technology to be original equipment

“You’re also creating a safer environment by not having drivers in the trucks,” he said.

“This is particularly important when you consider the potential for truck sliding during bad weather. There’s also significant safety benefits related to driver fatigue and eliminating fatigueinduced accidents.”

Another benefit has been operational consistency and the added productivity that comes with that.

“There’s confidence in knowing what an AHS truck is going to do because it follows the inputs and rules it receives,” Grant said.

“There’s more of a known outcome as well using AHS, and more predictability on how many tonnes

The project’s progressive expansion will see the autonomous haul truck fleet steadily increase from March, and throughout this year to reach 54 Caterpillar trucks and 42 Hitachi trucks. This will be complemented by more than 200 ancillary vehicles interacting with the autonomous trucks.

Grant said the transition is expected to take approximately 18 months, with an on-site team fitting the ASI Mining autonomous kits onto the machines and returning the trucks back into dedicated autonomous operating zones.

“We’re segregating the mine off into different sections and slowly opening up new sections of the mine,” he said.

“Once we have enough assets to open up a new autonomous operating

because there’s always challenges along the way when you do these types of projects,” he said.

“You don’t know what you don’t know when you start these projects, so they’ve been a fantastic partner. They worked with us to build a team that supports us, and the business has been very supportive as a whole.

“We’ve needed to work through challenges together throughout the project, and we’ve also had external challenges like COVID that we’ve had to manage as well.”

As a pioneering pilot program, Epiroc, ASI Mining and Roy Hill are taking a controlled approach to rolling out the AHS, with the success of this project key to the future of automation

EPIROC AND ASI MINING ARE WORKING WITH ROY HILL TO TRANSITION THE MINER’S HAUL TRUCK FLEET INTO AN AUTONOMOUS HAULAGE SYSTEM. AUSTRALIAN MINING SAT DOWN WITH EPIROC TO FIND OUT MORE.

EPIROC AND ASI MINING ARE TRANSITIONING THE ROY HILL IRON ORE MINE TO AN AUTONOMOUS HAULAGE SYSTEM.

RAPID IN-PIT DEWATERING

DEWATERING PITS CAN BE A TIME-CONSUMING AND DIFFICULT OPERATION, WITH EXCESS WATER HAVING TO BE PUMPED UP AN INCLINE. ENTER THE WATERLORD LAYFLAT HOSE.

Using layflat hose for in-pit dewatering has recently been shown to be an efficient method at a large mine in Western Australia.

Waterlord layflat hose deployed by the Hamersley reel system from Crusader Hose proved to be a labour- and timesaving way for the mine operators to move excess water.

During a recent trip to the Pilbara, Crusader Hose managing director Francois Steverlynck got a first-hand look at how well the Waterlord Rapid In-pit Dewatering System performs.

In what was a challenging operation, the relative ease and speed of installation, safe handling, and efficient use of mine operators demonstrated the system’s efficiency.

Transferring water from deep pits to the ring main often proves challenging. The Waterlord system has been specifically designed to increase pumping efficiencies and safety benefits when moving water out of deep pits.

“The key advantage of using Waterlord layflat is its flexible nature,” Steverlynck told Australian Mining.

“When comparing rigid pipe systems with Waterlord, this flexibility makes Waterlord truly unique and means it is often the best way to safely establish the pipelines from inside the pit up to the ring main.”

Called to the large mine for his technical expertise, Steverlynck assisted in the operation of installing the dewatering system from deep inside the open-cut pit.

The flexible layflat hose was easily laid down the rugged high pit wall with the use of rope. The Waterlord hose pipeline was unwound at the top and pulled down the wall by driving a 4WD inside the pit.

Approximately 10m of hose on flat ground at the top of the pit provided enough stability for the pipeline to remain securely in place without any tendency to fall down the wall. The Waterlord system was connected to the ring main, providing high-volume pumping as required.

“Many of the operators were impressed by the simplicity of the layflat system,” Steverlynck said. “They acknowledged how much harder and riskier it is to install a poly pipeline.

“Traditional poly pipelines can be more cumbersome to handle, heavier and generally require anchoring at the top of the pit to ensure it does not slide down to the bottom.

“Those who saw it said that they were impressed at how layflat hose can handle the pressure and pump water up high pit walls.”

The benefit of using the Waterlord hose does not stop there. As the pit extends and the bore pump is moved,

the mine operators can easily relocate the Waterlord pipeline within the pit to connect it to the next bore. The Hamersley reel system helps to make this handling quick and easy.

Layflat hose from Crusader Hose is designed to be durable and reliable. The weaving technology constructs a textile reinforcement that can withstand very high pressures, while the tough polyurethane cover can withstand rough use.

As an example of this toughness, users can drive a 4WD along the length of the hose to empty the water. A sling can be wrapped around one end and the empty hose can then be dragged into the new position.

The expanding nature of many opencut iron ore mines requires dewatering planning so the ore can ideally be excavated in a dry state.

“This required constantly moving pipework and reconnecting,” Steverlynck said. “Waterlord layflat hose has proven to be an efficient and effective product.”

With secure couplings that can be fitted on-site, multiple lengths of Waterlord can be cut to exact lengths and assembled in the pit.

Crusader Hose has several reel systems affording particular benefits and limitations, and in the same way mining projects differ, so too do the systems offered the company has on offer. AM

HAMERSLEY REELS OF LARGE-DIAMETER LAYFLAT HOSE COMPACTLY STORED AND READY FOR DEPLOYMENT.

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SMART WATER MANAGEMENT AND MINE PRODUCTIVITY

customers to ensure their water dollars go further.

reduce water waste, minimise downtime

Xylem provides a range of robust and measurement and monitoring solutions

“In 2022 the Xylem team in Australia had another strong year, partnering with to reconnect with more of our customers eased. This has allowed us to stand sideand solving their water challenges right

“This allows us to continue to deliver assembly to provide products, solutions the mining industry are complex, while the drive for productivity and efficiency

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The good news is that Xylem’s holistic approach to water management, combined with smart technologies, delivers major gains for mine operators,

streamlining processes and making water management more efficient, sustainable and safe.

Everything Xylem makes has been engineered to handle the harsh demands of a mine environment. Popular products in operation within the Australian mining industry include a range of robust and safe pumping solutions.

“The Flygt and Godwin brands, offering a combined 250-plus years of experience in the toughest applications around the globe, represent extremely reliable pumping solutions,” Wessel said.

“Xylem’s proven mechanical, process and digital solutions in water treatment and water-quality monitoring can provide mines with the ability to effectively meet their environmental obligations and sustainability targets.”

There are a range of external factors shaping decision-making for on-site water solutions.

“Uncertainty and challenges in global supply chains, higher fuel or energy costs, labour shortages and extreme weather has seen an increased focus on higher quality, increased efficiency and more robust solutions that have extended lifetimes,” Wessel said.

“Additionally, rising interest rates will likely see capital expenditure approvals start to tighten, and water infrastructure investments won’t be immune to these economic pressures.

“Xylem’s premium and high-efficiency product portfolio, local after-market service support and rental fleet provide our mining customers a level of comfort as they tackle these challenges.”

Xylem continues to expand its digital offerings, designed to supplement the company’s well-known mechanical products, including pumps.

“This digital enhancement transforms these products. It leads to smarter water solutions and the delivery of higher efficiency in everyday pumping,” Wessel said.

“Through the use of real-time analytics and data, better decisions flow around mining processes reliant on water.”

Xylem’s expertise allows mining operations to maintain focus on optimising their extractive processes, safe in the knowledge their water challenges are in good hands.

“The mining industry should be proud of its resilience throughout 2022,” Wessel said.

“As the nation began to emerge from the COVID pandemic, many parts of the east coast of Australia were continually challenged by flooding and extreme weather events, and the whole sector faced inflationary pressures impacting operating costs and labour shortages in a very tight employment market.

“Our local communities rely on a vibrant and responsible mining sector, providing the building blocks for the construction of infrastructure, technologies and services.

“Whilst the Xylem team remains focused as a company across the region to live our tag line – ‘Let’s solve water’ – we’re all very driven by our purpose to live in a world where water is not a barrier to human health and prosperity, and that continues to drive us to solve water challenges with our customers and communities.

“The best way Xylem can help our mining customers is to be a trusted water management partner – and a way we can do that is by coming to site and evaluating every point that water touches the business and offering a ‘water audit’, which includes inspection advice or site audit advice.

“We want to track and trace water usage and help customers understand how they can better use water.”

Xylem understands how a sustainable mine benefits its surrounding communities and drives long-term value, and the company is committed to helping its customers manage water responsibly and achieve their environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals.

This commitment to sustainability goes beyond more efficient water management and regulatory compliance. Xylem is taking action across multiple fronts to help solve critical water and climate-related challenges.

By partnering closely with customers and the communities it serves, Xylem is seeking to balance the use of the earth’s finite resources so future generations will thrive and have the same opportunities that people enjoy now.

By working together, Xylem and the mining industry hope to support healthier lives and build more resilient communities.

“The combination of Xylem’s unmatched premium portfolio of pumping, treatment, testing and monitoring equipment, plus a local team of water domain experts with access to a global network of knowledge and experience means we can be a trusted partner for the mining industry in the water space,” Wessel said. AM

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XYLEM’S GODWIN BRAND REPRESENTS “EXTREMELY RELIABLE PUMPING SOLUTIONS”.

MATT WESSEL, XYLEM DIRECTOR OF STRATEGY, PRODUCT MARKETING AND ENGINEERING –AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND.

GABRIELLE IWANOW LEADS THE MINCOR CHARGE

Gabrielle Iwanow commenced as the new managing director and chief executive officer of Australian nickel producer Mincor Resources in November 2022.

She arrives at a time when Mincor is ramping up its Kambalda nickel operation in WA. Kambalda produced 1015 tonnes of nickel in concentrate in the December quarter of 2022 and remains on track to achieve annual guidance of between 8000–10,000 tonnes for the 2022–23 financial year (FY23).

In the month of December, total ore movement increased by 69 per cent compared with November,

which Mincor said marked a clear inflection point in the company’s second half ramp-up.

Mincor is bringing more stopes online at the Cassini and Northern operations, which will result in improved ore grades and assist the ramp-up even further.

After growing up in the Queensland town of Sarina as a basketball lover, Iwanow went to university in Brisbane. Her first exposure to the mining industry came when she completed a project for the Queensland Resources Council.

Iwanow later spent time in London working for the World Coal Institute before returning to Australia to finish off her university degree. She spent

time at the Office of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health and joined Rio Tinto because she was interested in improving outcomes for Indigenous people working in private sector.

Iwanow had a distinguished 14year career at Rio, working as general manager of the Paraburdoo iron ore operations and in other senior executive roles. She joined OZ Minerals in September 2018, where was general manager of the Prominent Hill operations in South Australia.

Australian Mining sat down with Iwanow to discuss her short- and longterm priorities at Mincor and what the future of the company looks under her leadership.

What drew you to Mincor?

There are a couple of things I liked about this role.

I really like that future-facing metals piece; I like the fact that we work for a commodity that can play a meaningful role in the world’s decarbonisation.

I really like the assets that we have. Kambalda is a well-known Tier 1 nickel sulphide location and I like the fact that there’s not that many nickel sulphide options out there.

I also like the fact that we’re producing and given our focus on future-facing metals, I feel like it’s a really attractive gateway for people to come into the industry and for those people who want to be part of the

AUSTRALIAN MINING SAT DOWN WITH NEWLY APPOINTED MINCOR RESOURCES BOSS GABRIELLE IWANOW TO CHAT ABOUT THE COMPANY’S BRIGHT NICKEL FUTURE.

GABRIELLE IWANOW AIMS TO FOSTER GROWTH AND OPPORTUNITY AS THE NEW MINCOR BOSS.

solution. For me, it opens up a whole new wave of talent out there who maybe weren’t attracted to our industry before.

What challenges and opportunities does nickel present compared to other commodities?

The principles of mining tend to be the same so there’s lots of commonality, and there’s also some degree of difference as well.

When you talk about nickel mining, compared to particularly the IOCG (iron oxide copper-gold)-style of deposits in copper, we’re talking about much smaller scale. There’s nowhere near the volumes you need to move.

I look at Prominent Hill and we were talking about an underground mine which was, shaft-enabled, heading up to about 6.5 million tonnes per annum. We’re talking about a much smaller quantity here.

Nickel is quite different in terms of the volumes, but the mining methods tend to be the same so regardless of the commodity, there’s certain principles where, particularly in underground mining, the method remains consistent.

What have been your immediate priorities at Mincor?

The first priority is around delivering on our FY23 guidance range. It’s the first year that we’ve issued guidance,

nickel tonnes in concentrate for our Kambalda operations.

As part of this, we are focused on de-risking the plan. In my experience, ramp-ups really come down to quick execution and how quickly can you resolve the inevitable issues that come up in operations so you can get on and continue to meet your run rates.

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Mincor to de-risk our plan includes refreshing our contract with our underground mining partner, Pit ‘n’ Portal (an underground mining subsidiary of Emeco), to reflect some

removing the commercial distractions from being able to really focus on the safe movement of tonnes. So that’s been an important part of resetting our focus on the delivery aspect.

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Firstly, being able to remove an hour round trip back into Kambalda, it’s only about 10 minutes from work now. It makes that commute time so much shorter, so it reduces the fatigue risk and there’s the productivity piece there, too.

T he last thing is that we fired our first stoping ore at Cassini in November. Because that’s a new mine, there’s been a lot of development work and now we’re moving into the stoping piece which is production tonnes.

What are your longer-term priorities at Mincor?

I’m really focused on the organic growth opportunities we have.

I like to grow things. I like to come in and look at what the opportunity is and what the upside is associated with growth. The board is very supportive of us growing and in the process working out what we want to be.

My next two priorities are really about growth – the first one being organic growth and the second being inorganic.

On the organic front, we’re looking at what’s within our existing tenements. We’re doing a thorough exploration review at the minute which means we’re looking at the other things we might have on our tenements that we want to get after.

We raised money ($60 million in December 2022) to bring forward development in the Golden Mile in that LN04a zone area, as well as the Cassini North channel. So we’ve brought forward those opportunities and I’m challenging my exploration team to say, ‘What else is there? What other opportunities might we have within our existing portfolio?’.

The last piece is that inorganic growth, which is about M&A (mergers and acquisitions) and deals. There’s nothing to report on that front, but I’m certainly open to understanding what that might look like.

Where will Mincor’s nickel come from in the future?

We’ve got Cassini, which is a new asset where we’re really getting into those production levels. It’s not too deep, so it’s quite young in its life.

We’re exploring Cassini North and we’re interested in understanding whether there’s mineralisation in there. So there’s still exploration work, extensional work that needs to be done in that space.

At the same time, we’ve also got the Golden Mile, where we’re really understanding this LN04a area and what’s in there. That’s effectively like a different mining zone.

What we’re finding is that there’s extensional opportunities with these orebodies, and so we’re really looking at what we have around us and our existing

orebodies. It’s not always, ‘What’s the next independent mine?’, it’s also about how you make the most from the existing orebodies you’re in.

When you’re in an orebody, it’s always cheaper to do extensional opportunities and look for what’s around and look

for ways to tie that into existing infrastructure, versus doing significant development and infrastructure around a separate orebody.

So for us, it’s about maximising the existing orebodies that we have, where there’s loads of potential, and at the

same time (considering) what are the other greenfields? What’s going to be the next Cassini?

What is Mincor’s role in a renewable energy future?*

Some people are predicting that there will be significant uptake of electric vehicles (EVs) in the future. I recently read an article that said up to 60 per cent of vehicle demand will be for electric vehicles by 2030. So it’s not too far away.

Nickel is fed into stainless steel, which is a really important aspect of it, and also with this thematic of decarbonisation moving towards much more electrictype vehicles. It’s not just the EV piece either, there will be this trend around nickel demand that is expected to see a sustained uplift in the future.

There’s not that many nickel sulphide deposits out there, so people will be looking to secure supply. Unlike a laterite, which has additional processing steps, they (nickel sulphides) will be a highly sought-after deposit, given how high they are in grade and their ability to be able to feed into a broader system, perhaps with less high-grade material. AM

Interview edited for length and clarity.

*Mincor produces a high-grade nickel product from its Kambalda operations. The higher the grade the more suitable it is for renewable energy technologies.

GABRIELLE IWANOW WAS PREVIOUSLY GENERAL MANAGER OF OZ MINERALS’ PROMINENT HILL OPERATIONS.

UNDERGROUND AT THE KAMBALDA NICKEL OPERATION IN WA.

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VOCUS SATELLITE – STARLINK EXPANDS THE CONNECTIVITY MIX

Effective internet connectivity relies on integrated network solutions, and Vocus sits comfortably at the vanguard of providing fibre optic cable and low earth orbit (LEO) satellite communications to the most remote regions of Australia.

The company continues to build its communications network underpinning smart technologies, a data-hungry fly in, fly out (FIFO) workforce and mining communities that are increasingly dependent on fast and reliable internet connectivity.

The substantial investment by Vocus across the Pilbara has resulted in the near-complete Darwin-JakartaSingapore Cable (DJSC) project. This is a 1000km high-capacity optic spur from the Australian Singapore Cable (ASC) to a pre-existing cable at Port Hedland forming the DJSC.

“Construction is well underway and progressing to schedule consistent with our strong track record of on-time, on-budget delivery,” Vocus national industry lead – resources and utilities

Simon Head told Australian Mining

The DJSC is designed to provide a geographically diverse and protected wet route from the Pilbara to Perth, as well as a direct low-latency network to Singapore, providing connectivity to many major cloud computing hyperscalers located there.

The increases in data capacity derived from the DJCS will encourage the extension of cloud computing platforms and services into the Pilbara and are

already attracting edge computing data centre providers for regional and remote Australia.

“Many organisations across the resources sector are perceiving the benefits from our network connectivity solutions and the ability to access both Perth and south-east Asia is extremely attractive, especially from the perspective of cloud computing services,” Head said.

On target for completion in Q2 2024 is the 1600km Project Horizon, designed to complete a ‘western loop’ of terrestrial network assets by connecting Geraldton to Port Hedland, via Newman, providing further internet connectivity options to the Pilbara’s commodities extraction operations.

Vocus’ communications infrastructure is described as a game-changer for the connectivity dynamic across the Pilbara.

“Significantly, when built the Horizon Cable System will complete our western rings, providing a figure of eight cable system that has multiple terrestrial and sub-sea paths out of West Australia’s most expansive resources provinces,” Vocus key account director –natural resources Benedict Boylson told Australian Mining

“Having sub-sea routes provides significant protection from adverse weather events that can impact longhaul terrestrial based systems.

“Unfortunately, we are seeing more ‘once in a century’ types of events with our state’s worst floods on record in the Kimberley in 2022 and tropical cyclone Seroja across the central west coast in 2021.”

Last November, Vocus entered into an agreement with SpaceX to offer Starlink Business, powered by satellites in LEO, to Australian enterprise and government customers.

Sold as Vocus Satellite – Starlink, the solution provides premium installation or the option of selfinstallation, 100 per cent Australianbased support, and integration with existing network solutions.

Vocus Satellite – Starlink provides a high-gain antenna, additional throughput allocation and extreme weather performance, helping ensure high bandwidth and low latency for critical operations 24–7.

Vocus chief executive, enterprise and government Andrew Wildblood said it was exciting to be working with a global technology leader to bring game-changing satellite connectivity to customers.

“Starlink is innovation at its best, with some of the smartest minds in the industry and a phenomenal satellite broadband product,” he said. “Vocus is excited to be one of the first telcos in the world to work with Starlink to bring this to customers.

“Enterprise and government customers need a technical and service experience that is above and beyond – people who know how to work with large companies, can project manage installations, provide tailored services and consistently deliver brilliantly responsive assurance. And that’s Vocus’ specialty.

“Enterprise and government customers will experience satellite

service delivery like never before with Vocus.”

According to Vocus development manager for space and satellite Ashley Neale, new technologies that challenge the status quo, like LEO satellite, “need like-minded organisations to deliver full value”.

“Customers on Vocus’ fibre network running mission-critical operations at their sites will now have another highperformance, attractively priced option for reach and redundancy, providing extra assurance for business continuity, with personalised service built on industry best practice,” he said.

In a rapidly evolving digital world, mining is no different from so many other industries in that high-speed, lowlatency internet is critical for businesses.

“Starlink allows enterprises to manage their remote operations more efficiently,” SpaceX vice president of Starlink sales Jonathan Hofeller said.

“We look forward to providing Vocus’ customers with Starlink’s powerful and reliable connectivity solution.”

Vocus is making a significant competitive and structural impact on regional pricing across the Pilbara and more broadly across Australia. There is a strong historic correlation between the company’s significant geographic coverage and a shift in incumbent pricing to metro equivalent rate cards.

“Starlink is a fundamental partner and a key pillar for providing an integrated network solution for Vocus customers, now and into the future,” Head said. AM

VOCUS GROUP CONTINUES TO EXPAND ITS NETWORK SOLUTIONS, WITH THE ONGOING ROLLOUT OF LONG-HAUL FIBRE ACROSS THE PILBARA AND THE RECENT ARRIVAL OF SATELLITE-POWERED INTERNET WITH STARLINK.

STARLINK BUSINESS ENSURES 24–7 HIGH BANDWIDTH AND LOW LATENCY FOR CRITICAL OPERATIONS.

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INVESTING FOR A PROSPEROUS FUTURE

With more than 150 years of investment knowledge and experience, Joseph Palmer & Sons has strong connections to mining in Australia.

“Our doors opened in 1872 because of the gold rush in New South Wales,” managing partner Malcolm Palmer told Australian Mining

“And as a company we’ve followed the booms and busts of mining companies, the ups and downs of market cycles, the variables and trends of economic conditions, and have clearly understood the historic correlation between national output and the mining industry.

“Since the listing of BHP on the stock exchange in 1885 up until today, we have not had a year in our history that we haven’t had a client owning high-quality mining shares.”

Every day that Joseph Palmer & Sons operates in the stock market, the company is, one way or another, examining mining shares for their suitability in client portfolios.

“Our financial services are pretty simple; we provide investment management services and transact

professional together with time to grow, manage and administer a portfolio, as well as undertake forensic research to guide their decision-making.

For most, these self-imposed tasks

Palmer & Sons to ensure their financial health remains strong?

The answer is that this firm delivers the third approach towards wealthcreation and preservation – and that is by the wise use of portfolios tailored to the specific needs of each and every client. These are ‘managed discretionary accounts’ (MDAs) within which all securities are directly owned by the client, as are tax benefits in their entirety.

“At Joseph Palmer & Sons, we believe that mining industry workers, with typically higher salaries and rates of savings, can benefit from an established and conservative financial services firm guiding them to diversify their investment portfolios,” Palmer said.

“Many resource industry personnel may be over-exposed to the mining sector and from our perspective this is problematic and can lead to negative outcomes.

“Our focus is on diversification, and we encourage exposure to different segments of the market to provide resistance against volatility.”

Joseph Palmer & Sons investment manager Maria Webb has extensive experience in financial markets. She believes an efficient mining industry directly impacts capital markets and that the Australian share market is significantly influenced by events in the mining industry.

Webb works directly with her clients and is intimately involved in shaping their financial interests while ensuring investment preferences and risk appetites are clearly specified.

Performance remains one of the ‘three essential Ps of investment’: the right people, following the right process will always deliver the desired performance.

Highly skilled investment professionals like Webb, who has been a member of the firm for many years, undertake the unique ‘relative value analysis’ (RVA) process – in essence, identifying undervalued securities both here and internationally which leads to optimal investment performance.

“It’s our job as investment managers to navigate market events, look for opportunities, provide clear and accurate advice in order to maintain the financial health of our clients,” Webb said.

“A winning investment journey begins with a single step and, to that end, I would be delighted to have an initial chat on how that may be achieved.” AM

JOSEPH PALMER & SONS OFFERS A SUITE OF INVESTMENT SERVICES FOR MINING INDUSTRY CLIENTS, PROVIDING INDIVIDUALLY TAILORED PORTFOLIOS.

INVESTMENT MANAGER MARIA WEBB FEELS AN EFFICIENT MINING INDUSTRY DIRECTLY IMPACTS CAPITAL MARKETS.

MANAGING PARTNER MALCOLM PALMER BELIEVES MINING WORKERS CAN BENEFIT FROM AN ESTABLISHED FINANCIAL SERVICES FIRM.

MINERS EMBRACE INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

AUSTRALIAN MINING LOOKS AT SOME EXAMPLES OF WHAT THE RESOURCES INDUSTRY HAS DONE TO SUPPORT INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY.

International Women’s Day (IWD) is an annual opportunity to celebrate women’s achievements, raise awareness about discrimination and take action to drive gender parity.

The first IWD was held in 1911 and has since transformed into a global day to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women.

This year’s IWD takes place on March 8 and is focused on the theme ‘Embrace Equity’; being fair and

impartial, regardless of someone’s gender. Miners and equipment suppliers across the country have embraced IWD and the opportunity to do more to foster inclusion and diversity.

AusIMM

Once a year for the last five years, AusIMM has held an International Women’s Day event series to champion diversity and inclusion in the resources sector – and 2023 is no exception.

To be held from March 3–10 across Australian capital cities, the series is a way to bring teams together to celebrate

success, network and share in industry celebration.

The series’ diversity and inclusion ambassador Kim Solomons is the face of the campaign.

“Being asked to be an ambassador with AusIMM and Newmont is an incredible privilege,” Solomons said.

“This opportunity allows us to celebrate the partnership that AusIMM and Newmont share, and to promote the amazing work being done in both organisations.

“I was taught early on that there is no such thing as can’t. No matter your

gender or your element of diversity, my parents were always of the mindset that we can all have a place in the world, and if you work hard then you can progress.

“So, given that, and in the context of the working world, I get pretty excited by helping businesses create that open and inclusive space where people feel comfortable and included.”

The IWD event series features a line-up of speakers and diversity workshops centred around empowering and celebrating women in the mining sector.

A 2023 IWD partner, John Deere remains committed to forging meaningful change across its operations.

“Women are critical to John Deere’s success,” chief executive officer John May said in a statement.

“They lead our factories and teams, design new solutions, manufacture our machines, manage dealerships, and serve on our board of directors.

“At every point in our great organisation, all these women are visionaries, innovators, entrepreneurs, mentors, and advocates

who drive new ways of thinking and doing.”

With over 75,000 employees worldwide, John Deere aims to ensure it is doing more to create opportunities and improve the lives of women within its spheres, including becoming a partner of IWD 2023.

“While it’s vital to recognise the achievements of women, these celebrations cannot serve as proof that we’ve reached our goal,” May said.

“Instead, they should serve as an inspiring reminder of how much further we must go to reach gender equality

and how much more we will accomplish when we do.”

Honeywell

Inclusion and diversity are foundational principles at Honeywell.

The company, a 2023 supporter of IWD, actively recruits, develops and retains talent from diverse backgrounds and cultures.

“From recruitment to employee experience and partnership, Honeywell fully embraces diversity and inclusion,” chief inclusion and diversity officer Sandra Barbosa said.

“Our culture of belonging empowers us to show up as our whole selves, allowing respect to flourish and innovation to thrive.

“This is how we deliver the best outcomes for our customers and make our communities stronger.”

Honeywell chief executive officer Darius Adamczyk described inclusion and diversity as bedrock principles for the company.

“We intentionally invest in and shape strong female leaders by providing programs that help women develop skills and gain experience that advance their careers,” he said.

Honeywell is proud of its Women’s Career Advancement Program, which cultivates the leadership skills necessary for its employees to assume senior roles throughout the company.

“We direct a great deal of our philanthropic passion and resources toward expanding access to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education, particularly for girls,” Adamczyk said.

“We empower young women through our strategic partnerships with the Society of Women Engineers, Junior Achievement, the Avasara Academy (a secondary school in Pune, India), and many other life- changing non-profit organisations.

“We also strive to recognise and neutralise biases with companywide learning curricula, including unconscious bias training.”

Xylem

A global water technology company, Xylem understands that threats such as climate change, urbanisation and the need for clean water to stop the spread of disease often disproportionately impact women and girls.

“One key way we are solving water through innovation is by building a diverse and inclusive organisation that fosters a vibrant exchange of ideas,” Xylem president and chief executive officer Patrick Decker said.

“We work across the water sector and beyond to foster business practices that empower women, including signing the United Nations Women’s Empowerment Principles.

“Our corporate social responsibility program, Xylem Watermark, focuses on providing humanitarian clean water access, disaster response and WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) education to communities facing the most dire water challenges.”

Roy Hill

Each year, Gina Rinehart’s Roy Hill broadcasts its inaugural viewing of its Women in Mining video. The video shares the real stories of women across the miner’s operations and acknowledges their outstanding contributions.

“Women at Roy Hill work at the only mine in the world where technology and operational responsibility join with breast cancer support,” Rinehart said in her Women in Mining premiere speech on January 24.

“Our world-first pink trucks, locomotives, WHIMS (women’s health and integrated maternity services) plant and other pink mining equipment raise funds and support to breast cancer sufferers.”

John Deere

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY IS A CHANCE TO RECOGNISE AND CELEBRATE WOMEN’S ACHIEVEMENTS ACROSS THE GLOBE.

KIM SOLOMONS IS THE DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION AMBASSADOR FOR AUSIMM’S IWD EVENT SERIES.

Roy Hill currently has a higher-thanindustry-standard female representation in mining of 25 per cent.

“Metallurgists, engineers, mechanics, diesel operators, process plant operators, geos, train drivers, rail maintenance, drill-and-blast crews, and many other roles,” Rinehart said. “We provide development opportunities for women across our operations,.

“At Roy Hill, Atlas and Hancock, we are all about building an exceptional future together and building the best mining company in the world.”

BHP

BHP is committed to promoting equity across its mining operations.

Chile’s Carolina García, one of the company’s specialist technical trainers who experienced an accident in 2005 that resulted in tetraplegia, was recognised as one of the most inspiring women in mining in 2021.

She leads the diversity and inclusion project in Pampa Norte, Chile, which aims to increase the number of people with disability in the company, stressing the importance of infrastructure and how to adapt processes to be more inclusive.

“I feel very excited to have returned to the mining industry – something I would have never imagined having done, due to my disability,” García said.

“I feel included in my teams, and I believe we are making big changes, as well as facing big challenges ahead. This project excites and entertains me.

“Today at BHP, we are more than 125 people with disabilities. There are 26 people with disabilities at Spence (a copper concentrator plant in Chile) and 14 at Cerro Colorado (a copper mine in Chile) and they are invisible disabilities. So my focus is on how we activate empathy.”

Alejandra Ramírez, an apprentice with BHP’s Autonomous Drilling Project, said working in a mine was one of her proudest achievements.

“It has made me feel important to be a woman in an area that was only for men,” she said.

“I am seen as an example in my family. I have nieces who have come

on the field and have fallen in love with mining.

“It has been a great experience and allowed me to experience personal growth. I feel highly valued as a woman working with BHP.”

Rio Tinto

In celebration of IWD, Rio Tinto had eight women from across the company’s operations took over its Instagram page and shared their stories.

Geologist, Bakoly; communications and corporate relations manager, Zanele; environmental superintendent, Uuganbayar; fitter and turner, Belinda; chief financial officer aluminium Canada, Gillian; fixed plant manager, Mhairi; senior manager communications, Sugar; and senior transformation adviser, Erika all gave their views on what makes Rio Tinto an inclusive place to work.

“Every woman working in a mining company is the strength of that company,” Bakoly said.

“As a geologist, I always dreamed about working in a big mining company and I’m proud to be part of the Rio family.”

Belinda, a fitter and turner at Rio’s Boyne Smelters in Gladstone,

Queensland, has taken it upon herself to start a lunch group with the other women in her team.

“When I first joined BSL (Boyne Smelters Limited) there weren’t a lot of ladies here,” she said. “So I started an informal lunch group so we could get together with all the other lady tradies here on site – we call it an ‘aunty lunch’.

“It gives us an opportunity to confide in each other if we have any issues, or just to have a good old laugh.”

For Mhairi, who works in Western Australia as a fixed plant manager, building a supportive network is key.

“I’ve had a fantastic career working in mining and I invite any woman considering going into the industry to reach out to your broader network to see if there is anyone who might be able to share their experience,” she said.

“And be yourself – you might think as a female working in the mining industry that you might have to behave in a certain way, act like one of the boys. But that’s just not the case.

You’ll find that you’re respected for who you are.

“We need to continue to encourage inclusive behaviours to create a more inclusive environment around us.”

International Day of Women in Mining

Separate to IWD, the International Day of Women in Mining (IDWIM) is held annually and provides another chance to celebrate women in the mining and resources sectors.

A not-for-profit organisation, IDWIM pursues gender equality and promotes women’s voices, access to opportunities and leadership.

With major partners in Weir Minerals, Sandvik, the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA), Rio Tinto, BHP and Newmont, many are committed to celebrating the achievements of women, while creating a more inclusive workplace.

“More women have chosen to make their careers in Australian mining,” MCA chief executive officer Tania Constable said. “In 2016, BHP set its goal to achieve gender balance by 2025. Today, women make up the majority of ... its executive leadership team. At Rio Tinto, 58 per cent of its 2021 graduate intake were women.

“Over the last 15 years, there has been a fivefold increase in the number of female managers in the mining industry and it is expected many more will follow in the years to come.” AM

FOSTERING INCLUSION AND DIVERSITY IS IMPORTANT IN THE MINING SECTOR.

(THESE IWD CELEBRATIONS) SHOULD SERVE AS AN INSPIRING REMINDER OF HOW MUCH FURTHER WE MUST GO TO REACH GENDER EQUALITY AND HOW MUCH MORE WE WILL ACCOMPLISH WHEN WE DO.”

Mining shares were the first shares my great grandfather bought for his clients.

That was back in 1872 when he founded Joseph Palmer & Sons.

Which means we have been investing for clients like yourself for over 150 years. We know mining and we know investing. So, we have appointed Maria Webb, our specialist to help with your investment portfolio.

Maria’s specialist role

My job is to optimise your long-term financial security by both growing and preserving your wealth.

Whether your investments are privately held or in a super fund (of any kind) I am here to assist you.

You can expect professional advice built around my understanding of your particular circumstances.

To discuss how we add value to your specific investment situation, please call me on +61 2 8224 3309 - direct line.

Or send me an email, your time, and expect a quick response.

mwebb@jpalmer.com.au

Maria spent 15 years in global investment banking, stockbroking and relationship management and has been with Joseph Palmer & Sons since 2013

Investment specialist for mining clients

Maria Webb

Managing Partner

Joseph Palmer & Sons

Malcolm Palmer

CRUSHING THE GAME WITH IMPRESSIVE SIZERS

TAKRAF GROUP CALLS ON EXPERIENCE GAINED THROUGH MORE THAN A CENTURY OF OPERATION TO PROVIDE THE MINING INDUSTRY WITH AN ARRAY OF INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGICAL SOLUTIONS.

Well positioned to provide equipment, systems and services that best satisfy the needs of the resources industry, TAKRAF Group has engineered solutions that can be customised to each project’s unique requirements and are aimed at lowering the total cost of ownership and reducing environmental impact.

Conor Mitchell, TAKRAF Group product manager for crushing, spoke with Australian Mining about what he believes sets the company apart from others in the industry.

“Something we have learned over the years is that the best results always come from listening attentively to our customers regarding their operational challenges and requirements,” he said.

“As a result, not only did we refine and upgrade our crushing station installations, but we also realised that a new crushing or sizing solution was required, one that offered increased reliability and performance together with heavy-duty capability for hardrock applications.”

This attention to detail and awareness of customer needs has come together in the form of TAKRAF’s X-TREME range of class sizers.

Featuring an increased feed size of between 1200–2500mm in the primary sizer and a maximum throughput rate of 12,000 tonnes per hour, the range was designed to ensure the machines reliably exceed real-life application requirements in terms of capacity, installed power and product size.

“We applied our extensive experience in the global mining industry in the design and development of our X-TREME class range of sizers,” Mitchell said.

“With its simple yet robust design, the X-TREME class sizers offer an economical and efficient machine boasting extended reliability and

increased availability in the most extreme applications.”

The components that make up the X-TREME class sizer, including the TAKRAF quick-release system, have been designed to reduce downtime.

“When minutes count, make the most of every second,” Mitchell said.

“The high-engagement tooth configuration is optimised to grip and crush large rocks, with integrally cast tooth holders and shrink-fit keys that transmit the high crushing forces required to break hard rocks.

“Modular wear components, which are easy to handle together with changeout procedures that can be conducted in position and an integrated moving unit, enable the entire unit to slide into its maintenance position for safe and quick maintenance procedures, further decreasing the length of any downtime.”

TAKRAF Group has been operating in Australia for a number of years with a range of installations across the TAKRAF (an acronym for Tagebau-Ausrüstungen, Krane und Förderanlagen) and DELKOR brands being used nationwide.

When a TAKRAF rail-mounted stacker was recently implemented at a bulk terminal on the coast of Queensland, the order comprised of the design, fabrication, supply, installation, commissioning and handover.

“The machine boasts an initial stacking capacity of 6300 tonnes per hour,” TAKRAF Australia sales manager Will Haua said.

technologies, the machine was designed to be future-proof, with plans to accommodate a peak rate of up to 9600 tonnes per hour in a scheduled future upgrade.

“This machine is designed for large volumes and features a massive 62-metre-long curved boom, making it one of the largest ever delivered.”

The stacker was fabricated in Australia, with the structures completed to a stage where it was practicable to transport them by road, while also minimising the time spent on site to dress the structure out before installation.

Reinforcing the experience of TAKRAF Group and its understanding of the unique conditions in the mining industry, Haua said several factors were

“Scheduling of site erection of the machine needed to take into account the potentially challenging climatic conditions of north-east Queensland, with high humidity levels in the summer months, the possibility of cyclones and heavy rain in the wet season,” Haua said.

With comprehensive after-sales service on all machines, TAKRAF Group is committed to helping customers in all areas.

“Whether its spare parts, wear parts and special tools or technical evaluations, we have the tools and experience to provide a whole host of upgrades, analysis and maintenance,” Haua said.

“TAKRAF Group is there to support businesses with total lifecycle engineering support services.” AM

A TAKRAF CRUSHING PLANT IN CHILE FEATURES A PROCESSING RATE OF 7250 TONNES PER HOUR.

TAKRAF SIZER PRODUCTION AT THE PRODUCT AND SERVICE CENTRE IN GERMANY.

FROM EXTRACTION TO ATTRACTION

Recent years have seen a strong, and welcome, commitment to the effective rehabilitation of decommissioned mine sites, leading to many innovative regeneration projects. This has resulted in not only the repair of the environment, but also the creation of outdoor and adventure tourism.

At Lake Kepwari, a short drive from the main street of Collie in Western Australia’s south-west, a former opencut coal mine has quickly become a significant outdoor attraction that draws thousands of visitors to its waters every year.

After years of painstaking rehabilitation by previous operator Premier Coal, the former mine, known as Western Five, reopened in 2020 as a recreational lake, offering visitors a wide range of aquatic pursuits and camping amid a picturesque bush setting.

The name Lake Kepwari comes from the local Wiilman language – ‘Kepwari’ translates to ‘playing in water’.

The WA Government, after identifying Lake Kepwari as a key development project in the south-west region, committed $5.7 million to realising this vision.

The lake’s development into a recreation hub encompasses a swim beach, picnic areas, campground, toilets, boat ramp and jetty, parking bays for 85 boat trailers and 65 cars as well as a designated water ski area on the lake. Upgrades to the entrance road, a new bridge over the Collie River and increased signage has turned the area into a water sports landmark.

Collie is a town that has traditionally been reliant on mining and power generation for employment opportunities and to underpin local businesses, but tourism is becoming an important driver of a more diversified local economy.

The enhancement of nature-based tourism continues to contribute to economic growth and diversification, supporting job creation and a secure, sustainable regional community.

AN INCREASING NUMBER OF AUSTRALIA’S FORMER MINING REGIONS ARE BECOMING POPULAR TOURIST DESTINATIONS, AND THE REHABILITATION OF MULTIPLE SITES IN SOUTH-WEST WA HAS BEEN ESPECIALLY SUCCESSFUL.

BLACK DIAMOND LAKE HAS BECOME A SOCIAL MEDIA SENSATION DUE TO THE VIBRANT BLUE COLOUR OF ITS WATERS.

hotel, the Colliefields. Having run the food and accommodation business for more than a decade, she said the town felt “slammed” (in a positive way) from the moment the lake was developed.

“Once Lake Kepwari opened, our weekend accommodation increased by 55 per cent and weekday accommodation doubled, while sales in the café were up 50 per cent on the previous year,” Gannaway explained to WA-based online publisher Resourc.ly.

Lake Kepwari will continue to be a landmark for the mining industry – not just for the town of Collie – as a prime example of how rehabilitating a mine site is more than just planting trees.

It demonstrates how cooperation between mining companies, the local community and government

plan to turn the old mine site into a water sports facility, and the extensive work the company put into making that vision a reality.

According to WA’s Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA), which is responsible for looking after the site, there have been hundreds of thousands of visits to the lake since the completion of its rehabilitation.

Unfortunately, tragedy struck Black Diamond Lake on Boxing Day 2022 when a tourist drowned in its waters.

Huge numbers of sightseers have been drawn to the vibrant blue colours of the Black Diamond Lake, which has become something of a social media sensation in recent years. The combination of the spectacular waters, which come about as a result of the area’s limestone base, and the lake’s proximity to Perth has seen it

also shows the potential hazards of these

that people swim at their own risk – the past mining activities mean the water has a low pH level.

Regardless, Lake Kepwari sits comfortably among a list of notable global sites that have transitioned into new, important and perhaps surprising roles once mining has ceased.

That list also includes a quarry in Louisville in the US that has become an underground bike park; the Lefdal mine in Norway, which has been turned into a renewable-powered data centre, and Zollverein in Germany, at one stage the world’s largest and most modern coalmining facility but now home to a massive modern centre for culture and artworks.

What is clear is that the lights being turned off at a mine does not necessarily mean the end of its journey. AM

“LAKE KEPWARI WILL CONTINUE TO BE A LANDMARK FOR THE MINING INDUSTRY – NOT JUST FOR THE TOWN OF COLLIE – AS A PRIME EXAMPLE OF HOW REHABILITATING A MINE SITE IS MORE THAN JUST PLANTING TREES.”

CAMPERS TAKE ADVANTAGE OF STOCKTON LAKE’S SPRAWLING EDGE.

MINERS CLOSE 2022 ON A HIGH

WITH THE RELEASE OF THE DECEMBER 2022 QUARTERLY REPORTS, MINING COMPANIES AROUND AUSTRALIA HAVE REPORTED POSITIVE RESULTS, WITH IRON ORE AND COPPER THE STANDOUTS.

When the string of December quarterly reports was released at the end of 2022, they brought with them record results.

Majors Rio Tinto, BHP and Fortescue, among others, reported bumper quarters, shipping millions of tonnes of iron ore and copper.

While China’s extended lockdowns, La Niña weather events and surging energy prices kept some miners relatively down, the broader outlook was largely positive.

BHP

The Big Australian achieved record iron ore production of 146 million tonnes for the second half of 2022. BHP cited “strong supply-chain performance, supported by the ongoing ramp-up at South Flank”.

The company also announced it was fatality-free at its operated assets for the fourth consecutive year.

“BHP delivered safe and reliable operating performance in the first half of the 2023 financial year,” chief executive officer Mike Henry said. “Employees and contractors across BHP continued to prioritise safety,

Rio Tinto

Iron ore was a central player in Rio’s quarterly report, with the major miner shipping 87.3 million tonnes from its Western Australian mines. The results were a four per cent increase from the same time last year, slightly ahead of market expectations.

“A number of operational records were achieved in the second half across the Pilbara iron ore mine and rail system,” Rio chief executive Jakob Stausholm said.

The final three months of 2022 saw the beginning of the end of China’s zeroCOVID policy, and Rio Tinto said the resulting improving market conditions sent iron ore prices 22 per cent higher. However, the coming months will likely bring “high volatility”, the company added, as China faces a growing wave of COVID cases.

The value of local iron ore production, which typically ranks as Australia’s most valuable export, hit an all-time high of more than $150 billion in 2021.

But a global energy crisis and geopolitical instability as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have seen coal overtake iron ore as Australia’s top export earner. At the same time, outbreaks of COVID-19 across 2022 and a property market slowdown in China, the world’s biggest producer of steel, have weakened demand for iron ore.

The ongoing smelter performance at Olympic Dam in South Australia saw near-record material processing and record gold production.

While Queensland coal production was affected by the heavy rainfall experienced across the state, the market for coal is set to be further boosted by increased demand from China.

“BHP believes China will be a stabilising force when it comes to commodity demand in the 2023 calendar

Development) nations experiencing economic headwinds,” Henry said.

“China’s pro-growth policies, including in the property sector and an easing of COVID-19, restrictions are expected to support progressive improvement from the difficult economic conditions of the first half.

“China is expected to achieve its fifth straight year of over one billion tonnes of steel production.”

The quarter also saw BHP finalise

Fortescue

“The Fortescue team delivered our highest ever December quarterly shipments of 49.4 million tonnes, our best ever half-year, grew the mineral and green energy business globally, strengthened our balance sheet, kept costs low, all while maintaining our excellent safety performance,” Fortescue executive chairman Andrew Forrest said.

Looking to the future, Forrest said Fortescue would have a strong interest in

“Some 100 meetings at the World Economic Forum in Davos (Switzerland) made clear to Fortescue the demand for green energy is immense,” he said.

“Green hydrogen gives the world energy storage potential of the massive scale of oil, gas and coal. Green electrons are already the world’s lowestcost energy and rely on batteries for firming capacity and energy mobility.

“Batteries are also fundamental to the rapidly growing global hydrogen fuel cell industry and are therefore one of Fortescue’s preeminent focuses.”

The past 12 months have seen a number of exits at Fortescue’s senior level, including abrupt resignation of chief financial officer (CFO) Ian Wells in early January. But the senior staff turnover didn’t seem to hinder the company’s overall cash balance, which increased to $US4 billion.

“Demand for Fortescue’s suite of iron ore products remains strong and our entry into the higher-grade segment of the market has been well received, with significant interest in the Iron Bridge magnetite concentrate,”

BHP WAS FATALITY-FREE AT ITS OPERATED ASSETS FOR THE FOURTH CONSECUTIVE YEAR.

RIO TINTO CHIEF EXECUTIVE JAKOB STAUSHOLM. (IMAGE: RIO TINTO)

OZ Minerals

OZ Minerals’ quarterly report showed 124,065 tonnes of copper produced – below the 127,000-tonne minimum target.

With the upfront spend on OZ’s West Musgrave nickel project set to rise by at least $110 million, the board encouraged shareholders to accept BHP’s $9.6 billion takeover offer when they vote in early April. BHP made an unsolicited offer for OZ at $8.4 billion in August 2022, with the agreed upon $9.6 billion offered and accepted in November.

South32

South32 saw group copper equivalent production increase by 12 per cent.

The company said it benefitted from transactions that have repositioned its portfolio toward metals critical for a lowcarbon future.

South32 also achieved record half-year manganese production.

“Despite industry-wide inflationary pressures, we expect operating unit costs for the first half to be in line with or below guidance for the 2023 financial year at the majority of our operations,” South32 chief executive officer Graham Kerr said.

The miner started the year expecting that all-in costs would be no higher than $US1.55 a pound of copper, and as recently as 2020 the company’s unit costs were just $US0.56.9 a pound.

OZ blamed the higher costs on adverse weather, COVID-induced absenteeism, supply-chain disruption and inflationary pressure. CFO Warrick Ranson said higher prices for consumables were looking to be the new normal.

sort of 10 per cent to 12 per cent, a little bit higher in some of the other areas,” Ranson said.

“That has sort of steadied. We are not really seeing any further uplift, but prices aren’t coming back down, so we are living with those higher price levels now.”

Whitehaven Coal

The coal producer said it enjoyed a record half-year result in spite of issues

record half-year result on the back of an average coal price of $552 per tonne across the previous six months.

Whitehaven’s run-of-mine (ROM) production of 4.8 million tonnes for the December quarter was up 21 per cent from the three months prior and 50 per cent up from the December quarter of 2021.

Although the La Niña weather events affected production at the company’s open-cut mines, this was offset by the strong performance of the Narrabri underground mine in New South Wales.

“Strong ongoing demand for high CV (calorific value) coal, coupled with supply constraints, underpinned high prices, a solid December quarter and an exceptional first-half result,” Whitehaven Coal managing director and chief executive officer Paul Flynn said.

“We generated $2.5 billion of cash from operations in the half year, including $1 billion in the December quarter. At the end of December, we held a net cash position of $2.5 billion.”

Evolution Mining

Evolution enjoyed a bumper quarter with higher gold and copper production, a new CFO and continued exploration at Ernest Henry. The company reported a three per cent and seven per cent increase in gold and copper production, respectively.

Operating mine cash flow also increased by 31 per cent to $270 million, with Ernest Henry generating $142 million in mine cash flow.

cash flow this quarter, which reinforces

The miner reported a non-binding advisory resolution in relation to its Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP) being voted in by shareholders at its annual general meeting on October 27 2022, with 89.6 per cent of the votes received in favour of the resolution.

The CCAP included a new goal of netzero Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and a commitment not to develop or invest in greenfield metallurgical coal projects.

ANDREW FORREST SAID FORTESCUE WILL HAVE A STRONG INTEREST IN SUSTAINABILITY. (IMAGE: FMG)

SOUTH32 REPORTED RECORD HALFYEAR MANGANESE PRODUCTION..

FORTESCUE DELIVERED ITS HIGHEST EVER DECEMBER QUARTERLY SHIPMENTS OF 49.4 MILLION TONNES. (IMAGE: FMG)

Hawsons Iron

The company made the decision to slow work on its bankable feasibility study (BFS) in midOctober 2022, with a strategic review examining escalating capital expenditure and operating cost estimates amid a turbulent economic climate.

Hawsons Iron will conceptually consider a multi-stage mining operation with a lower base production rate to ‘right-size’ the project before eventually scaling up towards the development of the preferred 20-million-tonne-perannum operation.

This could involve using existing rail and port infrastructure to reduce upfront capital costs before the possibility of an underground slurry pipeline is considered.

Hawsons Iron has engaged a team of specialists to conduct the strategic review, with all available project data being assessed by partners including project management specialist JukesTodd, international engineering company Stantec, mining consultancy Australian Mine Design and Development, resource specialist H&S Consultants and Flinders Ports.

our position as one of the lowest cost, highest margin global gold producers,” Evolution chief executive officer and managing director Lawrie Conway said.

“We remain on track to deliver group FY23 production and cost guidance with planned quarterly performance weighted to the second half of the year.”

Evolution’s report also announced that new drillholes as part of the ongoing Ernest Henry exploration program have intersected significant mineralisation widths below and within the pre-feasibility study (PFS) mine life extension area.

“We are excited to see continued drilling success at Ernest Henry, confirming its status as a world class asset with strong potential for future mine life extension,” Conway said.

“The PFS will be continued for another few months to incorporate the full benefits of the larger mine footprint to optimise design and location of infrastructure.”

Lynas Rare Earths

Lynas’ quarterly report showcased a 14.8 per cent bump in revenue. The company said revenue rose to $232.7 million in the three months to

December 31 2022, compared with $202.7 million a year prior.

The company also said prices for rare earths stabilised during the quarter, and future pricing trends will depend mainly on the economic recovery in China.

“Production and sales outcomes in the December quarter recovered following the water supply disruptions experienced in the prior quarter,” Lynas chief executive officer Amanda Lacaze said.

“Sales receipts, at $168.4 million, reflected timing of deliveries which occurred later in the quarter.

“Market prices started to increase again from December in anticipation of the late-January Lunar New Year holidays and an expected rebound of the consumption in China.”

Red5

Red5’s King of the Hills (KOTH) gold mine ramped up production, producing more than 36,000 ounces in the December quarter.

With a processing cost of $12 per tonne, the KOTH process plant is the lowest cost mill in WA’s Leonora district.

De Grey Mining

A highlight for De Grey Mining’s December quarter was the mining

agreement reached with the Kariyarra people in WA, providing employment pathways, training and contracting.

“The formalisation of the agreement is a result of the company and Kariyarra people working closely together over several years,” De Grey said in its report “This has included the completion of many heritage surveys to support drilling activities and the development of the agreement.”

29Metals

Safety was a highlight for 29Metals, with continuing improvement in total recordable injury frequency rate (TRIFR) reducing for the fourth consecutive year.

“(It was) a strong finish to a year which provided a challenging backdrop across the sector, especially in the first half,” 29Metals managing director and chief executive officer Peter Albert said.

“Despite challenges, we met or did better than our guidance for production, costs and capital for the year.

“(Our) 2022 production ended strongly, as expected. Zinc production was a particular highlight, with Golden Grove producing 22 kilotons of zinc for the quarter on the back of the highergrade material coming through.” AM

GOLDEN OPPORTUNITIES IN THE GOLD INDUSTRY

Gold production in Australia is estimated to rise in the coming years, and with increased production comes a greater range of opportunities for employment in the industry.

And a surprising number of those opportunities lie beyond the operational site face, with many gold employees working in fields such as human resources, environment, community, technology, and data science.

“Not all roles will require previous qualifications or specific skill sets, so there really are opportunities for everyone,” Gold Industry Group chief executive officer Kristy Reilly told Australian Mining.

Equal opportunity is a key focus of the industry, with gold companies across the country working on initiatives to promote acceptance and inclusion for workers of all backgrounds.

“It’s amazing to see workers entering the industry from all different backgrounds,” Reilly said.

“With so many roles on offer, the industry truly is open to everyone and embraces diversity of all kinds.”

Reilly said it was important to get the message across that gold mining companies value a range of skills, not just those in geology and engineering.

Reilly said the industry is always looking for new ways to streamline operations and keep workers safe, while providing highly desirable flexible work arrangements, making it an incredibly exciting field in which to be involved.

“The acceleration of automation and AI (artificial intelligence) by the industry brings demand for new technological skills, as well as social and emotional,” she said.

“These changes will require workers everywhere to deepen their existing skill sets or acquire new ones and we’re seeing many members invest in their people to ensure they are fully equipped for the

“There are extensive opportunities for on-the-job training and career advancement, because gold companies will always support workers who want to advance their skills and knowledge within their role.”

AS ONE OF THE LARGEST EMPLOYERS WITHIN THE AUSTRALIAN RESOURCES SECTOR, THE GOLD INDUSTRY HAS A POSITION AND A CAREER PATH FOR EVERYONE.

SECTORS ARE HIGHLY SOUGHT AFTER BY HIRING MANAGERS.”

MANAGER OF BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE AND ANALYTICS AT ANGLOGOLD ASHANTI AUSTRALIA, MATTHEW CROUCH.

REGIS RESOURCES TRAINER, PATRICIA DE ALMELDA.

DO YOU KNOW A DRIVER OF CHANGE?

WOMEN IN INDUSTRY NOMINATIONS ARE NOW OPEN. Now is your chance to nominate an industry leader who you believe is advocating for positive change and deserves to be recognised.

WOMENININDUSTRY.COM.AU

THURS 8 JUNE 2023

The Women in Industry Awards recognise outstanding women leaders from across Australia’s industrials sector.

HIPO RUBBER DIAPHRAGMS FOR GHT 2000

Thejo has successfully developed the HIPO brand diaphragm for GHT 2000 filter press. This is considered as one of the biggest vertical filter presses to dewater huge volumes of slurry reaching very low values of residual moisture. Thejo’s HIPO range of filter products coverer the spares required for the pressure filter presses supplied by major OEMs like Metso-Outotec (Larox), Diemme, Andritz and TH Minerals. HIPO diaphragms are precisely moulded rubber membranes as replacements to major OEMs. The membranes are manufactured through an innovative process, and fitment-tested on jigs to ensure trouble-free fitment on existing filter frames. The compound used to make diaphragms makes it last longer ,with extended operational life.

• thejo-engg.com

THE SMART AND GREEN SERIES

Epiroc has ramped up deliveries of battery-electric vehicles and are now seeing strong results from the field in terms of productivity, CO2 reduction and customer satisfaction. The Smart and Green series is the next step to highlight the benefits of zero-emission technology and automation– together with several strong partnerships and initiatives within the sustainability field.

Epiroc is now rebranding its underground battery-electric range to the Smart and Green series, broadening the fleet to potentially include other zero-emission technologies in the future. These battery-powered machines come equipped with Epiroc’s Rig Control System (RCS), which makes them ready for smart functionality such as automation and remote control.

Epiroc is also introducing the smart series for their diesel-powered range outfitted with RCS. Just like the electric range, the smart machines are prepared for additional functionality from Epiroc’s 6th Sense offering. The included machine models will feature new decal designs as well as updated product naming.

• epiroc.com/en-uk

STEP UP TO THE NEXT LEVEL IN WEAR PLATE PERFORMANCE

Hardox 500 Tuf is the latest upgrade in the Hardox range. It is said to deliver high strength, extreme hardness and guaranteed toughness in one and the same wear plate. Hardox 500 Tuf combines the best properties from the Hardox 450 and Hardox 500 grades. The result is a wear plate Hardox says has “no real competition on the market”. It has the toughness necessary to perform as a structural material in heavyduty tipper bodies, containers and buckets. It also works in freezing conditions as the impact energy values indicate.

Superior wear- and dentresistance gives extended service life and the ability to endure heavy impact. Typical working conditions include loading and unloading of heavy and sharp rocks in quarries and mines, handling large and heavy steel scrap, and in demolition when pieces of concrete with rebar are loaded or dropped into tippers.

• s sab.com/en/brands-and-products/hardox

CERTIFIED EXPLOSION-PROOF PUMPS FOR UNDERGROUND COAL MINING

Designed and engineered for hazardous underground coal mining, Truflo Pumps’ Explosion Proof Submersible Pump series is now available for immediate delivery.

There are six pumps in the series, with applications suited from swilly and general transfer right though to high-flow, high-head multi-purpose big lifting.

“The pumps have superior performance across the board when compared to competing products, ” Truflo said.

Each pump is officially IECEx certified with SIMTARS accreditation. This certification is proof of compliance to industry safety standards adherence and that mining personnel are protected.

The build quality of each pump is extremely robust for the most challenging of underground environments, with casing pressure-tested to guarantee flame paths. Depending on the configuration, pumps have double mechanical seals, buffering oil chambers, and L10 bearings packed with lithium grease. The pumps feature fast change-out of worn impellers (which in some cases can be done underground).

• truflopumps.com.au

IWC LAUNCHES NEW CONTAINERISED BULK AIR COOLER

IWC’s bulk air coolers (BACs) help to keep underground temperatures at an optimum level, ensuring increased productivity and a healthier, safer work environment.

The latest addition is a containerised BAC (single and two-stage) unit, which is ideal for surface and underground use. The BAC offers air cooling rates of up to 1100kW, making it ideal for smaller-capacity installations as well as spot cooling. These containerised-induced draught, crossflow BACs are equipped with directly driven axial flow fans and air-mixing louvres, and are designed to be easily transported to site, making for a simple installation that can be deployed to remote mine sites and can relocated if required.

A&I COATINGS HELPS TO REDUCE EXPOSURE TO HARMFUL CHEMICALS

A&I Coatings, an Australianowned industrial coatings manufacturing company, has developed a complete system that helps to reduce workplace exposure to harmful chemicals and increase efficiency in the spray booth.

A&I Coatings

Vitrephos 560

Primer and Vitrethane 650 topcoat is designed to speed up through put times during application. The V560 Primer and V650 topcoat system has excellent wet-on-wet properties, with easy sanding and exceptional drying properties, especially in cold weather, and good film build which has seen a reduction of work hours required to complete works. The V650 topcoat is also reducing labour hours due to its high coverage and presents excellent gloss retention to finish, also a very cost-effective option. Added to this are the safety features this system offers, with zero exposure to harmful isocyanate chemicals.

Exposure to isocyanates is known to cause both respiratory illness and skin irritation, such as allergic contact dermatitis.

aicoatings.com.au

NEW DINGO REPORTING SOFTWARE

Crusader Hose brings an innovative hose reeling system that easily manages large-diameter flexible layflat hose.

Progressive mining companies ready to embrace the many benefits of layflat hose technology will benefit from knowing that the Hamersley Reel System is ready to assist in handling Crusader Hose flexible pipelines.

“The Hamersley Reel System is the simplest, fastest and most compact system available for delivering layflat hose in the field,” the company said. The interchangeable spools make it quick and easy to handle multiple lengths of layflat hose, with storage and transport being straightforward and trouble-free. Fabricated for the rapid deployment and retrieval of layflat hose, the Hamersley

DINGO has announced the release of intelligence, the first evolution of asset health data, powered by Trakka. intelligence allows users at any level of an organisation to visualise and investigate their asset health data using a selection of out-of-the-box and easy-to-use reports. The app was born from a desire to meet client and prospect expectations. While Trakka provides a comprehensive repository of data, this intuitive new software application allows those who are time-poor to see and report on the big picture instantly.

Interactive and up-to-date reports can be generated quickly without internal upkeep, capacity or specialised skills. This software is uniquely positioned to analyse, interpret, and translate Trakka data including work management items, activity, key performance indicators, and finance.

go.com/solutions/intelligence

CONFERENCES, SEMINARS AND WORKSHOPS

EVENT SUBMISSIONS CAN BE EMAILED TO EDITOR@AUSTRALIANMINING.COM.AU

Underground Operators Conference 2023

Brisbane | March 27–29

A flagship event in AusIMM’s calendar, the Underground Operators Conference will return in 2023. Bringing together mining engineers, mine operators, technical service managers and consultants, this conference sets the benchmark for sharing underground operational experiences and industry best practice.

With deposits getting deeper or lower in grade, there is increased pressure to find smarter and more cost-effective ways to extract orebodies. To address this demand, key discussion topics for 2023 centre around the evolution of digital technologies, automation and artificial intelligence and how these innovations are making it possible to mine at greater depths and lower grades.

• ausimm.com/conferences-andevents/underground-operators

Mineral Resource Estimation Conference 2023

Perth | May 24–25

The inaugural Mineral Resource Estimation Conference 2023 will attract resource geologists to demonstrate Australasian excellence on resource estimation.

The conference aims to showcase leading best practice, case studies and research on mineral resource estimation and the software applications required. Facilitating open exchange of information, boasting interactive sessions,

panel discussions and keynote presentations alongside case studies and peer-reviewed papers.

Sessions topics will showcase the latest advancements and leading examples in QA/QC and sampling, 3D geological and estimation domain modelling, geostatistical analysis, estimation, validation and risk analysis and reporting.

• ausimm.com/conferences-andevents/mineral-resource-estimation

World Mining Congress

Brisbane | June 26–29

Inaugurated in 1958, the World Mining Congress is the leading international forum for the global mining and resources sectors.

The World Mining Congress 2023 (WMC) is a unique opportunity for international representatives of the world’s leading resource economies to meet, find new partners, discuss current challenges, and share the latest research, technology, and best practice.

WMC events have set the scene for international agreements and highlevel discussions that have influenced mining practices and the resource industry for decades. Join senior mining industry owners, investors, national and international government representatives, researchers, educators, regulators, suppliers and operators from around the world in Brisbane for this genuine opportunity to demonstrate real leadership and presence on a world stage.

• wmc2023.org

Mine Waste and Tailings Conference 2023

Brisbane | July 13–14

The Mine Waste and Tailings Conference welcomes delegates from across to globe to explore all aspects of lifecycle waste rock and tailings management, from site selection and design to post-closure care, and addressing current and future challenges impacting mining systems re-engineering.

Co-hosted by AusIMM and the University of Queensland, the conference will feature industryleading keynote presentations, thought-provoking panel discussions, interactive Q&As, a suite of insightful technical presentations and exhibitors showcasing the latest innovations.

• ausimm.com/conferences-andevents/mine-waste-and-tailings

Life of Mine Conference 2023

Brisbane | August 2–4

AusIMM and the University of Queensland’s Sustainable Minerals’ Centre for Mined Land Rehabilitation (CMLR) are welcoming attendees back to the highly successful Life of Mine Conference 2023.

The conference welcomed a record number of attendees from over 15 countries in 2021, and is set to bring a wider, global audience in 2023. Join professionals, researchers, government representatives, and academics from a diverse range of sectors as the program explores the

full lifecycle of a mine, from exploration to rehabilitation.

Delivered both in-person and online, this outstanding technical conference will address current and future challenges affecting the mining value chain and will present leading examples of sustainability in mining.

• ausimm.com/conferences-andevents/life-of-mine

Australian Mining Prospect Awards

Brisbane | November 9

Taking place in Brisbane in 2023, the Australian Mining Prospect Awards are a great opportunity to recognise and acknowledge the people and companies in the mining sector for their outstanding work.

Having recently celebrated the 2022 Prospect Awards winners, nominations are now open for 2023, with awards honouring categories such as Indigenous and Community Engagement, Mine Project Success of the Year, Outstanding Mine Performance, Sustainability Project of the Year, Discovery of the Year and more.

Some of the 2022 award winners included Kestrel Coal for Australian Mine of the Year, Roy Hill for Mine Project Success of the Year, and Flexco Australia for Excellence in IIoT Application.

This year, the awards will return to Brisbane in appreciation of the vibrancy and importance of the state’s thriving mining industry.

• prospectawards.com.au

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