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MINERAL PROCESSING INNOVATIONS ARE INCREASINGLY VITAL TO THE DECARBONISATION OF THE MINING INDUSTRY.
The mining industry couldn’t operate as it does today without a reliable mineral processing sector.
While mineral processing has long served as an inherent practice in the resources value chain, it is an industry that is growing in importance.
Increasing the efficiency of mineral processing machinery and technologies has the potential to significantly drive down carbon emissions, enabling mining companies to meet their growing environmental obligations.
One proponent of this is FLSmidth, which has a range of fixed plant equipment that enable mining companies and contractors to achieve more product for less CO2 per tonne.
This includes FLSmidth’s REFLUX technologies, comprising the REFLUX Classifier, REFLUX Concentrating Classifier and REFLUX Flotation Cell, alongside its crushing, milling and grinding solutions.
FLSmidth’s fixed plant equipment underpins the MissionZero mine, whereby the company is working with its mining customers on solutions that aim to achieve zero emissions, zero water waste and zero energy waste by 2030.
Another mineral processing innovator is Molycop, which provides grinding media to optimise milling, leaching and flotation circuits.
Recent years have also seen Molycop develop a presence in data technology, with the introduction of services such as process optimisation, online analysis, and data analytics and visualisation.
Such solutions are enabling mining companies and contractors to realise more value from their throughput, supporting a more intelligent and efficient mineral processing operation.
Elsewhere in this edition, Australian Mining showcases leading technology proponents such as Appian, Brennan, ifm, Vocus, Dendra and FLIR Systems, which are assisting their mining clients to enhance their processes through tech innovations such as artificial intelligence, machine learning and automation, to name a few.
We shine a light on the uranium revival and the Australian mining companies looking to capitalise on a soaring price.
There are also profile pieces on De Grey Mining and True North Copper, two near-term producers of gold and copper, respectively. In fact, De Grey is looking to deliver the Pilbara’s first Tier 1 gold mine through its Hemi project.
Rounding out the April edition are features on the Australian mining sector’s renewable energy efforts, and a rundown of the relief on offer for the country’s beleaguered nickel miners.
Founded in China in 1943, Xuzhou Construction Mining Group (XCMG) is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of mining and construction equipment. XCMG’s sales network extends into 184 countries, and the company is represented by 300 distributors worldwide. As it looks to grow its Australian presence, XCMG is offering the local mining sector a state-of-the-art range of mining trucks, excavators, loaders, graders, cranes, hydraulic parts, and rollers.
XCMG Australia mining trucks are designed for high transport efficiency and low maintenance costs, without compromising on operator comfort or safety.
Tom Parker EditorWith a national parts centre in Melbourne, XCMG Australia has plans to expand into Perth, while a research and development facility is also a possibility in the short term.
16 COMMODITY SPOTLIGHT
The future of Australian uranium Australian Mining showcases the projects underpinning a new generation of uranium mining in Australia.
20 INDUSTRY INSIGHT
Tracking a critical future
Deloitte’s annual Tracking the Trends report looks at the challenges and opportunities facing the mining industry in the year ahead.
22 MINING EQUIPMENT
Equipped for the future
XCMG Australia has plans to become a household name in the mining industry.
28 MINERAL PROCESSING
Solving the decarbonisation disconnect Australian Mining sat down with FLSmidth to discuss the decarbonisation challenges the Australian mining sector is facing today.
32 MINERAL
Molycop is transforming mine operations better than ever.
44 MINE TECHNOLOGY
A critical constellation
The Vocus Starlink satellite is opening Australia’s most remote mines to a new era of connectivity.
54 COMPANY PROFILE
A Pilbara treasure chest
De Grey Mining’s Hemi gold mine is set to become the first Tier 1 gold operation in WA’s famed Pilbara region.
66 COMPANY PROFILE
A new copper player emerges True North Copper is aiming to become a producer of copper sulphide ore at its Cloncurry project in northwest Queensland.
68 INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENTS
Remote facility, state-of-the-art services etso’s Karratha service centre in WA brings with it a suite of benefits for the Pilbara mining industry.
James Palmer has joined 29Metals as its new chief executive officer (CEO), with the former BHP leader to commence in the role on May 1.
leading ASX-listed copper-focused company, offering investors exposure to copper and other metals critical to the global energy transition – is compelling,” Palmer said.
The copper miner had been on the hunt for a new managing director and CEO since last December, when it was revealed that Peter Albert would retire on April 30, as part of the company’s new transition plan.
Palmer has more than 25 years’ experience across multiple commodities in various operational, technical, strategy and business development roles.
He joins 29Metals from BHP where he spent the past two decades in various leadership roles, most recently as BHP’s group performance and improvement officer.
“The board is delighted to appoint someone of James’ calibre and experience,” 29Metals chair of the board of directors Owen Hegarty said.
“James impressed us with his drive and energy, his deep operational and business improvement experience, and his track record of operational transformation and stakeholder engagement.
“The board extends our thanks to Peter, 29Metals’ foundation CEO, who has led 29Metals through its establishment, the IPO and the period since.”
Palmer said it was a privilege to step into this new role.
“The opportunity to take 29Metals forward to realise its vision – to be a
“I am very much looking forward to working with the board and the team across the business to drive safety and performance to realise the clear potential of 29Metals’ assets and people.”
BHP is welcoming a new nonexecutive director to its board.
Ross McEwan will join the team from April 3, bringing 30 years of executive experience with expertise in capital allocation, risk management and complex regulatory environments.
McEwan has held top jobs across the globe, including as CEO of NAB since 2019, and as group chief executive officer of the Royal Bank of Scotland from 2013 to 2019.
Prior to this, McEwan also held executive roles at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, First NZ Capital Securities, and the National Mutual Life Association of Australasia.
“We are delighted to announce that Ross McEwan will join BHP,” BHP chair Ken MacKenzie said.
“Ross brings a strong focus on people and culture, technology and innovation and has deep experience in capital allocation and value creation. Ross has worked closely with a wide range of stakeholders, including customers, governments and regulators and brings a global perspective.
“He has a deep understanding of organisational transformation and brings a very strong focus on the customer and technology as a driver of change. We look forward to welcoming Ross to the board on April 3, 2024.”
McEwan’s appointment comes after BHP made sweeping changes to its executive team in December, with the appointment of a new chief financial officer, chief commercial officer, and chief technical officer.
This included Vandita Pant becoming chief financial officer, BHP president of Americas Rag Udd becoming chief commercial officer, and BHP chief development officer Johan van Jaarsveld being appointed as chief technical officer.
Rio Tinto announced that its nonexecutive director Simon McKeon will step down from his role on May 2.
“I am extremely grateful to Simon for his invaluable contribution,” Rio Tinto chair Dominic Barton said.
“Having regard for his roles as Rio Tinto Limited’s senior independent director and the designated director for workforce engagement, Simon has taken a particular interest in Rio Tinto’s revitalised approach to engagement with the broader Australian community as well as the company’s cultural reset.
“On behalf of the board, I wish him well for the future.”
Whitehaven Coal appointed Mick McCormack as a non-executive director in February.
McCormack has more than 40 years’ experience working in the energy and
infrastructure industries in Australia, primarily within the oil and gas and renewable energy generation sectors.
He holds a Master of Business Administration and a Bachelor of Applied Science (Surveying) from the University of Queensland, and a Graduate Diploma of Engineering from Monash University.
McCormack previously worked at AGL Energy for 15 years and APA Group for 20 years, including serving as APA Group’s managing director and chief executive officer for 15 years.
He is also an experienced independent non-executive director who is currently on the boards of companies such as Origin Energy, Austal and Central Petroleum.
“I’m looking forward to making a contribution to the board of Whitehaven and working with the management team through what is set to be an exciting period of growth for the company,” McCormack said.
Whitehaven Coal chair Mark Vaile welcomed McCormack to the company’s board.
“We are pleased to expand the board and welcome Mick, who is a seasoned leader at both executive and director levels,” Vaile said.
“We look forward to his contribution including drawing on his deep knowledge of the energy sector and industry experience.”
The director appointment comes as Whitehaven is preparing to finalise its acquisition of BHP’s Daunia and Blackwater mines by April. AM
The extended and expanded agreement is set to bolster Pilbara Minerals’ lithium sales in the face of the recent price downturn.
Under an existing short-term agreement with Chengxin signed in 2023, Pilbara Minerals agreed to supply 70,000 tonnes of spodumene concentrate in the 2023–24 financial year (FY24) from its Pilgangoora operation in Western Australia.
over the next two years, with a deal to supply a further 300,000 tonnes of spodumene by the end of 2026.
“This amendment highlights the demand for Pilbara Minerals’ product and is a continuation of our strategy to expand our partnership with leading global lithium producers in the medium term while we progress the development of our long-term downstream partnership strategy,”
Liontown Resources has revealed a quarter of growth at its Kathleen Valley lithium project in Western Australia despite a drop in lithium prices.
The company bookmarked the December quarter with the milestone commencement of underground mining at Kathleen Valley.
Open pit mining also progressed to plan, with 1.4 million bulk cubic metres mined by the year’s end.
“The December quarter saw Kathleen Valley enter the peak
construction phase and achieve 72 per cent completion by year end,” Liontown managing director Tony Ottaviano said.
“The team has done an outstanding job in seamlessly mobilising to site, commencing six access portals, and achieving 352 total development metres in less than two months.”
Construction of crushing, screening and stockpiling infrastructure also advanced in the dry plant with commissioning targeted to commence early in the second quarter of 2024.
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“This agreement further deepens our valued partnership with Pilbara Minerals and we look forward to supporting our global customers through the continued provision of high quality and cost-competitive lithium materials,” Chengxin chair
are committed to the energy transition and are focused on extending our respective positions as high quality, low-cost producers in the growing lithium battery materials market.” The deal stipulates that the spodumene concentrate be sold at the prevailing market price at the time, giving Pilbara Minerals room to see higher returns when lithium prices lift.
Pilbara Minerals also recently expanded its offtake agreement with Ganfeng Lithium Group for a further 310,000 tonnes through to the end of 2026.
The offtake expansions come at a time of increased production for Pilbara Minerals, with 176,000 tonnes of spodumene concentrate produced in the December quarter alone.
“We have around $515 million in the bank, which will see us through to first production at Kathleen Valley,” Ottaviano said.
Turning to 2024, Ottaviano said the company would be taking a measured approach to expansion in the light of the lithium price slump.
“We have commenced a review to examine the options of deferring the mine expansion from three to four million tonnes per annum until market conditions improve,” he said.
“The decision to undertake a review of the planned expansion and associated ramp-up of Kathleen Valley was based on short- to medium-term lithium price forecasts, which have materially declined in recent months.
“This will allow us to preserve capital and reduce the near-term funding requirements of the project as we seek to finalise a smaller, fitfor-purpose debt facility to see us through to first positive cash flows from Kathleen Valley.”
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BHP has demonstrated its commitment to achieving gender balance by becoming the first mining company to surpass over 40 per cent female representation in Chile.
The major miner extracts copper
the Escondida, Spence and Cerro Colorado mines.
The company’s female representation across its Chilean operations is more than double the national industry average, with 40.81
“We are proud of this achievement, but we are also aware that we have major challenges that go beyond gender balance. I hope our milestone will motivate the industry to continue bringing more women into mining.”
“To achieve this, BHP has implemented disruptive policies in the industry, such as making progress in addressing gender pay gaps, incorporating labour flexibility, strengthening training and talent
ALBEMARLE REPORTED $US9.6 BILLION IN NET SALES FOR 2023.
THE LATEST ROUND OF TRAINEES HAS GRADUATED FROM MINRES’ MC DRIVING TRAINING PROGRAM.
provide candidates with an existing multi-combination (MC) truck license with the skills and knowledge to drive 330-tonne quad road trains.
The program is tailored to each candidate’s experience, with training including vehicle pre-start inspections, daily safety checks, driving on the haul road, operating the side tipper trailers and radio communications.
“The program is a fantastic initiative to uptrain people who have little-to-no-experience in mining, with MinRes looking to fill more than 100 positions across our sites,” he said.
“The trainees are partnered up with experienced drivers to learn the ins and outs of operating quad road trains.
Arafura Rare Earths has locked in a major gas supply agreement with New Zealand Oil & Gas (NZOG). The deal was struck between Arafura subsidiary Arafura Nolans Project and NZOG, who owns part of the Mereenie oil and gas field in the Northern Territory through a joint venture agreement.
Arafura’s neighbouring Nolans project has been tipped as a globally significant rare earth resource expected to become a major supplier of critical minerals.
The agreement will see NZOG supply up to 4.8 petajoules (PJ) of gas to Nolans over the next five years.
“Ensuring access to local natural gas is a positive step in the development of this major project, which will see critical rare earth minerals from the Northern Territory delivered to customers around the world in support of energy transition initiatives,” Arafura managing director Darryl Cuzzubbo said.
Gas supplied under the agreement will be aggregated with gas from other
to transition to a rewarding FIFO career with long-term prospects.”
Graduate trainee Jessica WilsonSmith successfully completed the program and is now based at MinRes’ Koolyanobbing iron ore mine site, driving Kenworth C509 and T909 trucks with up to five trailers.
“I spent six years in the New Zealand army as a combat driver
“MinRes offered a training program that didn’t require much mining or MC experience, which is great because it allows people to get their foot in the door and start a new career.”
To date, 40 trainees have taken part in the program, with graduates working at MinRes and CSI Mining Services mine sites across Western Australia.
Mereenie field joint venturers, Central Petroleum, Macquarie Mereenie and Cue Energy Resources, to supply up to 27.4PJ of gas to Arafura.
Central Petroleum will supply 6.85PJ of gas, aggregated with supply of 2.06PJ from Cue Energy and 13.7PJ from Macquarie Mereenie.
The agreement will kick off in 2026 for a three-year term, with a further two-year extension subject to gas reserves being available.
“The Nolans rare earth minerals project will deliver critical minerals
vital for the permanent magnets in wind turbines and EV motors – the marvellous machines that are the transition,” NZOG chief executive officer Andrew Jefferies said.
“The criticality of these materials is recognised by the Australian Federal and Northern Territory governments, and we are proud to be playing a key role in making it happen with our homegrown Northern Territory energy supply.
“Gas is a three-letter word for transition.”
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Port Pirie Regional Council and Magnetite Mines (MGT) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to boost the development potential of the region as a future green iron production hub.
The MoU provides a framework for the South Australia-based council and MGT to engage State and Federal Governments on the development potential for green iron production, undertake preliminary planning for future production and assess other
partnerships that support a future green iron industry.
“On behalf of Port Pirie Regional Council, I am looking forward to the partnership with Magnetite Mines and accepting this significant opportunity to become more involved in green iron/steel production,” Port Pirie Regional Council Mayor Leon Stephens said.
“Port Pirie Regional Council has been exploring options to build upon our industrial strengths to attract alternative industry in order to diversify our local economy.”
Metals Acquisition (MAC) has become the largest ASX mining listing in five years, with big plans for Australian copper.
The company listed through a $325 million initial public offering (IPO), with the issue of 19,117,648 chess depositary interests (CDI) at $17 per CDI.
MAC’s foundational asset is the CSA copper mine near Cobar, New South Wales, which the company acquired from mining giant Glencore last year.
CSA is touted to be the highestgrade copper mine in Australia. The company will use the proceeds of its offer to further develop the mine and deliver a deferred payment to Glencore.
MAC now has a dual listing on the ASX and New York Stock Exchange, which the company said is part of its goal to acquire assets in high-quality, stable jurisdictions around the world that are critical in the electrification and decarbonisation of the global economy.
“We are very pleased to have
MGT chief executive officer Tim Dobson said the company is excited to be collaborating with the council.
“We see a once-in-a-generation, economy-changing opportunity for South Australia to take a leading role in global steel sector decarbonisation thanks to its expansive magnetite resources, green hydrogen and renewable energy,” he said.
“All major international steelmakers are committed to reducing their carbon footprints,
and need green iron to achieve that. It is clear to me that Port Pirie is a robust and logical location for South Australia’s second iron hub – processing and exporting Braemer iron ores for decades into the future.”
The MoU also provides a framework for cooperation on the development of supporting infrastructure for MGT’s Razorback iron ore project, including potential water supply elements and port development for the bulk export of magnetite products.
achieved an ASX listing and thank our new shareholders for their support for MAC,” MAC chief executive officer Mick McMullen said.
“An Australian IPO and listing will allow us to pursue a range of organic and inorganic growth opportunities in Australia and globally to continue building shareholder value.
“While we have made significant progress in improving overall operational performance at our CSA copper mine to date, our initial focus
will be to assess further exploration, development, and production improvement opportunities.”
MAC said its goal is to create a leading mid-tier, multi-asset producer of metals critical to the decarbonisation of the global economy.
“As we grow, we are focused on ESG stewardship and a firm commitment to the responsible and sustainable discovery, development, extraction, and use of mineral resources,” McMullen said.
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AUSTRALIAN MINING SPOKE WITH TWO COMPANIES ABOUT PROJECTS THAT ARE UNDERPINNING A NEW GENERATION OF URANIUM MINING IN AUSTRALIA.
The Australian mining industry certainly understands that resource commodity markets will regularly experience fluctuations.
A proliferation in cheaper nickel supplied countries with less stringent environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards has had a chilling effect on the Australian sector. And with many local nickel mines transitioning into care and maintenance in recent months, many eyes have turned to alternate minerals – and uranium is chief among the potential new players.
Uranium has gained popularity in jurisdictions that are looking to a future powered by less carbon-intensive fuels.
One of those is the European Union (EU), which has introduced a range of green energy targets in support of nuclear-powered ammonia and hydrogen production – a movement largely driven by France, which derives about 70 per cent of its electricity from nuclear energy.
Uranium is a key fuel in nuclear energy. Once mined, it goes through a conversion, enrichment and fuel fabrication process before being loaded into a nuclear power reactor.
Australia has long resisted getting on the nuclear bandwagon, despite holding 32 per cent of the world’s uranium resources, according to the ‘Australia’s Identified Mineral Resources 2022’ report.
The same report ranked Australia’s uranium production fourth globally, accounting for eight per cent of the world’s supply in 2021.
While Australian uranium production is lower relative to countries such as Kazakhstan, Canada and Namibia, the country has many exciting uranium projects in development.
And the timing could not be more perfect.
November 2023 saw the price of yellowcake – a type of uranium concentrate powder –skyrocket to $US80.25 per pound, its highest peak since March 2008. And the price continued to go up over the following months, with the commodity costing $US103.20 per pound in February.
The jump in price has been especially welcome to Deep Yellow, a uranium developer operating in Africa and Australia, which has two major projects
underway – the Mulga Rock project in Western Australia and the Alligator River project in the Northern Territory.
Deep Yellow acquired Mulga Rock when its merger with Vimy Resources was finalised in August 2022. The previous definitive feasibility study (DFS) for the project, which was completed by Vimy in 2018, confirmed a potential annual production capacity of 3.5 million pounds (Mlbs) of uranium oxide over its 15-year mine life.
“We saw real bones in Mulga Rock from our due diligence,” Deep Yellow managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) John Borshoff told Australian Mining. “We believe we could build this project to more than what was stated in the 2018 DFS.
“The Mulga Rock East mining centre comprises the Ambassador and Princess deposits, and the Mulga Rock West mining centre comprises the Shogun and Emperor deposits. Everything that was announced in the 2018 DFS focused on the Eastern deposits, which are almost co-joined.
“Since Vimy merged with Deep Yellow, we’ve worked to redrill the project to substantiate its variability and to infill the large amount of
drilling that had already been done. This way we could get an indicated resource of uranium and the associated non-uranium minerals because the value uplift we were looking for was through the consideration of critical minerals in addition to the significant uranium component.
“Looking at these additional minerals in conjunction with the uranium was where we saw great value for our shareholders.”
Deep Yellow is currently preparing to commence a revised DFS that focuses on developing Mulga Rock into a polymetallic operation, extending its life beyond 15 years and delivering an increase in the project’s value and strategic importance. Recent metallurgical testing at Mulga Rock returned an overall uranium recovery of above 90 per cent and a critical minerals recovery of above 70 per cent.
Borshoff said the drilling undertaken was “significant”, particularly for the nonuranium minerals, where there hadn’t been a lot of previous test work done.
The drilling also bolstered Mulga Rock’s total contained uranium, which now equals 71.2Mlb, up from 56.7Mlb at a 100 parts per million cut-off grade.
This means 86 per cent of the Mulga Rock uranium resource is now in the measured and indicated categories.
“This will be a key value-driver to include in the revised DFS, which we expect to commence by the middle of this year and to complete by mid next year,” Borshoff said.
While Mulga Rock is Deep Yellow’s flagship Australian uranium project, the company’s Alligator River project has also made significant progress.
The Alligator River project is the largest granted uranium exploration package in the Alligator River uranium province in the NT’s Arnhem Land. Like Mulga Rock, Deep Yellow acquired the project from Vimy.
“We’ve looked at these areas and have developed our search models to define the prospective corridors and properties that exist, and they’re going to be our focus areas for the targets we’re looking to set for the next four to five years,” Borshoff said. “At the moment, there are lots of targets that look isolated but could be knitted together within a structural geological framework.
“Starting mid-next year, we will begin methodically exploring, with drilling and investigative programs, these prospective corridors to identify new targets, and in parallel we will hunt known specific targets to see if they have resource potential.
“From there we hope to find either a nest of deposits that cumulatively come up or one big accumulation.”
Borshoff said the imbalance between uranium supply and demand remains huge, which means the industry must bring in the right people with the right expertise to manage it.
“I think the uranium-supply industry will battle because it’s unprepared and has been sitting passively on its haunches following events such as Chernobyl and Fukushima,” Borshoff said.
“Because of that, the industry has become unpractised in developing uranium mines.
“This is nobody’s fault. It’s the consequences of Chernobyl and Fukushima, oversupply from the first post-oil shock period, and the
large quantities of secondaries that developed allowing predatory uranium pricing to occur, to the point where utilities plundered and essentially destroyed the sector.
“Now the sector must be rebuilt, but you can’t rebuild a sector you’ve systematically destroyed over 12 years. This will take a long time … (and) we need huge exploration efforts to identify new deposits to meet new demand.
“I think Deep Yellow has a better chance of succeeding as we offer a pair of safe hands in this commodity, and stakeholders and governments need to be assured the supply industry can deliver what is needed.”
Another aspiring Australian uranium producer, Alligator Energy, has been advancing its Samphire and Big Lake uranium projects in South Australia, and Nabarlek North project in the Alligator River Uranium Province of the NT.
“Alligator Energy began as a pure uranium exploration company in 2010 that specifically focused on uranium exploration in Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory,” Alligator Energy managing director and CEO Greg Hall told Australian Mining.
“All of our current uranium projects are in the Northern Territory or South Australia.
The dominant reason for this is both major political parties on a state and most notably through acquiring key uranium projects while the commodity
before the market took off,” Hall said. “Consequently, we’ve expanded quite a bit over the past two to three years. We’ve done this primarily through the acquisition of our flagship project –the in-situ recovery (ISR) Samphire uranium project – in October 2020.”
Alligator Energy is currently in the final stages of planning an ISR field recovery trial at Samphire, subject to regulatory approval. The trial project will consist of three producing wells and a containerised pilot plant.
“That will then lead straight into a feasibility study and then hopefully approval of the project itself,” Hall said.
“Samphire now has a resource of nearly 18 million pounds, with a large proportion being indicated, meaning you can use it for a study.
“We’ve also completed a second phase scoping study, which said Samphire will produce 12.3 million pounds over 12 years, at a production rate of 1.2 million pounds per annum.
“Now we are drilling beyond that initial resource and expanding it.”
Hall has built up an experienced ISR operations team and believes Samphire has many advantages that make it stand out from other uranium projects.
“The project is located about 20km from Whyalla (SA’s fourth-most populous city), which means we don’t need fly-in, fly-out workers and we don’t have to build an airstrip, power
lines and water lines over hundreds of kilometres, meaning cheaper capital costs,” he said.
“It’s also a shallow deposit, being only 80m deep compared to other insitu recovery mines that are over 100 metres deep. This means the drilling is cheaper.”
Alligator Energy is currently looking for ways to try to make Samphire a carbon-free operation.
“The South Australian Government has invested $600 million for a hydrogen hub to be established in Whyalla because there’s lots of renewable energy sources there,” Hall said.
“We’ve looked at this and said, ‘Samphire is only 20km from Whyalla. It’s an in-situ recovery project, meaning you’re not crushing or grinding the rock and you’ve got a very low power usage, so how can we operate this in a way where it has almost a near carbon-free footprint?’
“This is important, as we would be selling our future uranium to nuclear power utilities in Europe, North America, Korea and Japan.
“The European utilities in particular are very interested in the idea that we could provide uranium with a carbonfree footprint, so we’re going to see what we can do.”
It may be in its early stages, but Alligator Energy believes its Big Lake project in the Cooper Basin also has great potential.
“There has been uranium found at Big Lake from previous small programs of mineral drilling,” Hall said.
“We know there’s a lot of deep granite underneath that has lots of uranium, so we’re trying to see if there is a new in-situ recovery field there. There’s no economic uranium here yet, but we’re hoping to find some trapped in the upper sediments which overlay the Basin.
“We’ll be on the ground drilling in April or May this year.”
In 2020, Alligator Energy was also granted a new package of NT tenements called Nabarlek North. The company started work there 18 months ago and is set to begin a further targeted drilling program in July.
“We’re very excited because we’re trying to find similar structures and settings that formed the Ranger mine,” Hall said.
“If you can find something new that’s the same size as Ranger, that’s a real game-changer for the industry.”
Considering recent critical mineral downturns and the global energy transition, uranium may become a preferred source of power.
Lucky for Australia, the country is filled with strong uranium resources, many of which remain untapped. They are just waiting to be unearthed. AM
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DELOITTE’S ANNUAL ‘TRACKING THE TRENDS’ REPORT LOOKS AT THE CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FACING THE MINING INDUSTRY IN THE YEAR AHEAD.
As 2024 rolls on, the resources sector is facing up to supply and skills shortages, environmental, social and governance (ESG) challenges, and a push to adopt emerging technologies.
An organisation that understands this well is professional services network Deloitte, whose its 16th annual ‘Tracking the Trends’ global report dissects these challenges.
‘Tracking the Trends’ has become a long-respected industry standard exploring key movements and issues facing mining and metals companies in the coming year. Australian Mining sat down with Western Australian-based Deloitte mining and metals leader Nicki Ivory to discuss the year ahead.
The central trend for 2024 comes down to putting purpose at the heart of the resources industry and creating momentum to attract the next generation of miners.
“Technology is becoming ever more important as everything digitises, but we have skill shortages to contend with,” Ivory told
“The first way to address this is by attracting people with different skill sets that may not have considered a career in mining before. We need to create working environments where people can align themselves with the purpose of the company.”
In its report, Deloitte described how mining will only become more essential in the future.
And as the focus shifts to mining critical minerals for the coming energy transition, companies are presented with an opportunity to connect with the wider community in a partnership based on authenticity and the drive for a better future.
Ivory said the industry should be highlighting all of the good to come out of the sector in the last 20 years in an effort to drive recruitment.
“People are asking themselves how their work can tie in with their personal beliefs and purpose,” Ivory said.
“Miners can find an entire workforce waiting to be tapped that are looking for purpose-driven work.”
But authenticity is key, Ivory said. As geopolitical strains stack up and
uncertainty – Deloitte identified four key areas converging to create the current mining landscape: rising geopolitical tensions and global shifts in power; the rise of artificial intelligence (AI); a change in the availability and requirements of talent; and the urgent
VALUES.
organisation to respond to new threats, challenges, instability, and uncertainty. That’s really the key here.”
So how can operators build resistance to uncertainty? Ivory believes in a topdown approach.
“Building flexibility in your
to take a different kind of leadership than in stable times.”
That leadership is especially important if the workers entering the industry need reskilling or upskilling before they are ready for the demands of mining.
According to the World Economic Forum, 50 per cent of all employees will need reskilling by 2025 as adoption of technology increases.
‘Tracking the Trends’ foresees the solution to this challenge lying with technology itself.
With the ability to use years of data collected across the Australian mining sector, Deloitte said AI algorithms could help to personalise training programs that build on workers’ existing skill sets to prepare them for future technologybased opportunities.
But a next-generation approach to data and AI doesn’t just have implications on an educational level. The ninth trend in Deloitte’s report emphasised an opportunity to harness a new level of agility in mining through data and AI.
“There are so many examples of where data and AI in combination can improve the entire sort of lifecycle and supply chain,” Ivory said.
She also cited a scope for increased efficiency, all the way from targeted drilling to predictive maintenance.
“Effectively harnessing generative AI will also help address energy security and improve profitability, generate operational efficiencies and resilience, and reduce emissions,” Ivory said.
If operators are going to meet the growing need for critical minerals, Deloitte is looking to data and AI to help companies determine which investments, scenarios or processes may deliver the best value.
An ongoing theme identified in Deliotte’s ‘Tracking the Trends’ report is the industry’s outlook of a net-zero future.
According to the London-based Energy Transitions Commission, there’s no fundamental shortage of raw materials needed to support the global transition to a net-zero economy.
The key issue is rather ramping up supply fast enough to decarbonise economies before crucial climate tipping points are exceeded, while also ensuring that mining is done in a sustainable and responsible way.
“Minerals underpin our way of life,” Ivory said. “And we all know that the green energy transition, here in Australia and around the world, is a mineralsintensive one.”
That’s why ‘Tracking the Trends’ emphasised the need for governments and operators to collaborate on projects and regulations through consultation to meet those critical supply needs.
According to S&P Global, the average mine takes 15.7 years to reach commercial production. Ivory said Australia’s red tape and regulations can be a key sticking point in reaching a decarbonised future.
“Miners must continue to advocate for the critical role minerals play in addressing climate change challenges
and lead the way to a sustainable future,” Ivory said.
“We have to find a way to expedite essential projects while still mining responsibly and meeting those decarbonisation goals.”
Research by the Deloitte Economics Institute has found that, if left unchecked, climate change could create $US178 trillion in global economic losses between 2021 and 2070.
But researchers found a coordinated effort in climate change mitigation could deliver an additional 300 million jobs by 2050 and boost the economy by more than $US43 trillion by 2070.
And opportunities for the sector to flourish are already in motion.
In October 2023, the Australian Government announced a $2 billion expansion in critical minerals financing, doubling the capacity to fund
Australian critical minerals mining and processing projects.
With nickel’s recent addition to Australia’s critical mineral list, more projects are able to access billions in funding and bolster the sector to weather downturns.
When it comes to tracking the trend of the industry’s overall health, Ivory remains optimistic in a strong future for the sector.
“Unlocking critical resources through permitting, addressing workforce challenges, and working with governments to re-think regulation are important issues facing Australian miners,” she said.
“Ultimately, understanding the challenges miners face and responding accordingly will help unlock opportunity and ensure they both capture and convey the value the sector generates.” AM
SOCIALLY-RESPONSIBLE MINING IS BECOMING INCREASINGLY KEY TO THE SECTOR’S FUTURE.
XCMG AUSTRALIA HAS PLANS TO BECOME A HOUSEHOLD NAME IN THE MINING INDUSTRY.
One of China’s oldest and largest construction and mining manufacturers has put down roots in Australia, with a mission to become the local industry’s number one.
XCMG Group’s journey to supplying high-quality equipment began in 1943. Since then, the company has risen to household-name status in its native China, and its products are now exported to more than 183 countries and regions via over 300 global distributors.
For over 30 years, XCMG has held the title of China’s leading mining and construction equipment manufacturer, the company said, and it is currently ranked third in the world. And it’s now bringing these years of expertise to local soil with XCMG Australia.
encompasses mining trucks, excavators, loaders, graders, cranes, hydraulic parts, and rollers decked out to thrive in the harshest of working environments.
are designed for high transport efficiency and low maintenance costs without compromising on operator comfort or safety.
Melbourne, XCMG Australia has plans to expand into Perth with another centre, while a research and development facility is a possibility looming on the horizon in the short term.
“We’re in major growth mode right now because we see the future in the Australian mining sector,” XCMG Australia general manager and director Roy Rossini told Australian Mining “We’ve been in this space overseas for several years, developing machines and growing and getting better and better.
“Companies are now recognising the fact that we are a true, committed player in the industry.”
Rossini emphasised the fact XCMG Australia is working with its customers in the resources sector to develop solutions based on the specific needs of Australian mine sites.
“We’re orientated around tapping into the local market with local knowledge,” he said.
“Our customers’ expertise and input are enabling us to build new models
Rossini described a situation in which XCMG Australia was recently able to adjust a machine to suit the needs of a major mining operation with the touch of a button.
“While we were standing there talking to the operator about their needs, we video called our manufacturing centre in China and made adjustments to the machine then and there,” he said. “We had componentry shipped to the site within 24 hours.”
XCMG Australia national business development manager Jason Keays believes this near-instant engineering and technical support is setting the company up to change the landscape of mining services in Australia.
“It drastically reduces lead times on heavy machinery like our mining trucks, putting us a cut above the competition,” he said. “A lot of original equipment manufacturers have a two- or threeyear lead time, but our manufacturing capabilities have us sitting at around eight months, or even earlier.”
XCMG Australia machinery is manufactured in China, and Keays stressed the fact that the providence of its high-quality parts is an essential aspect of the business.
“Our equipment is built with quality components from established companies with brand recognition in the Australian mining industry,” he said. “Customers can trust our quality and have confidence in the longevity of our
machines.
network of national dealerships is a vital link between its experts and the heart of our Australian customers.”
Each dealership is staffed by trained experts who understand the intricacies of the company’s machinery.
Team members can provide expert guidance and support to customers at any stage of their journey.
“All of our dealers have many years’ experience in capital equipment sales and support, and we have chosen partners that are capable of supplying our customers the after-sales service and back-up that exceeds their expectations,” Rossini said.
“We currently have around 17 outlets in Australia, with more coming in the next 12 months. Our reach in the Australian mining sector is growing every day.
“Whether it’s helping to identify the right parts for a specific repair or offering maintenance tips to prolong the lifespan of equipment, our dealership partners are dedicated to delivering exceptional service and support.”
As the mining sector grows and expands, the company is ramping up its own research and development capabilities to meet the industry at the forefront of innovation.
One pathway for which XCMG Australia is becoming known is its autonomous machinery, which is capable
of significantly increasing efficiency and decreasing carbon usage.
Australia is placing ever-increasing emphasis on sustainable mining practices as operators gear up to reach net-zero targets. Electric machinery is one way XCMG Australia is helping operators choose a greener alternative to traditional diesel-powered equipment.
By choosing electric machinery, operators can reduce emissions, lower carbon footprints, and meet environmental regulations.
For operators who aren’t ready to make the switch, XCMG Australia can supply high-quality diesel equipment with a decarbonisation pathway in place to convert to electric down the line.
XCMG Group signed a major partnership with Brazilian-based iron ore miner Vale in 2021 for zero-emission equipment and autonomous machinery. Keays said XCMG Australia is also determined to become a decarbonising player in the Australian mining sector.
“Again, our focus is on working with the customer on research and development and tying solutions into the future of mining,” he said.
“By increasing our skin in the game, we can give our customers more options for their own future.”
That type of forward-focus is part of XCMG Australia’s plan to grow with the local mining sector.
Though specifics are being kept under wraps, Keays and Rossini emphasised the fact the company is looking to the next 12 months and beyond with major development projects in the pipeline.
“We have huge plans to electrify equipment across our entire range,” Rossini said. “Prototypes are underway at our manufacturing facilities in China, so it’s an exciting time for the company.”
Thriving in a dynamic landscape like the mining industry can be tough, but XCMG Australia is determined to take the guesswork out of choosing
the right equipment by bringing its knowledge and expertise to mine sites across the country.
“Whether it’s providing top-quality machinery, offering expert guidance and support or ensuring prompt access to parts and components, we are dedicated to helping our customers succeed,” Rossini said.
“As we continue to grow and expand into the future, our commitment to excellence remains unwavering, and we look forward to serving the needs of our customers for many years to come.” AM
McLanahan specialises in rotary equipment for a variety of washing, screening and crushing duties.
These machines have a reputation for being tough – able to handle large feed sizes and process high capacities.
McLanahan rotary scrubbers and screens are used in washing and classifying applications to remove excess clay and slime material from ore. Water is mixed with the material feed and fed into a drum, which contains internal lifters that continuously lift and roll the material to detach the clay particles.
“The rotary scrubbers are used extensively in iron ore operations in Western Australia, and we have a number of large operations there,” McLanahan director of global business development – mineral systems Richard Williams told Australian Mining McLanahan offers washing equipment with capacities from 20–8000 tonnes per hour, with customisable solutions for any washing application boasting less maintenance and lower operating costs. The use of steel trunnion rollers to support equipment provides high durability and easy operation.
In another critical element of the mineral processing chain, rotary breakers
are used in coal operations for crushing material and removing undesirable excess.
Like scrubbers, the breakers comprise a huge metal drum containing internal bars that continually lift and drop the material onto internal breaker plates as the drum rotates.
“Rotary breakers are a very useful technology to upgrade a deposit,” Williams said. “The softer rock, such as coal, is broken when tumbled through the breaker and passed through the screens to be collected, while harder (gangue) rock is discharged from the end of the machine.
“Rotary breakers therefore provide both size reduction and grade improvement.”
A variation of the rotary breaker is used in similar applications in nickel laterite operations, while McLanahan’s gravity discharge autogenous mill (GDAM) is used in the aluminium industry.
“GDAMs are preferred in aluminium applications, as they generate the least fines and dust from crushed material when compared to high-speed hammermills or air-swept mills,” Williams said.
“Clay-rich, difficult-to-process ores in the battery minerals space like lithium, vanadium, rare earths, nickel laterites and copper are all developing industries that have a need for rotary equipment,” he said.
“As an example, we work with a lithium-processing operation that is reprocessing old tailings to extract more spodumene concentrate from waste.
“Our team was able to customise equipment by combining features of a scrubber and an autogenous mill to break down the consolidated tailings agglomerates and separate undesirable waste, such as gangue rocks or vegetation that is introduced by the mining process.”
According to Williams, flexibility is the name of the game when it comes to major mining operations with their own unique needs.
“We have our standard range of equipment that we can tailor to any application,” he said.
“Our team of technicians and engineers are well equipped to work in consultation with an operation to get the best outcome possible.”
This is all part of McLanahan’s ongoing commitment to delivering quality personalised service to all of its customers.
“We have people in the field continually ensuring the equipment is the most up-to-date available,” Williams said. “We want to ensure our equipment stays on the cutting edge of the latest features and best operational performance we can provide.”
Williams emphasised McLanahan’s knowledge base and commitment to customers as key pillars in the company’s success.
“With most of our design work for mining and minerals processing done in Australia, our team are experts in Australian conditions with local knowledge and local design experience,” he said.
“We’re focused on providing a high level of customer experience and working with the customer throughout the design phase, the implementation phase, and especially the operational phase.
“What really defines value for us and our customers is the long life and efficient use you get out of our products.” AM
We are now better equipped than ever to help you to optimise your comminution and material handling operations for maximum performance, safety and efficiency.
Combining the industry leading screening, feeding and loading expertise of Schenck Process Mining with our mastery of crushing and wear protection, allows us to bring you an unrivalled equipment line-up. We underpin this unique offering with our expert process knowledge, full range of digital tools, high quality OEM spare parts, consumables and life-cycle services.
Scan the QR code to discover why we are the industry’s partner in eco-efficient mineral processing.
Mineral processing requires robust infrastructure to handle the various fluids, slurries and chemicals involved.
A company that understands this is Acu-Tech Piping Systems, which manufactures high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipes and fittings for a range of industries.
“Acu-Tech plays a pivotal role in mineral processing by providing reliable and durable piping solutions tailored to the unique needs of the mining industry,” Acu-Tech Piping Systems mining lead Cliff Mataseni told Australian Mining
“HDPE pipes have long been the preferred choice for various mining applications due to their unique characteristics and proven performance in rugged terrains, extreme climates, and changing site environments.”
Acu-Tech’s HDPE pipes have been designed for a wide range of mining applications such as slurry and tailings lines, above-ground pipelines, dewatering systems, process piping, leaching processes, remediation projects, and raw water supply, to name a few.
The pipes are designed to withstand aggressive substances commonly encountered in mineral processing plants.
“This durability minimises the risk of pipe and chemical degradation and failure, reducing the likelihood of leaks, spills, and unplanned downtime,” Mataseni said. “Our HDPE pipes are trusted for their flexibility and long-term reliability in demanding environments.”
To complement its HDPE piping solutions, Acu-Tech manufactures and imports a range of fittings that are available in various sizes, configurations and specifications.
“With our experienced operators and fully equipped plastic fabrication workshop, Acu-Tech offers custom fabrication services to meet the specific requirements of mineral processing facilities, optimising the efficiency and reliability of these precise systems,” Mataseni said.
“We fabricate spools, manifolds, and other components from HDPE pipes and sheets to ensure seamless integration into the processing infrastructure.”
Acu-Tech’s HDPE pipes are also made from recyclable material, boosting durability and environmental outcomes.
“HDPE is a recyclable material with a longer service life, reducing the need for frequent replacements and minimising
the environmental impact of mining activities,” Mataseni said.
“The pipes are manufactured through heat-fusion welding, creating seamless and leak-free joints, and eliminating the use of mechanical joints that are prone to leakage. This ensures a reliable and secure pipeline network that limits the risk of environmental contamination and costly repairs.
“HDPE pipes are also significantly lighter than traditional metal pipes, making them easier to handle and install, while their flexibility allows for seamless manoeuvring around obstacles and uneven terrain, reducing the risk of accidents and injuries during installation and maintenance activities.”
Acu-Tech has successfully supplied HDPE piping solutions to numerous mining projects across Australia, one being an iron ore mine in WA.
“The project required the manufacturing and delivery of 270km of bespoke-sized HDPE liner pipe, which was used as a sacrificial corrosion liner within a steel pipeline,” Mataseni said.
“Despite challenges such as deviations in pipe wall thicknesses and a doubling of the initial tendered scope, AcuTech delivered the HDPE pipes to the project site through over 900 truck and trailer movements within a compressed timeframe.
“Acu-Tech also manufactured bespoke liners for on-site welding machines and
mobilised extra machinery support. The project scope was completed on-time, showcasing Acu-Tech’s commitment to excellence.”
Acu-Tech’s involvement in mineral processing extends beyond HDPE pipe supply and installation.
“We provide comprehensive technical support and expertise to mining operators throughout the project lifecycle, from initial design and
material selection to installation and maintenance,” Mataseni said.
“We also offer training programs to educate mining personnel on proper handling, installation, and maintenance practices for HDPE piping systems.
“By empowering operators with the necessary skills and knowledge, we contribute to a safer work environment and mitigate the risk of accidents and incidents.” AM
The REFLUX Classifier is our advanced fine particle, gravity-based separator, offering significant advantages in capacity, adaptability and efficiency
Key
■ Improved efficiency produces higher recoveries
■ Compact design delivers high throughput
■ Low OPEX
■ Decreased environmental impact
Introducing the REFLUX™ Classifying Concentrator (RCC™) a new variation of the established REFLUX™ Classifier (RC™) specifically designed for low grade, high value ores.
The RCC™ builds upon the success of our original REFLUX™ Classifier, by optimizing bed formation and split fluidization utilising gravity-based separation techniques to tackle the recovery challenges associated with low-grade minerals.
Read more at flsmidth.eco/3RE7pqo
AUSTRALIAN MINING SAT DOWN WITH FLSMIDTH TO DISCUSS THE DECARBONISATION CHALLENGES THE AUSTRALIAN MINING SECTOR IS FACING TODAY.
One of the most costeffective ways for a mining company or contractor to reduce their carbon footprint is by improving the efficiency of their fixed plant, something in which FLSmidth specialises.
The esteemed original equipment manufacturer (OEM) has a range of fixed plant equipment that can drive down total site emissions per tonne.
This includes FLSmidth’s REFLUX technologies, comprising the REFLUX Classifier (RC), REFLUX Concentrating Classifier (RCC) and REFLUX Flotation Cell (RFC), alongside its crushing, milling and grinding solutions.
“What we’re talking about is doing more for less – giving you more product for less CO2 per tonne,” FLSmidth APAC regional president Jason Elks told Australian Mining. “We’re not saying we can eliminate CO2, but we can reduce the impact.”
The RC has become one of FLSmidth’s most advanced fine-particle, gravity-based separators, using minimal power and water to enable the recovery of more minerals more efficiently.
The product underpins FLSmidth’s MissionZero strategy, whereby the OEM is working with its mining customers on a partnership model to provide end-to-end solutions that aim to achieve zero emissions, zero water waste and zero energy waste by 2030.
Elks said FLSmidth will be working with several leading mining customers this year to support the installation of its REFLUX technologies.
“The REFLUX technologies will help our customers maximise optimisation in fixed plant, giving greater tonnages and reducing their overall CO2 inputs to the production of commodities such as coal, iron ore and manganese,” he said.
FLSmidth’s digital prowess goes hand-in-hand with the REFLUX range, with the OEM not only able to provide the machinery to process the minerals but also the digital
infrastructure to monitor production levels and asset health.
“FLSmidth’s digital optimisation technologies are really starting to gain traction globally,” Elks said.
“This includes LoadIQ, our smart sensor technology that accurately measures volumetric filling and ore trajectory of your mill, as well as our SmartCyclone technology.”
FLSmidth’s SmartCyclone offering is a process-control solution that monitors cyclone parameters and identifies early warning signs that could lead to failure, ensuring the proactive maintenance and continuous operation of a grinding circuit.
“Our digital offerings are really starting to pay dividends for our customers,” Elks said. “We’ve had multiple successful trials and we’re across many sites globally, so we are seeing really strong uptake of optimisation through FLSmidth’s digital agenda.
“Our digital technologies enable customers to operate their equipment at optimal efficiency. While being able to realise peak efficiencies and equipment life, customers are also able to increase production, so it’s a win-win.”
Installing FLSmidth’s digital infrastructure enables mining companies and contractors to be firing on all cylinders, all day and every day, with the benefits of avoiding plant shutdowns just as critical to profitability as realising optimal efficiency.
And with efficiency comes better sustainability, with the opportunity for miners and contractors to quickly drive down emissions as the Safeguard Mechanism becomes more restrictive in the coming years.
Elks said that while proponents such as FLSmidth are charting a path for the Australian mining industry to decarbonise, there is still an operational disconnect regarding the decarbonisation imperative.
“We’re all talking about decarbonising, and we’re all talking
THE REFLUX TECHNOLOGIES WILL HELP OUR CUSTOMERS MAXIMISE OPTIMISATION IN FIXED PLANT, GIVING GREATER TONNAGES AND REDUCING THEIR OVERALL CO ₂ INPUTS TO THE PRODUCTION OF COMMODITIES
SUCH AS COAL, IRON ORE AND MANGANESE.”
about this impending or current crisis that we need to address,” he said.
“We can talk about that at a board and executive level, but then at an operational level we have KPIs and production outputs that are diametrically opposed to a company taking a chance and trialling technologies that are necessary to fully decarbonise.
“There’s are two things that are holding this back. One is risk; risk in regards to current operations and throughput. And the second one is trust; trust as to whether this transformation can deliver the outcome.
“I don’t think we’ve defined that journey yet. I think everyone’s looking
for a silver bullet, and the bit that’s missing is we have to accept this war will be won through multiple iterations.”
Elks spoke about the combined role of technology, suggesting that no single carbon-neutral solution can drive down emissions alone.
“It’s not about battery technology, it’s not about solar, it’s not about wind, it’s not about greater efficiencies, and it’s not about digitalisation. It’s all of those plus more,” he said.
“If we’re sitting back in operations, whether we’re a junior, mid-tier or major miner, and saying, ‘We’ll wait till somebody comes and puts this bolton technology that will transform my operations and give me the necessary sustainability outcome’, it’s never coming. It’s not there.
“It’s going to take multiple iterations and we have to accept that.
“We have to trust, we have to start the journey, we have to change our KPIs at the local level, and we have to allow operations to trial and embed new technology to transform. Only then can the mining industry put itself in the best position to decarbonise and meet the necessary net-zero requirements.”
While there are inevitably laggards, Elks said more and more mining and mining equipment, technology and services (METS) companies are starting to understand the parameters of the journey ahead.
“I (recently) had an engaging conversation with an executive of a major engineering firm and it was really pleasing to hear the journey they’re on,” Elks said. “We were talking about trust and innovation and how it’s not about the technology. Before you can even pitch the technology, before you can even define the burning platform, there
needs to be a willingness for change and change management.”
In a world with greater levels of environmental obligation and legislation, change will be mandatory rather than optional, and mining companies and contractors without adequate change management processes in place risk being left behind. AM
HAZEMAG ALLMINERAL’S MINERAL PROCESSING TECHNOLOGIES ARE HELPING MINING COMPANIES REACH HIGH EFFICIENCY ACROSS A RANGE OF COMMODITIES.
With 500 employees across 11 countries, Hazemag remains strong after 180 years in business.
“We started in the aggregate recycling business, where we recycled rubble from World War II by crushing, recycling and separating the materials to retrieve the wood and iron from the aggregates, and then reused those aggregates,” Hazemag allmineral Australia managing director Teddy Craies told Australian Mining
“As the business grew, it also acquired other companies like allmineral.”
Hazemag allmineral has two aspects to it: aggregate and mining in the Australian quarry, iron ore and coal sectors.
“The crushing and mineral process are two separate functions, so we’re covering both areas, providing solutions from a single source,” Craies said.
“Crushing reduces the product size and then (the mineral) is separated through other processing mediums, but there are some materials that are very hard to separate.”
This is where allmineral’s allair and allflux systems can help.
The allflux is a wet mineral processing solution suited to a wide range of commodities and materials, including
iron ore, coal, heavy mineral sands and slag.
The allflux has three separation levels for the material to pass through and uses fluidised bed technology with autonomous heavy media for the separation and hydraulic classification of slurried fines.
“The allflux was an idea that originated in 1988 and was continuously developed,” Craies said. “It can now deliver up to 2000 cubic metres per hour in volume production.”
The allflux is unique in its ability to create two product streams – one coarse and one fine – from a singular feed source, reducing the need for further downstream processing, saving cost and infrastructure footprint.
In the coarse sand space, the feed sludge creates an upflow causing light, fine particles to rise and heavy particles to sink and be drawn off.
In the fine sand chamber, the fine particles enter with the light material and form an autogenous fluidised bed to allow the light material to float and overflow with the upflow water.
The discharge of coarse material out of the central hopper is automatically controlled by an analogue system.
“The allflux allows companies to optimise their extraction system because it helps extract as much material as
the allflux comprises three separations in one unit: two product streams and a waste.
“You have a coarses section, a middlings section and the waste that comes with this,” Botha told Australian Mining. “This three-step process
a dry mineral processing solution from allmineral best suited to the coal and recycling sectors.
“The allair is a jigging machine,” Craies said. “Its particle size ranges from 1mm to 50mm, and its throughput rates ranges from 20 to 100 tonnes per hour per machine.
“It’s a compact, mobile unit that can be easily transported from site to site, whereas the allflux is a fixed system with more infrastructure.”
Craies described the allflux and allair as “niche” products requiring little maintenance.
“Generating two products from the one unit, the allflux is mirroring what the customer needs in terms of power consumption and costs, enabling customers to save on capex (capital expenditure) and opex (operational expenditure),” Craies said.
“Both of the products are environmentally friendly. While the allflux reuses water during its process, the allair mobile solution requires no water.
“Parts are also refurbished so there’s minimal waste, while there is reduced need for consumables, making the cost of operation far more economical.” AM
AS ONE OF THE WORLD’S OLDEST AND MOST EXPERIENCED GRINDING MEDIA COMPANIES, MOLYCOP IS TRANSFORMING MINE OPERATIONS.
Many mining processes consist of breaking rocks before grinding finely them to recover valuable minerals. The key to efficient mineral processing is reliable grinding media, and that’s where Molycop comes in.
Founded as Commonwealth Steel in 1918, Molycop spun off into its own entity in 2016. It was acquired then by private equity company American Industrial Partners a year later.
“Molycop has been growing for more than a century and is now one of the world’s biggest grinding media suppliers,” Molycop technologies president Darren O’Connell told Australian Mining
“Molycop helps mining companies stabilise and optimise milling circuits, as well as with leaching, flotation and other mineral extraction processes.
“We do this by providing more real-time data from innovative measurement equipment.”
Recent years have seen Molycop develop a presence in the digital data technology sector of the mining industry. The company stepped into the space through the acquisition of Digital Control Lab, a mill monitoring solutions-provider based in Florida, US.
Following the acquisition, Molycop introduced services such as process optimisation, online analysis, and data analytics and visualisation.
“The digital data technologies area of our business helps mines increase their
productivity while having a lower carbon footprint,” O’Connell said.
“Making decisions in real-time and controlling plants to optimal levels means mining companies not only get maximum return from their capital investment; they reduce their energy and reagent consumption while increasing recovery.
“This means mines can be both more profitable and sustainable.”
Molycop’s process optimisation solutions aim to reduce variability and increase throughput while maximising mineral recovery.
“We deliver many milling optimisation solutions consisting of measurement, control and optimisation
management, which significantly increase throughput rate while also decreasing planned downtime for relining,” O’Connell said.
One of these solutions is MillROC (Milling Remote Optimisation Consulting and Coaching), a data platform that remotely monitors and models circuits and processing plants.
“MillROC was developed in collaboration with our joint venture partner, Orway Mineral Consultants,” O’Connell said.
“MillROC provides live key performance data for the circuit and features focus applications that offer deeper insight into what operators can immediately do to address specific problems or identify opportunities for improvement.
“MillROC is supported by remote real-time assistance from world-leading mineral processing consultants who can view the circuit’s live performance dashboards and provide immediate advice and coaching.
“The ultimate objective of the MillROC team is to establish an embedded system of continuous improvement that delivers higher levels of performance, lower costs and healthier profit by maximising throughput, increasing power efficiency, reducing wear and promoting longer liner life.”
Another notable Molycop process optimisation solution is MillSlicer VIP, which combines MillSlicer with the Value Invention Process (VIP) Platform.
MillSlicer consists of vibration sensors mounted on the mill shell that measure angular impact intensity, maximum impact angle and centroid of the impacts. This information can be used to achieve enhanced efficiency and productivity.
The VIP Platform is equipped with features such as enterprise-wide data integration and reporting, efficient and secure storage for operational data and live analyses of that data, and simple and intuitive dashboards, graphs and key performance indicators.
When combined, MillSlicer VIP improves the throughput and efficiency of semi-autogenous grinding (SAG) and autogenous (AG) mills by measuring volume, steel charge per cent, toe angle and liner impacts. The solution features more accurate and precise mill fill level measurements, which helps to enable better mill feed control.
When a gold mining company installed MillSlicer VIP alongside associated Molycop control and optimisation services, it was able to reduce its planned shutdowns by 25 per cent, carrying out three shutdowns a year instead of the usual four at its operations in West Africa.
“With the cost of shutting down a mill estimated at approximately $100,000 an hour, and a typical shutdown lasting two or more days, installation of MillSlicer VIP resulted in significant payback for the customer,” O’Connell said.
“Other Molycop customers have experienced similar benefits by applying Molycop digital tools to their comminution circuits, including improvements of between five and 20 per cent in throughput through milling optimisation and a reduction in grinding media consumption by five to 10 per cent.”
Molycop delivers a broad range of analytics to help mining companies reduce variability and deliver improved outcomes by leveraging efficient data capture, visualisation and analysis.
Molycop Tools is a suite of Microsoft Excel-based programs that support plant
consists of 63 accessible spreadsheets designed to help users characterise and evaluate the operating efficiency of any given grinding circuit by following standardised methodologies and widely accepted evaluation criteria.
Molycop Tools incorporates a full set of digital simulators for conventional and SAG applications alongside corresponding mass balance and parameter estimation routines.
“Molycop has further developed and enhanced these tools based on fundamental models with empirical artificial intelligence and machinelearning techniques,” O’Connell said.
Alongside its uses within MillSlicer VIP, the VIP Platform collects, archives and visualises data from hundreds of mining companies.
“This not only helps with day-today decision-making and support, but can also be used for longer-term optimisation,” O’Connell said.
“MillROC was built on the VIP Platform. Both solutions provide real-time data and insights into circuit performance, helping companies make decisions on the way they operate circuits to remove constraints.”
Molycop also offers mill optimisation services designed to build in-house capability to optimise mineral processing operations, including milling circuit flow analysis, grinding media sizing, ore sampling and ore abrasion analysis, and more.
In partnership with Mintek, South Africa’s national mineral research organisation, Molycop designs, commissions and implements advanced control systems to deliver improved outcomes for mineral processing operations.
technology and advanced process control, StarCS was developed as an adaptable and operator-friendly control system that advances process stabilisation and optimisation control while improving productivity.
StarCS integrates all of Molycop’s control systems including MillStar, which offers a comprehensive suite of control strategies that can be applied to almost any milling circuit configuration.
MillStar can also improve particle size distribution and reduce downtime and maintenance costs, in turn leading to greater efficiency.
Alongside its range of process optimisation solutions, Molycop helps its customers by providing online milling advice and reportage of the characterisation of feed ores, cyanide and oxygenation dosage systems to keep their circuits running optimally.
“We are very focused on delivering solutions that will stand the test of time in very harsh and sometimes unpredictable environments,” O’Connell said.
“Physical hardware products must withstand abrasive and corrosive
able to perform when different ore types are processed under extreme weather conditions and with varying skills and expertise on remote mine sites.
“Our digital technology enables us to leverage the full expertise of the Molycop network to provide the best solutions for our customers.”
Throughout 2024, Molycop will continue to develop leading technology by further investing in research and development.
“We see a great future in the mining industry with respect to adopting new technologies,” O’Connell said.
“Mining natural resources efficiently and profitably can be difficult. It’s often not possible to mine selectively and only process good-quality resources. However, it is very important to ensure that we keep on mining in a sustainable way to contribute to a better world for generations to come.
“Molycop is committed to contribute to helping the mining industry in the quest and do this in a safe and sustainable way.” AM
In the dynamic world of mining, where efficiency and productivity are paramount, Thejo Engineering aims to be a beacon of innovation and excellence.
The company has been transforming the mining landscape with its cutting-edge solutions for mineral processing units.
Engineering solutions are required for various stages of mineral extraction, including screening, grinding, sizing, separation, flotation, filtration, and slurry and tailings management.
Thejo solutions are rendered under one roof, with a wide range of products and services benefiting customers in the bulk material handling and corrosion protection sectors.
At the heart of Thejo’s success lies a commitment to designing and manufacturing customised solutions that cater to the unique needs of mineral processing operations.
The use of rubber and composite liners for grinding mills has, according to the company, proven to be a game-changer, enhancing the longevity of equipment while minimising downtime.
“These liners provide unparalleled wear resistance, ensuring that mills operate at peak efficiency over extended periods,” Thejo said.
Trommel screens, another star in Thejo’s product arsenal, play a crucial role in the mineral processing operation. Their innovative features and robust design make them vital in various mining applications, significantly contributing to the overall efficiency of the extraction process.
WITH THEJO, OPERATORS CAN EMBRACE THE FUTURE OF MINING AND MINERAL PROCESSING WITH CUTTING-EDGE SOLUTIONS AND UNLOCK THE TRUE POTENTIAL OF THEIR OPERATIONS.”
Thejo provides a comprehensive suite of solutions for slurry handling at the processing plant.
Rubber-lined pipes, fittings, and hoses engineered by Thejo demonstrate exceptional durability, reducing maintenance costs and ensuring a reliable handling of slurry.
The company’s fabricated tanks and vessels are tailored to meet specific mining and mineral processing requirements, contributing to a seamless and efficient processing environment.
Dewatering is another critical mining application, which Thejo addresses with
its state-of-the-art dewatering screen panels. The company offers screening solutions for applications such as scalping, crusher units, and flip flow.
Thejo is also at the forefront of sustainable solutions.
The company’s pressure filter press spares are designed to optimise the concentration and tailing processes, providing a reliable and economical alternative to original equipment manufacturer (OEM) spares.
Transfer point solutions developed by Thejo have “redefined bulk material handling in mining”.
“These solutions enhance the efficiency of conveyor systems, mitigating spillage and dust emissions,” the company said.
“Our conveyor care products and services ensure the smooth functioning of conveyor belts, minimising wear and tear and maximising operational uptime.”
What sets Thejo apart is its commitment to offering not just products but complete solutions.
Thejo’s sustainable synergetic solutions encompass design, manufacturing, supply, and on-site services, providing a holistic approach to mining challenges.
This end-to-end support reflects the company’s dedication to customer satisfaction and operational excellence.
With Thejo, operators can embrace the future of mining and mineral processing with cutting-edge solutions and unlock the true potential of their operations. AM
Machine learning-powered analytics provide data-driven decision support on the Si124 Viewer and FLIR Thermal Studio.
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MINERAL RESOURCES HIT A MILESTONE EARLIER THIS YEAR THAT MADE GETTING TO WORK EASIER FOR ITS FIFO COHORT.
While many wouldn’t think twice about driving 20 minutes into the office, people working on a mine site usually have a little further to go – often to a different state altogether.
Such is the life of many fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) workers across the Australian mining industry.
Advances in technology mean the typical FIFO roster has become less arduous, but travel days can still be lengthy, involving several different modes of transport to get to work.
Mineral Resources (MinRes) has worked hard to improve this situation.
February this year saw the major miner reach a FIFO milestone with the launch of its first direct flight from Brisbane to two of its mine sites in the Pilbara in Western Australia.
Australian-owned airline Skytraders now operates weekly return flights between the Avcair terminal at the Brisbane airport and the Ken’s Bore and Wodgina mine sites.
The new 3700km flight path aims to significantly reduce travel time and cost for employees and contractors who live in Queensland or other places along Australia’s east coast.
“Direct interstate flights make it faster, easier and cheaper for our people and contractors to travel to and from MinRes sites,” MinRes general manager people facilities Bethanie Ibrahim said.
“For many of our workforce who live in Queensland or elsewhere on the east coast, these services will reduce their travel time by one full day.”
Ken’s Bore is at the heart of Onslow Iron, one of the largest iron ore projects under construction in Australia. Ken’s Bore airport became operational last year, allowing the project’s Perth-based teams to fly directly to the site.
The mine has been the location of several of MinRes’ FIFO updates, including apartment-like rooms designed, in part, to encourage more couples to join the workforce together.
“Our people are the foundation of MinRes’ success and that’s why we’ll give them the best FIFO village experience in the sector,” MinRes said in March 2023.
“As the race to attract and retain the best talent intensifies, we know our focus on workplace wellness will help set us apart.
“The accommodation and amenities at Onslow Iron will set a new standard, helping to change the FIFO culture and contribute to the project’s success.”
And the new weekly direct service between Brisbane and Wodgina, another MinRes site with its own airport, is set to further revolutionise the sector.
“These direct services will reduce fatigue and ensure our people have more time to spend at home with family and friends,” MinRes executive general manager people Andrea Chapman said.
“It’s part of our commitment to redefine the FIFO experience.”
MinRes welcomed the first occupants to its accommodation pods at Ken’s Bore in December 2023. Couple Kylee Jones and Beau Clark, both plant operators working at Onslow Iron, were some of the first to move into the pods.
“This accommodation provides a home away from home,” Jones said. “Something as simple as being able to
just sit on a couch and watch a movie together brings back an intimacy that is normally only possible off-site.
“There’s a genuine community feeling which will certainly have a positive impact on peoples’ mental health. It really makes you feel valued as an employee.”
MinRes general manager, infrastructure Tim Clements said the Onslow Iron accommodation sets a new industry standard.
“Everything is a first from a construction point of view and the rooms are just one part of it,” Clements said.
“The amenities are designed to improve the quality of peoples’ downtime and create a complete lifestyle experience, from the restaurants, gyms, sporting facilities, medical centre – the list goes on.” AM
AUSTRALIAN NICKEL MINERS WERE ABLE TO BREATHE A SIGH OF RELIEF EARLIER THIS YEAR
AMID WEAKENING PRICES AND MINE CLOSURES.
It’s fair to say that nickel has had a challenging start to 2024.
With faltering nickel prices caused mainly by a supply surplus and a surge in Indonesian nickel production, Australian nickel miners have had to brave the storm.
Wyloo chief executive officer Luca Giacovazzi has previously criticised nickel coming from overseas.
“The (London Metals Exchange) is awash with pollutive nickel, which is squeezing out clean nickel from Australian producers,” Giacovazzi told The Australian Financial Review (AFR) in January.
Wyloo chair Andrew Forrest echoed similar sentiments in July 2023.
“Wyloo has targeted nickel sulphides as they are the greenest and cheapest option for battery manufacturing,” he said. “They have the best economics, can be processed into battery-grade nickel
with the lowest environmental footprint and are fully recyclable.
“We are going to give the market a choice between clean nickel and dirty nickel.”
Unfortunately, these plans were spun into uncertainty when Wyloo announced it would be forced to put its Cassini, Long and Durkin mines in Western Australia into care and maintenance from May 31.
The decision had a major impact on BHP, given Wyloo’s mines supply nickel to the major miner’s concentrator in Kambalda. As a result, BHP announced it would pause part of its Kambalda processing operations.
With other prominent Australian nickel mines such as Ravensthorpe, Cosmos and Avebury gearing up for closure, uncertainty shrouds Australia’s nickel future.
But not all hope is lost.
Back in January, Federal Resources Minister Madeleine King and WA Mines Minister David Michael met with senior representatives of nickel companies to discuss challenges facing the industry.
The discussions were attended by representatives of the Chamber of Minerals and Energy WA (CME) and the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies (AMEC).
“It was a very important (and) constructive discussion … for me and Minister Michael to get some input from the industry and how we can assist the nickel industry in this country to thrive and continue in what is some difficult international circumstances with the nickel industry,” King said of the meeting.
Michael added that Australia’s nickel industry is “incredibly important” as the world decarbonises.
“Approvals streamlining is something that everyone is very supportive of, but it’s something we must continue to progress,” he said.
“(We will also) look to see what we can do regarding supporting exploration for new nickel deposits in our states.
“There haven’t been too many major nickel discoveries in WA for several decades ... (It) would help if we could find some more low cost nickel extraction deposits for the future nickel industry in WA.”
Michael has committed to continuing discussions with peak mining bodies on royalty-related issues, short-term relief opportunities and royalty reform.
“We know that nickel, which has been around for a very long time in WA, is subject to these cyclical swings in price, and to keep it as a critical industry, we need to make sure the industry remains strong,” he said.
King and Michael will work together to accelerate discussions on incentivising investment while urgently progressing discussions with State and Territory
Governments on common user infrastructure for critical minerals.
Ideally, common user infrastructure would include strategic materials like nickel to complement the Strategic Infrastructure Hubs Scoping Study.
In the long term, King said she will:
• work with industry players to consider how trading platforms and end users such as electric vehicle manufacturers can better recognise and disclose ESG (environmental, social and governance) performance to consumers
• use the US-Australia Critical Minerals Taskforce to work towards recognition of common and aligned ESG standards for the sector
• f inalise the Australia-EU bilateral partnership on sustainable critical and strategic minerals as agreed in 2022, with renewed recognition of the importance of ESG differentiation in the market
• ensure ESG standards in international critical minerals markets is a core theme of discussions with likeminded partners.
In February, WA Premier Roger Cook offered support by announcing a 50 per cent royalty relief program.
The program will kick in if the average price of nickel concentrate dips below $US20,000 per tonne. The rebate would then be repayable in equal quarterly instalments over the following 24 months.
“We have some levers around royalty relief and royalty rebates, and we’re looking at all options in terms of how we can support the industry,” Cook said at the time.
“Protecting local jobs is a key priority for my government, and we recognise retaining our value-add, critical minerals sector is a key part of our plan to diversify WA, and (to) set it up for future success.”
At the January 25 roundtable, King stressed the importance of Australian nickel producers having the ability to compete fairly in international markets.
“We are determined to make this happen. When the playing field is fair, Australian resources stand a fair chance,” she said.
Two weeks prior, King told the AFR that she supports the introduction of a green price premium for Australian nickel.
The pricing structure would differentiate between Australianproduced nickel that follows strong ESG and labour standards and nickel produced in countries that don’t have the same standards.
“We are yet to see any meaningful ESG premium for green or ethically sourced nickel or nickel sulphides,” King told the AFR in January. “These
members of the EU.
“It may be that manufacturers … using nickel need to be incentivised more positively to pursue nickel mined and refined with high ESG standards. And, importantly, these ESG standards need to be authentic, realistic and achievable.”
Giacovazzi has voiced support for the green price premium, along with a 10 per cent production tax credit.
The production tax credit – inspired by a similar US Government scheme introduced through the Inflation Reduction Act – would see miners receive 10 per cent off their tax bill for the production of refined critical mineral products.
“We need to incentivise Australian nickel production and our downstream opportunity with the introduction of a 10 per cent production tax credit, the revision of the royalties scheme and access to funding support for capital investment,” Giacovazzi told the AFR in January.
“We need structural change in nickel pricing that distinguishes between nickel products and their ESG credentials, and to ensure that Australia’s position as a supplier of low-carbon nickel under the US’ Inflation Reduction Act is protected.”
When the Federal Government updated Australia’s critical minerals list last December, many were surprised to find
MANUFACTURERS … USING NICKEL NEED TO BE INCENTIVISED MORE POSITIVELY TO PURSUE NICKEL MINED AND REFINED WITH HIGH ESG STANDARDS. AND, IMPORTANTLY, THESE ESG STANDARDS NEED TO BE AUTHENTIC, REALISTIC AND ACHIEVABLE.”
that nickel wasn’t included.
The list outlines minerals essential to low-emission technology, the economy and national security, and whose supply chains are vulnerable to disruption.
Previously, the list comprised 26 minerals including cobalt, lithium and manganese.
The list was then expanded to include fluorine, molybdenum, arsenic, selenium and tellurium, all of which are currently used in the defence and technology sectors.
Helium was removed to further align Australia’s critical minerals list to the lists of its international partners. But nickel was left off.
Instead, it was included in the
new strategic materials list, which identifies commodities essential for the energy transition but aren’t at risk of supply chain disruptions and aren’t vulnerable enough to meet the critical minerals list criteria.
Nickel was joined by other strategic materials such as aluminium, copper, nickel, phosphorus, tin and zinc.
However, in mid-February, King named nickel a critical mineral to enable nickel companies to access financing through the $4 billion Critical Minerals Facility and critical minerals–related grant programs.
This is no silver bullet, with King emphasising that the nickel industry faces substantial structural challenges that cannot be addressed overnight.
“The international nickel price is forecast to stay relatively low through 2024, and likely for several years to come until the surplus of nickel in the market is corrected,” she said in February. “In the meantime, this puts further Australian nickel operations at risk.
“Given impacts to our domestic capacity and noting the broader market developments presently unfolding in the nickel sector, I am fully convinced that we must be proactive in addressing the recent developments.”
While the future of Australian nickel appears uncertain, the Australian Government will continue to do all it can to help the industry survive and thrive. AM
SOLAR POWER IS HAVING ITS DAY IN THE SUN AS THE AUSTRALIAN MINING INDUSTRY LOOKS TO A FUTURE OF RENEWABLES.
According to the Federal Government’s Australian Renewable Energy Agency, the mining sector accounts for around 10 per cent of the country’s total energy use per year.
That comes to roughly 500 petajoules a year, and that figure is expected to jump exponentially as the mining sector ramps up operations to meet the demand for net-zero resources like critical minerals. It’s going to take a mammoth effort to meet those energy needs while keeping costs sustainable and emissions at a minimum.
mining players are turning to alternative energy sources to keep costs down and equipment running.
Progress is being made with sources like wind and hydro, but it’s solar energy that looks set to lead the industry into a brighter energy future.
But who is investing in a solar future? And what benefits are they seeing for their operations and their decarbonisation goals?
Rio Tinto
In a deal struck earlier this year, Rio Tinto is aiming to tackle energy demands at its Queensland
Boyne aluminium smelter, the Yarwun alumina refinery, and the Queensland alumina refinery.
Once approved and developed, Upper Calliope has been touted to lower Rio Tinto’s operating carbon emissions by up to 1.8 million tonnes per year.
Rio said the agreement will bring more renewable power into one of Australia’s most important industrial hubs. It also marks another step towards the major miner’s climate goal of halving its global Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions
and Australian governments, on getting there,” Rio Tinto chief executive officer Jakob Stausholm said.
“Competitive capacity, firming, and transmission are critical to developing a modern energy system that can ensure more large-scale renewables development in Queensland and help guarantee the future of Australian industry.”
Competitive firming will ensure the project will be able to maintain output no matter the time of day.
The deals will make Rio the biggest industrial buyer of renewable energy in Australia.
“This agreement with Windlab builds on our momentum in our work to repower our Gladstone operations and provide a sustainable future for heavy industry in central Queensland,” Stausholm said.
BHP’s 2023 ‘Recapturing Australia’s Competitiveness’ report emphasised the centrality of Australia’s mining sector to enabling the energy transition.
As part of its commitment to seeing the mining industry thrive in the renewables race, BHP and clean energy provider TransAlta debuted two new solar farms in the Goldfields region of Western Australia in November 2023.
BHP heralded the projects as the world’s largest off-grid mining solar and battery-energy storage systems, and welcomed it as the major’s first on-site, large-scale renewables project.
The farms boast over 70,000 solar panels across 90 hectares of land and are estimated to slash over 54,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.
“Renewables are increasingly
Fortescue and renewable energy supplier Genex entered into a 25-year solar supply agreement for the iron ore giant’s Gibson Island green hydrogen and ammonia project in October last year.
The power will be delivered from Genex’s Bulli Creek solar and battery project in Queensland for an offtake for up to 337.5 megawatts (MW) of solar energy per year.
It’s all part of Fortescue’s plan to power green hydrogen and ammonia plants with renewable energies.
“Fortescue is committed and focused on supporting the rapid scaling of green technology to help heavy industry decarbonise and producing green hydrogen at scale is integral to that,” Fortescue Energy chief executive officer Mark Hutchinson said.
The Gibson Island facility is expected to produce up to 70,000 tonnes of green hydrogen annually, which will then be used to produce up to 400,000 tonnes of green ammonia each year.
As part of its Roadmap to Net-Zero Emissions, Mineral Resources (MinRes)
At full capacity, the farm aims to meet more that 30 per cent of the mine’s power requirements and cut diesel consumption by approximately 760,000L each year.
That totals a reduction of around 2000 tonnes in the site’s carbon emissions each year.
“MinRes is committed to pursuing renewable energy opportunities where we can and our team has been working hard to deliver a solar array and battery solution that delivers optimum output at Wonmunna,” MinRes energy chief executive Darren Hardy said.
“Together with natural gas, renewables will play an important role in our energy future, and MinRes continues to pursue off-grid solar power and energy storage solutions to support our remote locations.”
With a 20-year lifespan, the farm can be redeployed to other operations once Wonmunna reaches the end of its life.
MinRes has also installed 2700 solar panels across its Perth-based operations in a bid to reduce its carbon footprint. The moves equate to a 981,000kg reduction in greenhouse gas emissions
Adani Group’s mission to be the world’s largest provider renewable energy.
Adani Green Energy (AGEL) secured its position as one of the world’s largest solar company in 2021 with the acquisition of SB Energy Holdings. AGEL now has a total renewable energy capacity of 24.3GW, enough to power more than 8.5 million homes.
Rugby Run is Bravus’ flagship solar investment in Australia, providing power for the equivalent of approximately 23,000 regional homes and businesses.
“Since the facility was officially switched on in 2019, Rugby Run has consistently ranked as one of the top performing solar assets in Australia and the best in Queensland,” Bravus business manager – renewables Derek Chapman said.
“We built this facility for Queensland’s conditions, with the panels programmed to rotate to track the sun most efficiently and also to move to the most effective angles to withstand inclement wind and weather.”
With operators investing in fit-forpurpose solar across Australia, the mining sector is developing a network of renewable infrastructure set to drive down emissions and keep sites powered
AUSTRALIAN MINING SAT DOWN WITH DENDRA SYSTEMS TO UNCOVER WHAT THE ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY COMPANY HAS IN STORE FOR 2024.
Last year saw Dendra’s Australian business effectively double in size, with industries such as the mining sector gravitating further towards the company’s inspired approach to ecosystem restoration.
Dendra is harnessing technology to expand the realms of mine rehabilitation and ecological understanding, with highresolution drone surveys, data science, machine learning, automation, and interventions such as aerial seeding and deep domain expertise at the heart of the company’s solution.
Technology has enabled Dendra to gather ecological insights at scale, a longstanding drawback of more traditional boots-on-the-ground data collection methods.
In fact, in 2023 alone, Dendra achieved scale improvements by a multiple of four, something made possible by the company’s ability to cover large territories quicker and more intelligently.
This is music to the ears of the expansive, largely remote Australian mining industry, which is facing heightened environmental, social and governance (ESG) pressures from stakeholders, investors and governments across the world.
After having achieved so much in 2023, what will the rest of 2024 look like for Dendra?
“For a company like ours, we can’t sit and rest on what we have,” Dendra Australia general manager Guy Smith told Australian Mining. “Technology’s changing, environments are changing, and we need to constantly be assessing whether we can do things better, faster or whether we can provide more insights to drive better decisions.
“So this year we’re focused on increasing the value we deliver to our existing customers by evolving our products and continuing to expand our business through our unique RestorationOS-based solutions.”
Smith hinted at the introduction of several “new and enhanced”
customers that they have a fire hose of environmental data pointed at them, a lot of which they’re simply unable to make use of. Our intent for this year is to distil that down into dedicated streams, helping customers focus on areas that will deliver the best outcome for them operationally and environmentally in the eyes of the regulator and the wider community.
“This will ultimately ensure their social licence to operate fits in with the ESG piece going forward.”
To achieve even greater scale than what can be achieved by drones, Smith said Dendra is exploring new technologies such as manned aviation.
“We are looking at fixed-wing planes that can cover 10 times the scale than what can sensibly be achieved with drones,” he said. “Not everyone needs 10,000 hectares surveyed, so this doesn’t mean drones will be replaced; we’re just adding another tool to the kit bag.
“For a coal mine in the Hunter Valley with a 200–500-hectare area of interest, drones are probably the more suitable option there, but having technologies such as manned aviation available is just another option for us to scale and cater for more customers.”
While Dendra experienced incredible growth in 2023, the demand for the company’s products could accelerate even further this year as the mining industry increasingly embraces its ESG imperative.
This could be even further benefited by an emerging trend.
“Across a number of mining conferences and networking sessions, I’ve noticed an underlying theme in the industry that when it comes to adopting new technology, there’s a race to be second,” Smith said.
“Companies are closely watching early adopters. As soon as they get a signal that an early adopter is getting benefits or gaining value from a technology, there will be a race to be the second adopter.
“So we believe that once value and benefit are proven from contracts we commenced last year, we could see even faster uptake of our solutions in 2024.”
Dendra is already starting to see its proof-of-concept from recent contracts ripple out through the wider mining sector.
“We’re getting individual early adopters, but we’re also getting early adopters within larger groups,” he said.
“For example, a single site owned by a Tier 1 mining company might work with us, have a positive experience and get some of their areas certified using our data and insights, which is then the trigger for other sites owned by that company to jump on board as they have that test case.”
In the same way the technology landscape continues to evolve, prompting Dendra to explore visionary datacollection methods such as manned aviation, the regulatory landscape is also ever-changing.
Regulators have typically opted for traditional on-the-ground methods when carrying out their evaluations, meaning mining companies have often followed suit to ensure they operate within recommended guidelines.
But there could be a technology shift taking place.
“The Western Australian Department of Water and Environmental Regulation recently published a memo detailing
how they are introducing and expanding the use of remote-sensing technologies, including high-resolution drones, to improve environmental assurance activities,” Smith said.
“Essentially, they’re now regulating mines using technology that we use.
“So we’re starting to see a top-down adoption of our technology from the regulators, which can only be a positive with regards to normalising Dendra’s innovative RestorationOS approach to ecosystem restoration.
“If mines see the regulators using remote-sensing technologies, they’re likely to use it themselves so they
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operate in line with that. This is a really good signal from the government that technologies such as what Dendra provides are increasingly becoming the norm.”
As the ESG rhetoric strengthens and emerging environmental technologies and methodologies are further proven, all signs are pointing towards greater demand for Dendra’s ecosystem restoration solutions.
This will enable Australian mining companies and contractors to become better environmental stewards, ensuring proactive mine rehabilitation and a better future for local communities and stakeholders. AM
• Designed for economic processing of soft, medium-hard or hard rock.
• Modular system
• Feed sizes up to 450mm
• Reliable production up 700 t/h
• Designed for economic tertiary crushing of hard rock.
• Modular system
• Feed sizes up to 150mm
• Reliable production up to 160 t/h
• Production of crushed stone fines and high-quality stone chippings. For
It’s no exaggeration to say mining can be a dangerous job. From blasting through rock deep underground to hauling multi-tonne payloads across uneven surfaces, a slip in concentration could turn deadly.
Until recently, mine personnel relied on satellite phones with often-spotty, unreliable connection when responding to critical on-site situations.
But Vocus’ Starlink satellite is now creating a constellation of mines across Australia with fast, reliable connection at the fingertips of every worker when they need it most.
“There are a lot of barriers our customers are facing, like access to technologies and being so isolated in remote areas of the country,” Vocus Western Australian state manager Simon Head told Australian Mining “We’re working with operators to deliver ubiquitous, holistic connectivity based on the needs of their site.”
Head emphasised the Vocus vision of working parallel with its customers’ existing technology to tailor Starlink to any operation.
“Starlink isn’t going to solve the issues of the mining industry in isolation,” he said. “Our goal is to create an ecosystem that integrates and aggregates a site’s available technology with Starlink to offer the best solution to their connection requirements.”
The team at Vocus understands the importance of strong connections in building a safer future. That’s why the company is prioritising partnerships with distributors that understand the unique challenge a mine site offers.
Essential Service Solutions (ESS) is a locally owned and operated communications and electrical expert located in the Perth suburb of Canning Vale. Having installed Starlink at sites across Western Australia, Vocus and ESS have seen first-hand the impact an instant connection can have.
“Starlink has completely revolutionised the field,” ESS Perth managing director Ryan Hazebroek told Australian Mining. “Whether it’s emergency response, Internet of Things (IoT), telemetry, telehealth, security – for the first time these services are bound together and enhanced to give operators new opportunities to solve any issue facing the industry.”
Hazebroek cited 2023’s Cyclone Ilsa as a critical test of Starlink’s capabilities. Having struck Port Hedland in April last year, mine sites and communities
across the Pilbara were left reeling and in need of emergency services.
“The cyclone took out all infrastructure at the time, so being able to rapidly deploy satellites on the road within hours instead of
days was an absolute game-changer,” Hazebroek said.
“The ability to get a connection back for people and emergency services so quickly would never have been possible before Starlink.
“Starlink’s mobility is a life-saving industry first.”
Having the right digital tools on hand is essential to the operation of a modern mine site. As the resources industry ramps up operations to meet the needs of a future built on mineral-intensive technologies, miners need a foundation of connectivity to facilitate innovation, drive efficiency and support enhanced decision-making.
The Vocus Starlink offers an interconnected interface supported by wearables, drones and sensors enabling remote monitoring and data analysis.
In addition to keeping miners safe with site monitoring, Starlink can provide crucial information for predictive maintenance that could save operators millions.
“We’re investing heavily in our people and infrastructure to bring the best possible product to our customers,” Head said. “For us, it’s all about our customers’ experience and ensuring their site is safe, secure and connected.
“The applications for this technology are endless. With Starlink, we can finally bridge the digital divide between Australia’s most remote areas and step into the future.” AM
BRENNAN IS HELPING A RANGE OF MINING AND ENERGY OPERATORS UNLOCK GREATER VALUE FROM THEIR CLOUD SOLUTIONS.
According to a whitepaper from the International Data Corporation, public cloud spending in Australia is poised to grow by 83 per cent in coming years, from $12.2 billion in 2022 to $22.4 billion in 2026.
As uptake increases across the mining and energy sectors, companies should be considering how they can best optimise their cloud environment to gain efficiencies and reduce costs.
That’s where Brennan comes in.
Drawing on extensive experience in the mining sector and boasting more than 25 years of IT expertise, Brennan has evolved into one of Australia’s premier privately-owned and reliable systems integrators.
“We go beyond being solely a technology provider; we serve as a trusted advisor and partner to our clients,” Brennan’s Western Australia state manager Chris Holmes told Australian Mining
“Clients require a partner that goes beyond technology integration to truly comprehend the mining industry’s operational landscape. Leveraging
our deep domain knowledge in mining, we can develop practical solutions tailored to the unique mining environment, rather than concentrating solely on technology.”
Brennan has many success stories. One case study involves a multinational mining company with which Brennan has worked for the past 10 years.
“This specific client lacked insight into their daily operations and required the capability to produce automated reports to support proactive decisionmaking, rather than reactive responses,” Brennan enterprise account manager Rob Easton told Australian Mining.
“We helped implement a virtual DBA (database administration) solution within their cloud environment, enabling them to optimise operations, pinpoint areas of application and technology sprawl, and achieve cost savings.”
Another Brennan customer was an Australian energy and metals company that needed to move its corporate workforce online when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and that now continues to support their hybrid workforce on an ongoing basis.
“This business was told on a Friday afternoon that they needed their entire corporate workforce working remotely by Monday morning,” Easton said.
“They needed to ensure they could keep the business going as per usual and enable their employees to securely work from home. In just two days, we successfully transitioned 2000 employees to remote work using Citrix’s cloud workspace platform and Microsoft’s Azure cloud infrastructure.
“We showcased the reliability of Citrix as a platform, leading the client to adopt it as one of their primary platforms. We are still responsible for managing the platform on their behalf.”
The Citrix platform also proved important for a global energy company looking to integrate a number of recently acquired businesses.
“The company wanted to integrate their acquired organisations at an operational level, so they asked us, ‘How do we get them all functioning as one entity and have them communicating with one another?’,” Holmes said.
Brennan began working on the integration and customised its solution to align with the distinct characteristics
and requirements of each acquired company, enabling the client to achieve synergies more quickly.
The key to Brennan’s success in these case studies, Holmes said, has been its consultative and collaborative approach to the cloud.
“We prioritise business needs over technology,” he said. “Each of these three customers began by identifying the core issue, and then we determined the necessary solution requirements.
“We focus on adding value where it matters most and collaborate effectively with other vendors, bringing them in as necessary. This often positions us as the innovative ‘orchestrator of orchestrators’.”
Brennan collaborates with leading technology vendors, enabling third parties to provide optimal support for Brennan clients and their unique needs. This guarantees successful cloud implementation and adoption, and supports clients’ ongoing cloud journey.
“By strategically aligning the appropriate vendor with a specific architecture, they can collaborate more efficiently, resulting in improved outcomes for clients,” Holmes said. AM
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Mand operations, including heightened environmental, social and governance (ESG) obligations, supply chain disruptions, skills shortages, and capital management.
Managing these challenges alone can be difficult, so managing them simultaneously can be next to impossible.
But that’s where enterprise process automation software company Appian can help.
Appian helps its customers implement automation to simplify their business processes, improving the efficiency, accuracy and scalability of critical, oftensiloed workstreams.
This enables the unification of a mining business – helping to ensure it has the greatest potential to be profitable and create a strong platform for future growth.
“Regarding the unification of data, people and processes, we see a massive gap in the market,” Appian account director Justin Grose told Australian Mining. “The Appian Data Fabric capability solves this challenge through an integrated data layer that connects systems in real-time.
“Best-of-breed systems work really well for what they’re meant to do. However, what they don’t do well is unite data across a multitude of systems within an enterprise which, from a service offering perspective, is Appian’s strength.
“Mining and metals companies are facing changes in legislation from an ESG and governance, risk and
compliance reporting point of view, which obviously flows through to the chief executive officer and board level. Miners have also faced challenges and undergone significant changes to supply chain dynamics post-COVID.”
Mining companies are currently faced with a multitude of pain points, many of which are exacerbated by disseminated, siloed data and not having real-time access to all available information.
“In recent years, there’s been exponential advances in technology that frees up humans to do more important work than the data crunching and analysis that has previously been necessary for reporting and operational processes,” Grose said.
“It can take organisations four weeks to collate data from a number of different sources for a financial month-end. Wouldn’t it be a gamechanger if you could simply run a report in real-time, everything was linked, and you could collate the data in minutes or even seconds?
“Appian can help mining companies generate these real-time insights.”
Grose said such an offering ensures miners aren’t constantly operating in a lag situation with their reporting, and therefore have greater oversight
and control of how their operations are performing at any given time.
This type of solution can also automate processes across a mining business to improve workflows and optimise operations. Appian does this through a low-code, AI-powered process automation platform.
“The Appian AI Process Platform enables companies to design, automate and optimise their processes,” Grose said.
“The platform provides critical components required for automation such as AI, robotic process automation (RPA), process mining and business rules to name a few. We’re also a leader in case management and workflow.”
Appian will actively work with a mining company to understand its specific use cases to provide a purposebuilt automation solution through its low-code platform.
“We can design and configure a specific application within weeks (under an Appian guarantee) to automate an individual process, or we can connect best-of-breed systems and orchestrate them across the organisation,” Grose said. “We are exceptionally good at connecting data, removing silos and providing the full automation capability for companies to optimise their business.”
Appian has the ability to co-exist with and enhance existing software and data systems, which means mining companies aren’t required to exit or retire current systems or infrastructure.
Alongside its abilities in the mining sector, Appian has supported major energy providers and producers on their automation journeys.
A global oil and gas producer previously used cumbersome manual and paper processes to keep track of its data, which slowed efforts to streamline operations. The company was losing ground to competitors and required an immediate overhaul of its processes.
The Appian AI Process Platform enabled this oil and gas producer to shorten cycle times, lower costs throughout the lifecycle, and introduce flexibility across its production landscape.
“Appian helped turn my business unit from a cost centre into a revenue centre,” a business optimisation lead from the global energy producer said.
“Not only was there a 200 per cent return on investment, we were able to meet very aggressive timelines and still deliver more business functions than originally identified in the projects.”
“Rather than undertaking a traditional ‘big bang’ approach to transformation or automation, we believe the best approach is to address complexity, start small and deliver value quickly,” Grose said.
“We can first prove the value of an Appian solution or offering, and then seek to make enhancements or add additional functionality in a modular fashion, resulting in a solution that will add value across the entire business.
“We find this collaborative and agile approach more effective than coming in and stating, ‘We’re going to produce an application that’s going to automate your entire business, but it’s going to take multiple years to do it’.”
Any digital transformation is a staged process, and Appian has not only the holistic know-how to deliver a fully integrated digital solution but also the ability to quickly combat and address pressing data issues.
“It’s something that our clients and prospects openly welcome and love to
Digitalisation, automation, and data-driven decisionmaking are no longer just industry buzzwords; they are transforming the modern mining industry.
Mining is rapidly becoming a sector shaped by digital connectivity, and IO-Link is one technology shaping that future.
Developed by a global consortium of over 300 companies, IO-Link is a communication standard that is revolutionising data access in the resources industry, unlocking a wealth of new operational data and empowering more informed decision-making.
Acting as the eyes and ears of the entire mining process, IO-Link interconnects all aspects of an operation, including digital sensors, enabling the collection of inter-machine data across the entire production chain.
As a pioneer in IO-Link development, ifm is now collaborating with mining operators across Australia to leverage the power of digital connectivity, optimising their processes for enhanced efficiency and productivity.
“While traditional sensors provide values such as pressure or temperature, digital sensors deliver a comprehensive picture by capturing data across multiple parameters,” ifm industry specialist mining Sam Rupasinghe told Australian Mining “IO-Link seamlessly handles connectivity, whether it integrates new sensors and instruments or incorporates existing ones into a digital system. This makes it a cost-effective way to future-proof mines without requiring a complete infrastructure overhaul.”
A leading force in the mining sector’s digitalisation, ifm has been developing and manufacturing standard sensors for decades.
Recent advancements have seen ifm incorporate an IO-Link digital chip into standard sensors. This can be activated by operators at any time to leverage the latest digital technologies without replacing entire sensors.
“As the mining sector embraces digitalisation, ifm is leading the way by offering future-proof standard sensors that come equipped with an embedded IO-Link chip, allowing operators to seamlessly activate digital capabilities whenever they’re ready,” Rupasinghe said.
“This eliminates the need for complete sensor replacements, making the transition to a smarter mining operation smooth and cost-effective.”
IO-LINK
By using an IO-Link master, operators can connect devices along a more reliable and accurate digital communication path.
“You can have a signal going directly to an existing programmable logic controller (PLC) and communicate with existing protocols,” Rupasinghe said. “Simultaneously, you can launch into the Internet of Things (IoT) to communicate online.”
IO-Link supports multiple outputs, so operators can adjust to the new technology by receiving digital data while also continuing to receive standard analogue signals separately.
Once activated, IO-Link can incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) software capable of detecting anomalies across the entire process chain before
they become an issue, taking condition monitoring to a whole new level.
“Data is continuously transmitted from a digital sensor, which then diagnoses possible events,” Rupasinghe said. “For example, the IO-Link monitors sub-systems within mining machines like lubrication, hydraulics, motors and pumps and triggers automated maintenance actions as needed.”
IO-Link, Rupasinghe said, is a technology not an ifm product, which means users are not locked into a particular provider.
“You can use sensors from other providers connected to existing control systems on-site,” he said. “From there, other technologies like Bluetooth and
IO-LINK SEAMLESSLY HANDLES CONNECTIVITY, WHETHER IT INTEGRATES NEW SENSORS AND INSTRUMENTS OR INCORPORATES EXISTING ONES INTO A DIGITAL SYSTEM. THIS MAKES IT A COST-EFFECTIVE WAY TO FUTURE-PROOF MINES WITHOUT REQUIRING
A COMPLETE INFRASTRUCTURE OVERHAUL.”
telemetry can be used to access data at any time.”
IO-Link has open data and intersystem connectivity through various gateways, as well as OPC Unified Architecture with solutions like ifm’s Moneo software.
Versatility is a key feature of IOLink. Understanding that every second counts in fast-paced industries such as mining, IO-Link strives to connect an entire site through real-time data at the touch of a button.
By getting more information than ever out of existing systems without the cost associated with a major infrastructure overhaul, IO-Link technology is setting up operators to take control of their data like never before. AM
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COMPRESSED AIR LEAKS CAN WREAK HAVOC ON A MINE SITE. LUCKILY FLIR, A TELEDYNE TECHNOLOGIES COMPANY, HAS A SOLUTION.
Air compressors are widely used in the mining industry, especially in the underground sector.
Underground mining employs a range of drilling methods, and this drilling is heavily reliant on compressed air systems to flush debris and cuttings.
Air compressor systems also have a large part to play in blasting, producing high-velocity streams that trigger explosives safely.
In fact, they have become such a staple in the mining industry that they can be found in almost every corner of a site.
But while compressed air has made mining safer and more efficient, it is not without its challenges.
These systems can be prone to leaks, which can drive up a mine’s energy costs
BY
due to wasted air – a compressed air system can lose 25–30 per cent of their air to leaks.
It’s in response to this situation that FLIR Systems engineered its acoustic imaging cameras.
“To meet the mining industry’s challenges, companies can turn to technology with a particular emphasis on condition-monitoring,” FLIR said.
“The FLIR Si124 acoustic imaging camera offers a powerful solution for condition-monitoring and is specifically designed to discover compressed air leaks and partial discharges, as well as bearing issues and detection of some gases.”
The FLIR Si124 detects ultrasonic frequencies of a compressed air system leak through its 124 low-noise MEMS microphones.
EMPLOYING ACOUSTIC IMAGING CAMERAS TO PROMPTLY DETECT AND ADDRESS LEAKS, MINING OPERATIONS CAN ENHANCE THEIR ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND DECREASE OVERALL ENERGY CONSUMPTION.”
And with the complimentary FLIR acoustic camera viewer, images of the problem can be visualised quickly and uploaded for immediate analysis.
“This service provides users with valuable insights, such as the energy costs of compressed air leaks and the classification, severity assessment, and recommended corrective actions,” FLIR said.
“The camera requires minimal training and is easy to incorporate
into the maintenance cycle of a mining operation, even in the noisiest of environments.”
The FLIR Si124 is known for its one-handed ease-of-use operation, and the acoustic imaging camera enables operators to complete inspections up to 10 times faster than traditional methods.
“By employing acoustic imaging cameras to promptly detect and address leaks, mining operations can enhance their energy efficiency and decrease overall energy consumption,” FLIR said.
This leads to reduced operational expenses and an improved environmental footprint, helping to enhance a mine’s safety.
“The 124 sensitive microphones are advantageous also for high-voltage systems and substations, enabling operators to maintain a safe distance when inspecting energised equipment,” FLIR said.
“The non-contact camera works from an operational distance of between 0.3m and 130m, allowing conditionbased maintenance to occur in large areas safely and efficiently, and without halting operation.
“As a result, mines can promptly mitigate safety risks while optimising the performance of their equipment.”
Compressed air leaks can translate to a costly problem for a mine site, so getting on top of them is essential.
“Leaks in the compressed air system can be detrimental to the mining process, increasing energy costs, reducing tool efficiency, and increasing maintenance requirements,” FLIR said.
“The FLIR Si124 acoustic imaging camera offers a powerful solution for condition-monitoring in mining facilities, detecting compressed air leaks early and improving operational continuity.” AM
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While Australia has long been a premier gold mining jurisdiction, it has been some time since a new Tier 1 gold mine has entered the local ranks.
But De Grey Mining is primed to do just that, with its Hemi gold project set to produce 553,000 ounces (oz) of gold in its first year of operation, with an average annual production of 530,000oz across the first 10 years.
To put those numbers into perspective, Newmont aims to produce 575,000oz from its Boddington gold mine in 2024. Located 120km from Perth, Boddington has held the title of Australia’s largest gold mine for many years.
What makes De Grey’s ambitions even more significant is the fact that Hemi is located in the famed Pilbara region of Western Australia, which is yet to host a Tier 1 gold mine.
De Grey has been steadily developing Hemi since its first discovery in late2019. And while the market took a few months to catch on following the discovery, the company had a share price of close to $1.35 and a market capitalisation of $2.5 billion at the time of writing.
While De Grey is among a handful of explorers in the ASX 200, managing director Glenn Jardine believes the company has followed a logical trajectory.
“Given the scale of the discovery, the growth in the company’s share price and market cap shouldn’t be that surprising,” he told Australian Mining.
“In the discovery phase, and leading up to the maiden resource estimate, the deposit grew at around 500,000oz a month. So not only was the discovery itself a catalyst for that share price and market cap growth, but the growth was also justified on the basis of the how rapidly the resource grew.”
De Grey delivered its Hemi definitive feasibility study (DFS) in September 2023, which coincided with a $300 million capital raise.
The DFS highlighted Hemi’s potential to be a top-five Australian gold mine in terms of production, with the potential to generate $6.3 billion of pretax-free cashflow across 10 years.
More recently, De Grey inked an option agreement with Kalamazoo Resources to acquire the Ashburton gold project in WA.
Spanning 217km2, Ashburton boasts a gold resource of 1.44 million ounces (Moz) and is one of the largest unmined gold resources in the Pilbara.
With a robust DFS under its belt and more than $300 million of cash to its name at the end of the December 2023 quarter, Jardine said De Grey is in a strong position to elevate Hemi into production.
“Hemi is placed really well from a couple of perspectives,” he said.
“We have a good market cap and we’ve grown the organisation to be able to cope with the growth that we’ve had and all the work that we’ve had to do in the last couple of years.
“We put out a really good DFS, and what that’s done is put us in a good space to attract debt and other financing for the project.”
Jardine said De Grey is advancing discussions and “harmonising terms” with a group of shortlisted bankers, with the aim to formalise creditapproved term sheets for debt financing by mid-2024.
De Grey is advancing state and federal environmental approvals in parallel with the financing process, with the hope
to obtain all relevant approvals in the second half of 2024.
Construction would begin soon after, which could pave the way for commissioning and operations to commence in 2026.
Jardine believes Hemi has the potential to be an important regional and international asset.
“There’s a couple of things that make this project important for the Pilbara,” Jardine said. “We recently undertook an option agreement with Kalamazoo for their Ashburton project, and that project, subject to due diligence, has the potential to deliver concentrate into the Hemi plant once it’s built.
“That also applies to the potential to process international and other concentrates from Australia.
“Hemi is a really important project for the Pilbara because the region has the potential to become a regional, strategic processing hub rather than just being an exporting location.”
Jardine said the Hemi gold mine can also expand the Pilbara’s commodity profile.
“Large-scale gold mining isn’t necessarily something that the Pilbara has seen before, so I think it’s really good in terms of diversification of the commodity mix as well as the technological mix,” Jardine said.
“This will create opportunities for people in terms of training and
development to be able to work in a gold mine as opposed to what they’re used to working in, which is probably predominantly iron ore.”
De Grey is fortunate to be operating in a recognised mining jurisdiction, which allows the company access to established infrastructure such as a bulk export and import facility at Port Hedland, two gas pipelines and an international airport.
“The Pilbara is a mining centre,” Jardine said. “
There’s service industries around there and there’s an existing working culture up there as well.
“A lot of large-scale gold projects aren’t necessarily in the location that Hemi finds itself in, so we’re absolutely blessed by that.”
Such a strategic location supports the economic feasibility of the mine.
“Hemi’s got a really low capital intensity relative to other undeveloped gold projects in the world,” Jardine said. “So not only has it got scale, but it’s also got really good economics.”
Across its first 10 years of life, Hemi is expected to produce its 530,000oz per annum at an all-in sustaining cost (AISC) of $1295/oz, positioning the mine in the lowest AISC quartile for Australian gold mines that produce at least 200,000oz per annum.
De Grey’s DFS analysis found Hemi’s AISC to be better than large-scale
gold mines such as Boddington ($1454/ oz), Tanami ($1588/oz), Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines ($1596/oz) and Tropicana ($1692/oz).
And while De Grey has demonstrated Hemi’s Tier 1 production potential through open-pit mining, there is still scope for further expansion.
“We don’t see the production profile that was in the DFS … as being the end of the story,” Jardine said. “We see
options for increasing that production rate through a regional scoping study we’re undertaking into a separate concentrator at Withnell in our regional area, and we also see a lot of upside from potential underground mining.”
With another Tier 1 gold mine entering the Australian ranks in the form of the Hemi project, job opportunities and decades of economic stimulus are set to follow. AM
AUSTRALIAN MINING LOOKS AT THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PROPOSED RED 5–SILVER LAKE MERGER.
Australia is no stranger to the sometimes-wild world of gold mining. From the boom of the gold rush in the 1850s to the nuggets still being found by prospectors today, the allure of this shining commodity remains alive and well.
And this love for gold makes it even more exciting when big industry players make big moves, as was the case when Red 5 and Silver Lake Resources announced their merger in February.
The history
Silver Lake first made a play for Red 5 shares back in September 2023, acquiring around 383 million of them. This meant Silver Lake owned 11 per cent of Red 5.
At the time, Silver Lake described the acquisition as a strategic investment, citing Red 5’s 100-per-cent-owned King of the Hills (KOTH) gold mine in Western Australia.
The KOTH mine boasts a 4.75-million-ounce mineral resource and a 2.46-million-ounce ore reserve, making it one of the 10 largest gold mines in Australia.
In fact, Red 5 upped KOTH’s total measured, indicated and inferred mineral resource to 96.5 million tonnes just days before Silver Lake acquired the shares.
Silver Lake said it would continue to make investment decisions and deploy capital into organic and external opportunities, consistent with its stated strategy to become a larger, lower-cost and longerlife business.
The merger
Red 5 announced its proposed merger with Silver Lake on February 5. Prior to this, Silver Lake hadn’t made any moves for Red 5 since its first shares acquisition in September 2023, only increasing its shareholding to 11.5 per cent.
By combining the two companies, the resulting entity will sit just behind Regis Resources in gold production per annum, firmly establishing it as a mid-tier company by creating a 445,000-ounce-per-annum diversified mid-tier gold miner.
Red 5’s presentation said the merger will “provide Red 5 and Silver Lake shareholders with the opportunity to participate in a stronger combined group, delivering benefits not available on a standalone basis”.
Indeed, if the merger is finalised, the company will have ownership of four gold projects: KOTH, Deflector and Mount Monger in WA, and Sugar Zone in Ontario, Canada.
The merged group management team is set to be led by Luke Tonkin from Silver Lake as managing director and chief executive officer.
Tonkin will be supported by Richard Hay from Red 5 as chief operating officer and Struan Richards from Silver Lake as chief financial operator.
Before Silver Lake acquired its first lot of Red 5 shares in September 2023, it was eyeing up another gold asset: the Leonora operations in WA.
Then owned by St Barbara, Leonora has historically delivered gold production of more than 30,000 ounces per quarter.
During the June quarter of 2023, St Barbara was deep in talks with Genesis Minerals, a company keen to add Leonora to its portfolio.
The acquisition included the Gwalia underground mine, Leonora mill, Tower Hill project, Zoroastrian project, and the Aphrodite and Harbour Lights refractory projects.
And while Silver Lake swept in with a higher offer, Genesis held firm on its commitment to St Barbara.
“The binding Genesis transaction is fully and definitively documented, fully funded by a committed $400 million capital raising, not subject to due diligence, supported by a $25 million
deposit and has received indications of support from 49 per cent of Genesis’ register,” St Barbara chair Kerry Gleeson said in May 2023.
Silver Lake’s offer of $722 million, though higher than Genesis’ $614 million, was ultimately rejected, with Genesis taking formal ownership of Leonora in early July 2023.
Although Silver Lake was unsuccessful in its bid for Leonora, it may have been a blessing in disguise, as it led the miner to merge with Red 5.
Reflecting on the deal, Red 5 managing director Mark Williams celebrated the win for both companies.
“(The merger) represents an exciting inflection point for Red 5 shareholders and follows the successful ramp-up at KOTH to achieve steadystate production,” Williams said in February.
“The merger would create a diversified gold producer with quality growth assets in Tier 1 jurisdictions.
“With a sector-leading balance sheet, the merged company will be very well placed for future growth.”
The merger is set to be finalised in June, and it seems the entire mining industry is waiting with bated breath to see what will happen next. AM
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ATLAS COPCO’S ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM, EXCLUSIVELY DISTRIBUTED BY CEA, IS IDEAL FOR MINERS LOOKING TO CURB THEIR CARBON FOOTPRINT.
As the mining industry works to decarbonise, equipment and technology needs to keep up.
Having recognised the need for environmentally friendly power solutions back in the late-2000s, Atlas Copco and CEA have been on a mission to provide miners with top-of-the-line systems to meet these needs.
That’s where its energy storage system (ESS) range comes in.
“Atlas Copco initially focused on optimising generator sets for lower emissions and fuel consumption,” Atlas CEA brand leader David Buttigieg told Australian Mining. “However, concerns around air quality and climate change spurred further innovation.
“The company began exploring battery storage systems as a complementary technology, conducting pilot projects across different industries to understand the needs and opportunities within each segment.”
Atlas Copco’s ESS range allows users to capture and store energy for use at another time, reducing fuel dependency and logistics challenges for the mining industry.
“The ESS range harnesses clean energy, eliminating emissions and reducing fuel costs,” Buttigieg said.
“The system’s scalable and modular design enables you to operate independently, reliably and responsibly, shaping a cleaner future.”
Compared to traditional generators, Atlas Copco’s ESS range significantly reduces fuel consumption, the company said, leading to lower operational expenses. This is particularly pertinent for a mining industry facing higher fuel costs as inflation bites.
The system’s silent operation also eliminates noise pollution, improving worksite comfort, while the ability to remotely monitor the unit is also an important feature.
“The ESS features advanced monitoring and control systems, allowing users to track performance, optimise energy usage, and troubleshoot issues remotely,” Buttigieg said.
“This enhances operational efficiency and minimises maintenance needs.”
Designed for standalone operation, the ESS stores energy in its batteries and can directly power loads.
“This essentially mimics ‘island mode’ functionality, providing independent
power supply without external reliance,” Buttigieg said.
It’s features such as this, along with the backing by after-sales service from CEA, that have customers coming back for more.
Several of Atlas Copco’s ESS units are currently being operated by a large ground improvement solutions company.
“We arrived on-site to meet and greet their team before our six Atlas Copco QIS330 diesel generators arrived to power their cranes,” Atlas CEA Business Development Manager Mark Scuglia told Australian Mining.
“It was then we realised they had no access to power and were running a generator 24–7.”
Scuglia explained that running a generator in this type of application (basic site offices, workshop, kitchen, meeting rooms, etc) has operational and environmental flaws.
The site was shipping in diesel fuel weekly, disrupting power while re-fuelling and increasing its carbon emissions by running the generator day and night.
“Once we understood more about their needs and challenges on-site, we were able to design to ideal solution to save the customer time and money,” Scuglia said.
“The customer took comfort in the fact that Atlas Copco ZBP45 batteries are rated for up to 40,000 hours (under
normal operating conditions) and they didn’t need to worry about re-fuelling and regular maintenance.
“They also got access to a world-class support team at CEA.”
With these features and support, it’s not hard to see why customers keep coming back to Atlas Copco’s ESS range from CEA.
“Investing in the Atlas Copco ESS positions users at the forefront of sustainable energy solutions,” Buttigieg said.
“As the transition towards clean energy accelerates, this future-proof technology ensures businesses stay competitive and adapt to evolving regulations and environmental demands.” AM
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Motion has maintained a strong presence in the Asia Pacific industrial space for more than 60 years.
As a wholly owned subsidiary of Genuine Parts Company, Motion has over 200 locations, 12 distribution centres, 30 repair and service centres, and more than 600,000 products available across the Asia Pacific region.
Such a reach has allowed Motion to form connections across a wide range of industries, including the mining, equipment and machinery sectors.
“Throughout its history, Motion has been connected to the mining industry across all major mining segments,” Motion Asia Pacific executive general manager – industrial solutions Nick Kerwin told Australian Mining
“One of the founding businesses, CBC, received its first interstate customer order from a mining customer. This helped launch the Motion business outside New South Wales and started the connection with the Australian mining industry.
“CBC’s founder would travel by train to Mount Isa (Queensland) from Sydney over the weekend to arrive on-site before the competition and place orders for bearings and associated products.
“As of 2024, the mining industry is Motion Australia’s largest customer.”
Motion offers products and solutions that perform efficiently in the toughest
working conditions. Its range includes bearings, gearing and drives, sealing products, heavy-duty belting, and spare parts such as rollers, fasteners, cleaners and scrapers.
“Our range of replacement parts keeps equipment running and production on time,” Kerwin said. “We have a range of solutions to suit many different applications to help our customers get the best outcomes in challenging conditions.
“We are connected to the mining industry from the first extraction of raw material all the way to the large ship loaders and port facilities.”
Motion also offers solutions that are engineered, designed and manufactured according to the tailored needs of a customer or mining application.
“Our size, scale and variety of products, services and on-site solutions position us to be the trusted advisor to the mining industry,” Kerwin said.
“Our business is structured to offer the best in mechanical and power transmission, fluid power and engineering, design and services either on-site or remotely.”
Motion’s Western Australia team collaborates with a number of major mining partners to improve the lifecycle of conveyors, harnessing a holistic approach that puts the customer first.
“Rather than just supplying parts, we improved the outcome for these partners by tackling the issues of better sealing
in aggressive conditions and handling misalignment that not only impacts the conveyor housing and drums but also the belt tracking and performance,” Kerwin said.
“It’s the extra steps we take to help achieve the best outcome that we are most proud of, as the customer is at the heart of everything we do.
“We are part of one of the largest industrial distributors on the planet. We spend lots of time working through challenges faced in a variety of geographies, and we use that strength and knowledge to ensure we
are delivering solutions tailored to our customers’ requirements.”
Throughout 2024, Motion wants to continue supporting growth and innovation in the mining industry.
“We know the industry is working hard to achieve net-zero emission targets and there are ways we can support these initiatives,” Kerwin said.
“Globally, we’ve seen success in energy audits that have reduced waste, helping companies enjoy great improvements.
“We will continue to look at new ways to help improve the reliability and performance of plant and equipment.” AM
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DEVELOPMENTS IN ELGI’S DRILL SERIES OF AIR COMPRESSORS HAVE PROVIDED THE MINING INDUSTRY WITH MORE EFFICIENCY AND RELIABILITY THAN EVER BEFORE.
With more than six decades of experience, ELGi knows a thing or two about what makes the mining sector tick. From its humble beginnings in 1960, the air compressor manufacturer has been a hit in the industry with its suite of advanced solutions.
The company now has more than 400 air compressor products in its portfolio, but that doesn’t mean it’s resting on its laurels.
Back in May 2023, ELGi undertook a sizeable task: bringing new developments to its Drill series of air compressors.
“Inconsistent and extreme operating conditions make drilling a very demanding industry,” ELGi said.
“The Drill series diesel-powered skidmounted portable compressors have been designed to meet the challenges of this industry when it comes to delivering superior power, performance and reliability.
“Finding utilisation in a diverse range of drilling applications, the PG 900S to PG 1250S Drill series
models have recently undergone several design developments.”
The updated Drill air compressors boast a number of new features, including a weld-free air intake system.
“The weld-free air intake system has three-stage air filtration to ensure clean air enters the compressor with minimal pressure drop,” ELGi said.
“This has enhanced operational reliability and extended the life of the compressor parts.”
This three-stage system keeps dust out of the compressor and engine, working alongside mesh protection to increase operational life.
“This makes the Drill series particularly suited for operations in dusty environments,” ELGi said.
The control panel on the Drill series now features an LED light to make use easier. The intuitive controller integrates all main instrument controls and monitoring systems.
“The operational condition of the system can be easily determined, and all system warnings and clearly displayed,” ELGi said.
“A range of further design developments has additionally contributed to enhanced safety features, improved serviceability and a more compact solution that has a much smaller footprint.”
ELGi has also included its rotary screw airend in the Drill series.
This set-up works by taking air into the rotary screw compressor and passing through a filter to remove suspended particles. The filtered air then goes in the airend, which is the heart of the rotary screw compressor. As the rotors turn, they progressively compress the trapped pockets of the air and the compressed air is discharged at the outlet of the airend.
“The unique design reduces pressure losses and increases efficiency,” ELGi said. “In addition, the rotors
ensure energy-efficient compressed air supply for all demanding applications, with higher flow and better specific fuel consumption.
“Better maintenance intervals and best-in-class warranty further assure an overall low cost of ownership.”
ELGi’s commitment to the industry is a key reason customers keep coming back to the company for their air compressor needs.
“The complete Drill series from ELGi assures faster drilling and better drilling averages from a compact, robust and rugged package,” ELGi said.
“With free air delivery from 600 to 1500 cubic feet per metre, the powerful Drill series offers a reliable, fuel- and energy-efficient supply of compressed air, designed to operate in the most demanding of environments.” AM
Brokk robots are designed specifically for high-performance demolition and maintenance works and improve effectiveness, uptime, and profitability for operators.
Within a mine, Brokk robots are able to perform various tasks such as oversize rock breaking, scaling, drilling, digging, and shaft sinking.
www.brokk.com/au
CONSOLIDATED GROUP AND AAA TRAILERS HAVE BUILT A ROCK-SOLID RELATIONSHIP THROUGH MUTUAL SUPPORT AND A COMMITMENT TO THEIR CUSTOMERS.
Machinery hire, site service and clean-up, plant maintenance and labour hire are just a few of the services Consolidated Group has been supplying the Australian mining industry for more than a decade.
The company has a rental footprint spanning the whole of Western Australia, delivering equipment and machinery like trucks, trailers, screening units, excavators, graders and rollers to some of Australia’s largest mines.
With customers all over WA, Consolidated Group knows what it takes to deliver quality services and equipment on which its customers can rely.
“We originally started off as a rental business in earthmoving and transport, and then moved into the mining sector.” Consolidated Group managing director Theo Tsorvas told Australian Mining “We understand the complexities associated with site mobilisation and the strict mining protocols companies need to adhere to ensuring safety and production targets.”
“AAA’s service and delivery times are enabling us to grow as a business,” Tsorvas said. “Not only are we getting a great product but when the company says it will deliver, we can count on it coming through the door that day.
“Without AAA Trailers being able to pull everything together in a tight turnaround, we wouldn’t be where we are today.”
Tsorvas said AAA Trailers’ machinery is built to last, opening up opportunities for Consolidated Group beyond its service offering.
“We’re getting a product that is durable, lasting and is going to have a good resale value down the track,” he said. “We have orders placed for a lot of different equipment in the pipeline.”
With mining customers up and down WA working in all kinds of conditions, Tsorvas said it’s not unusual to get requests for customisation.
“That’s where we can really count on AAA Trailers,” he said. “They can accommodate extra features on our trailers like auto-greasers and alloy rims on all our side tipper purchases.
“They have worked out some different
Queensland’s North West Minerals Province is exactly what the name implies: a premier mining jurisdiction that delivers base and precious metals to end users across the globe.
Spanning Mount Isa, Cloncurry and surrounding regions, the district holds approximately 75 per cent of Queensland’s endowment of base metals, including copper, zinc and lead, and is also home to significant gold, silver, cobalt and phosphate deposits.
One emerging company in the province is True North Copper, represented by its Cloncurry, Mount Oxide and Bundarra projects.
An Australian great True North hopes to be producing high-quality copper sulphide ore at its Cloncurry project in the coming months, with first ore to come from the Great Australia Mine.
A restart study was released in February to consolidate this vision, with a projected 4.8 million tonnes of ore to be produced from the Cloncurry project over an initial 4.6-year mine life. This is expected to deliver 35,000 tonnes of copper and 29,000 ounces of gold.
True North managing director Marty Costello said the restart study is the next step in the company’s mission to prove Cloncurry’s production and investment potential, for the near- and long-term.
“When we went to the market last year (True North listed on the ASX in June 2023), we said we had potential to generate some really great cash flow out of Great Australia and Cloncurry focusing on the copper sulphide and oxide material,” he told Australian Mining
“We know it’s fully permitted, and we know there’s infrastructure there, so over the past six months or so we’ve tried to challenge our investment thesis through analysis and studies, and it’s stood up really well.”
Costello said True North is targeting a much longer life than what is specified in the restart study, with exploration activities advancing across the Cloncurry tenement.
“The restart study comprises the initial Great Australia ore reserve that was put out in July last year,” Costello said. “Since then, we’ve drilled about 9000m at Great Australia involving grade control and resource extension drilling.
“None of that data is in the restart study, so there is a revision happening at the moment at Great Australia and we expect the ore reserve to go substantially higher.”
The four-million-tonne (Mt) Great Australia ore reserve is complemented by a 1.59Mt Wallace North resource.
In January, True North announced a 300 per cent increase in Wallace North’s indicated resources from 0.36Mt to 1.43Mt, with 90 per cent of the resource now in the indicated category.
While the Great Australia Mine will drive initial cash flow for True North, deposits such as Wallace North will drive the Cloncurry project beyond its initial 4.6-year mine life.
This is backed by the permitting and existing infrastructure in place, which have the potential to not only transition Cloncurry into production but also prolong the asset’s life.
“All our 11 million tonnes (of resources) at 0.8 per cent copper are located on fully-permitted mining leases,” Costello said.
“We’ve got all the infrastructure we need and we’re right next door to two large concentrators. We have our own concentrator if we need to turn it on and we’re permitted to do that, and we have a functioning, operating and producing SX (solvent extraction) plant which is already producing copper sulphate crystals.
“So when you’re looking at a restart or a new mine, all the things you would typically need to invest capital in, we
are fortunate that the previous owners – Round Oak Minerals – had already invested heavily in these things and all the necessary infrastructure is in tiptop shape.”
When True North Copper produces first ore from Great Australia, deliveries and processing will be managed by Glencore through toll-milling and offtake agreements. This could see ore processed at Glencore’s nearby Mount Isa smelter, or Evolution Mining’s Ernest Henry processing plant near Cloncurry.
Costello said while True North considered processing ore on-site, a tollmilling agreement was a more feasible option for the company.
“Our on-site concentrator is in very good condition,” he said. “The reason why we’re not turning that concentrator on is because it has a capacity of 700,000 tonnes per annum.
“The current economics involved with running a 700,000-tonne-per-annum concentrator compared to paying a fixed tolling charge; the fixed tolling charge – even with the haulage – makes more sense for us at this point.
“If we were to turn our own concentrator on, we would be dealing with things like sustaining capital, maintenance and overheads such as the cost of tailings disposal. At this point in time, we would prefer to utilise infrastructure elsewhere.”
But Costello didn’t rule out True North flipping the switch on its concentrator at some point in the future.
“We’ve got some really exciting nearmine extensions, including the Greater Australian target,” he said. “We’ve mapped the resource down to 400m depth and we’ve intercepted some really good zones of plus-two-per-cent copper.
“If we find further exploration success, turning the concentrator on at Cloncurry is obviously an option for us.”
For the moment, however, True North is staying true to its promise of delivering a low-capex, low-risk start-up at Cloncurry. Toll milling its copper ore
at neighbouring concentrators enables the company to tick that box.
Beyond the mining and exploration potential of the Cloncurry project, True North’s Mount Oxide copper-cobaltsilver project has the potential to be a key asset in the future.
Within Mount Oxide is the Vero resource, which currently holds 15.98Mt of ore at 1.43 per cent copper and 6.91 grams per tonne silver, as well as 9.15Mt at 0.23 per cent cobalt.
“We believe the Mount Oxide project is potentially world class,” Costello said. “It’s very high grade, we’ve got more than one kilometre of strike extension and we’ve got good depth.
“We believe there’s enough drilling and enough confidence at the Vero deposit to support a decent mining operation well beyond eight years of production.”
With an established resource at Vero, Costello said True North is now focused on expanding the deposit.
“We’ve got a number of high-priority targets to the north of Vero which we will be drilling out this year,” Costello said. “We will also complete some targeted IP (induced polarisation) mapping to further understand the extensional opportunities on offer.
“29Metals (which operates the nearby Capricorn copper mine) has identified an IP technique that illustrates their orebodies quite well, and we’ve been able to leverage this to support our own exploration at Mount Oxide.
“The Capricorn mine is in the same geological setting as Vero and our Mount Oxide mine, which bodes well for our deposits. Hopefully we can elevate this mine into production.”
Through the near-term copper production of the Cloncurry project, the long-term prospects of the Mount Oxide
asset and the company’s strengthening exploration tenure, True North Copper has the potential to be a prominent producer of base and precious metals in the future.
For Costello, the immediate goal is 40,000 tonnes of copper production in the next five years.
“We’ve deliberately gone out and invested heavily in our infrastructure and set up our operational hubs in northern Australia, and we know how to do business in northern Australia,” Costello said.
“We also know that Cloncurry and Mount Isa hosts arguably the best copper in Australia. So our plan of attack is to get the company in a position to produce 40,000 tonnes of copper metal per annum within the next five years.
“And we see the visibility of our projects, and the partnerships we need to have to ensure we can achieve this in that timeframe.” AM
RISING DEMAND FOR NATIONAL GROUP’S MINING EQUIPMENT AND SERVICES IS EXPECTED TO DRIVE ANOTHER YEAR OF SUSTAINABLE GROWTH.
National Group has had a strong start to 2024 as it beds down contract extensions and awards.
National Group founder and managing director Mark Ackroyd said there has been an increase in client activity in the first quarter of 2024, driven by both new and existing business.
“National Group has a very full pipeline of work,” he said. “January was extremely busy with tenders for future work and it hasn’t stopped since then. Every week, we’re doing more pricing for more equipment, which is a good sign.”
The esteemed mining services company expects to announce several contract awards and extensions this year, some of which will take the company in new directions. That follows record revenue for National Group in the 2022–23 financial year (FY23).
“We’re doing more work in the iron ore sector and expanding our footprint in the renewables sector,” Ackroyd said. “That’s part of our strategy to continue to diversify and grow National Group’s operations.”
In this Q&A, Ackroyd discusses National Group’s 2024 plans in detail.
What are some of National Group’s key goals this year?
The big one for me is ensuring we have the right people in the right positions, that everyone continues to buy into the company’s culture, and that we create opportunities for people to grow their career as National grows.
We’re looking at a lot of growth ahead, so making sure we have strong foundations to support that growth and maintain our service levels is an absolute priority for 2024.
Why has National Group seen an uptick in client enquiries?
It’s partly due to the strength of Australia’s mining sector and also because of National Group’s strong track record. We have successfully implemented several major contracts that were announced in FY22 and FY23.
Our clients continue to extend our work on certain contracts and build on their long-term relationship with
National Group. We’re also getting more enquiries from new business which is pleasing.
What are National Group’s aims in the clean-energy sector?
Building a bigger presence in renewables projects is a long-term strategic goal for
National Group as we look to support the decarbonisation of economies. We want to contribute to the sector’s growth through equipment hire and maintenance at critical minerals projects, and also through other services, such as National Heavy Haulage.
Our recent contract award to transport batteries and inverters to the Waratah Super Battery project in NSW is an encouraging development for National Group.
There’s rising demand for equipment and services for clean-energy projects, and given our track record, we believe National Group can be key partner in the development and continuation of these projects.
important is diversification for National Group?
A few years ago, we developed and implemented a strategy to diversify National Group by commodity and location. Coal remains a very important commodity for our business, and we continue to be optimistic on the medium-term prospects for Australian coal, particularly for steelmaking. That said, we have recognised the need to reduce our reliance on coal over the long term.
To that end, National Group has increased its work in gold, iron ore and bauxite – and now in renewables through our work at the Waratah Super Battery project.
We expect to continue that work in 2024 and for coal to represent a lower proportion of our overall revenue over time. That change will be gradual: the world will need Australian coal for a long time to come, particularly in developing economies.
Why is National Group investing so heavily in its workforce?
This is partly to keep up with rising demand for our services and to ensure we are well prepared for several new contract extensions and awards that we expect to announce this financial year and next.
I believe National Group will need to double the size of its full-time workforce over the next few years given the size of our current and anticipated work pipeline. We have invested in more recruitment staff to help with that process.
Another reason for our recruitment campaign is to develop more people internally in the National Group way. We have one of Australia’s best maintenance teams in our field, so it makes sense to leverage that intellectual property through internal training, such as our expanded apprenticeship program.
We’re also giving our people more opportunity to learn new skills and take on extra responsibility.
How are you prioritising diversity and inclusion?
A highlight for me over the past few years has been the increase in the number of women working at National
Group, not only at our head office on the Gold Coast, but also in our workshops and at mine sites.
We want to recruit more women, particularly for maintenance-related roles, and have successfully done so through our apprenticeship program. That work will continue in 2024 and beyond because it is good for National Group operationally and culturally.
However, it’s not just about gender. We want people from all walks of life to consider building a career at National Group. From Indigenous employees, to older people, or those who have never dreamt of working in mining – there’s varied career options at National Group.
What are your corporate social responsibility plans for 2024?
Our CSR work continues to grow and become more structured and resourced. National Group’s ethos has always been to support communities where our employees live and work. That often means helping community events in remote towns, and pitching in with financial or in-kind support.
Under Kain Ford’s leadership as head of marketing and partnerships, we’ve taken that CSR work up several notches in recent years, notably through sponsorships of Indigenous groups and health charities.
What are National Group’s safety objectives for 2024?
In 2024, you’ll see National Group supporting Indigenous rugby league teams, mining industry awards (to promote equal opportunity) and other community organisations. We want to do more in this area.
We’re very pleased with National Group’s safety performance but take nothing for granted. We achieved several important safety milestones in 2023, such as seven years LTI (lost time injury) free at the Caval Ridge mine site in the Bowen Basin, which covers the entire contract length.
Two years injury free at the Daunia mine site in Queensland and one year injury free at our new Moolarben Coal contract in NSW were other highlights last year. We intend to build on that safety performance in 2024 and beyond through our safety compliance processes, governance and training.
How are you maintaining your culture as National Group grows?
National Group’s competitive advantage is its agility, problem-solving ability and customer-centric approach. Because National is privately owned and founder-led, we can make decisions quickly and put customers at the absolute heart of what we do. The risk is that you start to lose that culture as the organisation grows and new people join.
I’m pleased to report this hasn’t been the case at National Group. We’ve worked very hard to ensure everyone here has the same customer-focused mindset, from the teenage apprentices right through to our executive ranks. We have a really good crew of people who have the right ethics, attitude and willingness to work together, and to consistently do a great job for our clients.
Most of all, we have developed and maintained an organisational culture that encourages people to grow with National Group as it grows, and share in its success. If we continue to do that in 2024, National Group will deliver another year of sustainable revenue growth and help our customers deliver extra value. AM
dedicated service centres to make mining quicker, easier and more efficient.
That’s where Metso’s new Karratha service centre comes in.
Built on a 35,000m2 block and boasting a 5000m2 workshop, the Karratha Service Centre is the Pilbara’s newest one-stop-shop, complete with state-of-the-art services for everything related to the mining and resources industry.
Metso president for Asia Pacific Stuart Sneyd told Australian Mining about the decision behind opening the new centre.
“This idea has been around for quite a number of years,” he said. “What drove it was simply our desire to find ways to increase our support to our customers in the Pilbara region.”
The Pilbara region has one of the highest concentrations of Metso
The state-of-the-art facility will provide Metso customers with significant value in terms of equipment availability and performance improvements supported by Metso’s onsite experts.
The centre can service a wide range of heavy mining equipment, including crushers, screens, mills, HIGmills, HPGRs and car dumpers, among others.
Matt Morton, who heads up Metso’s Asia Pacific repairs facilities, discussed some of the Metso machinery that will service customer equipment .
“A lot of work went in to deciding the best fit for this facility,” Morton told Australian Mining. “And with Karratha, we’ve jumped straight to the top of the class.
“Our internal lifting capability is a particular standout. We have one overhead crane that can lift 120 tonnes,
of the biggest bottlenecks on a mine site, and simply moving equipment from point A to B is one of them,” Morton said.
“The way we’ve designed the facility means our straddle crane can drive inside the workshop to pick up equipment before putting it onto another truck or into the yard.”
According to Morton, one of the biggest drivers for the team was to design a centre that was as self-sufficient as possible.
“Being out in Karratha, it’s important that we can help our customers without needing to help ourselves,” Morton said.
“So we’ve installed a full suite of highend machinery to ensure limited reliance on others.”
The Karratha service centre also boasts a tailor-made training facility
“It’s something that we have offered in other locations globally but we really want to build this up in a local context, especially given the size of our operations in the Pilbara.”
In addition to these more obvious benefits, the Karratha service centre is also making waves in the sustainability sector, with its location particularly friendly.
“We used to ship equipment from the east coast all the way to Perth,” Sneyd said. “Now we’ve cut down on thousands of kilometres of travel, meaning less fuel is used to get the equipment to the mines.
“Emergency breakdowns on-site can also be fixed faster, so production doesn’t have to stop for weeks while machinery is shipped long distances for repair.”
It’s no secret that machinery working in optimal conditions maximises productivity, safety and reliability, and
now the maintenance required to keep these machines operating at such a level is on the Pilbara’s doorstep.
“As a Metso facility, we can service and maintain the equipment to our OEM (original equipment manufacturer) standards,” Sneyd said.
“That’s really important, because we can provide that quality assurance and the warranty for anything that’s been repaired or serviced at the facility.”
After planning the centre for over two years, the Metso team has been eagerly anticipating the public’s reaction since beginning the journey.
As a former Karratha local, Morton has been on-hand for a lot of the positive feedback.
“Locals are seeing this as a very positive thing for their town,” he said.
“This centre is providing more opportunities for them, and it’s almost like it’s filling in a piece of the puzzle out there.”
For Sneyd, the opening of the Karratha service centre was a huge milestone. But there’s no stopping the team now that the facility is up and running.
“The short-term focus is to safely ramp up the facility and ensure it continues to run well,” he said.
“But I think what’s important to us is to continue to liaise with the community and find out where else we can help.
“We want to be seen as a good corporate partner for the area, and we know there’s a lot of work to do in the next few years as we build up our Karratha facility, but we aren’t afraid of the challenge.”
SINCE IT OFFICIALLY OPENED IN MAY 2022, THE HUB HAS BEEN HELPING BLUESCOPE DISTRIBUTION TO SUPPORT ITS CUSTOMERS IN DELIVERING SIGNIFICANT PROJECTS ACROSS AUSTRALIA.
Located in the Wollongong suburb of Unanderra, New South Wales, BlueScope Distribution’s National Product, Processing and Solutions hub – known simply as ‘The Hub’ – is the company’s 16th site in Australia.
Ideally situated on the east coast, The Hub is within close proximity to key suppliers and material sources, including the Port Kembla Steelworks, Bisalloy Steel, and blast and prime partners.
The Hub is also based within a wellestablished intermodal freight region, further boosting its logistical efficiency.
According to Mick McPhan, BlueScope Distribution’s manager of The Hub, the facility is well placed to provide its mining customers with a holistic product and service offering that supports significant projects around Australia.
“The aim of this capability is to help our Australian manufacturers grow and deliver more projects through a sovereign supply chain,” McPhan told Australian Mining.
The Hub is equipped with a dedicated project management team that works closely with customers to simplify and manage multifaceted supply chains typically associated with major projects. The unique solution can support
manufacturing, including steel kits ready for product assembly.
The Hub uses a state-of-the-art ‘MicroStep’ multi-functional processing line to deliver plasma and oxyfuel platecutting capabilities, including variable bevels, counter bore and drilling, and tapping capabilities as well as a variety of marking functionalities including etching, laser and inkjet marking.
“We can handle all weld preparation work for downstream fabricators,” McPhan said. “We inkjet mark, drill, tap and counter sink.
“The facility also supports projects by offering solutions such as supplying material in kit form, ready for final assembly and installation by customers.”
BlueScope Distribution now intends to invest in a new cutting-edge computer numerical control laser-cutting machine for The Hub.
The innovative technology aims to enhance the site’s capability to process a range of steel and aluminium products, allowing it to further support customer growth by providing efficiencies and ready-to-manufacture components on time and to specification.
“Many of our customers also tell us that floor space within their own operations is vital,” McPhan said. “Offering customers semi-finished components often saves them
In addition to offering the added capacity to handle significant projects and the convenience of dealing with a single provider for product, processing and service solutions, The Hub is home to a dedicated, well-credentialled team that provides complete and customised end-to-end solutions.
knowledge incorporates many skillsets, from which customers can benefit throughout their projects.
Customers are encouraged to engage the BlueScope Distribution team early on in each project, allowing the company to better assist at the design and specification stages and provide a single point of contact throughout a project.
A further benefit of the facility is its centralised project management services, which help coordinate the complex supply chains that are typically associated with large steel-intensive projects, providing supply chain certainty.
“Our collaboration with our trusted partners is incredibly important. We are part of the broader BlueScope group and have a well-established partnership with Bisalloy Steel and blast and prime partners,” McPhan said.
“We work together closely to ensure all aspects of a project’s requirements can be met and well-coordinated to ensure we maintain a lean supply chain.”
BlueScope Distribution remains customer-focused, investing in new capabilities that drive service innovations and increase capacity well into the future.
“We have listened to our customers and are proud to be working on plans to deliver the next phase of investment at The Hub,” McPhan said. AM
SRK CONSULTING ON HOW TRACER TECHNOLOGIES CAN AID SUSTAINABLE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN LEGACY AND ACTIVE MINES.
The wider use of innovative tracer technology in the Australian mining industry can help miners better understand water flows in legacy and active mines, as well as the environmental parameters of operations.
At a legacy lead-zinc mine in the United Kingdom, SRK Consulting hydrogeologists sought to understand how water flows could affect the placement of a planned remediation facility.
Tracer dye was added to water surface flows entering an open shaft of an underground mine. Monitoring data yielded valuable insights by capturing previously unknown hydraulic discharges from the mine.
The recovery and breakthrough times were used to establish the proportional split of discharges at different monitoring points which, when coupled with water quality data, were used to highlight dominant discharge flow pathways with high metal load.
In Brazil, SRK hydrogeologists have used tracers to delimit the influence area of cavities in limestone and ferriferous formations, springs and pumping wells, and to characterise fractures and hydraulic barriers, providing assistance in the location of dewatering wells and contamination remediation planning at the mine.
In Canada and the US, tracer tests have been used to improve the operation of wellfields and to better understand catchment flow dynamics. Chloride and bromide (natural tracers) have been used to assess residence times in backfill pits and assess the mixing of source waters in waste rock.
SRK hydrogeologists have used a variety of tools and laboratory-based water-quality analyses to interpret tracer data, including the development of inhouse analytical and Python models for rapid tracer modelling.
These are just a few examples of how tracer tests are being used to understand water flows in legacy and active mines. New applications of the technology are particularly applicable to Australia, which has thousands of unused mines, some of which can cause public hazards or damage the surrounding environment.
“The insights from tracer testing are invaluable,” Richard Cheal, a senior consultant (hydrogeology) at SRK Consulting Australasia, told Australian Mining.
“The data are particularly valuable in the context of legacy and active mining operations. Understanding water flow dynamics is crucial for refining conceptual models and defining constraints in numerical models.
“The insights developed overseas with the latest tracer testing technology can be applied to many mining operations in Australia.”
Cheal says tracer testing has a wide range of applications in mining. By confirming sub-surface flow pathways at a mine, SRK can identify where water from the mine flows to and which waterbodies it affects.
“This information is crucial for developing remediation strategies at a mine,” he said.
In active mines, tracer testing can monitor the effectiveness of water management strategies, provide plume migration data, give insight into contaminant attenuation potential and geochemical mechanisms (such as acid mine drainage and metal loading), aid in the design of tailings storage facilities, and refine conceptual and numerical models.
“Tracer tests can provide insights into hydrogeological conditions, and inform strategies for water management and environmental protection,” Cheal said. “It’s an important part of sustainable resource management.”
Tracer types
SRK commonly uses fluorescein and rhodamine water tracing fluorescent dyes in tracer tests.
“These are artificial, non-toxic, and conservative because they have limited interaction with the geological media they pass through,” Cheal said.
In some cases, SRK will use natural tracers, such as sodium chloride, or occasionally environmental isotopic tracers. Much depends on the mine-site parameters or the needs of potential stakeholders in the project.
Tracer monitoring, Cheal said, can involve quantitative techniques that use sophisticated equipment, such as the Valeport Hyperion sonde sensor.
“This technology can detect tracers in real-time and at very low concentrations, which provides a detailed picture of tracer movement over time,” he said. “We can also generate breakthrough and mass recoveries, which are essential for understanding the speed and direction of water flows at a legacy or active mine.”
Qualitative monitoring methods for tracer tests typically use granular activated carbon that absorbs any tracer as water passes through.
“While this doesn’t provide exact measurements, it can indicate whether certain pathways contain a tracer, which is particularly useful in complex subsurface environments,” Cheal said.
Cheal expects the latest tracer testing techniques to be used at more legacy and active mines as technology develops, with real-time monitoring technologies for tracer tests to become more prevalent this decade, providing better quality information on water flows.
“We’re seeing significant improvements in tracer testing that is benefiting more mining companies worldwide,” Cheal said. “The integration of technologies will provide a more comprehensive understanding of the hydrogeological impact of mining operations on the environment.”
Also of note are advances in tracer test data analysis, such as SRK’s Python model, which will enable better prediction of sub-surface water flow patterns.
“This is particularly important for complex mine sites with multiple pathways of water movement,” Cheal said.
As mining companies evolve their environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards and the understanding of water flows becomes more and more important, Cheal believes more mining companies will apply tracer tests in new ways in the coming years.
“We’re continuing to use tracer testing technology in innovative ways to inform mine planning, operations and remediation, and to protect the environment,” Cheal said. “A deeper understanding of water flows at a mine can benefit a range of stakeholders.” AM
Regulatory compliance: In Australia, there is no specific requirement for the permitting of groundwater studies using tracers, but regulators should be made aware of their use. Mining companies should be aware that such discussions can take time, depending on the sensitivities of the site.
Tracer selection: Tracer choice should be specific to the unique environmental conditions and the objectives of the study. During test planning, SRK completes an options appraisal to understand the most appropriate tracer type to use.
Environmental stewardship: During pre-test planning, the minimum volume of tracer required for a successful test is estimated based on the expected parameters (distance, travel time, porosity, flow velocity, etc).
Data interpretation: The detail of any interpretation will depend on the type of monitoring data collected (quantitative or qualitative) coupled with the duration and frequency of sampling.
Stakeholder engagement: Keeping local stakeholders aware of the potential for temporary breakthrough of fluorescent tracers into natural surface watercourses will help maintain good stakeholder relationships.
Cost-effectiveness: Tracer tests using dyes or salt tend to require few resources to set up, monitor or analyse and can provide higher value than more intensive investigations. This makes the collection of empirical data from a groundwater system particularly affordable.
SRK Consulting is a leading, independent international consultancy that advises clients mainly in the earth and water resource industries. Its mining services range from exploration to mine closure. SRK experts are leaders in fields such as due diligence, technical studies, mine waste and water management, permitting, and mine rehabilitation. To learn more about SRK Consulting, visit www.srk.com
EXPLORING SCHLAM’S PRINCIPLE FOR INNOVATION.
In the mining sector, where staying ahead relies on innovation, Schlam stands out as a pioneer.
With a rich 26-year history, this Australian company has firmly established itself as a crucial supply partner for Tier 1 mining firms around the world.
Schlam’s success stems from its unwavering commitment to making mining equipment more productive.
Continuous innovation continues to play a key part in the company’s achievements, working closely with customers to develop solutions to address their individual payload challenges.
The Schlam team recently demonstrated this commitment by designing and engineering a variant of the Hercules EXO open-cut dump body to accommodate the autonomous fleet needs of Roy Hill Mining.
Guided by its commitment to service and its values-based principles, Schlam is known for partnering with customers to help them overcome their unique challenges and maximise payload productivity.
Innovation also plays a big part in the company’s success. This is demonstrated by the its Hercules open-cut dump bodies, which Schlam said consistently deliver significant payload savings for miners around the world.
The company continues to research and address new challenges and opportunities presented to the mining industry. The advent of autonomous haulage has seen Schlam work
closely with leading miners to ensure Hercules bodies are compatible with these systems.
The Hercules open-cut dump body, characterised by its innovative curved shape, has become a sought-after payload solution among leading ironore miners in Western Australia and beyond, delivering payload gains above 10 per cent.
The success of Hercules can be credited to astute engineering and a passion to continually improve performance.
“We view our customers as partners, so we work closely to help solve the payload challenges they face,” Schlam sales and business development general manager Ben Baker said.
“They challenge us and in turn we challenge ourselves, ultimately resulting in further improvements in our payload products.”
This philosophy was demonstrated in 2022 when Schlam developed the Hercules EXO open-cut dump body, a product that offers reduced body weight and longer service life.
“Miners traditionally had a choice between a lightweight body that offers a greater payload but doesn’t last as long, or a heavier body which lasts longer to the detriment of payload,” Baker said.
“We were challenged by a major Tier 1 miner to combine both, something that was unheralded.”
This customer collaboration saw the Hercules dump body undergo a comprehensive redesign, targeting weight reduction in all non-wearing areas, utilising thicker and harder grade steel in high-wear areas, and optimising lighter materials for structural components, all without sacrificing structural integrity.
Since its inception, the Hercules EXO open-cut dump body has helped a growing list of Tier 1 miners achieve significant improvements in payload productivity and safety.
Doing what’s right, not what’s easy
Roy Hill Mining took a significant step last year when it replaced the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) bodies of its Cat 793F fleet with Hercules EXO, thereby achieving greater payload efficiency.
As part of Schlam’s design process for site-specific products, the team conducted inspections and identified a challenge unique to the Roy Hill fleet.
While the EXO body was designed for use with mainstream automated haulage systems: Roy Hill’s autonomous system incorporates a large navigation antenna on the side of the cab, clashing with the standard EXO body’s canopy.
The Schlam and Roy Hill teams evaluated a number of potential solutions, including repositioning the existing antenna or reducing the length of the canopy. But both of these approaches were ruled out.
With no other available options, it was deemed necessary to modify the Hercules EXO dump body design.
“Not many companies would reengineer a market-leading product just to meet the specific needs of a single customer,” Baker said. “But we do what’s right, not what’s easy.
“In this case, we understood Roy Hill’s challenges and designed a solution to meet their needs.”
This resulted in a design that featured a tapered canopy, providing ample cab coverage, coupled with 400mm clearance between the edge of the canopy and antenna.
As with any significant structural change, the potential to affect the integrity and performance of a product was significant.
The initial design change underwent rigorous in-house testing to ensure that payload performance, structural integrity and safety were not compromised. The testing focused on finite element analysis to identify how the design variant would perform on the Roy Hill mine site, with specific emphasis placed on vibration, material flow and other physical effects.
After several modifications, a final design was formalised.
A preliminary prototype design of the EXO body underwent production at Schlam’s primary manufacturing facility in Perth. The trial version of the EXO body was outfitted with cameras, strain gauges and accelerometers, generating more than 80 data channels.
The collected data played a crucial role in assessing the performance of the new body, particularly its impact on high-stress regions. The objective was to verify that the product not only fulfilled payload commitments but also adhered to safety standards and met anticipated service life requirements.
Schlam produced the initial variant product in Perth before it was delivered to Roy Hill’s site in the Pilbara for field testing.
The new Hercules EXO was installed on a Cat 793F dump truck fitted with an autonomous haulage kit. The truck was then rigorously tested on Roy Hill’s dedicated autonomous operating zone, interacting safely with excavators and numerous ancillary vehicles at intersections, waste dumps and load areas.
The trial EXO body was equipped with stress gauges and cameras to measure flex and stresses, ensuring that the product not only delivered payload advantages but also met safety, longevity
it’s unusual for suppliers to commit to engineering products to meet our specific needs. That’s where Schlam surprised us,” a Roy Hill representative said.
“Where other suppliers would have adopted a ‘not our problem’ attitude, Schlam worked with us to develop a product variant to meet our unique needs.
“The team at Schlam engaged with us through the whole process, from site
Roy Hill is now able to enjoy the benefits offered by the Hercules EXO without compromising on its significant investment in autonomous haulage. The company is fulfilling its initial objective of increasing its payload performance by replacing the dump bodies on its fleet of 54 Cat 793F trucks with Hercules EXO bodies.
Schlam’s journey from a regional player to a global innovator is testament to its dedication to excellence and client satisfaction. The company’s understanding of the need to adapt, innovate and tailor solutions to individual mine sites has set a standard in the mining equipment industry.
The successful redesign of the Hercules EXO dump body for Roy Hill exemplifies Schlam’s commitment to providing cutting-edge customised solutions that elevate the productivity and safety standards of the mining sector. AM
Safety is paramount for any mining operation.
And to uphold safety policies on a site, all employees must undergo extensive training to ensure they know how to operate dangerous equipment and machinery, and they know what to do in an emergency.
One of the best ways to get this detailed information across to new employees is via induction videos; however, anyone who has started a new job can probably attest that these aren’t always the most interesting movies.
And if viewers aren’t engaged with the content, their chances of remembering the important information are greatly reduced.
Director and cinematographer
Brendan Busby recognised this conundrum – and decided to do something about it. Equipped with more than 20 years’ experience in the film and documentary industry, Busby is now bringing his filmmaking skills to the Australian mining industry.
“From watching various safety, recruitment and onboarding videos, I know they can be very clinical and non-captivating for viewers,” Busby told Australian Mining
“B Creative House is trying to put a new spin on induction content by using cinematic and documentary skills and
techniques to make the videos more interesting to watch.”
Busby has been working closely with an Australian metallurgical coal producer for three years. The company hired Busby when it was looking for different ways to showcase its induction information.
“The company’s communications team was blown away by the work we had done. They said, ‘This is exactly what we’ve been looking for’,” Busby said.
“That success led me to producing a company profile video for them. They said the profile video was
Busby has also worked closely with a gold tailings processing company over the past three years.
“They first reached out to me after they watched a documentary I filmed,” Busby said. “They wanted to create a documentary based on the history and surrounding town of a gold mine in Mount Morgan, Queensland.
“It was one of the most prosperous gold mines in the world at one stage, so the history and stories embedded in and around it is incredible. I’m still working on this documentary as it’s a massive undertaking, but it’s been an
onboarding videos for them, and we’re currently looking to make a safety video.”
Busby started working on Australian director Baz Luhrmann’s musical biographical feature Elvis in January 2020. Unfortunately, the film had to temporarily shut down production due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“During that time, mining companies couldn’t get together to hold big meetings or celebrations of key milestones,” Busby said. “To get around this, I collaborated with a major miner to stream a variety show filled with musical acts and various segments for its workers and their families once a month.
“It was great because it focused on uplifting the mental health of the workers, especially the fly-in, fly-out workers who were away from their families during a very difficult time.”
Busby approaches the creation of an induction video the same way he approaches work on a feature film or documentary: tell a good story.
“Even though it’s a safety, recruitment or onboarding video, you still want to paint a picture for people,” Busby said.
“Just because it’s an instructional video, it doesn’t have to be boring, regardless of the industry. When I engage with a company, I take their requirements into account, but I see it as a collaborative effort, aiming for an engaging outcome.” AM
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Mpart of the Papua New Guinean landscape for hundreds of years.
In particular, the Pacific nation has a storied gold and copper mining history harking back to the early 1900s, and as the resources industry evolved, so too did the types of commodities mined.
The PNG Industrial & Mining Resources Exhibition and Conference (PNG Expo) will celebrate everything the country’s resources industry has to offer when it opens its doors in Port Moresby later this year.
Held from July 3–4, the PNG Expo now sits under the Prime Creative Media banner, bringing together the industrial, mining and resources industries in a single location to create a marketplace where business is done.
Prime Creative Media, which is committed to investing the time and resources needed to grow this event and the broader Papua New Guinea industries, is holding the event in
a venue selected not just for its sophistication, but to limit travel and prioritise guest comfort.
A gated complex designed to enhance guest safety, the Stanley Hotel features multi-layered security protocols to provide a comfortable backdrop to the event’s strong conference format.
“We have received really positive feedback from the industry so far,” show director Lauren Chartres said.
“We can’t wait to see the solutions that are available being demonstrated at the event in July.”
Having recently celebrated 75 years in Papua New Guinea, Hastings Deering is looking forward to being a gold sponsor of the PNG Expo.
“Hastings Deering PNG is very excited to be supporting the PNG Expo,” Hastings Deering country general manager PNG and Solomon Islands Andrew Dare told Australian Mining.
“Our commitment to PNG spans 75 years, so supporting and contributing to the industry is very important to Hastings Deering.”
300 employees across Port Moresby, Lae, Tabubil and Kimbe, with an operations centre at Lihir Island supporting Australian gold miner Newcrest.
“From providing the latest Cat machines, maintenance and rebuilds to training local staff, Hastings Deering PNG is at the forefront of supporting the development of the industry and its people in Papua New Guinea,” Curtis said. “We are not only supporting the resource industry but also contributing to the local communities we operate in.”
Experts from the mining and resources sector will be attending the
for the local industry.
The event is an opportunity to hear from landowners, as well as government, mining, energy, petroleum and infrastructure representative on topics such as productivity, safety, sustainability, and innovation in technology and equipment.
Prime Creative Media chief executive officer John Murphy travelled to Papua New Guinea in October 2023 to meet with government delegates and the heads of top mining companies in the country to chat about the event and to launch the official publication of the conference, PNG Mining.
“It was great to connect with industry leaders and officials to launch PNG Mining,” he said. “We had great feedback from these meetings and are looking forward to working closely together in the future.
“This event will be a champion for the entire Papua New Guinea resources sector, so it was important that we meet with professionals and decision-makers from across the local industry.” AM
MINING HAS TRADITIONALLY REMAINED ON THE GROUND, BUT ONE COMPANY IS LOOKING TO TAKE THE INDUSTRY TO NEW HEIGHTS.
Even as a child, Flavia Tata Nardini knew she would one day work in the field of rocket science.
“Every time I would look up at the stars, I had a deep desire to learn more about space and the technologies that enable humanity to explore it,” she told Australian Mining
Now, as chief executive officer and co-founder of Fleet Space Technologies – a space exploration company which is said to be “revolutionising” the search for critical minerals – Nardini gets to build those very technologies of which she was in awe as a child.
“Fleet Space’s mission from the beginning was to build technologies that enable humanity to explore and connect Earth, the moon, and Mars,” Nardini said.
“After launching Australia’s first LEO (low earth orbit) satellite constellation, I started looking into ways advanced space technologies can address the shortage of critical minerals needed to achieve net-zero.”
This idea will be a major theme of Nardini’s keynote speech at AusIMM’s International Mining Geology Conference.
Held at the Perth Exhibition Centre from May 7–8, the conference provides an opportunity for industry experts to come together and explore advancements in mining geology.
“To meet the rapidly growing demand for critical minerals, we need to leverage new technologies and techniques to accelerate the discovery of new deposits around the world,” Nardini said.
“We need to make mineral exploration data-driven, agile and fast so field teams can make operational and re-targeting decisions more rapidly.
“Without this paradigm shift, netzero and our planet’s transition to clean energy will be impossible.”
As discoveries become more difficult to find near the surface and the demand for critical minerals intensifies, Nardini is building up Fleet Space to be a pioneer for the entire industry.
“Historically, mineral exploration has involved large amounts of exploratory
drilling, which can be very expensive and environmentally impactful,” she said.
“But there is a better way: using space-enabled technology to rapidly provide 3D sub-surface insights that help teams do more with fewer drill holes, and ultimately accelerate their path to discovery.”
Nardini said this is where Fleet Space’s ExoSphere can play a major role.
“ExoSphere, our space-enabled mineral exploration technology, has been used to conduct over 250 surveys on a variety of commodity types across five continents with over 35 global exploration customers,” she said.
“ExoSphere’s ability to deliver 3D subsurface mapping of survey areas in days, with near-zero environmental impact, is already proving to be a powerful tool for exploration customers worldwide.
“This changes the game for exploration teams, allowing them to quickly enhance their understanding of 3D geological structures at a project and action that insight in their exploration programs in days instead of weeks or months.”
Mining Geology Conference will feature an industry challenge on Monday May 6: visualising the future of mining.
The challenge, sponsored by Northern Star and supported by AROSE, is a collaborative competition among teams of geoscientists and other professionals with experienced facilitation and external support. The goal will be to envisage a future workplace where current processes and activities have been turned on their head, leaving only the fundamentals of the profession remaining essential to operational success.
It’s this kind of collaborative and outof-the-box thinking that has seen Fleet Space become so successful in its field.
“ExoSphere’s widespread adoption has been a major driver of Fleet Space’s exponential growth over the past year,”
“We are also planning to send a variant of our ExoSphere technology to the moon in 2026 as part of a NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative to search for ice and unlock new insights about the
And although Fleet Space’s business is in the sky, the benefits of its technology can be felt firmly on the ground.
“Looking at the mining industry, we found that it can take years or months to acquire and process data about a survey area before it can be leveraged as part of an exploration campaign,” Nardini said.
“ExoSphere brings together the latest advances in space technology, edge processing, and satellite connectivity to deliver 3D subsurface models of a survey area in days – demonstrating a more scalable and sustainable way to accelerate mineral discovery globally.” AM
WITH COPPER DEMAND PREDICTED TO OUTSTRIP SUPPLY IN THE COMING YEARS, AUSTMINE’S COPPER TO THE WORLD CONFERENCE IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA WILL DISCUSS KEY LEVERS TO OVERCOME THIS CHALLENGE.
Ahighly efficient electrical conduit, copper is essential in the production of renewable energy and as the world shifts to net-zero, the commodity is needed now more than ever.
And with South Australia holding 70 per cent of the country’s copper reserves, the state is well-placed to be a key copper supplier.
The amount of copper currently being mined is not matching demand. And regardless of SA’s reserves, the state isn’t immune to the challenges faced by the broader copper industry.
That’s where Copper to the World comes in.
Held in Adelaide from June 18–19 in partnership with Austmine, the SA Government and principal partner BHP, Copper to the World will bring the industry together to discuss the future of this valuable commodity.
“Australia has the expertise and skills needed to create a sustainable and successful copper nation,” Austmine chief executive officer Christine Gibbs Stewart told Australian Mining
“But we need to come together and learn from other world-class copper producers and share how we can better tackle the challenges the industry is facing.”
The central theme of Copper to the World is ‘innovating for a sustainable future’, with the conference focusing on the technologies and strategies to meet future demand.
“Austmine’s ambition is to create one of the world’s most important copper conferences,” Gibbs Stewart said.
“Bringing together the key players, industry experts, technology leaders and global producers, we will focus on the key innovation levers we have to find new deposits, develop assets quickly and increase production, while driving down costs and meeting decarbonisation targets.
“With BHP’s exciting plans for the state, South Australia is certainly the right place to be, and our METS sector guarantees the right solutions.
As principal partner, BHP will be featured in a number of sessions and will share important developments about their business in South Australia.
BHP’s Think & Act Differently team, formerly part of OZ Minerals, will be there in force and Austmine is hoping to
soon launch an interactive challenge that will bring the best and brightest together to help drive the green copper revolution.
Austmine has lined up a host of experienced speakers to share their knowledge with attendees.
This includes Rio Tinto managing director – group technical Craig Stegman, Aeris Resources executive chair André Labuschagne, non-executive director Jacqui McGill and OK Tedi chief executive officer Kedi Ilimbit.
“There are ambitious plans for South Australian copper production and the conference will also feature homegrown companies Hillgrove Resources, Rex Minerals and Havilah Resources for an update on their projects.” Gibbs Stewart said.
conversations around how South Australia can become one of the leading copper producers globally.”
The conference promises a jampacked program, with plenaries, breakout streams and an exhibition running across the two days.
Breakout sessions will focus on four crucial aspects of the copper industry including exploration and how new deposits can be found and developed more quickly; decarbonisation, with
Rounding out the breakout sessions is a focus on underground mining, which will explore different mining methods and feature a presentation from one the world’s leading caving experts.
Austmine is encouraging everyone involved in the mining industry to join in the discussions in June. This includes investors who might not only have interest in copper, but also the latest mining tech.
“We know investors are not only interested in copper, but the technologies used to find, extract and process copper,
that Copper to the World will get people excited about not only the potential of South Australian copper, but the important role it plays in the energy transition.
“It is surprising that the Commonwealth Government has not yet named copper as a critical mineral,” she said.
“Copper to the World will shine a light on how critical copper is and showcase the innovation that’s helping unlock this key commodity.” AM
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