Australian Mining - Feb 2018 by Prime Creative Media

FUTURE OF MINING MINING SERVICES VOLUME 110/1 | FEBRUARY 2018

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FUTURE OF MINING MINING SERVICES VOLUME 110/1 | FEBRUARY 2018

MINERAL PROCESSING

A CRUSHING START NEW MACHINERY MAKES AN IMPACT

PRINT POST APPROVED PP100008185

SERVING THE MINING INDUSTRY SINCE 1908

COMMENT

KEEPING PACE WITH A RAPIDLY CHANGING INDUSTRY BEN CREAGH

Ben.Creagh@primecreative.com.au

AS AUSTRALIAN MINING MAGAZINE REACHES ANOTHER MILESTONE IN 2018, OUR COMMITMENT TO THE INDUSTRY REMAINS THE SAME.

his is the first edition in the 110th year of Australian Mining — a mini milestone in the longstanding history of the publication. Australian Mining’s focus remains to inform local mining and METS (mining equipment, technology and services) companies of the latest innovations in technology and equipment, an emphasis that is only increasing in importance for the industry. After several years of tightened spending in the mining industry, investment increased across Australia in 2017 as commodity prices recovered to profitable levels for producers in the country. The encouraging signs flowed on to the METS sector, with new machinery and technology solutions becoming more affordable than they had in years for mining companies. The acceleration of productivity projects combining mining equipment with autonomous technologies last year demonstrated the increased attention Australian miners could now place on this area. Leading iron ore miners BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals Group all announced their intentions to ramp up tech projects in the Pilbara in collaboration with equipment manufacturers like Caterpillar and Komatsu, as well as software developers and vendors. The improving market conditions also showed that these projects are no longer the realm of just the cashed-up major mining companies. More and more mid-tier producers, development companies, and even explorers are tapping into these opportunities as mining transitions into a new-look industry. In its 110th year, Australian Mining is committed to keeping pace with these trends. Like the industry itself, Australian Mining has evolved significantly over the past decade as

MANAGING DIRECTOR JOHN MURPHY EDITOR BEN CREAGH Tel: (03) 9690 8766 Email: ben.creagh@primecreative.com.au JOURNALIST EWEN HOSIE Tel: (02) 9439 7227 Email: ewen.hosie@primecreative.com.au CLIENT SUCCESS MANAGER NATASHA SHEKAR Tel: (02) 9439 7227 Email: natasha.shekar@primecreative.com.au

it has integrated the digital capabilities that are now a central part of the media landscape. The online news service we deliver, along with its complementary social media platforms, has broadened the ongoing focus on equipment and technology. Not only does Australian Mining provide indepth coverage and analysis of these areas, but also of the day-to-day activities of this country’s mining and exploration companies — valuable information for mining executives, workers, investors and job seekers. In 2017, the latter section of this readership swarmed to the Australian Mining website as the commodity price revival lifted mining activity, and with that, a resurgence in employment opportunities. As Queensland Resources Council (QRC) chief executive Ian Macfarlane said in response to the improvement in mining opportunities late last year: “What we are seeing right across commodities is a jobs story especially in regional economies.” It was, indeed, a notable story for the state that Australian Mining was proud to deliver to the industry over the year. And 2018 looks set deliver more of the same with several projects across key commodity sectors being rapidly developed into mines.

In this edition of Australian Mining, we examine how mining can become an attractive career choice for the emerging generation of workers in Australia. This issue also reviews the mining services sector in 2017, with a summary of the major contracts won by companies during the year. We profile MICROMINE chief executive officer Claire Tuder, who has now been in the role at the software developer for more than a year. This edition also covers the surge in mining employment opportunities that surfaced in Queensland and Western Australia at the end of last year. And as usual, we review the latest mining technology and equipment in our regular Product Showcase spread.

Ben Creagh Editor

SALES MANAGER JONATHAN DUCKETT Tel: (02) 9439 7227 Mob: 0498 091 027 Email: jonathan.duckett@primecreative.com.au ART DIRECTOR Michelle Weston GRAPHIC DESIGNERS James Finlay, Blake Storey, Adam Finlay SUBSCRIPTION RATES Australia (surface mail) $140.00 (incl GST) New Zealand A$148.00 Overseas A$156.00 For subscriptions enquiries please call GORDON WATSON 03 9690 8766

AUSTRALIANMINING

FRONT COVER

FEBRUARY 2018

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CONTENTS FUTURE OF MINING THE NEXT GENERATION Is Australia’s youth interested in mining?

TECHNOLOGY

36-37

14-15

SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC’S PLANNING SOLUTIONS The benefits available for mining

COMMODITIES

AUTOMATION

GOLD V BITCOIN A bubble or rival to mining?

MINERALS PROCESSING

RIO TO EXPAND ITS FLEET The miner is working with Cat and Komatsu

16-17 WASTE MANAGEMENT

FLSMIDTH’S BERESFIELD CENTRE Up close and personal in the Hunter

THE EMERGENCE OF E-WASTE What e-waste means for mining

18-19 EVENT ENCOURAGING INVESTMENT Gina Rinehart’s recommendations

EXPLORATION

LONGYEAR BITS ADD CORE Boart Longyear boosts exploration

40-41

PROFILE

PROSPECT AWARDS

MICROMINE’S CLAIRE TUDER The CEO’s first year in the role

LOOKING AHEAD IN 2018 Nominations open for the next awards

INDUSTRY OUTLOOK JOBS, JOBS AND MORE JOBS The employment recovery continues

CRUSHING AND SCREENING LINCOM GROUP LEADS THE PACK The latest from the mining equipment supplier

EFFICIENCY

MINING EQUIPMENT HASSALLS ADAPTS TO CHANGES What is shaping the company’s strategy?

HIGH-PERFORMING PLASTICS What E-Plas now offers mining

MINING SERVICES THE KEY CONTRACTS Who won what in 2017

CASE STUDY

28-30

PYBAR IMPROVES DEVELOPMENT The contractor works with Saracen Minerals

ENVIRONMENT RIGS TO REEF Decommissioning doesn’t mean the end

SAFETY

48-49

32-33

A REEL GOOD INVESTMENT Reel Tech and Spray Nozzle Engineering’s mining offering

TYRE MANAGEMENT REVIVING SCRAPPED TYRES Kal Tire’s Ultra Repair service

MAINTENANCE REMOVING THE GUESSWORK Alemlube has serviced mining for decades

MATERIALS HANDLING DURATRAY LEADS THE WAY How the company continues to grow

PRODUCT SHOWCASE

34-35

POWERSCREEN TRAKPACTOR 550 Lincom Group sells its first in Australia

REGULARS

NEWS 10-12

PRODUCT 52-53

AUSTRALIANMINING

EVENTS 55

FEBRUARY 2018

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NEWS

THE LATEST MINING NEWS AND SAFETY AUSTRALIAN MINING PRESENTS THE LATEST NEWS AND SAFETY AFFECTING YOU FROM THE BOARDROOM TO THE MINE AND EVERYWHERE IN BETWEEN. VISIT WWW.AUSTRALIANMINING.COM.AU TO KEEP UP TO DATE WITH WHAT IS HAPPENING. FORTESCUE GAINES ITS FIRST FEMALE CEO TO REPLACE POWER Elizabeth Gaines will replace Nev Power as Fortescue Metals Group’s chief executive officer this month. Gaines, who is currently Fortescue’s chief financial officer, will become the third CEO in the iron ore miner’s history and its first female in the role. CEO-elect Gaines said she was both privileged and humbled to be chosen as Fortescue’s third CEO, and was excited to take the company through its next stages. “Fortescue is a unique company and a feature of our success is the strong relationship between the chairman and CEO,” Gaines said. “I embrace the culture and values that truly set this company apart and I look forward to working with Andrew, the board and the newly appointed leadership team of talented individuals

to continue to deliver success and value for our shareholders.” Gaines started as Fortescue’s CFO in February 2017 after already being a non-executive director at the company. She is also on the board of Tourism WA. Fortescue chairman Andrew Forrest said Gaines would lead an organisation where every person seeks advice from their immediate principal as opposed to an industry-accepted management method of unilateral authority. “It will take considerable perseverance and determined leadership to differentiate Fortescue from the more typical command and control environment in the resources sector,” Forrest said. “At Fortescue, every person in the organisation must live responsibly

the decisions they make on behalf of the company, through the culture of Fortescue. “Elizabeth has shown strong aptitude to encourage her colleagues and sleet recognition to them while actively supporting all those around her to be as successful as possible.” Fortescue has made several changes to its leadership team to support the appointment of Gaines, with Ian Wells to take over as CFO, moving from his role as corporate finance group manager. Julie Shuttleworth will be appointed deputy CEO, having most recently held the position of general manager of Fortescue’s Solomon operations. Greg Lilleyman will be appointed as chief operating officer, having most recently been operations director.

AUSTRALIAN MINING GETS THE LATEST NEWS EVERY DAY, PROVIDING MINING PROFESSIONALS WITH UP TO THE MINUTE INFORMATION ON SAFETY, NEWS AND TECHNOLOGY FOR THE AUSTRALIAN MINING AND RESOURCES INDUSTRY.

PRODUCTION STARTS AT CAPRICORN AS COPPER PRICES SPIKE

BHP TO DIVERSIFY OLYMPIC DAM WORKFORCE FOR MINE EXPANSION

The refurbished Capricorn Copper mine in north-west Queensland reached production in late 2017 with prices for the base metal on the rise. Since project development was launched in November 2016, the copper price has increased by more than 30 per cent. The project has also created more than 350 full-time operational and construction jobs in the region during 2017. The former Mount Gordon mine, located around 125km north of Mt Isa, was mothballed in 2013 following declining copper prices. In 2015, it was sold to joint venture partners Lighthouse Minerals and EMR Capital, which have redeveloped the operation under the Capricorn Copper name. Owen Hegarty, Capricorn Copper chairman, said completion of the mine’s refurbishment and restart project came at an ideal time as the copper market strengthened. “We have been confident in the fundamentals of copper throughout the project development phase and the timing for first concentrate is ideal,” Hegarty said. “The team has done a great job in delivering the project on time and on budget and now we are looking forward to running one of Australia’s most exciting copper projects.” Capricorn Copper expects to produce around 30,000 tonnes of copper per year in a high-grade and quality concentrate over an initial 10-year mine life. The site includes a high-grade resource, containing over 900,000 tonnes of copper metal, with exploration results showing potential to extend the mine life in the years ahead. Capricorn Copper managing director Carl Hallion said the mine was expected to maintain an operating workforce of around 220 full-time employees once operations reached a steady state. He explained that Capricorn had a strong focus on developing opportunities for employees and suppliers within the north-west Queensland region. “This milestone lays the foundation for further growth and an exciting future as Australia’s newest copper producer and success story,” he said.

BHP is increasing diversity and supporting the growth of the Olympic Dam mine in South Australia through a recruitment drive. The company said in late 2017 that it planned to recruit around 120 diverse roles over the next 12 months at the multi-commodity operation. BHP has committed to an investment of more than $600 million at Olympic Dam in the 2018 financial year to expand the operation. Olympic Dam asset president Jacqui McGill said BHP was looking for diverse talent to join the operation and help execute these important projects. “We have a great future, we have sustainable growth plans and we are investing right here in South Australia to make the Olympic Dam operation modern and technologically advanced,” McGill said. “We’ve had some great success recruiting people from outside mining and appealing to people with diverse experience and backgrounds. “It is a really exciting time to be part of the industry, and part of Olympic Dam, and we want people from truck drivers to technology professionals to engineers and everything in between to join us.” BHP’s $600 million investment at Olympic Dam is being distributed across three main areas of the operation, with around 20 per cent going towards supporting the underground expansion of the Southern Mine Area, THE OLYMPIC DAM SITE. CREDIT: BHP including additional fleet, telecommunications, raise bores, power and other services. Almost 40 per cent of the funding is being used for further underground development in the existing Northern Mine Area footprint, while more than 40 per cent is being allocated to a range of infrastructure and other programs on site, including the major smelter campaign.

AUSTRALIANMINING

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NEWS

NEWCREST TARGETS GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES Newcrest Mining’s chairman Peter Hay believes the gold miner is well positioned for growth. Hay said with the company’s business turnaround progressing well and its balance sheet strengthened, Newcrest was in a position “to start pivoting more towards growth.” He explained that Newcrest had made good progress in building a growth pipeline over the past year. “Our highly-experienced exploration team is targeting ore bodies that fit our skill set,” Hay said. “This includes shallow, open pit potential in West Africa, but also involves looking deeper for gold/copper porphyries in Central and South America and the Asia Pacific area. “Our most advanced exploration project is of course at Wafi-Golpu – a worldclass gold and copper-gold deposit in Papua New Guinea.” Newcrest is targeting completion of an update to the Wafi-Golpu feasibility study by the end of the March 2018 quarter, Hay added. NEWCREST’S TELFER SITE He said, more broadly, brownfield exploration, brownfield expansions and de-bottling offered some of the lowest cost, lowest risk and highest return growth opportunities for Newcrest. “We are currently pursuing initiatives and projects to add extra process capacity at Cadia and to increase mill throughput at Lihir,” Hay said. “We also continue to explore, conduct studies and pursue improvement at our other operations.”

OZ MINERALS AWARDS $312M EPC CONTRACT AT CARRAPATEENA TO DOWNER, AUSENCO Joint venture partners Downer EDI and Ausenco have been awarded a $312 million contract at OZ Minerals’ Carrapateena copper-gold project in South Australia. The scope of works includes engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of a new minerals processing plant, including the non-process infrastructure to support the operations. Downer and Ausenco have also been contracted for site power distribution, plant bore fields development for regional water supply, and full communications and telemetry network. The JV started work under a limited notice to proceed (LNTP) agreement, with these activities valued at around $100 million. Construction of the plant is scheduled to launch at the end of first quarter 2018. The full contract is estimated to be worth around $312 million. Downer chief executive officer Grant Fenn said the Carrapateena project would play a critical role in boosting the existing and future copper export capacity for OZ and South Australia. He explained the contract “builds on the joint venture partners’ extensive and specialist skills in the development of large-scale materials handling infrastructure” and “combines Downer’s national construction expertise with Ausenco’s world-class mineral processing capability”. Ausenco chief executive officer Zimi Meka said the JV partners and OZ had already developed excellent working relationships. “With our complementary values, people, approaches and absolute commitment to a safe and cost-effective project, we are delighted to be working with Downer and look forward to delivering a successful project for OZ Minerals,” Meka said. OZ officially approved development of the $916 million Carrapateena operation in August 2017. It expects to be producing from the mine in the second half of 2019.

GOLD EXPERT URGES CAUTION ON PILBARA EXPLORATION RUSH Surbiton Associates director Sandra Close says the excitement generated by the gold exploration rush gripping the Pilbara in Western Australia should be kept in perspective. More than 25 publicly-listed companies are exploring for gold in the region, according to the Melbourne-based gold mining consultants. These companies are looking for gold that occurs in conglomerates – sedimentary rocks composed of rounded pebbles in a finer grained matrix. Rocks of a similar type and age are also found in the Witwatersrand basin in South Africa. Close said it was good to see such interest in gold exploration in the region but “real caution” was needed. “It is very early days and despite the publicity, there is a great difference between an exploration play and a successful mining venture. Exploration is a risky and expensive business,” Close said. She added the use of the Witwatersrand model, in the search for gold-bearing conglomerates in the Pilbara, was nothing new, although many seem to be unaware of this. “Mark Creasy, one of Australia’s pre-

eminent mineral explorers, spent the late 1970s and first half of the 1980s in the Pilbara specifically searching for Witwatersrand-style gold deposits,” Close said. “Although he was technically successful at that time and found conglomerates which carried high gold values, the overall grades were too low to support economic development.” In South Africa, the Witwatersrand basin is an ancient sedimentary basin about 400km by 200km. Its gold deposits are not uniform, rather they occur where some of the ancient rivers and streams carried gold along with the sediments as they emptied into the basin around some three billion years ago. Today in South Africa, the gold is found associated with uranium, pyrite (iron sulphide) and small particles of carbon and bitumen. “Despite the parallels, the latest search in the Pilbara should be kept in perspective,” Close said. “In addition to the usual uncertainties of exploration, these types of occurrences involve one of the classic challenges of sampling, the problem of the ‘nugget effect’.” The nugget effect refers to the great influence that the presence a single nugget can have on an AUSTRALIANMINING

assay result if it happens to be contained in a sample. Conversely, if the sample fails to contain what is a representative gold content, the

area could be wrongly dismissed as being of little value. Thus, careful and adequate sampling is essential in such circumstances.

THE DISCOVERY OF GOLD NUGGETS SENT THE PILBARA INTO A FRENZY DURING 2017

FEBRUARY 2018

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FUTURE OF MINING

ATTRACTING THE NEXT GENERATION TO MINING MINING MAY BE VITALLY IMPORTANT TO AUSTRALIA, BUT THERE IS A PERCEPTION THAT TODAY’S YOUNG PEOPLE NO LONGER HAVE A STRONG INTEREST IN THE INDUSTRY. BEN CREAGH REPORTS.

volution Mining chairman Jake Klein highlighted what a lot of people had been thinking when he discussed the declining interest in mining amongst Australia’s youth. “Our industry faces significant headwinds,” the gold miner’s chairman explained at the company’s 2017 annual general meeting. “If we are to sustain ourselves as globally competitive for the benefit of all Australians, there are issues we must address with urgency.” Klein’s key concern that needs attention really hit home: “We need to make mining an attractive career option for young people again. We need to compete with the allure of the likes of Facebook and Google to attract and retain the best and brightest talent back to our industry.” Klein noted that the University of Western Australia (UWA) was forecasting only eight students would

graduate as mining engineers in 2018, while enrolments for mining engineering at the University of New South Wales were expected to be the lowest in 40 years with just eight. These worrying forecasts surfaced as mining in Australia started to see skills shortages emerge in vital areas during the second half of 2017, including engineering. Hays Recruitment reported, as far back as July, that renewed optimism in the Australian mining marketplace and improved sales prices were helping increase job vacancies on both sides of the country. With certain mining skills in short supply and graduate numbers dropping, what can the industry and educational institutions do to help attract more young people?

Australian universities lead the way

Curtin University’s Western Australian School of Mines (WASM) has maintained a program up there AUSTRALIANMINING

with the world’s best despite a volatile marketplace. In March 2017, Curtin was ranked second globally for its mining and mineral engineering program by the QS World University Rankings. The University of Queensland and The University of New South Wales also finished highly in the survey, ranking third and fourth, respectively. WASM has also sustained a healthy level of enrolments, with 1291 in 2017, including 506 postgraduates and 199 first-year students. Even with world-class educational opportunities available for mining, WASM director Sam Spearing conceded that interest in the industry amongst the next generation had fallen. He believes this is primarily due to persistent negativity that is often misleading today’s youth about the industry. As you might expect from a university director, Spearing said

FEBRUARY 2018

stronger education about the modern mining industry was needed to reverse the drop off. “I think there is negative publicity associated with mining in general, as well as ignorance of what mining is up to now – the fact that it is much higher tech these days,” Spearing said. “Mining is also a lot more community and sustainability focused now. Some people seem to still have the idea that mining is about a pick and shovel.” Spearing said the evolution of a surveyor’s role in mining was a typical example of how the industry was changing and becoming more attractive to tech-focused young people. “They are now using drones, lasers and radars – it is actually high-tech stuff,” he said. “I know that big data is a common buzzword that everybody uses, and probably overuses, but if you think about mining, big data is one of the prime places where it is used.”

FUTURE OF MINING

ARE TODAY’S YOUTH EDUCATED ABOUT WHERE THE PARTS FOR THESE DEVICES COME FROM?

I THINK THERE IS NEGATIVE PUBLICITY ASSOCIATED WITH MINING IN GENERAL, AS WELL AS IGNORANCE OF WHAT MINING IS UP TO NOW.” Where do our smartphones come from?

India Cywinski-Jan, a university graduate who is aspiring towards a career in mining, believes today’s youth are not so much disinterested, but instead have a disassociation with where their smartphones and cars come from. Education is also the answer to this issue, according to Cywinski-Jan. She said it was important to start teaching young people about mining’s role in the development of these products as soon as possible. “To improve future pipelines a focus on introducing geological literacy in primary school is critical,” she said. “Throughout my time in Western Australia I have been an active volunteer with associations such as Geoscience Western Australia and Get into Mining which are trying to bridge this gap and introduce students to the wondering career opportunities available in the mining sector. “Although a lot of kids in Melbourne are lucky enough to go panning for gold at Sovereign Hill as part of a school excursion, taking them to an old mine or quarry would give them exposure to where these minerals come from.” Spearing agreed that industry and universities like Curtin should be active at a grassroots level to accurately promote what mining now involves, as well as the subjects that guide students towards the industry. “We need to attract more people by incentivising schools to have them take more advanced STEM

graduates than has happened before.” For niche areas of mining, however, securing a job isn’t as straightforward, CywinskiJan explained. To enhance her prospects, Cywinski-Jan has been taking a vacation work program with Canadian miner Kirkland Lake Gold at the Cosmo gold operation in the Northern Territory. “Finding a job in any industry is difficult but for niche specialities such as environmental science and hydrogeology it is very difficult,” she explained. Cywinski-Jan said she put in “countless hours” of networking, internships and work experience to stand out from the crowd as a student. She also worked hard to become an active member of the mining community by attending major

(science, technology, engineering and mathematics) classes,” Spearing said. “We are also working through the media more to talk to the mining industry as a whole.” Cywinski-Jan’s first of two degrees was in environmental science at Monash University in Melbourne. She also recently completed a masters degree in hydrogeology at UWA. Just as Spearing pointed to the lack of knowledge around the emerging use of technology in mining, Cywinski-Jan believes the environmental aspect is also misunderstood. “The mining industry for an environmental scientist is somewhat counter-intuitive because most people see the mining industry as a behemoth that destroys the environment,” CywinskiJan explained. “However, my experience so far across several commodities has been that environmental management in the front of the minds of many of the majors and even the mid-tiers but it is not just to appease the regulators but as part of their social license to operate.”

Are jobs easy to find?

With mining recovering from the commodities downturn, and skills shortages emerging, jobs are undoubtedly easier for graduates to find than earlier this decade. “I think they are finding it fairly easy to get into the industry,” Spearing said. “It is interesting because a lot of the contracting companies are taking more of our AUSTRALIANMINING

THE HISTORIC WESTERN AUSTRALIAN SCHOOL OF MINES IN KALGOORLIE

FEBRUARY 2018

industry events and forums around the country. Looking back at her studies, Cywinski-Jan said universities courses could improve their focus on the skills needed to prepare students for a job, both for the technical space and soft skills. “Courses such as geology, hydrogeology and to some extent environmental science need to have more of an industry focus rather than being purely theoretical,” CywinskiJan said. “Additionally, equipping students with the right skills within the university or with their industry partners helps students build confidence and exposes them to real problems and solutions.” Whatever the next approach might be, mining in Australia is aware of the challenges it faces to attract future workers. AM

COMMODITIES

Photo credit: / Shutterstock.com

GOLD V. BITCOIN BITCOIN HAS SEEN A MASSIVE SURGE IN PRICES OVER RECENT MONTHS. IS IT A BUBBLE WAITING TO BURST, OR COULD IT BE THE NEW GOLD? EWEN HOSIE REPORTS.

hat started as a nominal novelty is now approaching a tier of near-myth; in mid-December 2017 bitcoin, an untraceable, cryptographic currency invented in 2009 by a person (or possibly, group of persons) named ‘Satoshi Nakamoto’, briefly peaked at a price of $US19,850 ($25,384) per coin before falling 20 per cent in 90 minutes. It stabilised at over $US12,000 ($15,345) in early January following a period of rapid fluctuation. At the beginning of 2013 (the halfway mark of its current life) a single bitcoin cost about $US40 — about $38 at the time, or $51 in 2018. Its rise has been meteoric, and there has been talk of the currency’s viability as a replacement for more corporeal commodities such as gold and silver. But what is bitcoin (also sometimes

known by its ticker symbol BTC) all about? It’s intended as a secure, anonymously traded digital currency replacement shared via peer-to-peer (P2P) networking. Unlike traditional nationstate currencies, it is untraceable and unregulated, and cannot be appropriated for fraudulent use by intermediaries. A number of other cryptocurrencies have emerged in the wake of bitcoin, most prominently ethereum and litecoin, which are collectively known as altcoins. Opinions on cryptocurrency vary from country to country. Venezuela’s President Nicolas Máduro in December announced the creation of a national cryptocurrency called Petro in the wake of US sanctions. Its current enthusiasm for cryptocurrency has been attributed to a heady mix of heavily subsidised electricity rates and a desperate populace’s reaction to the country’s hyperinflation woes. In Asia, South Korea’s government is introducing plans to properly tax AUSTRALIANMINING

cryptocurrency users, taking the opposite approach to its neighbour Japan, where governmental finance arm FSA (the Financial Services Agency) has shown its approval of cryptocurrency exchanges. China, meanwhile, maintains a relative monopoly on exchanges despite governmental attempts at a crackdown there. Bank of England governor Mark Carney has, meanwhile, expressed enthusiasm for blockchain technology’s potential adoption by the mainstream financial system, stating that it “could yield significant gains for accuracy, efficiency and security” and “save tens of billions of pounds of bank capital”. Australian banks, however, have been cited as more reticent; cryptocurrency exchange CoinSpot made headlines when it announced a moratorium on Australian fiat currencies due to banking majors’ restrictions. But what’s all this got to do with

FEBRUARY 2018

mining? Well, some have pointed to bitcoin as the new gold; a safe investment for when times get tough,freed from inflation’s shackles on cash. Similarly to gold, bitcoin’s strength lays not so much in spending power but asset value and protection against market volatility. In terms of liquidity however, gold, and silver to an extent, still have something over bitcoin. Experience. Bitcoin and its subsequent spinoffs have yet to weather a major recession — its invention in 2009 missed the last global crisis by one year, so it has yet to weather any one major economic storm. Gold, meanwhile, has a wealth of data available to vouch for its relative stability. Although 5000 bitcoins have been traded daily on the CME since the launch of its Bitcoin Futures contract in December 2017, gold has been traded for thousands of years. “Until December 2017, investors in bitcoin and its cousins have only been

COMMODITIES

THE NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1070 IS VALUABLE FOR CRYPTO-MINING

able to speculate via buying, with no chance to speculate on a price fall,” ABC Bullion general manager Nicholas Frappell told Australian Mining. “The fact is that there isn’t a lot of depth to the market at the moment, and it is tough to gauge just how hard the market would fall to clear if a large group of cryptocurrency investors decided to exit the market at the same time.” Gold has also seen something of a resurgence of late, with rising geopolitical uncertainties assuring the metal’s status as a safe haven; investment bank Citi has estimated an average gold price of $1690 per ounce over the next three years,

lending credence to gold’s stable status; its current price is around $1677 per ounce at time of writing. “By comparison with BTC and others, gold (and silver) remain more stable and are proven long term stores of purchasing power,” Frappell explained. And despite bitcoin’s rapid, headline-baiting rise, more traditional investors and economists are still warning of a bubble. “It’s artificially created scarcity,” said American ex-convict, Ponzi prince, and subject of histrionic Martin Scorsese film The Wolf of Wall Street, Jordan Belfort. “The problem I have with bitcoin

AUSTRALIANMINING

right now is that it’s very much like at the tail end of 2007 [and] 2008, right before the mortgage market blew up,” he said. “You’d be getting your haircut and [the barber would] be like: ‘Oh yeah I also do mortgages on the side.’ Everybody was a broker. Everyone’s flipping houses. Now everyone’s buying bitcoin. I promise you the end is near.” World-renowned economist and Nobel prize recipient Joseph Stiglitz has expressed an even harsher view, saying that bitcoin should be outlawed due to its lack of a socially useful function. Wall Street magnate and Vanguard founder John Bogle has likewise warned investors to stay away, telling them to “avoid bitcoin like the plague”. Another oft-reported downside of bitcoin is the vast quantities of electricity involved in mining the stuff. Bitcoin is mined using a heavily GPU (graphics processing unit, aka graphics card)-intensive computational process known as hashing. This process has become increasingly difficult as bitcoin’s value has increased, and as such requires enormous amounts of electricity in order to prove effective. Such levels of electricity are now thought to exceed the annual usage of several small countries, raising the ire of environmentalists.

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Some reports have downplayed this element, stating that media has largely overstated criticism of bitcoin mining’s electricity usage. A Bloomberg report, for example, called reports of cryptocurrency’s energy use “overblown” and cited statistics suggesting a more realistic estimate of bitcoin electricity usage to be about 0.21 per cent of overall US energy consumption. Bitcoin was a viral sensation for news outlets in 2017, but its true value will require more time to determine. It lacks the tried-andtested acceptance of gold and silver at present, so until bitcoin can prove its mettle through a period of recession — and predictions of recession in the wake of events such as Brexit and Donald Trump’s consistently beleaguered presidency have been made — investors should probably err on the side of caution. “To balance that fear, it is worth noting that firms such as Amazon have had some huge drawdowns in value before powering ahead to huge valuations,” Frappell concluded. “The key will be whether bitcoin and other virtual currencies manage to deliver what tangible currencies already do — act in some combination as a convenient, reliable and acceptable unit of account, medium of exchange and store of value.” AM

MINERALS PROCESSING

FLSMIDTH GETS UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL IN THE HUNTER

DEEP IN DISCUSSION INSIDE THE BERESFIELD FACILITY

FLSMIDTH STARTS 2018 WITH A NEW STATE-OF-THE-ART SERVICE CENTRE THAT SETS A HIGH STANDARD FOR THE COMPANY IN THE HUNTER VALLEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. AUSTRALIAN MINING REPORTS.

LSmidth’s services and support have moved closer than ever to the mining operations it serves in the Hunter Valley region. The minerals processing specialist consolidated its presence in the region late last year by completing development of its New South Wales service centre at Beresfield. With the new centre, which brings together several existing FLSmidth facilities in the region, the company enters 2018 being able to support its Hunter Valley customers more efficiently than in the past. The centre means FLSmidth can realise a company vision to improve the productivity of local mining and aggregate producers, while also reducing downtime across the region. FLSmidth group executive vice president, customer services, Brian Day, who has been visiting Australia

for more than 35 years with the Danish company, officially opened the facility in December. Seeing a service centre launched by the company may not be a new experience for Day, but he does expect the Beresfield facility to provide a unique offering, all under one roof, for the Hunter Valley. “The key word is purpose built and the service centre is built around what our customers in this region are looking for. When we develop these facilities it also gives us the opportunity to extend our service offerings,” Day told Australian Mining. “There might be services in other facilities that we previously haven’t had for customers here and now we can incorporate them into the overall footprint. That adds more value for our local customers as well.” The 4700-square-metre facility includes a 670-square-metre office area that is now home to FLSmidth’s AUSTRALIANMINING

regional administration, sales and project management teams. Beresfield’s 4000-square-metre factory includes a relocated woven wire plant, a site services depot, a component rebuild workshop and two overhead cranes. Its 1700-square-metre workshop, which is around 40 per cent larger than the previous workshop, is equipped with a digital exciter test bed and provides service and testing facilities for screen and centrifuge vibration exciters. Mark Clifford, FLSmidth’s Australian country head, reinforced how important it was to be able to offer these services and support closer to more Hunter Valley operations. “The whole idea of setting up Beresfield was to be close to the customers in the Hunter Valley. We’ve had a facility here, at Warners Bay, but it had become a bit old,” Clifford explained.

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“We’ve now updated that into a new facility, which is about 40 minutes away from the mine sites and 20 minutes from Newcastle’s coal exporting facilities.” Clifford said having the capability to manufacture woven wire at Beresfield was a significant inclusion for local operators, the centre and the company. “This allows us to shorten lead times and make bespoke product in the Hunter Valley,” Clifford said. “Not too many of our competitors have the woven wire manufacturing capability here.” “In this region, we do a lot of rebuilds, a lot of service exchange work, as well as on site services — so this is a central hub for our field service guys. “We are also providing project management and engineering services, making the centre an opportunity to start repairing more products locally as opposed to taking them to our

MINERALS PROCESSING

FLSMIDTH’S BRIAN DAY

Projekt4 19.12.17 12:04 Seite 1

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Brisbane facility or elsewhere. “It gives us more diversity in what we can do to support the customers from a full product range.” FLSmidth expects the integration of a training room at Beresfield will prove valuable over time as more miners engage the company for education programs around its services or equipment. The purpose-built training centre is another point of difference for the Hunter Valley facility, according to FLSmidth product line manager David Williams. He said it would enable Hunter Valley miners to learn how to make the most of what FLSmidth offers in the region. “Our technical team looks at each customer’s operations together as a team and on a flow sheet. So, we get our customers here at the centre and evaluate every part of their plant’s bottle necking. Part of that process is education,” Williams said. “The centre has been purpose built with a training program for that reason. We are close to the customer base and we can bring our customers in. We can train them on all aspects of their process to look at how they increase productivity. “By having the training program, we then have access to our customer’s port facilities, the power

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plants and the coal facilities. We’re part of their process and part of their team too.” The technical team at Beresfield is also able to tap into FLSmidth’s global network of experts when it faces challenges unique to the region. “When we are talking to our global network, our international people have been on sites or have been on other teams working at operations around the world. We bring that expertise to our customers here,” Williams said. While the Beresfield facility is a step forward for FLSmidth in the Hunter Valley, Day said it also maintained the company’s high standards from a global perspective. “If you look at our overall group vision, we drive success through sustainable productivity enhancements,” he explained. “So any time we do something like this, it addresses that factor. We’re close to our customers; we can get what they need to them quickly. We’re maximising their uptime and we work with them on their new developments. “To me, safety is critical in everything we do — zero harm is the target. But we are now also improving how we deliver on the speed factor by being close.” AM

EVENT

RINEHART’S GUIDE TO ENCOURAGE MINING INVESTMENT NATIONAL MINING & RELATED INDUSTRIES DAY FOUNDER GINA RINEHART HAS OFFERED KEY RECOMMENDATIONS THAT SHE BELIEVES WILL STRENGTHEN INVESTMENT IN MINING. AUSTRALIAN MINING REPORTS.

ina Rinehart is determined to see Australia become a more attractive place for mining investment. Speaking at the National Mining & Related Industries Day last November, Rinehart highlighted the obstacles that were stifling investment in Australia compared to competing international markets. The Hancock Prospecting chair referred to the significant economic growth taking place in India and how Australia could learn from the South Asian country’s focus on reducing red tape to encourage investment. “Given India’s strive for economic greatness, if we want to see mining investment on any significant scale happening in Australia in future, we better take heed of India’s actions and huge resources and quadruple our efforts to let our government know our industry needs to competitive internationally,” Rinehart told attendees during her speech at the event’s gala dinner. This means, according to Rinehart, that Australia would need reductions in red tape, compliance, taxes and government costs or risk seeing mining professionals leave to help service mines in India and other less expensive places. Rinehart pointed to the benefits of the Roy Hill iron ore development in the Pilbara, which involved more than $10 billion in investment, as what could be achieved in Australia. “What happens to that investment? It spreads not only through our state but also throughout our country, and it does not stop there,” Rinehart explained. “Billions of dollars of revenue flows from such mega projects for decades, providing opportunities, jobs and billions in taxation. “Could we expect the same benefits from service industries? Would service industries provide the massive investment, the revenue, opportunities and jobs for Aussies on Australian soil that investment in the mining industry in Australia brings?” Rinehart concluded that it was

GINA RINEHART WITH JULIE BISHOP AND DAVID PANTON

time Australia addressed, with more urgency, the two Ts: less government red tape and less government taxes and other costly burdens. “With all our abundant natural resources, that could ensure we should have a reliable and inexpensive energy, but due to the government, and their changing policies, this has ensured we don’t have reliable energy and only increasingly expensive power,” Rinehart said.

Australia–India relationship

Former Rio Tinto and Vedanta Resources chief Tom Albanese, who addressed the dinner via a video, provided insight on India’s emergence into an Asian economic power and what it could mean for Australia’s mining industry. He offered key questions on the Australia-India business relationship. Firstly asking, is India a competitor or co-operator with the Australian resources sector? And then, what AUSTRALIANMINING

does this mean for India as a future market for Australian resources? “I am happy to say that I can see upside in the continuing co-operative relationship between the Indian modern mining sector and Australia,” Albanese explained. “Much of Australia’s IT development and research for the future digital mine is happening, actually, in India.” Albanese said Indian mining would expand greatly to fill the country’s own local demand, bringing new business opportunities to the Australian resources sector. “As you know, India has always been a market for Australian mines, and this will only grow in the future,” Albanese said. “India’s closer proximity to Australia, a relatively large stage, its own growing mining sector, and India’s future demand requirements drawing quickly to that conclusion.” However, Albanese did caution against viewing India as the second

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coming of the growth experienced in China, which guided Australia’s mining boom last decade. He said there were two reasons for this, the first being that India’s growth would not involve the sammassive coordinated infrastructure development, with everything happening at once, that was seen in China 10 years ago. “India is quite a complex democracy which will create its own diversions and purpose. So, in short, the rate of growth and demand growth will be more tempered compared to China, but could go on for a longer period,” Albanese said. “Secondly, I don’t believe India can or will allow itself to be so dependent on imports for its basic raw materials. “India has the mineral endowment, and does not have the export-led manufacturing sector that China has, so it just can’t afford a foreign exchange leakage compared to what we saw in China over the last 10 years.” AM

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PROFILE XXX

TUDER LEADS MICROMINE TOWARDS FUTURE GROWTH MICROMINE CEO CLAIRE TUDER DISCUSSES HER FIRST YEAR IN THE ROLE AND WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THE SOFTWARE DEVELOPER NEXT. BEN CREAGH REPORTS.

t is now more than a year since Claire Tuder was appointed as chief executive officer of mining software developer MICROMINE. Tuder, who was previously MICROMINE’s general manager and strategic marketing manager, started as CEO in late 2016 as the mining industry edged closer to a recovery following the commodities downturn. It was also a joyous time for the company, with MICROMINE celebrating its 30th anniversary as mining software experts. Tuder describes her initiation to the role as challenging, but also “rewarding and actually great fun.” Being her first experience as a CEO, the challenges she faced stemmed from a lot of on-the-job learning. However, with the support of the growing MICROMINE team, as well as her “wise” mentors, Tuder has been well-supported by the company’s positive approach to problem solving. So, what has changed at MICROMINE since Tuder became CEO? Fortunately for Tuder, not much at MICROMINE needed to change – the company’s vision is still to ‘make mining easier’ for companies around Australia and the world. “Our mission is to provide best-ofbreed software and expertise for easy and secure collection, storage and utilisation of exploration and mining data so that important decisions can be made faster and with confidence,” Tuder told Australian Mining. “As well as sales, profit and product roadmap targets, over the past two years we’ve had a corporate objective to develop happy, high-performing teams. We have done a lot of work on culture, communication, people and team development.” Tuder is proud of the fact that the MICROMINE team is committed to ongoing improvement. Even during the commodities downturn, the company focused heavily on how it could positively develop for when a recovery arrived, she explained. In 2014, MICROMINE established a turnaround plan to move the business through the

downturn by refocusing, reforming and then rebuilding. The actions MICROMINE took included closing non-performing operations or turning them into agencies. It also assumed tighter control over activities like sales processes, forecasting and expenditure. MICROMINE closed the doors of its consulting business and undertook a management restructure. These moves have allowed the company to improve its offering even further with Tuder at the helm. “By the second half of 2016, we had stabilised through ongoing management of operating costs, efficient use of resources, low working capital and conservation of cash,” Tuder said. With market conditions bouncing back in 2017, Tuder said this had also helped improve the outlook for MICROMINE, with it launching new products and expanding the business in more parts of the world. “Different geographical markets have recovered faster but generally there are many positive indicators,” Tuder explained.

MICROMINE’s most recent software release – Pitram 4.9 – continues to deliver the company’s aim of offering highly-functional mine management tools. Pitram 4.9, a fleet management and mine control solution, has again enhanced the power miners have over their operations by allowing sites to increase their real-time data and business intelligence. Tuder said MICROMINE’s products would remain easy to use, yet “very robust” and with the ability to seamlessly integrate with other system available for mining. “As we say, our goal is to make our clients’ jobs easier. We also really care that clients are getting the most out of our software so our tech specialists proactively seek feedback from users and undertake system health checks,” Tuder said. “Clients also contribute to our product roadmaps and new version beta testing. We do a lot of custom development but try make sure the work aligns to the vision for the product and the roadmap.” Tuder said MICROMINE would keep a strong focus on innovation –

THE MICROMINE TEAM

AUSTRALIANMINING

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not just on the company’s products but also the way it does business. She gave an insight into what the company’s clients could expect next. “The upcoming Micromine software release will include a new licensing system which will give clients greater flexibility over how they can use their licences,” Tuder explained. “We’re also doing some exciting work on image recognition, automatic scheduling for underground operations and long-term strategic mine planning.” Tuder believes MICROMINE is well positioned to adapt to the transitioning market environment that greets mining in 2018. She said digital effectiveness and connectivity would be particularly important for MICROMINE as it navigates any volatility in the marketplace. “Staying on top of risks is omnipresent but the challenge is how the industry responds to the unknown unknowns,” Tuder said. “We will all need to be more flexible and agile to respond to constantly changing market conditions.” AM

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INDUSTRY OUTLOOK

JOBS, JOBS AND MORE JOBS AUSTRALIAN MINING PROVIDES A GUIDE TO THE SURGE IN MINING JOBS THAT FLOODED INTO THE LOCAL INDUSTRY AT THE END OF 2017.

his year could not have started in a more promising way for job seeking miners around the country. Last year was highlighted by renewed optimism in mining as the recovery in commodity prices translated into an increase in activity across the country. The surge in job prospects created by leading miners such as Glencore, BHP, Rio Tinto and Iluka in the final two months of the year put an exclamation mark on the encouraging 12 months. Mining was widely regarded as the industry driving a lift in employment across Australia in 2017. This year, with the growth ambitions of these major miners, the industry looks set to continue in this form. Glencore sparked a flurry of interest from job seekers in Queensland during December when it unveiled plans to fill more than 200 jobs at its Mt Isa copper and zinc operations. The Swiss-based miner then provided more detail about its plans in Queensland by explaining a decision to restart operations at the Lady Loretta underground zinc mine, also near Mount Isa. Production at Lady Loretta was suspended in 2015 as zinc prices declined. Zinc has, however, recovered over the past two years, with prices increasing by more than 100 per cent. Glencore expected the Lady Loretta

restart to create up to 250 new jobs for Queenslanders. Rio announced it was seeking more than 100 workers to fill roles at its bauxite operations in Far North Queensland. The miner planned to recruit a diverse range of positions at the existing Weipa mines at Andoon and East Weipa and for the Amrun project. Daniel van der Westhuizen, Rio Tinto’s Weipa Operations general manager, said the roles offered by the company would ultimately support its bauxite operations in Far North Queensland. “It’s an exciting time for our people, business and community with Amrun becoming a part of a strong and sustainable future for the region,” van der Westhuizen said. Many of the Amrun roles started immediately, while others will gradually take effect between 2018 and 2019. Queensland Resources Council (QRC) chief executive Ian Macfarlane said the state’s North West had the potential to unearth vast amounts of copper, zinc and gold, which are the minerals used in technologies like batteries, mobile phones and solar panels. “What we are seeing right across commodities is a jobs story, especially in regional economies. We’ve seen 550 jobs added to the market this week (December) with Glencore Copper and Lady Loretta and Rio Tinto AUSTRALIANMINING

announcing an extra 100 at its Weipa operations,” Macfarlane said. As Queensland experienced a jobs resurgence late in the year, Western Australia continued to enjoy an ongoing revival in employment prospects for miners. Mineral sands miner Iluka Resources’ approval to develop its Cataby project in WA was one of the final key announcements of 2017 that set up additional employment growth. Iluka expects the $275 million project will require a construction workforce of 250 people and 160 fulltime employees once it is operational. The project was approved after Iluka secured offtake agreements for 85 per cent of its production over four years from the Synthetic Rutile kiln 2 facility at Capel in WA’s South West. December’s surge in job opportunities followed BHP outlining its recruitment plans at the Olympic Dam operation in South Australia a month earlier. BHP announced in November that it expected to recruit around 120 diverse roles over the following 12 months at the multi-commodity operation. The miner is investing more than $600 million this financial year to expand the site. Olympic Dam asset president Jacqui McGill said BHP was looking for diverse talent to join the operation and help execute these important projects. “We have a great future, we have sustainable growth plans and we

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are investing right here in South Australia to make the Olympic Dam operation modern and technologically advanced,” McGill said. “We’ve had some great success recruiting people from outside mining and appealing to people with diverse experience and background.” Earlier in 2017, BHP said a $350 million plan to revamp its smelter operations at Olympic Dam would involve 1300 contractors. Reports released in December by human resources specialist, Manpower Group, and online jobs portal, SEEK, backed the improving employment outlook. In Manpower’s employment outlook survey for the first quarter of the 2018 financial year, employers in mining and construction reported the strongest outlook (+23 per cent), as well as the strongest year-on-year gain (+16 per cent). Meanwhile, SEEK reported that its mining, resources and energy industry category was easily the fastest growing in terms of advertising volumes between January and November 2017. Michael Ilczynski, SEEK Australia/New Zealand managing director, explained: “The pick-up of production activities by mining companies, especially in Western Australia, after cutbacks over the past few years, is driving job ad growth on SEEK across the mining, resources and energy industry.” AM

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MINING EQUIPMENT

HASSALLS ADAPTS TO CHANGING ENVIRONMENT FOR AUCTIONEERS AUSTRALIAN MINING TALKS TO AUCTIONEERS HASSALLS ABOUT THE KEY FACTORS SHAPING THE SECTOR FOR THE COMPANY.

ining equipment auctions have evolved significantly over the past decade in Australia. Technology has diversified how auctions are conducted, moving many away from the traditional on site stage where equipment goes ‘under the hammer’ and increasingly into an online environment. For equipment auction and remarketing specialists, Hassalls, this has offered both an opportunity and a challenge. Formed in 2000, the first decade of the company’s history focused on auctions at sites, but new technological capabilities have trended its events towards online platforms in the years since. While online auctions have provided Hassalls with a new, and mostly effective way to attract and reach vendors and buyers, it has also increased the importance of how the company’s consultants engage with the industry. Just because technology has added new possibilities for the sector, it doesn’t mean every vendor, buyer or piece of equipment is suited to an online auction. Hassalls director – financial services and insolvency, Leo Doromal, told Australian Mining that tailoring a product offering and strategy to optimise returns had become vitally important for disposal of mining assets. He said products like tender campaigns, expressions of interest and private treaty sales would be considered, in addition to traditional and online auctions, when Hassalls decided on the most effective strategy. These products have become increasingly prominent for Hassalls, with 60 per cent of the company’s sales now secured through either expression of interest or private treaty sales. “We need to understand what’s important for the vendors and then take that to our client,” Doromal said. “Is the traditional way, one of the online platforms or another product offering the right way for remarketing equipment?” Doromal said auctions may have

been about “purely putting the equipment under the hammer” 10 years ago, but the traditional model had been disrupted. “You have to look at each case separately in today’s mining industry,” Doromal said. “We have definitely evolved from the traditional model and you have to look at how you can maximise returns by considering each of the options that are available to determine the right remarketing strategy. “We will determine which method is the best to meet the vendor’s requirements and maximise the return based on what their needs are.” Technology isn’t the only factor affecting Hassalls’ auctions as 2018 begins. Doromal said the recovery in market conditions during 2017 was influencing the type of mining equipment Hassalls could currently source for its auctions. While late model, low-hour equipment was commonly available during the commodities downturn, it is now difficult to come by as miners have started to ramp-up operations to increase production. This has significantly lifted demand and the utilisation of newer, latemodel equipment, Doromal explained.

“There was a noticeable tightening of the belts in terms of capital expenditure during the downturn – most miners weren’t able to buy recent models or new equipment,” Doromal said. “Now with production levels increasing they have been loosening those policies and are looking to purchase or make investments in latemodel equipment.” Doromal said mining companies were, instead, trying to dispose of older or surplus equipment that no longer operated at the efficiency needed for their production strategies. This situation led to prices for late-model equipment in certain asset classes increasing by as much as 20 per cent during the second half of 2017, Doromal noted. With mining companies now positioned for growth, Hassalls has also observed equipment utilisation surge from around 50 per cent during the downturn to more than 80 per cent in 2017 – a mark considered to be closer to normal. “Generally, the landscape is creating opportunity for the sector as we climb out of that dark period. The future outlook is definitely for growth and increases in production,” Doromal said.

LATE MODEL EQUIPMENT IS IN DEMAND AT AUCTIONS

AUSTRALIANMINING

FEBRUARY 2018

“It can make it challenging for auctioneers because the equipment that we are finding is often older and already highly utilised. “It is often better suited for people seeking spare parts or components, or for the market overseas – places like Africa, Asia or the Middle East – where there is appetite for older equipment and they don’t have high capital expenditures.” As Hassalls continues to navigate changes in the marketplace, Doromal believes the next adjustment for auctioneers will also centre on the impact of emerging technologies, with data analytics set to be a significant focus. “The big thing for me is going to be the utilisation of data – being able to properly utilise the data we can now generate to make informed decisions to benefit the industry,” he said. “How mining companies can use data to improve their investment programs will be a key thing. Data has become king in mining, and there’s a big opportunity to utilise data to improve operations.” Only time will tell what impact data analytics will have on auctioneers like Hassalls. AM

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MINING SERVICES

DEMAND FOR MINING SERVICES RAMPS UP HOW DID 2017 FARE FOR SERVICES COMPANIES OPERATING IN THE AUSTRALIAN MINING INDUSTRY? AUSTRALIAN MINING INVESTIGATES.

t was undoubtedly a better year for Australia’s leading mining services companies in 2017. Improved commodity prices led to an increase in mining activity, meaning the expertise of the country’s mining services contractors was in growing demand. Australian Mining takes a closer look at some of the companies that were awarded key mining contracts during 2017.

Ausdrill

Ausdrill’s long-term relationships with mining clients in Australia and Africa continue to serve the company well. The Perth-based company’s 2017 was highlighted by a series of contract extensions, as well as a few new contracts across both continents. Ausdrill finished off spring by announcing it had secured three extensions in the gold industry, including an extra three years of production drilling work with Evolution Mining at the Mungari project in Western Australia. Through its African Mining Services (AMS) subsidiary, the contactor was awarded a two-year extension worth $142 million at AngloGold Ashanti’s

Iduapriem gold mine in Ghana, while Resolute Mining extended its contract at the Syama operation until May 2018. Earlier in 2017, Ausdrill secured more than $200 million worth of contract extensions with two of its existing clients in the Goldfields region of Western Australia — Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines (KCGM) and Gold Fields. It was also awarded a three-year, $60 million contract extension to provide exploration drilling services at Gold Fields’s St Ives and Granny Smith gold operations.

BGC Contracting

BGC Contracting’s 2017 was highlighted by the award of two major contacts, one in Western Australia and the other in New South Wales. BGC most recently won a five-year, $700 million contract by Idemitsu Australia Resources at the Boggabri coal mine in New South Wales. Earlier in the year, BGC secured a five-year contract worth more than $720 million at Arrium’s Iron Knob and South Middleback iron ore operations near Whyalla in South Australia. The Arrium contract replaced an existing mine services contract BGC had with

the steel-maker and iron ore miner. The Perth-based company topped off its year by taking out the Australian Mining Prospect Awards 2017 Contract Miner of the Year for the second straight time. The company was honoured for the collaborative model it has successfully applied to contracts with the likes of Arrium, Cliffs Natural Resources and now, Idemitsu.

CIMIC

CIMIC’s mining and mineral processing divisions – Thiess and Sedgeman – thrived for the Spanishcontrolled company during 2017. Thiess’ contract wins and extensions continue to be at the top end of town with the likes of BHP and Fortescue Metals Group awarding it with significant work. BHP, through its BHP Mitsubishi Alliance, awarded Thiess two contracts worth a combined $440 million. The contracts, at BMA’s Caval Ridge and Peak Downs coal mines in the Bowen Basin of Queensland, will see Thiess deliver mining services for specific components of work. Fortescue extended its mining services contract with Thiess at the Solomon Hub in the Pilbara. The

FORTESCUE EXTENDED THIESS’ CONTRACT AT THE SOLOMON HUB. IMAGE: FORTESCUE METALS GROUP

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$650 million contract extension strengthens a relationship between the two companies first formed at the site in 2011. Also in coal, Thiess was awarded a $189 million contract extension to continue to operate the Jellinbah Plains open pit at the Jellinbah East coal mine in central Queensland. Thiess was active in Indonesia, winning a $437 million contract at the Gunung Bara Utama (GBU) coal mine and a $300 million contract with Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC) at the Sangatta coal mine. Meanwhile, Sedgman backed up its $107 million engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract win at Heron Resources’ Woodlawn zinccopper project in the first half of the year with two new agreements in the east coast coal industry. Stanwell Corp awarded Sedgman a $6 million EPC contract to deliver a tailings dewatering facility at the Meandu mine coal handling and preparation plant in Queensland. Sedgman then won contracts at QCoal Group’s Byerwen coal mine in Queensland worth almost $100 million. The contractor is delivering a stockpiling and train load-out facility,

MINING SERVICES

AUSTRALIA’S COAL INDUSTRY DELIVERED SEVERAL NEW CONTRACTS IN 2017

also bearing fruit, with OZ Minerals awarding the JV a $312 million EPC contract at the Carrapateena coppergold project in South Australia. The Carrapateena scope of works includes EPC of a minerals processing plant, including the nonprocess infrastructure to support the operations. Downer Blasting Services (DBS) also won $240 million of work at open cut and underground mines in Queensland, New South Wales and Western Australia.

GR Engineering

and a coal handling and processing plant at Byerwen through two EPC contracts.

Civmec

at Alcoa’s Pinjarra alumina refinery in WA. The company will undertake the engineering, procurement, delivery, construction, integration, commissioning and performance testing of a filter facility, materials handling system and supporting infrastructure at the refinery. Civmec, as part of the Amec Foster Wheeler Civmec Joint Venture (ACJV), was awarded a $298 million engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract at the Gruyere gold project in WA. The company also secured a contract to construct the civil component of the process plant at Altura Mining’s Pilgangoora lithium project in the Pilbara.

of the Carmichael coal project in Queensland, effectively scrapping the letters of award the two companies had signed for construction and mining at the controversial operation. How Downer fills the void in work left behind by Adani’s decision to go-italone at Carmichael is yet to be seen, but the diversified contractor did manage to bolster its order book in other areas during 2017. Downer was awarded a $400 million contract to provide mining services at the Gruyere gold joint venture project between Gold Fields and Gold Road Resources in Western Australia. The five-year contract involves construction of haul roads, stockpiles and other infrastructure; drilling and blasting; loading and haulage of ore and waster; run of mine feed; and technical services. Its joint venture with Ausenco is

Civmec announced plans to list on the ASX during 2017, a move that will add to its existing place on the Singapore Exchange. A listing on the ASX will complement the Perthbased company’s strong portfolio of mining-related contracts in the country. In 2017, the company was active in the mining, oil and gas and infrastructure sectors. In mining, Civmec was awarded contracts or work extensions at a diverse range of projects in Western Australia. In June, Civmec announced it had received $90 million worth of Downer contracts for resources clients, with Downer’s 2017 took a turn when Adani TrampMetalAd.qxp_Layout 1 12/11/17 10:54 AM Page 1 the most notable a construction job decided it would be the owner-operator

Perth-based GR Engineering secured a series of contract wins in Western Australia during 2017, particularly in the state’s gold sector. In April, Dacian Gold executed a $107.1 million EPC contract with GR at the Mt Morgans project in the Goldfields region. The work involves development of the Mt Morgans treatment facility and supporting infrastructure. GR also signed an agreement with Gascoyne Resources for an EPC contract for a minerals processing facility at the Dalgaranga gold project in the Goldfields. In June, GR secured another EPC contract, this time a $31.3 million deal with AngloGold Ashanti at the Sunrise Dam gold mine.

Macmahon Holdings

Macmahon (it hopes) put CIMIC’s failed takeover attempt for the company behind it by winning lucrative contracts on both sides of the country during the second half of 2017. In Western Australia, Macmhaon won a mining contract worth at least $250 million at one of the country’s most exciting new gold developments — Dacian Gold’s Mt

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MINING SERVICES

Morgans operation in the Goldfields. The five-year contract will see Macmahon provide drilling and blasting, loading, hauling and technical services. In Queensland, Macmahon executed a $350 million mining services contract at QCoal Group’s majorityowned Byerwen coal mine in the Bowen Basin. The contract involves the provision of all open cut mining and bulk earthworks at the new mine near Glenden. Macmahon also pursued additional work in Indonesia’s coal industry throughout the year.

Monadelphous

Monadelphous’ diversified contract portfolio was bolstered from a mining perspective during 2017 with new contracts or extensions for maintenance and construction work. Most recently, Monadelphous secured maintenance and construction contracts in the resources and infrastructure industries worth a combined value of around $110 million. The work includes a threeyear contract to provide shutdown maintenance, breakdown and repair

services, minor projects and ad hoc services for BHP at Mount Arthur Coal in the Hunter Valley of NSW. In September, Monadelphous has secured new maintenance and construction work in the resources industry worth $220 million. The new maintenance work includes a two-year contract to supply fixed maintenance services for Rio Tinto at its Pilbara operations. Monadelphous was also active in the international mining industry, securing an agreement to provide services for the Shaft 1 and 2 surface infrastructure at the Oyu Tolgoi project in Mongolia. In the first half of 2017, Monadelphous announced it had secured $120 million worth of new contracts for resources companies, including Fortescue and BHP. The Fortescue work included two contracts, one for cranes services at FMG Solomon and Solomon Hub, and the other to provide services for subsidiary, The Pilbara Infrastructure. Monadelphous’ contract with BHP involved upgrading a water treatment plant at the Mining Area C iron ore operation in the Pilbara.

NRW Holdings

NRW Holdings’ 2017 went from strength to strength, culminating with gold developer Gascoyne Resources official awarding it with a $324 million mining services contract at the Dalgaranga operation in the Murchison region. The sixyear contract is for open pit mining services, as well as drill and blast operations and associated services. Perth-based NRW reported in August that its participation in the early contractor involvement process at OZ Minerals’ Carrapateena copper-gold project in SA was nearing completion. The $111 million package one contract at Carrapateena comprised development of an access road, tailings storage facility, quarry and an airstrip. NRW also acquired east coast mining services company, Golding Group, for $85 million during the year. As part of NRW, Golding was awarded a mining services contract at Fitzroy Australia Resources’ Broadlea open cut coal mine in Queensland. To kick-start NRW’s 2017 campaign, lithium developer Altura Mining awarded it with a $110 million contract for mine development

AUSDRILL HAD ITS SUPER PIT CONTRACT EXTENDED DURING 2017

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and drill and blast services at its Pilgangoora project in February. The five-year contract includes the construction of mining infrastructure, development of mine haul roads, drill and blast services and load and haul production mining of ore and overburden.

RCR Tomlinson

Pilbara Minerals awarded the EPC contract for its Pilgangoora lithium operation to RCR Tomlinson in early 2017. Worth up to $148 million, the contract involved the EPC of Pilgangoora’s 2Mtpa lithium-tantalum processing plant, including wetand-dry circuit with concentrator, associated plant and commissioning of the mine. Pilbara cleared the way for construction to start on the plant in July. Fortescue awarded RCR with a $33 million contract to design, manufacture and construct a fivekilometre relocatable conveyor system for its iron ore operations in the Pilbara. RCR is leading the design, manufacture and construction of the conveyor system, which will be trialled at Fortescue’s Cloudbreak mine. AM

ENVIRONMENT

TURNING OVER A NEW REEF DECOMMISSIONING DOESN’T NECESSARILY MEAN THE END FOR OFFSHORE RIGS. AUSTRALIAN MINING SPEAKS TO SUBCON TO LEARN MORE.

hen an offshore rig has fulfilled its use, the decommissioning process can be a costly, not to mention dangerous, endeavour. It can also cause considerable damage to reef communities that have built up around, underneath, and even on the rig itself. The rigs to reef (R2R) process is a way to reduce decommissioning costs while also providing a net benefit for marine environments. The process has been met with popularity, particularly in the oil-rich Gulf of Mexico, the most concentrated region for offshore platforms in the world with over 400 such structures, and in California, where partial rig decommission, which allows a base to remain on that reef populations can thrive, was signed in by former State Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2010. But when it comes to R2R, Australia has been somewhat slow on the uptake. Western Australian company Subcon is hoping to change that with the country’s first artificial reef project. Already responsible for a number of high-profile overseas projects; recently, Subcon, which managing director Matt Allen calls a marine assets stabilisation business, made a deal in November 2017 to work on the Sino Iron port expansion with Citic Pacific at Cape Preston in the Pilbara. With offices in the Netherlands, Belgium,

China, Australia and Singapore, it’s a truly international exercise in marine installations. Among other projects, Subcon is planning to fabricate 203 scour protection mattresses in Karratha to reduce erosion on the port’s breakwater caused by vessel thrusters. “No structures in Australia have been reefed as yet,” he explained. “Subcon has the first artificial reef project here; there’s over 400 structures in Gulf of Mexico, so it’s an opportunity to benefit everyone involved in offshore Western Australia.” Allen thinks that such a project could bring significant benefits for fisheries and scientists in particular, and Subcon has already seen significant academic support from institutes such as Curtin University, the Oceans Institute of WA, and the University of Technology, Sydney, who enthusiastically agree with his assessment. “That’s a fundamental part of the project,” he explained. “Recruitment studies, species diversity — careful site selection can meet specific needs.” What R2R is not is a costly vanity project for those who lean green; from job creation and academic study to environmental rehabilitation and fish farming, R2R could bring a host of benefits. Subcon’s method is more costeffective than the partial demolition/ deconstruction method favoured in the Gulf. In addition to providing a sustainable artificial reef ecosystem, R2R also

yields an economic benefit to both the state of California and the oil company stakeholders. The cost of implementing the R2R program is $800,000 per structure; resulting in potential savings of more than $4 million. Approximately 50 per cent of these savings are allocated to California and help to finance marine research and state park objectives. In California, R2R holds an economic, as well as ecological benefit to both oil investors and the state at a cost of $US800,000 per rig, a saving of over $US4 million, which then gets reinvested into other projects. For Subcon, there is a similar trend of cost saving. “The studies we’ve done indicate that our reefs save companies between 10 and 30 per cent when compared to demolition,” he said. “You don’t need barges to take structure down; you don’t have to lift the rig out of water; there’s less landfill and less fuel consumption.” Artificial reefs can prove host to a wide range of biodiversity, weaving a

rich tapestry from which ichthyologists and psychologists can study various species. The concept of artificial reefs has also found both support and opposition from fishermen. Some see the projects as a golden opportunity for cultivation, while others cite the nuisance of trawler nets getting caught as they sweep the sea bottom, an issue that has led to debate in some west coast US projects. “Choices are driven by the purpose of the reef you are trying to build,” explained Allen. “We’ve been working to deliver productive reefs that have value for recreational fisherman, looking at proximity to marinas and commercial residences.” Subcon primarily provides augmentation and reef design services for its clients, adding structures and habitats via engineering know-how. “We’ve built half a dozen artificial reefs now [internationally], and we’ve talked about upwelling and different activities, such as spear fishing and boat fishing — there’s a significant amount of engineering that goes into it.” AM 17122001_PIT

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TYRE MANAGEMENT

KAL TIRE BREATHES LIFE INTO SCRAPPED TYRES KAL TIRE’S ULTRA REPAIR IS A REVOLUTIONARY SERVICE FOR AUSTRALIAN MINERS THAT REVIVES DAMAGED ULTRA-CLASS TYRES OTHERWISE DESTINED FOR THE SCRAP HEAP. BEN CREAGH REPORTS.

he Hunter Valley coal mining region in New South Wales hasn’t seen a technology that can salvage severely damaged tyres like Kal Tire’s Ultra Repair before. Every year, mining companies in the Hunter Valley send hundreds of ultra-class tyres with large injuries to the scrap pile. Some of these tyres cost mining companies more than $50,000 to purchase and have been discarded before they have even reached 1000 operating hours. Kal Tire’s Muswellbrook facility in NSW, along with its Australian counterpart in Perth, Western

Australia, has extensive experience completing standard tyre repairs using conventional methods. It has added to this capability by becoming a leading practitioner of Kal Tire’s exclusive Ultra Repair service, joining more than a dozen other centres operated by the Canadian company around the world. Kal Tire’s technicians at Muswellbrook can repair tyre injuries with Ultra Repair that were once thought impossible to fix, potentially saving miners thousands of dollars by returning them to mine sites. After many years of research and development in Canada during the 2000s, Ultra Repair was officially

launched in 2014, and Kal Tire wasted little time preparing the service for the Australian market. “For our customers, what to do with scrap piles of ultra-class tyres has been a major expensive concern, for a long time,” Kal Tire’s vice president, tyre lifetime services Darren Flint said. “We’re educating customers ‘now you can send a 63-inch dump truck tyre with large injuries almost anywhere on the tyre, including damaged cables that previously were deemed irreparable, back into production at its maximum performance rather than sending it to the scrap pile.’” So how was Ultra Repair

KAL TIRE’S MUSWELLBROOK SUPERVISOR DANNY PARRIS

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developed and how can it potentially save miners thousands of dollars per tyre?

Seasoned technology

The Ultra Repair technology was 15 years in the making for Kal Tire after the company recognised the limitations of traditional earthmover tyre repairs at the start of the century. Traditional patches risked bulging, lasted just a short time and only suited smaller injuries and certain locations on the tyre. Therefore, Kal Tire started researching a process that could solve the expensive tyre management issue for mining companies. The aim of the research was

TYRE MANAGEMENT

KAL TIRE’S ANTHONY PARRIS IN REPAIR MODE AT MUSWELLBROOK

to develop a solution that saved tyres from scrap piles by restoring them to their original strength and integrity, providing like-new performance, even in the harshest mining conditions like what we find in Australia. After several years of research, the outcome was Ultra Repair, which uses an exclusive, proprietary patch to replace damaged tyre cables, as well as a unique installation technology to extend their life, possibly by thousands of hours. Unlike traditional section repairs, the Ultra Repair process can be used to repair large injuries, from 25-inch tyres up to and including the largest 63-inch tyres. Ultra Repair is also effective on damage across the tyre, including injuries that are on the shoulder or sidewall.

Aussie standards

In the past 12 months, Kal Tire has repaired close to 500 ultra-class tyres at its facilities around the world using Ultra Repair and is ready to add to this total in the Australian market. However, there are several requirements based on the Australian Standard for tyre management that mining companies must consider before they can engage Kal Tire for the service. The injuries that Ultra Repair typically repairs are larger than what is permitted to be repaired per the Australian Standard for tyre repairs on heavy machinery. According to the Australian Standard, the maximum size of tyre

injuries that can be repaired in the tread or crown are those up to 85mm, or in the side wall up to 70mm, and put back into operation using traditional methods. For larger injuries, like what Ultra Repair has been designed for but outside the Australian Standard, Kal Tire must undertake a risk assessment before they can commit to repairing the injury with the Ultra Repair technology. Kal Tire Muswellbook repair supervisor Danny Parris explained: “The Australian Standard explains that we can conduct repairs outside of the set dimensions only with a risk assessment. Major mining companies interested in using Ultra Repair have also requested Kal Tire supply a more in-depth risk assessment. “That means the mining company has to sign off on the risk assessment before we can repair their tyres with the Ultra Repair technology. Kal Tire worked with an independent specialist and leading mining companies to develop an independent risk assessment to work within the standard. This ensured they covered all aspects of the process with health and safety being the primary objective. Due to the requirements of the Australian Standard, Kal Tire is committed to working closely with mining clients in the Hunter Valley to build their understanding of the process and how they can benefit from using it. Kal Tire Australia sales and marketing head Jason Zafiriadis said the Hunter Valley mining industry AUSTRALIANMINING

had not previously seen tyres being repaired outside of the Australian Standard, making the company’s education around Ultra Repair and its value vital. “We have done more than 500 of these globally in the last 12 months and the successes and data from these have helped to demonstrate the rigour and quality of our process,” Zafiriadis said. “When you step into a new frontier like the Hunter Valley there has got to be a lot of engagement with customers and reference to detailed risk assessments to demonstrate and satisfy everyone’s requirements.”

How Ultra Repair works

Mining tyres are exposed to a series of stresses on haul roads and in pits that can lead to damage during their operational life.

The stress caused can result in injuries of varying sizes to key parts of the tyre, including the tread, shoulder and sidewall, leaving internal elements like body plies or cords destroyed and no longer suitable for mining activities. Manufactured by Kal Tire in multiple sizes and with a unique form, the Ultra Repair patches suit a wide range of large injuries across all parts of the tyre. The patches are manufactured using steel and Aramid fibres, which are commonly found in ballistic-rated composites, and are tailored to match viable injuries. Kal Tire has developed three Ultra Repair patches — a steel section patch, a section patch and a crown patch — for a range of different repairs and placement on different parts of the tyre. The Ultra Repair process begins with a comprehensive inspection being undertaken by Kal Tire technicians. First, technicians identify the scope of injuries and assess the damaged areas before preparing the tyre for optimum patch installation. After exposing and assessing the injury on a 63-inch tyre, for example, technicians determine the patch size and compound needed. Ultra Repair patches are constructed with steel cables and a specific rubber compound to match those of the tyre being repaired. Once the Ultra Repair patch is installed, the original area is vulcanised, trimmed to specifications, quality-checked against the Ultra Repair standard and then released for service. The tyre is now basically rebuilt to restore the tyre’s strength, integrity and performance. Tyres that were thought to be destined for the scrap pile after just 1000 operating hours may even end up having a fully realised life of 5000 hours or more. AM KAL TIRE’S EXTENSIVE INSPECTION PROCESS

FEBRUARY 2018

MATERIALS HANDLING

LEADING THE WAY WITH DURATRAY A HAUL TRUCK CAN’T HAUL WITHOUT A DUMP BODY AND DURATRAY ARE THE BEST IN THE BUSINESS. EWEN HOSIE SPEAKS TO MANAGING DIRECTOR MARCELO MEDEL AND MARKETING MANAGER SARAH JENKINS TO FIND OUT MORE.

uratray has been around since the 1970s and is one of the premier suppliers of trays for trucks in the mining industry. Since being bought from previous owners Pacific Dunlop by Chile’s Conymet in 2001, Duratray has grown its international presence in that time from eight countries to 37. Duratray has gained attention in recent years for its suspended dump body (SDB) solution, a patented tray originally designed primarily to reduce haul carryback, reduce loading impact and dampen noise. Instead of a typical steel base, the SDB uses lightweight rubber mats suspended on heavy duty, fibrous suspension ropes that increase shock absorption and abrasion resistance when compared with rival companies’ counterparts. While the SDBs

have proven successful in all intended areas, it is the noise reduction that has won the company the most plaudits, culminating in a recent Community Interaction award nomination from the 2017 Australian Mining Prospect Awards in October for the company’s efforts in the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales. In addition, Duratray has also received recognition from such diverse bodies as the Governor of Victoria Export awards and the Minerals Council. “The SDB has multiple solutions; the noise reduction is a very successful part of it and that has been seen in the Hunter region,” said Duratray

AUSTRALIANMINING

marketing manager Sarah Jenkins. “We were thrilled to be nominated for the Prospect Awards; I think innovation and technology are really driving the industry so it’s nice to be recognised as the forefront of that.” Locals living in the mining-heavy Hunter Valley had been making noise complaints due to the mines’ proximity to urban areas. Initially it

FEBRUARY 2018

was Chinese miner Yancoal which approached Duratray seeking the company’s help; the SDB

MATERIALS HANDLING

system, which promises noise reductions of up to 10 decibels, was trialled at Yancoal’s Moolarben mine in NSW’s Western Coalfields in cooperation with Komatsu, achieving great success. Since then, Duratray has been in touch with everyone from major mining companies such as Glencore and BHP to vehicle giants like Caterpillar to keep assisting the mines with surrounding communities. “The reaction from the community was awesome,” explained Marcelo Medel, Duratray managing director. “I think in these cases you don’t have to be an expert in order to see the results. You have only to hear the people outside the mine’s gate that are comfortable with the noise reduction, specifically at night time.”

The multicultural touch

Top businessman Manuel Medel Lepe was the founder of the company Conymet in 1973 and father to the fraternal trio Manuel, Matias and Marcelo Medel. Now, under the watchful eyes of the brothers, Conymet Duratray is making huge headway in Australia, Russia, Canada, USA, South Africa and Europe, with further international growth a key focus. Marcelo moved to Melbourne in 2016 to take over from his older brother Matias as managing director and is overseeing operations as the company expands into these new regions; each bringing their own cultural quirks to proceedings as might be expected. The company’s biggest operating countries at present include Chile, Canada and Australia. While Medel’s Australian dealings are relatively straightforward, Russia and South Africa (more specifically, St Petersburg and Johannesburg, where

Duratray has set up international offices) have their own style of business. “Every single time we are in a new country we do a cultural analysis,” Medel explained. “It’s about being respectful of cultural differences and understanding their business processes.” Even though Medel refers to these countries’ technology as “not as up to date” relative to more established Australian or Chilean operations, orders can be massive. Whereas industry standard Australian tray orders usually run from five to 12 units, overseas orders can dwarf this. “Upon exposing our technology to the Russian market, we received a first order for 26 units. Similarly in Zambia, we are looking at an

MD MARCELO MEDEL AND PINK BREAST CANCER FOUNDATION DURATRAY SDB

AUSTRALIANMINING

initial order of six trays with 20 to follow in 2018. These trays will be manufactured in South Africa”. And speaking of technology, Medel is excited for an upcoming development; the company is collaborating with German group Kuhn for delivery of a fully lithiumion powered truck, which is due to begin trials (at time of writing) in December 2017, with a potential launch for the first quarter of 2018. “If everything goes well, in one or two years we can extrapolate these results for an ultra-class truck,” said Medel, with palpable enthusiasm. “We are working with Kuhn because the industry needs to approach sustainability vision with trucks not only through the engines but also with the body. We have been working on this for more than 18 months, and really think this is going to be a gamechanger for the industry.” The technology and innovation found in the Duratray SDB will provide an excellent complementary edge for the project’s ambitions to become a carbon-footprint reducing, low-noise, economically friendly industrial EV, or, as Medel calls it, “a whole green truck”. In terms of Australian investment overall, aside from its enviable

FEBRUARY 2018

technology push over the last few years, Medel feels that the industry did a lot of maturing, especially since the mining downturn at the start of the decade. Even major companies like BHP, Barrick Gold and Anglo American, he said, were not spared from the struggle. Restructuring programs, such as those by Anglo American, which has divested several mining sites to increase the quality of its portfolio and South32, spun out from BHP in 2015 as a way for the company to concentrate on its most profitable assets, have become increasingly common. Such focus on cost reduction will result in a more sustainable industry overall, according to Medel. “Despite previous strain on many companies, the industry finds itself in a really positive position.” says Medel when speaking about the future for both mining companies and suppliers alike. “In terms of profit; in terms of investment; in terms of margins; I don’t believe there will be a new mining boom anytime soon, this is due to the industries growth and maturity. With this development, focus will be given to each investment progressively”. AM

TECHNOLOGY

MINING OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT IS YOUR ANSWER TO PRODUCTIVITY IMPROVEMENT SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC OFFERS A HOST OF ADVANCED PLANNING SOLUTIONS FOR OPERATIONS SPECIALISTS. AUSTRALIAN MINING REPORTS ON ITS LATEST INNOVATION.

igitising operations management can bring a host of benefits to your mine. Real-time monitoring, online measurement and root cause analysis are all key benefits of the software. Schneider Electric’s Mining Operations Management (MOM) powered by Ampla provides an overhaul to the Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) indicator with a real-time solution that offers up to a 15% productivity increase to help achieve Maximum Sustainable Rates (MSR), increasing revenues and saving lost production time at Australian mine sites. This is the benefit of Ampla’s realtime productivity solution (RTP), which can offer significant gains for participant companies. Real-time OEE can lead to more accurate targets and hence, improved operational sustainability, identify bottlenecks and

run faster root cause analysis. So how does it work, and why does it matter? MOM matters because MSR matters; operational constraints, and bottlenecks, define process performance, but they can be hard to work out. Any small improvement at the operations constraint can have large ramifications on overall throughput. Such changes can be difficult to identify, particularly in near real time, given the scale of data all mining operations generate, and as such, this is a scenario in which Ampla RTP technology can thrive. Production targets should ideally be based on MSR rather than demonstrated rates (i.e production targets based on defined process reliability performance using Weibull analysis rather than average performance rates), helping to identify what is the maximum possible rate via the quantification of process reliability using plant data. The benefits of this method are that it provides for intelligent setting and monitoring of sustainable operation targets against actual current

AUSTRALIANMINING

performance data in near real-time to allow immediate response to correct production rates that fall below target. This reducing time lost to resolve production losses and hence increases production performance. The solution also needs to be flexible enough to adapt to the local operating conditions of each processing plant, while also providing standardised asset utilisation data that could be used to analyse root cause analysis over time and events. Ampla RTP monitors online triggers to capture the performance loss events which provides improved proactivity to resolve downtime, throughput delays and quality losses. The MOM automatically captures the loss events so that the operator can assign event classifications, cause locations and cause codes to every excursion outside of the MSR limit set. This provides process, maintenance or asset managers with the information required to identify the events that are preventing operations from achieving the MSR in context to identify root causes and drive corrective action

FEBRUARY 2018

plans, creating a continuous culture of improvement between teams. One mining customer, MMG, was particularly enthused by the service. The ASX-listed company operates mines and is developing mining projects around the world, including the Dugald River zinc operation in Queensland and the Rosebery base metals site in Tasmania. “We needed a long-term solution that would standardise our asset utilisation across our five mines. It had to provide us with a global understanding of OEE so that we could improve our business processes and ultimately improve our mine throughput,” MMG Business Technology Manager Mark Dwyer said. “The solution needed to be flexible enough to adapt to the local operating conditions of each mine, while also providing us with standardised asset utilisation data that we could analyse in real time.”

TECHNOLOGY

SUPERSMITH SOFTWARE IS USEFUL FOR WEIBULL MSR ANALYSIS.

This asset utilisation is what allows Ampla users to identify issues quickly and efficiently. “The Asset Utilisation project is already delivering significant results. We have achieved around 10-20 per cent capacity improvement globally,” said Dan Curry, MMG group manager of processing operations. “These initiatives aimed at

maximising throughput, maintaining production volumes and reducing mining and processing input costs – Ampla and Schneider Electric were instrumental in us achieving this.” Schneider Electric is no stranger to this brand of progressive management and its enthusiasm for the Internet of Things (IoT), particularly the Industrial Internet

of Things (IIoT), which it refers to as ‘the next wave of digital transformation’, where industrial planning is merged with always-on connectivity. As Doug Warren, Vice President, Software - Industry Solutions at Schneider Electric told Australian Mining in November: “To support the mining workforce of the future,

companies should embrace technology to create a safe and efficient environment.” To address the entire mining value chain, Schneider Electric’s drive for digitalisation in the mining industry focuses on the four pillars of a digital transformation; Production Optimisation, Value Chain Optimization, Asset Performance Management, and Workforce Transformation. Schneider Electric’s MOM is primarily focused on production optimisation aimed at maximising throughput by identifying the causes of downtime and quality losses, while asset performance management uses analytics and machine learning to improve OEE. The increasing use of IIoT applications in the workplace has increased the need for MOM systems, with real-time, remote monitoring, measurement and root cause analysis providing the primary advantages of this approach, as more data is collated, the smarter the analysis becomes. Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxture for Mining, Minerals and Metals is a solution architecture, which allows for real-time data collation through a combination digital technology, IIoT-related and statistical analysis, to improve productivity across mine operations. AM To find out more about Ampla Mining Operations Management, please visit software.schneider-electric.com/ampla-rtp

SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC HAS IDENTIFIED FOUR KEY PILLARS THAT GUIDE A DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

AUSTRALIANMINING

FEBRUARY 2018

AUTOMATION

RIO TINTO TO EXPAND AUTONOMOUS TRUCK FLEET WITH CAT, KOMATSU THE MINING GIANT IS TAKING ITS AUTONOMOUS HAUL TRUCK PROGRAM IN THE PILBARA REGION TO THE NEXT LEVEL. AUSTRALIAN MINING REPORTS.

io Tinto will work with Caterpillar and Komatsu to expand its fleet of autonomous haul trucks in the Pilbara by more than 50 per cent by 2019. The miner, which has launched the projects as part of its $5 billion productivity program, plans to retrofit 29 Komatsu haul trucks with Autonomous Haulage System (AHS) technology at the Brockman 4 operation, starting this year. Brockman 4 will be run entirely in AHS mode once this project has been completed. Rio will also retrofit 19 793F trucks with Caterpillar at the

Marandoo iron ore mine. The equipment manufacturer will install Cat Command for hauling software for operation of the fleet as part of the project. It is expected the first few trucks at Marandoo will be retrofitted in mid 2018. Caterpillar and regional Cat dealer, WesTrac, will play ongoing roles in managing and supporting the autonomous haulage system following installation and startup. Rio Tinto Iron Ore chief executive Chris Salisbury said the company was excited about starting this new chapter in its automation story with Caterpillar and Komatsu. “Rapid advances in technology are continuing to revolutionise the

way large-scale mining is undertaken across the globe. The expansion of our autonomous fleet via retrofitting helps to improve safety, unlocks significant productivity gains, and continues to cement Rio Tinto as an industry leader in automation and innovation,” Salisbury said. “We are studying future additions to our autonomous fleet in the Pilbara, based on value, to help deliver our share of $5 billion of additional free cash flow for the company by 2021. “Rio Tinto is committed to working closely with our workforce as we transition to AHS including providing opportunities for new roles, redeployment, retraining and upskilling.”

A CAT 793F AUTONOMOUS TRUCK IN ACTION. IMAGE: CATERPILLAR

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Rio Tinto’s autonomous haul trucks, on average, operated an additional 1000 hours and at 15 per cent lower load and haul unit cost than conventional haul trucks in the 2017 financial year. About 20 per cent of its existing fleet of almost 400 haul trucks in the Pilbara is AHS-enabled. Following the completion of the projects with Komatsu and Caterpillar, Rio will have more than 130 autonomous trucks, representing about 30 per cent of the fleet. Rio’s ramping up of its autonomous capabilities in the Pilbara is not just limited to haul trucks. In October, the company moved closer to developing a network of driverless trains in the region after completing its first fully autonomous rail journey, a 100km trip between Tom Price and Paraburdoo. The company plans to fully commission the AutoHaul driverless train project by late 2018. Caterpillar vice president – surface mining and technology, Jean Savage, said Cat was grateful to be working with Rio on the miner’s first installation of an autonomous haulage system. “Working with WesTrac, we look forward to helping Rio Tinto enhance operations with our proven mining technology,” Savage said. The Cat autonomous trucks system draws capabilities from the full range of Cat MineStar System technologies — Command, Terrain, Fleet, Detect and Health. At Marandoo, the mine-wide implementation of Fleet, the scheduling-and-assignment and material tracking system, will mark Rio’s first use of the system. Caterpillar is also working with Fortescue Metals Group to add more Cat Command autonomous technology to its Pilbara iron ore operations. Fortescue’s expansion includes retrofitting around 100 Cat 793F and 789D and Komatsu 930E truck models at the Chichester Hub, as well as an expansion of the Cat 793F autonomous truck fleet at the Solomon Hub operations. AM

WASTE MANAGEMENT

ONE MAN’S TRASH… E-WASTE IS A BIG PROBLEM, BUT WITHIN THE HEAPS LIES A TROVE OF VALUABLE MINERALS. EWEN HOSIE REPORTS.

-waste recycling, the process of recovering metals and materials from discarded technology for reuse, is becoming increasingly prevalent. Disused and obsolete technologies, from phones and TVs to computers and radios, can contain trace elements of precious metals that would otherwise go to waste. In 2016, 44.7 million tonnes (Mt) of e-waste were generated globally, and just three countries — China, the US and Japan — were responsible for over one third of that (at 7.2, 6.2 and 2.14Mt, respectively). Adding in India, Germany and the United Kingdom pushes it up to nearly half, at 47 per cent. Of this 44.7Mt total, only 8.9Mt were collected and recycled, representing a growing waste problem. Apple is one company that has expressed commitment to e-waste recycling, hoping to establish a closed loop supply chain for aluminium, tungsten, tin and copper in its 2017 Environmental Responsibility Report, which related to the company’s 2016 fiscal year. “For some materials, sourcing recycled content will be sufficient as long as we ensure the same amount is recovered, recycled, and put back on the market,” said the report. “Where recycled content isn’t available at the desired quality, we can drive improvements in recycling technologies and a tighter closed loop — such as using material from old Apple devices to build new ones.

“And when there are materials for which recycling technologies don’t yet exist, we’ll need to invest in research and other technology solutions.” The company created a prototype robot dubbed Liam, a relatively inexpensive ($US200,000) project developed in just six months. Currently in beta, the robot is able to break down an iPhone into around 61 constituent parts in just 19 seconds. “It’s a disruptive change we can learn from,” said Barrick Gold chief innovation officer Michelle Ash at the International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC) in Melbourne last year. “One of the wonderful things about what the technology businesses are creating is that it can show us how to do things cheaply and fast — in the mining industry I bet that would’ve cost $2 million and three years to create.” The CIO noted that Apple’s project was part of a growing consumer-led trend for products with greater “cradleto-grave” recycling potential, and that while Liam represented a small start — Apple using about 6500 tonnes of copper and 1 million ounces of gold a year — it was still a significant one. In 2015, the electronics giant’s European headquarters in Cork became the first outside North America to receive safety organisation UL’s prestigious Zero Waste to Landfill validation, though it is worth noting that ‘zero waste to landfill’ and ‘zero waste’ are not entirely synonymous. So how can these concepts be applied on a wider scale? A Canadian AUSTRALIANMINING

2016 PRODUCED 48 MILLION TONNES OF E-WASTE WORLDWIDE

company may have the answer. Vancouver-based EnviroLeach Technologies is currently researching a new water-based leaching solution, designed as a potential substitute for current cyanide-based solutions that could be useful for large-scale e-waste extraction. By mixing pulverised e-waste with laced water, then pumping the solution through diamond plates and applying electricity, gold and other precious ores can be extracted from the solution for reuse. The company has entered into a joint venture with electronics company Jabil to open a 60,000 square metre processing plant in Tennessee for this purpose, starting at five tonnes of waste a day. “This solution operates at ambient temperatures, and there is no offgassing from cyanide or hot acids,” said

FEBRUARY 2018

EnviroLeach chief executive officer Duane Nelson. “It has a neutral pH, so it will not eat plant equipment. And you do not have to invest in water treatment since, unlike alternatives, you aren’t discharging dissolved metals into a wastewater treatment system.” Closer to home, noted University of New South Wales professor Veena Sahajwalla has developed microfactories for just such a purpose, extracting copper and tin-based alloys from disused circuit boards via exothermic reactions. “A tonne of mobile phones (about 6000 handsets), for example, contains about 130kg of copper, 3.5kg of silver, 340 grams of gold and 140 grams of palladium, worth tens of thousands of dollars,” she explained in 2016. “’Mining’ our waste stockpiles makes sense for both the economy and the environment.” AM

EXPLORATION

LONGYEAR BITS PUT 23% MORE CORE IN THE BOX BOART LONGYEAR’S CHRIS LAMBERT EXPLAINS HOW THE NEW LONGYEAR BITS ARE BENEFITTING EXPLORATION ENDEAVOURS IN THE LOCAL GOLD SECTOR. AUSTRALIAN MINING REPORTS.

he Yilgarn Craton forms the bulk of Western Australia and is home to 30 per cent of the world’s gold deposits. Within this area, the Laverton district is one of the most

important gold producing regions. Underground miners of these “nuggety” gold deposits are under significant pressure to reduce their all-in sustaining costs (AISC) and improve their return. Combine each mine’s sharp

focus on costs with an extremely competitive diamond drilling market, and the result is the constant search for higher productivity in underground diamond drilling. Using patented technology, the new Longyear bits have diamonds

that are chemically bonded to the matrix creating a more versatile, faster penetrating, and a longerlived bit. The new Longyear bits retain the smooth drilling characteristics drillers prefer, resulting in more core in the box on every shift. Available in 16mm more open, express geometry for even higher cutting speeds, as well as 16mm Stage and 25mm Stage 3 configurations. “Just some feedback … the other night I witnessed a bit cutting 24 inches a min … by far the fastest cutting bit Boart Longyear has made,” Boart Longyear’s Western Territory site supervisor said.

The challenge

On the surface, the Laverton district is a flat, hot, dry environment with scattered acacia trees only interrupted by dry, salt lake beds, and gypsum sand dunes. The high concentration of salt results in a very saline aquifer. While the high salinity is hard on equipment it does not factor heavily into bit selection and drilling performance. Underground, the formation is a mesothermal, meaning a deep extending, gold deposit typical in Western Australia, composed of greenstone, a rock type common to gold deposits globally, basalts, magnetite shales and banded iron formations (BIF). Within this host rock, the gold is typically contained within intrusive dykes of quartz porphyry near the shear and fracture networks which supported gold-bearing hydrothermal flow. The greenstone, shale and even basalts are only of medium hardness and have the potential to be cut quite quickly, while the sections of BIF, quartz and fracture zones force slower penetration rates. The ideal bit would be versatile; free-cutting enough to easily handle the occasional BIF and quartz but tough enough to penetrate the greenstones quickly. The underground portion of the

THE GREEN BIT IS AIDING EXPLORATION

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EXPLORATION

BOART LONGYEAR’S FAMILY OF BITS

mine is decline accessed and extends 900m below the original open pit. Due to its “nuggety” deposit, diamond drilling tends to underestimate grade, so the mine has adopted new techniques of grade control. RC drilling has been introduced underground to produce larger sample volumes, which match well with the bulk mining techniques being used. Considering that RC drilling is typically half the cost-per-metre and three times faster, and the industrywide initiatives to drive down all in sustaining costs, a lot of scrutiny is paid to the productivity of remaining diamond drilling. After optimising drilling parameters, the incumbent product’s (Hayden 9AA and KS5) average performance, maxed out at 180m/bit life and 22cm/minute of penetration rate over the three months of monitoring. While solid performance, a new solution was needed to continue improving productivity.

The solution

The first step was to introduce the new Longyear Green Bit in a Stage 3

25mm configuration. The Longyear Green formula (Prototype P520) was selected to drill like the competitor’s 9AA formula with Stage 3 configuration to maximise life. Comparing performance in the three-month period after adoption, penetration rate increased to 26cm/ minute and bit life nearly doubled, increasing to 356m/bit. The ease of use and consistency across shifts was appreciated by the crews and helped produce the measurable gain. These improvements combined to noticeably increase core in the box by six per cent. The Boart Longyear drill crews correctly observed that such long life was not driving a significant increase in productivity as reduced tripping time has less impact than improved penetration, so the decision was made to trial even more free-cutting formulas. The next bit trialled was the Longyear Yellow (Prototype P575) again in the Stage 3 25mm configuration to line up against the competitor’s KS5 and even 12-14. The penetration rate jumped to an average of 35cm per minute and life held at an impressive 300m/per bit. AUSTRALIANMINING

Since the bits were still achieving much better life, Boart Longyear Drilling Services moved one more step up to the Longyear Red bit (Prototype P566). Since the goal was to maximise penetration rate, the Longyear Red bits were produced in the 16mm express configuration with a more open area for enhanced penetration. The Longyear Red bits achieved an astonishing 60cm per

metre penetration rate and still lasted 120m. With the goal of maximising productivity, the drill crews decided to use one Longyear Red at the top of the hole and finish it with a Longyear Yellow in 25mm Stage 3. The results speak for themselves. After three months of measurement, this two-bit strategy averaged 283m/ bit, still a 60 per cent improvement over the competition and 34cm per minute, a full doubling of penetration rate. The combined result put 23 per cent more core in the box. After the promising initial results, trials were started using the new Longyear bits on all Boart Longyear Drilling Services sites in Australia and select sites globally. Now, all sites in Australia have converted to great effect on productivity. Over the next six months, the new Longyear bits in the Longyear line will be launched, moving from prototype to full production. Longyear bits are now stocked in Australia and available to order. AM Chris Lambert has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and has been with Boart Longyear since 2008. He has been the company’s global product manager for coring tools, including rods, in-hole tools and diamond bits since 2012. Prior to that, he was the engineering manager for diamond products. His 20-year engineering and product development career has included materials, hydraulics, pumps and diesel engines. THE LONGYEAR GREEN BIT

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THE MINING INDUSTRY HAS MOVED TO A NEW PHASE FOLLOWING THE MINING BOOM, ONE WHERE PRODUCTIVITY, INNOVATION AND SAFETY HAVE EMERGED AS ITS KEY PRIORITIES

FUTURE OF MINING MINING SERVICES VOLUME 110/1 | FEBRUARY 2018

MINERAL PROCESSING

A CRUSHING START NEW MACHINERY MAKES AN IMPACT

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PROSPECT XXX AWARDS

NOMINATIONS FOR THE 2018 EVENT ARE NOW OPEN THE 2018 PROSPECT AWARDS COULD BE THE BIGGEST EVENT SO FAR IN ITS 15-YEAR HISTORY. AUSTRALIAN MINING EXPLAINS.

ominations for the 2018 Australian Mining Prospect Awards, celebrating the best of the best in Australia’s mining industry, are now open. Celebrating its 15th year in 2018, the Prospect Awards has firmly established itself as one of Australia’s premier mining industry events. The 2017 awards featured 10 categories including Excellence in Environmental Management; Excellence in Mine Safety, OH&S; Community Interaction; Contract Miner of the Year; Contribution to

Mining; Hard Rock Mine of the Year; Coal Mine of the Year; Mine Manager of the Year; Minerals Processing of the Year; Innovative Mining Solution; as well as the coveted Australian Mine of the Year award. Previous winners have included a large range of companies, from SMEs and start-up ventures to the industry’s biggest hitters, such as Atlas Copco, BGC Contracting and Roy Hill. Last year saw iron ore mogul Gina Rinehart receive the award for Contribution to Mining. The 2017 platinum sponsor was Mining Machine Developments (MMD), which presented the

THE AWARDS COVER A WIDE RANGE OF MINING INDUSTRY TALENT

evening’s ultimate award, Australian Mine of the Year, to Anglo American’s Moranbah North coal mine in Queensland. Other large-scale sponsors in 2017 including Atlas Copco, BGC, SEWEURODRIVE, Metso, Flexco, Vega and Austmine helped present the other awards. The Community Interaction Award was sponsored by Prime Creative Media’s new supply chain and logistics-focused event, MEGATRANS2018, which is due to take place at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre

THE 2017 AWARDS AT THE IVY IN SYDNEY WAS OUR BIGGEST YET

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from May 10–12 this year. Full confirmation of the 2018 Awards venue and date are yet to be confirmed, but the event will be held as a black-tie dinner at a location in Sydney during October 2018, with industry leaders, management and staff from mining companies throughout the country expected to attend in honour of the year’s achievements in the mining sector. The event is a great way to recognise and reward excellence in performance. AM For more information, please visit prospectawards.com.au/nominations/.

CRUSHING AND SCREENING

LINCOM GROUP LEADS THE PACK FOR CRUSHING AND SCREENING AUSTRALIAN MINING DISCUSSES THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS AT LINCOM GROUP, INCLUDING THE RECENT ACQUISITION OF THE POWERSCREEN WARRIOR 2400.

incom Group is an equipment provider almost as storied as the industries it serves. Quarries, forestries, construction and mining companies are all well-served by Lincom Group’s expertise in the provision of screening and crushing equipment. Based in Queensland and serving a host of domestic and overseas operations — including Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands — Lincom Group is a key supplier of brands such as Morbark, Thor Global, Rapid, CRS, Hercules, Pronar, Powerscreen, and several others. This selection presents a highend group of industrial conveying, crushing and screening systems with myriad mining applications. A recent acquisition for Lincom Group’s portfolio is the new Powerscreen Warrior 2400 (pictured). Currently being employed in a New South Wales state highway upgrade, this impressive, large-scale machine includes features such as a slide-

out conveyor with load-sensing collection conveyor circuit to sense, and subsequently avoid, impending blockages. The biggest machine in the Warrior range, its heavy-duty incline screen (complete with jack legs for screen levelling), as well as its triple-shaft configuration offering numerous screenbox adjustments, prove useful for the quick and effective sifting of aggregate topsoil materials during ore collection. The Warrior 2400 is currently the only triple-shaft configuration scalper on the market; most other screeners use single shaft units, offering lower levels of screenbox adjustment. Weighing 45 tonnes and over 17 metres in length, the Warrior 2400 puts the heavy in heavy duty, and is the biggest machine in the Warrior range; it harbours a 597 litre fuel tank suitable for 12-hour shifts, and its screenbox measures 6.1 by 1.8 metres on both the top and bottom deck, as opposed to its competitors, which generally use smaller bottom decks of 5.4 by 1.8 metres. “The Warrior 2400 is very important for us because of the size

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and volume of the material that it can handle, the tonnage it can produce and the clean end product split,” explained Stephen Watterson, chief executive officer of Lincom Group. “Moreover, the triple-shaft configuration offers numerous screenbox adjustments, so it’s also a versatile machine.” In operation since 1994, Lincom Group is the premier distributor of crushing and screening equipment in Oceania. In recognition of Lincom Group’s professionalism, the company has won several awards from Powerscreen, the most recent being the Powerscreen Regional Dealer of the Year Award 2017 (Australia and Asia). Watterson believes that the group has gone from strength to strength over the last few years. “The company is growing with the quarrying and mining market that is back in full speed. We are focusing our efforts on our after sales support and spare parts, we want to be there to support our customers in all the life cycle of their machine,” he said. Lincom Group also offers a variety of top condition used machines and spare parts for its brands, stocking and distributing genuine parts from brands such as Rapid, CRS, Hercules, Morbark, Thor Global and Powerscreen. For crushing and screening

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equipment that runs into trouble after extensive use, Lincom Group provides everything from new engine components, plates and HRC couplings, to hydraulics, rollers, hammers, mantles, meshes, springs and many more new parts through Lincom Group Spare Parts, to ensure maximum customer satisfaction. Lincom Group also maintains an online inventory database for all its locations and major suppliers, enabling access to real-time parts information both locally and overseas, reducing potential delays during the ordering process. “We treat every parts order as urgent and understand the potential costs associated with having a machine down,” explained Watterson. “Our National Parts Distribution Centre located in Brisbane stocks an extensive range of parts — over 4000 lines — to support the branches in Australia and New Zealand.” Offering a rapid response parts service, Lincom Group ensures mining machines are up and running as fast and efficiently as possible in order to reduce downtime and, as a result, reduce lost time from breakdown and wear. For miners that need access to cutting-edge crushing and screening technology, Lincom Group is the goto supplier. AM

EFFICIENCY

E-PLAS OFFERS HIGH-PERFORMANCE PLASTICS FOR MINING AND INDUSTRY AUSTRALIAN PLASTICS SUPPLIER E-PLAS OFFERS A RANGE OF POLYMERS SUITED TO MINING. AUSTRALIAN MINING TALKS TO OPERATIONS MANAGER SEAN KELLY TO FIND OUT MORE.

-Plas is one of Australia’s leading suppliers of industrial plastics. Founded over 35 years ago as a dedicated business for the supply of engineering plastics, E-Plas supplies sheets, rods, tubes and various other specialised plastics for the industry. One of E-Plas’s flagship products is its Tivar range, often used for mining applications. A globally recognised plastic brand, Tivar is known for its ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), which is often used as lining due to its antiabrasive qualities. “Many of our products are used to support the mining industry,” explained Sean Kelly, national operations manager for E-Plas. “Sustamid nylon for bushings and rotator cuffs, Sustarin acetal for close tolerance gears and bearings, and Tivar UHMWPE for improved flow promotion and wear applications.”

Developed by Poly Hi Solidur, a subsidiary of plastics giant Quadrant EPP, Tivar polymers represent the culmination of over 60 years of design experience. Outside of mining, the Quadrant Group’s plastics make their way into everything from aerospace and defence, to cars, clean energy and electronics. “Due to the nature of our engineering-grade plastics, the products we offer are used to protect capital investment equipment and machinery. This is achieved by introducing sacrificial components, which lowers the cost of ownership, extending the life of machines,” Kelly said. Three modified grades of Tivar are often considered for lining applications within the mining industry. Tivar 88, which is a modified grade used for applications where flow promotion is required; Tivar 88-2, used for standard and formed liners where a liner requires a welded join or bond; and

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Tivar with BurnGuard, an anti-static lining material with flame retardant properties. Another Tivar product supplied by E-Plas, Quicksilver truck linings, use a homogenous modifier that reduces the coefficient (force of friction between objects) on UHMWPE base material. This reduction allows for smooth tipping of materials and reduced carryback, increasing productivity, reducing wear and improving safety. “Tivar products have a low coefficient of friction, which reduces the instances of hang up — rat-holing, arching, etc.,” said Kelly. “Historically, these flow issues were often addressed with the installation of vibrators at hang-up points; installing Tivar liners negates the need for these costly and noisy options. “The reduced friction equates to quicker tipping at a lower angle — stage one or two — while reducing the hang up of bulk material,” he added. In addition to Tivar products, E-Plas

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also stocks other high-profile plastic brands such as PTFE, Rochling Sustaplast, known for their flame retardant and insulating nylons and polycarbonates, and Bakelite, an early synthetic resin primarily used for the creation of laminates. In 2018 the company plans to identify and add new products its repertoire, and Kelly cites E-Plas’s strong relationship with — and support from — suppliers as what allows the company to thrive and continue to offer support for its customers. “E-Plas is a company that is committed to modernisation, and continuous improvement,” he said. “This is true in all aspects, including our approach to new products which enables us to offer solutions to a broad range of industries. “We will continue to develop our relationships with installers around Australia for both the mining and truck industries.” AM

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CASE STUDY

EASER INCREASES DEVELOPMENT RATES AT DEEP SOUTH PYBAR HAS HELPED IMPROVE THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS AT SARACEN MINERALS’ DEEP SOUTH GOLD MINE IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA BY USING A RECENTLY-ACQUIRED TECHNOLOGY. AUSTRALIAN MINING REPORTS

aracen Minerals’ Deep South gold mine in Western Australia’s Goldfields region transitioned to an underground operation in 2016. The mine schedule had been heavily constrained by vertical development which, prior to the application of PYBAR Mining Services’ Easer rig, had been carried out by conventional boxhole and raise bore rigs for escape ways, and air leg and longhole rises for stoping slots. The use of the air leg rise increased the mine’s risk profile, while longhole rises were blind and required to be fired in one shot; with the success rate of opening a slot being 70 per cent.

stope slots and seven x 1.1m escape ways for a total of 2329 metres in 15 months. “In using the Easer, we were able to put the rises in at various angles to suit the orebody and the success of opening the slot was close to 100 per cent which significantly improved the production profile at Deep South all whilst being safer than air leg slotting,” Viljoen said.

Value adding

The biggest advantages the Easer brought were flexibility and safety. “In strike drives, the Easer was able

to bore boxhole slots from the central access working toward the face, which then allowed the longhole rig to follow behind. This enabled two scheduling activities — slotting and production drilling — to occur at the same time rather than as two separate and dependent activities,” said Viljoen. Its ability to rapidly relocate and setup on a new location reduces the delay between holes as there is no requirement for a concrete pad and the associated rig up / rig down process, saving both time and costs, and reducing manual labour. The Easer also mitigated the risk

ATLAS COPCO’S EASER L RIG. IMAGE: ATLAS COPCO

Identifying a solution

Committed to applying the latest proven technology to improve mine performance, PYBAR proposed the application of the underground hard rock mining contractor’s new Atlas Copco Easer L rig as an alternative to the air leg method. “The Easer is a compact, dual purpose rig specifically designed to drill both conventional rises and boxhole slot rises while maintaining a low profile. Being wheel-bound, it’s exceptionally easy to move between drill sites and, unlike traditional raise bores, no site preparation or concrete foundation is required,” PYBAR’s raise bore superintendent Phil Viljoen said. “It offered the client a solution to increase advance rates and improve mine production while reducing the risk of entry method slotting such as air leg rising and long hole slot drilling.” The expertise of PYBAR’s Raise Bore Division and the support provided by Atlas Copco in the form of onsite fitters meant the team was able to implement the new technology quickly.

Exceeding targets

The vertical development rates achieved by the Easer were greater than anticipated. The time to complete rises was faster than originally scheduled, and the associated costs of completing the works were in line with the budget. The Easer completed 93 x 760mm AUSTRALIANMINING

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of stope bridging when blasting versus otherwise conventional drill and blast applications.

Raising the bar

Through the use of the Easer, Deep South was able to safely achieve a sustained improvement in its vertical development rate in stoping slots and escape way rises. The rig proved itself as a fast and flexible solution to vertical development and a value adding resource, setting the benchmark for future vertical development expectations at the mine. AM

SAFETY

A REEL GOOD INVESTMENT WITH IN-HOUSE DESIGN AND LOCAL MANUFACTURE, COMPANIES REEL TECH AND SPRAY NOZZLE ENGINEERING LEAD THE FLUID MECHANICS INDUSTRY WITH ENGINEERED PRODUCTS DEVELOPED FOR MINING. AUSTRALIAN MINING REPORTS.

s leaders in hose reel, spray nozzle and fluid conveying technology, Reel Tech and Spray Nozzle Engineering carry an extensive range that includes galvanised safety reels, stainless steel reels, dust control nozzles, washing spray nozzles, pipe connector systems, wash pad water cannons, high volume foam applications and tank cleaning.

Reel Tech

The Reel Tech division offers worldrenowned quality spring reels suitable for the mining industry through exclusive partner Hannay, as well as its own patented innovations including; Ezi-Deploy auto declutching systems; the Safe-R Reel spring reel speed control; Reel-In-Control long range hose reel remote control; FlatWinder automatic hose layering systems; and the Pit Bull and Fire Dog range of direct drive reels. “The Reel-In-Control is the first remote control rewind system that allows for single person hose reel control, meaning that the operator does not have to walk all the way back to the reel to push a button,” explained Stuart Morgan, director of Reel Tech. “They do not have to leave the work

zone to rewind the reel, vital for such applications as refuelling and chemical deployment. When added to Reel Tech’s patented FlatWinder system that automatically layers the hose on the Reel, there is no reason for the operator to have to walk back to the reel at all during the operation,” said Morgan. PitBull reels can also be integrated with the Ezi-Deploy declutching gearbox system, an easy-on accessory for all PitBull direct drive reels that allows for easy deployment with the lowest resistance, minimising operator strain injuries and reducing excessive force that can prematurely damage equipment. Ezi-Deploy is a low maintenance automatic declutching system that works simply by the operator pulling gently on the hose. Morgan explained that in addition to its ease of use, the system can minimise injuries and provide safety benefits as well. “When initiated, an operator can simply pull out even the most difficultto-deploy hose without any resistance,” he said. “Ezi-Deploy has reduced RSI and strain injury from pulling on locked or resistant reels in mining and fire service applications.” With no levers, buttons or electronics required, operation is free from the usual hassles. Manufactured in

AN EXPLODED VIEW OF THE EZI-DEPLOY CLUTCH

REEL TECH’S PITBULL REEL WITH THE EZI-DEPLOY CLUTCH ATTACHED

Australia, the reels use patented quickchange technology, allowing for a quick switch of hoses from half-an-inch to two inches in diameter. “We are proud of the fact that the reel is 100 per cent made in Australia, designed by a team of young, enthusiastic, mechanically minded people who have designed a product that has seen over 2000 sold,” said Morgan.

Spray Nozzle Engineering

Together with Reel Tech, Spray Nozzle Engineering offers hose reel systems for washdown and foamers hoses. A spraying solutions company with over 25 years of experience, it draws on a strong history of design, fabrication and the supply of engineered ASME spray lances and systems. A wide range of clog-free spiral, flat spray and environmental control nozzles are only available directly from the company. Tank cleaning solutions employ rotary impingement technology that helps prevent clog, sludge and contaminants, decrease fuel-dispensing

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times and increase profits. Time is money, after all, and with over 20,000 different spray nozzles and associated products available, Spray Nozzle Engineering can provide a quick product turnaround. For all onland mining and offshore processing applications, Spray Nozzle Engineering covers a wide range with products tailored to meet the needs of numerous customers in the oil and gas industry. They also offer in-house services like CAD design, spray droplet analysis and engineering support. Reel Tech has delivered numerous custom solutions from narrow reels for smaller space to fully automatic oversized reels. For Morgan, the company has only come this far thanks to its customers. “We only exist because of our customers,” he said. “Our customers can rely on us, we have been in business for 30 years, and we stand by our product. “Most of the new innovations you see on our reels today, is thanks to working closely and giving our customers what they need.” AM

SAFETY

3D SENSORS: SAFE MANOEUVRING INSTEAD OF COLLIDING REVERSING HEAVY VEHICLES CAN BE A RISKY BUSINESS. AUSTRALIAN MINING SPEAKS WITH IFM TO DISCUSS HOW IT IS MAKING MANOEUVRES EASIER FOR OPERATORS.

icture the scene: it’s a busy global port and a driver is looking straight ahead while moving containers 14 metres wide and up to 40 tonnes in weight, through narrow stacks. Even when manoeuvring in reverse the driver must keep an eye on the transverse container to avoid hitting the rows of containers stacked on top of each other like a wall. To avoid collision within the container terminals during narrow and rapid manoeuvring, ifm electronic offers a solution: a small 3D camera monitors the rear area, detecting objects in the travel path and warns the driver of possible collision. This automatic collision technology is useful for a variety of applications. When two reach stackers move towards each other while being manoeuvred in reverse; when trucks cross the way; or when objects or people are in the manoeuvring range. ifm’s O3M camera provides active protection: its integrated 3D sensor not only displays obstacles behind the vehicle on a screen in the cockpit but also determines the obstacle’s size, position and movement, if any, warning the driver of anything in the path or on a collision course. “The principle of these 3D sensors is based on ifm’s patented and award-winning PMD technology which is using ToF (Time of Flight) principles,” explained Dan Buzatu, ifm product manager. “This technology enables fast and efficient 3D imaging by delivering 2D and 3D information at the same time for each pixel, unlike laser scanners, which possess the negative characteristic of motion blur.” Another advantage of the intelligent O3M system is that if a vehicle moves into the travel path from the side the risk is detected much faster than with a distancebased warning. By integrating a conventional 2D camera with the pixel-accurate, distance measuring 3D camera, detected objects can be highlighted in colour in the produced 2D image.

THE O3M MONITOR CAN BE USED WITH A WIDE VARIETY OF MACHINES

Critical obstacles can be highlighted in red (with additional warning system), with less critical objects in yellow or green. Buzatu said that machine operators referred to ifm’s sensor as a “third eye that does not sleep or suffer from fatigue” and a “trustful assistant”. “It was specifically designed for outdoor use and difficult ambient light situations,” he added. “Even interference such as sunlight or materials with different reflective characteristics do not influence the repeatability of the measured data.” This overlay is completely generated in the O3M – additional hardware and complex set-up is not needed. Visualisation options — such as colours, symbols and language — can be easily and conveniently adapted to the application conditions with the ifm Vision Assistant for Windows. The mobile 3D smart sensors feature integrated evaluation functions which, besides the collision avoidance described here, enable a multitude of other applications to be solved, e.g. line guidance or area monitoring. A highly developed automotive industry algorithm is used, ensuring automatic recognition of up to 20 objects. In just a few steps the system is set. To do so the user only needs to enter some parameters, such as AUSTRALIANMINING

the vehicle’s geometry. Usually this set-up only takes a couple of minutes and the system is then ready for operation. Path monitoring and distance monitoring are also available to users; the former allows for a freely adjustable monitoring point on the

THE O3M SYSTEM CAN DETECT RISKS MUCH QUICKER FOR OPERATORS

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vehicle that allows only obstacles of a predefined height above ground to actually be detected as such; the latter applies to simple distance functions, with integrated distance monitoring providing up to 64 adjustable regions of interest. This reaction can be graded depending on the distance to the obstacle, i.e. at first an acoustic and visual warning is given. If the driver does not react and the situation becomes more critical, the vehicle can brake gently. For mining applications, the sensor is particularly useful for under- and above-ground drill rigs, collision awareness on dump trucks, among various other machines. Just about anywhere that requires slowing down or stopping a machine operation in the event of a safety breach can take advantage of ifm’s collision awareness technology in this regard. “Solid state componentry make the sensor perfectly suited for mobile machinery, where high shock and vibration is present,” explained Buzatu. AM

PRODUCT SHOWCASE

LINCOM GROUP SELLS FIRST POWERSCREEN TRAKPACTOR 550

incom Group has sold its first Powerscreen Trakpactor 550 to a mining contractor in North Queensland. The impact crusher will be used to help with the increasing demand for coal production.. The mine site is in a remote area and operates 365 days a year, making service and the availability of spare parts critical. Lincom Group believes the Trakpactor 550 horizontal-shaft impact crusher is set to dominate in the mid-to-large size class, providing miners with the highest levels of reliability, efficiency and performance. Like the Premiertrak 400, the sleek and modern shape of the Trackpactor 550 contradicts the machine’s robust and heavily engineered chassis and sub-structures. From the feeder through to the

product conveyor, the Trakpactor 550 has been designed to promote an easy and efficient flow of material, to minimise any potential material build-up and thereby ensure maximum uptime. An optional 2.1-metre long prescreen unit with large open area allows the maximum amount of fines to be removed, consequently maximising production, minimising wear costs and contributing to remarkably low cost-per-tonne performance. The new Terex chamber design, which has been rigorously developed and tested for performance and durability, incorporates features such as a hydraulic inlet lid and automatic adjustment system for ease of use by the operator, while an autorotation system for blow bar changes demonstrates Powerscreen’s focus on machine safety. Like all Powerscreen crushers, the Trakpactor 550 comes with the

Pulse Remote Monitoring System as standard. The fleet-management system provides crushing and screening equipment owners and operators with access to valuable data, which can help improve machine operation, increase uptime and allow in-depth

reporting and fleet management. The features and benefits include: double deck grizzly feeder with under screen; impact crusher with hydraulic overload protection; four bar rotor with twin apron design; crusher speed variation through user friendly PLC control system; and more. AM

THE POWERSCREEN TRAKPACTOR 550

SANDVIK UNVEILS TH663I TRUCK IN AUSTRALIA

andvik has officially launched its latest i-Series load and haul trucking solutions in Australia. The equipment manufacturer held an event in Perth last December to demonstrate the new upgrades and features the i-Series now offers mining. Attendees witnessed the launch of the Sandvik TH663i truck, an introduction to the LH517i, and demonstrations from AutoMine Tele Remote and OptiMine Analytics. Sandvik experts were also on hand to answer any questions about the new products, their capabilities, and how the company can help machinery owners enter the digital world of mining and construction. The new trucks have been developed for automated haulage, targeting tangible benefits in safety, productivity and profitability. Paired with Sandvik’s AutoMine Trucking, mines can increase

SANDVIK’S TH663I TRUCK

haulage production by as much as 30 per cent, according to the manufacturer. The new TH663i truck is designed for intelligent mine AUSTRALIANMINING

production, making it safer, efficient and easy to maintain with low cost per tonne. An integrated weighing system helps operators ensure a full payload every trip.

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An upgraded, larger 40 cubed metre box size for the TH663i is tougher and stronger. The trucks are powered by a low-emission Volvo engine with improved fuel efficiency. Multi-machine control and improved operating discipline can reduce operating costs by as much as 50 per cent. Better availability and improved performance mean that mines can achieve the same production volume with fewer trucks. The latest evolution in AutoMine Trucking is decline haulage, which enables high-level utilisation and improved productivity in declines for underground hard rock miners who use ramp haulage. Sandvik’s trucks have inbuilt data collection capabilities, ensuring all information can be visualised at any time. Every load is analysed and high-speed continuous production in autonomous mode enables higher utilisation and extended equipment lifetime. AM

PRODUCTS

ROCKWELL AUTOMATION COMPACTLOGIX 5380/5580 AND COMPACT 5000 I/O Rockwell Automation, a market leader in machine safety, has recently enhanced its portfolio to include a large range of input, logic and output devices. These include the CompactLogix 5580 and CompactLogix 5380 controllers, Compact 5000 safety I/O and Allen Bradley Kinetix 5700 servo drive. The two controllers can aid machine designers by scaling safety ratings to specific tasks, which simplifies architecture and reduces control chassis footprints. The Kinetix 5700 includes three-speed monitoring and five safe-stop functions, allowing operators to perform maintenance and servicing while a machine is in operation. Jimmy Alvarez, global product manager of Rockwell Automation, said that the use of these tools could optimise safety and productivity. “These new products and features expand our already comprehensive machine safety portfolio to help companies create safer and more productive machines,” he said. • rockwellautomation.com

HAWK MEASUREMENT OPTIOLASER S200

MAPTEK CAVELOGIC

Hawk Measurement Systems’ OptioLaser S200 is an extremely accurate distance calculator that uses an infrared GaAs laser diode semiconductor to bounce back light energy at a wavelength of about 905 nanometres. In practice, this allows the device to calculate distances based on the laser pulse transit time to the point of contact. It can be used with solids, liquids, plastics, glass, textiles and many other surfaces, including substrate and metals. This is particularly useful for the identification of non-reflective materials during process control. Vapour pressure, dust and noise do not interfere with the OptioLaser S200, it does not require calibration, and is compact and lightweight, making for easy portability. It can also measure natural materials up to 1600 metres.

Tech company Maptek, a software innovations provider with over 40 years of experience, has unveiled a new product called CaveLogic, designed to allow mining engineers to panel caves in a cost-effective and efficient way using 3D visualisation techniques. CaveLogic makes use of dynamic analysis systems to reduce the risks associated with panel caving (also known as block caving); it generates multiple scenarios showing geotechnical limitations and visually identifying the easiest route for underground mine planning. CaveLogic’s dynamic analysis is also able to take the economics of the environment in combination with the scans to generate efficient production plans that are suitable to individual customer need. This can go as far as determining pit feasibility, whether underground or open cut, greenfield or brownfield. “The Maptek solution quickly and easily simulates multiple scenarios for identifying the best option,’ said Maptek South America vice president, Marcelo Arancibia. “Unlike other panel caving systems, results are readily visualised for determining sequencing and are auditable for confident decision support.”

• hawk.com.au (03) 9873 4750

• maptek.com

AUSTRALIANMINING

FEBRUARY 2018

PRODUCTS

OLYMPUS VANTA L SERIES XRF ANALYSER

SIMCO OMEGA DRAGLINE BUCKET

The Vanta L analyser is the latest in Olympus’ series of X-ray fluorescence (XRF) substrate scanners. The scanners can measure up to three layers of substrate thickness and composition at a micronic level, whether the substrate is coated, galvanised or electroplated. Analysis of soil pollutants (including arsenic, mercury and lead) and other metals can be made accurately and easily with Vanta’s handheld system, a particularly useful trait for compliance. The Vanta L joins the Vanta C and Vanta M in the range; while the C series focused on a combination of value and speed, and the M series on high-end performance, the L series sits somewhere between the two, delivering, according to Olympus, “ruggedness within reach”. Like its forebears it includes Olympus’s Axon technology, an easily interpretable UI and optional Wi-Fi and cloud connectivity.

A Queensland company with over 40 years of experience, Simco’s Omega dragline bucket utilises a high–penetration lip and mechanically attached ground engaging tools (GETs) — the teeth across the bucket’s lower edge — that make for expedient filling and dumping of raw ore and other materials. The Omega bucket, capable of carrying 135-tonne loads, can also be maintained through Simco’s ongoing, in-field dragline bucket and rigging inspection, recording and reporting program, or IRM Program for short. Simco customers include BHP, Glencore, Stanwell — which owns the Downer-operated Meandu mine in Queensland — and Indian Government enterprise HEC (Heavy Engineering Corporation). Its buckets and riggings have been used at mine sites all over the world. In 2016, the company partnered with Independent Mining Services Queensland (IMS Qld) to create a 90-tonne bucket capable of moving 240-tonne payloads for use at Westfarmer’s Curragh Mine near Blackwater, resulting in one of the largest dragline buckets ever built; the overall largest, with a capacity of 295 tonnes, belonged to the now-demolished American coal excavator ‘Old Muskie’, in itself one of the largest machines ever built.

• Michelle.Wright@olympus-ossa.com • +1 (781) 419 3664

• simcomining.com • (07) 4952 5855

AQUACRETE FLEXI-LINER Aquacrete Systems’ Flexi-Liner is a thin, waterproof membrane suitable for bonding to a variety of substrates. A wet-mix, non-flammable product, Flexi-Liner comes in handy for the excavation and lining of tunnels; it works to prevent rust and corrosion, and also works as a weatherproof sealant with thermal and audio insulation. Laid on 2–3mm thick, Flexi-Liner is a strong adhesive and can be allied using a trowel or spray. It comes in powder form in 10kg bags and is simply mixed with water to ready for use. In mining applications, it maintains integrity under tensile loads and forms a flexible membrane useful for combating scaling and spalling on strata. • aquacrete.com.au • (08) 9535 9299

AUSTRALIANMINING

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EVENTS

CONFERENCES, SEMINARS & WORKSHOPS EVENT SUBMISSIONS CAN BE EMAILED TO EDITOR@AUSTRALIANMINING.COM.AU

AUSTRALASIAN OIL & GAS EXHIBITION & CONFERENCE (AOG) 2018, PERTH, MARCH 14–16 An annual oil and gas showcase that attracts international attention, AOG 2018 will be held at the Perth Convention & Exhibition Centre and registration is free. Events will include an AOG diversity and inclusion breakfast, a festival with pop-up food vendors, bars and entertainment, welcome drinks for subsea professionals and several conference sessions. In addition, an extensive exhibition split into four designated zones; subsea, supported by Subsea Energy Australia; the new asset integrity zone, supported by the Australian Institute for Non-Destructive Testing (AINDT); health, safety and environment; and instrumental control and automation. AOG, now in its third decade, is a great showcase for industry collaboration and emerging technical breakthroughs. • aogexpo.com.au AUSTMINE DELOITTE CEO LEADERSHIP LUNCH FEAT. MACH ENERGY, BRISBANE, MARCH 8 Scott Winter, managing director of diversified energy supply company MACH Energy, will be the guest speaker at this get-together, organised by Austmine and Deloitte. The noted MD will discuss energy technology and his company’s priorities over the next year. Winter made a binding agreement for Rio Tinto’s Mount Pleasant thermal coal project at the start of 2016 and has over 25 years of experience in the coal mining industry. He has held management roles with Tinkler Group and contractor Thiess, where he oversaw projects for clients such as BHP, Anglo American, OZ Minerals and Peabody. The event is open to Austmine members in senior management positions. • nicole.Colomb@austmine.com.au PAPUA NEW GUINEA MINING MISSION, PNG, MARCH 12–16 This PNG-focused excursion will allow attendees to meet senior staff from companies such as Barrick Gold, Harmony Gold, St Barbara and Newcrest, as well as attend

meetings with the PNG Chamber of Mines and Petroleum on this fiveday mission to Papua New Guinea. The mission is expected to build on the successful 2017 excursion from last year, and is open to Austmine members for around $2500–3000 plus goods service tax. • robert.trzebski@austmine.com.au MINES AND MONEY ASIA, HONG KONG, CHINA, APRIL 4–6 Taking place at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, Mines and Money is the largest mining investment conference and exhibition in Asia, hosting 1500 mining industry leaders and 600 investors and 150 speakers from over 40 countries. Discussion will include gold, base metals, tech metals, the Belt and Road Initiative, renewable energy, as well as the developments in the wake of the Communist Party’s national congress. • asia@minesandmoney.com 03 9008 5946 +852 2219 0111 (HK) STRATEGIC MINE PLANNING & OPTIMISATION: GEOVIA WHITTLE & ISIGHT, PERTH, APRIL 16–20 A five-day course for planners, engineers, directors, scientists, metallurgists, and all other applicable industry professionals to gain knowledge in mine planning and optimisation software. Instructed by professor of mining and engineer Hooman Askari, who leads the University of Alberta’s Mining Optimisation Laboratory (MOL) team and has over 20 years of experience in open pit design and planning, this course will include lectures, computer labs, and case study presentations. Software courses will include instruction in Dassault System’s GEOVIA Whittle and Isight programs, and Excel Solver, three valuable digital tools for strategic mine planning. Other topics will include instruction in Lane’s Theory, CAPEX optimisation, Lerchs -Grossman 3D algorithms (pit optimisation), stockpiling, risk management and many more • hooman@optitek.ca +1 780 893 9365 (Canada) AUSTRALIANMINING

VALUATION OF MINERAL PROJECTS BASED ON TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL MODELLING, VANCOUVER, CANADA, APRIL 17–20 Held at InfoMine in Vancouver, British Columbia, this course details the effects of market turbulence and how to build realistic financial models around mining-based quantitative finance. The organisers state that it will be of interest to mining analysts, asset management specialists, development engineers, bankers, and several other financial industry

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professionals. By the end of the course — supported by the University of British Columbia, University of Arizona, and University of Concepción — attendees will have learnt how to analyse data using CostMine, analyse IC-MinEval financial performance indicators, learn about the impact of technical variables and technical risk, and several more skills, and will receive a certificate in mining studies, upon completion of this fourday course. • edumine-support@infomine.com EduMine: +1 604 683 2037

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