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Industrial news
GrainCorp buys stake in grain quality testing business
GrainCorp will use Hone’s technology to assess grain quality and soil carbon.
GRAINCORP HAS INVESTED $5
million into a 15 per cent stake in an ag-tech business that focuses on grain quality testing technology.
Newcastle-based start-up Hone will be partially owned by GrainCorp, which will use its technology to assess grain quality and soil carbon, along with other critical agricultural products and inputs.
Farmer demand for fast and accurate grain quality measuring equipment has sky-rocketed in recent years as they seek to get real time information on their grain before making decisions on where they will deliver or store the product.
GrainCorp Chief Innovation and Growth Officer Jesse Scott said the agribusiness has already been working alongside Hone for two years to parallel test its handheld devices, which provide a real-time chemical analysis of crops and had liked what they say.
“We’ve been extremely impressed with Hone’s equipment, it’s as accurate and consistent as anything we’ve seen in the industry,” Scott said.
He said the big hook for grain growers would be the size of the device.
“The big difference is that growers will literally be able to hold it in their hands,” Scott said.
He said the potential at harvest time was easy to see.
“For the grains industry, getting your answer on a crop sample can take weeks – with Hone, this process can be brought down to minutes at the touch of a button.”
But it was not just the grain quality technology that has GrainCorp interested.
“We’re also excited by the potential to use the technology in soil carbon testing and assessing carbon sequestration, which could open up new offset prospects for growers and the industry as a whole,” Scott added.
Hone’s Founders Antony Martin, William Palmer and Jamie Flynn launched the business in 2016 after completing their PhD studies at the University of Newcastle.
The initial concept for the Hone device was born out of their work to develop a 3D microscope to image medical samples, before they quickly realised the benefits a highly accurate and portable testing kit could have for the agricultural industry.
Martin said he hoped Hone’s new partnership with GrainCorp, with its large footprint, would accelerate the adoption of the technology by grain growers across the eastern seaboard.
“The technology empowers producers to make real-time, databased decisions that result in healthier soil and crops, more sustainable farming practices and ultimately a more profitable business,” he said.
“Our vision is for anyone to be able to test what they want, when they want, without the inconvenience of collecting and sending samples away for weeks on end.
Scott said the technology will open up enormous opportunities for GrainCorp as well as for growers.
“Quality is in our DNA so we’re always looking for ways to advance in this field, and Hone’s technology is a big step forward for our business and the broader grains industry,” he said.
Level measurement for European animal feed mill
FANE VALLEY FEEDS, ONE OF
Northern Ireland’s largest animal feed manufacturers, has installed non-contacting, ultrasonic measurement equipment at its new mill.
The company contracted Pulsar Measurement to provide Blackbox controllers to make life easier for the maintenance and installation staff at the site.
The new mill has new mill has a compounding capacity of around 300,000 tonnes per annum, a significant proportion of the 2,000,000-tonne total animal feed production in Northern Ireland.
On the main grain silos, which holds wheat, maize and barley, Pulsar installed 25 decibel transducers using ‘aiming kits’ to make sure that the equipment measures right down to the bottom of the silo.
Signals from the Blackbox controller are loaded into the programmable logic controller on site, so staff have an immediate, visual indication of silo contents.
This provides important reordering information to avoid expensive and inconvenient raw material shortages
Materials including palm oil and molasses are also measured at the site, with local indication of level providing vehicle drivers with the indication they need to make sure they don’t overfill.
Diesel tanks are measured to both provide refill information and to monitor usage of this important resource around the site.
William McAusland, Fane Valley’s Mill Construction Project Manager, says the company designed the new facility to resolve the capacity limitations of the old mill, to meet the latest feed quality and environmental requirements, and reduce production costs.
“This meant installing the best equipment available,” he says. “We have been delighted with Pulsar’s support, from project specification, through delivery, installation, and commissioning. The accuracy and reliability of the equipment has allowed us to make significant efficiency improvements both in production and vehicle usage.”
Fane Valley Feeds is one of Northern Ireland’s largest animal feed manufacturers.
Pulsar’s 25 decibel transducers use aiming kits to make sure it can measure down to the bottom of the silo.
CBH named WA exporter of the year
WA resources sector records biggest year ever
CBH HAS BEEN NAMED THE
Western Australian Exporter of the Year award at the 2021 Western Australian Export Awards.
CBH also won the Agribusiness, Food and Beverages category and was a finalist in the Sustainability category, qualifying it as finalists for the Agribusiness, Food and Beverages category at the National awards to be held later this year.
CBH’s nomination centred on its efforts to find new markets for highquality Australian barley after the loss of the China market due to trade tensions, and the growth and development of its International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) program to meet increasing international demand for sustainably grown grain.
CBH’s Chief Marketing and Trading Officer Jason Craig congratulated his team on the achievement.
“We’ve faced some challenging circumstances over the last couple of years with volatility in the market and of course, COVID-19 has significantly impacted our operations,” Craig said.
“We’ve worked hard to develop our ISCC sustainably certified grain accreditation and through this, have been able to capture new market opportunities and position Western Australia as a leader in providing sustainably grown grain.
“I’m incredibly proud of the team at CBH who have worked hard to strengthen new and existing relationships with our customers and seek out these new opportunities.
“Their efforts have allowed us to capture value for Western Australian grain despite the challenges we’ve faced, to the benefit of the grain growers who are part of our co-operative.”
CBH also won the Agribusiness, Food and Beverages category and was a finalist in the Sustainability category.
THE WESTERN AUSTRALIAN
RESOURCES sector has delivered a record-breaking $210 billion of sales and its highest ever job numbers over the past financial year.
Minerals and petroleum sales in WA grew by $38 billion to $210 billion from 2019-20 to 2020-21.
Jobs supported by the sector increased from 135,000 in 2019-20 to 149,400 in 2020-21.
Western Australia accounted for well over half (56.2 per cent) of national goods exports in 2020-21.
Iron ore sales reached a record $155 billion. Gold sales were valued at $16.6 billion, up four per cent from 2019-20, while nickel sales were valued at $3.5 billion – the industry’s highest sales value in seven years.
Alumina and bauxite activities also made significant contributions to the sector’s growth.
Mineral exploration hit $2.1 billion in 2020-21, an increase of 21 per cent from $1.7 billion in 2019-20, with WA’s share of national mineral exploration expenditure increasing to 65 per cent.
Almost $21 billion was invested into Western Australia’s mining and petroleum sector, up from $19 billion in 2019-20 – and a five-year high.
Western Australia has around $127 billion of resources projects in the development pipeline.
WA Premier Mark McGowan said the state is doing the heavy lifting for the Australian economy.
“While the economies of the larger States are expected to contract given their extended lockdowns, the WA economy continues to punch well above its weight in supporting the nation,” McGowan said.
“We resisted calls to shut down the resources sector at the height of the pandemic and these results demonstrate the significance of that decision.
“We have not only protected tens of thousands of Western Australian resources jobs but created an additional 14,400 this financial year.
“These strong results will continue to power the national economy as the larger States work to emerge from their extended lockdowns.”
BHP opens Australia’s first nickel sulphate plant
WA welcomes BHP plan to employ 200 train drivers
BHP NICKEL WEST HAS OPENED THE
first nickel sulphate plant in Australia at its Kwinana nickel refinery.
Nickel sulphate is a key material in the lithium-ion batteries that power electric vehicles.
The new facility has the potential to exceed 100,000 tonnes of nickel sulphate per year at 99.99 per cent purity, which is enough to make 700,000 batteries for electric vehicles.
More than 85 per cent of BHP’s current production is sold to the futurebattery supply chain.
WA State Development, Jobs and Trade Minister Roger Cook congratulated the company on the new nickel sulphate plant.
“Nickel is essential to decarbonisation and WA has some of the largest and highest-grade nickel sulphide deposits in the world, in addition to leading mining and mineral expertise,” Cook said.
“Significant economic gains can be achieved for WA by building on our strengths in mining to diversify our activities into other segments of the battery value chain, including more onshore materials processing and manufacturing.
“This milestone for BHP Nickel West reinforces the importance of the Government’s commitment to establishing a globally advanced manufacturing hub for the industrial corridor between Henderson and Rockingham.”
BHP’s nickel operations include Mt Keith, Cliffs and Leinster, and it has concentrators at Mt Keith, Leinster and Kambalda, and a smelter in Kalgoorlie and the Kwinana refinery.
Half of the Kwinana refinery’s electricity needs will be powered by solar to meet BHP’s goal to reduce environmental impacts.
WA Mines and Petroleum Minister Bill Johnston said BHP Nickel West’s nickel sulphate plant is a significant achievement for the state and bolsters the WA Government’s efforts to diversify local industry.
“Through the WA Recovery Plan, we have committed $13.2 million to facilitate a global precursor cathode manufacturer to build a facility in WA,” Johnston said.
“WA is the only State to have a clear strategy supporting the development of a world-leading future battery industry that will create jobs and benefit regional communities.”
A closeup of nickel sulphate, a key material in lithium-ion batteries.
THE WESTERN AUSTRALIAN
Government has welcomed a BHP initiative to train and employ 200 train drivers over the next three years.
The program aligns with the State Government’s WA Jobs Plan – which focuses on preferencing local jobs, reducing interstate FIFO, enhancing TAFE and training, and creating jobs in regional Western Australia.
Premier Mark McGowan commended the company for investing in the state.
“WA jobs have been my number one priority from day one, and we are continuing to focus on reducing interstate FIFO, enhancing local training, and creating jobs in regional WA,” McGowan said.
“We will continue to work closely with industry to develop opportunities to build Western Australia’s workforce – to create local jobs and continue to support the growth of our resources sector.”
State Development, Jobs and Trade Minister Roger Cook said the training program, that has been and initiated by BHP, recognises the need for a reliable and sustainable local workforce.
“With a large number of women and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people completing this training, I would like to congratulate BHP for its commitment to diversity – we know that diverse workplaces are the most productive workplaces,” Cook said.
The WA Government is working with the mining industry to reduce reliance on out-of-State workers.
Transport Minister Rita Saffioti said the initiative will help the state reduce its reliance on fly-in-fly-out workers.
“We welcome any efforts by the mining industry to extend the benefits delivered by the resources sector to provide jobs and training opportunities for more Western Australians.”
ARTC signs deal for Inland Rail border project
LAING O’ROURKE AND THE FKG
Group will work together to deliver civil works for Inland Rail sections in Northern NSW and South Queensland.
The Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) and the consortium, Freight Connect, signed a collaborative framework agreement which will focus on an approximately 85-kilometre section between North Star in New South Wales and Whetstone in Queensland as well as a separate 14-kilometre package south of Moree called Narrabri to North Star Phase 2.
This section required a separate Environmental Impact Statement and was not approved when the remainder of the Narrabri to North Star Phase 1 package was tendered and delivered.
ARTC Inland Rail Interim Chief Executive Rebecca Pickering said the announcement was the culmination of months of work by ARTC and was a crucial part of the project as it delivered the ‘missing link’ between the two states where no previous rail line existed.
“Inland Rail is a fast freight backbone that will transform how goods are moved around Australia – it’s also a catalyst for regional employment and economic opportunity,” Pickering said.
“Both sides of the border will benefit significantly from Inland Rail with more than 11,800 direct and indirect jobs in Queensland and 7,500 in NSW expected at the peak of construction in 2023-24.”
“We’ve already committed 641 contracts to businesses in Queensland and 657 in NSW worth more than $1.95 billion across the two states, and this agreement will create even more economic stimulus as the country recovers from the impacts of the pandemic.”
Laing O’Rourke Managing Director Cathal O’Rourke welcomed the announcement confirming the business, together with its partner FKG Group, was committed to delivering the project in partnership with local business and leaving a legacy in each of the local communities along the alignment.
“Our business has long and deep relationships in both Queensland and NSW stretching over 50 years where we have delivered a number of major projects and we are delighted to be granted the opportunity to play our part in this oncein-a-generation piece of infrastructure,” O’Rourke said.
Pickering said the appointment of a civil works proponent in parallel with environmental planning approvals will allow local businesses to hit the ground running when formal approval is given.
“Major construction will not start until statutory approvals have been received from the New South Wales, Queensland and Australian governments, but the appointment of a preferred proponent now tells local businesses to get ‘Inland Rail ready’ and start talking with Freight Connect about what the future looks like,” she said.
“This is a crucial program of civil works with approximately 100 kilometres of rail corridor within the southern end of Border to Gowrie, North Star to Border and Narrabri to North Star sections of Inland Rail, including the bridge that spans the Macintyre River which serves as the border between the two states. We will also need a large local workforce to support this part of the project with an estimated 500 workers needed at the peak of construction.
“Freight Connect will initially be working with ARTC to review the reference design and develop construction plans and methodologies ahead of the development of a fully costed proposal for the first of the works packages next year.”
ARTC Inland Rail Director of PreContracts Rob Storey said ARTC wanted to be in a place to begin works straight away, once a green light was given to proceed with the project.
“In September last year, we announced a change to our procurement process to make it more collaborative, projects smaller and less complex and provide a broader section of the industry with more opportunity to participate on Inland Rail,” Storey said.
“This was done in line with the Australian Government’s commitment to fast-track investment in critical infrastructure projects and is in response to industry feedback we had received.
“We are working with Freight Connect to develop works packages as part of this approach, which will enable more suppliers and contractors to get Inland Rail ready.”
The ARTC and Freight Connect signed a collaborative framework agreement.
Green steel technology wins $750,000 grant
THE ADVANCED MANUFACTURING
Growth Centre (AMGC) has awarded a $750,000 grant to help a Newcastlebased mining consumable producer and steel manufacturer implement UNSW’s Green Steel technology.
Molycop aims to use the technology, also known as Polymer Injection Technology (PIT), to recover and reuse carbon and hydrogen from end-oflife rubber products in the Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) steelmaking process.
Industrial rubber boot manufacturer, Crawford Boots, will also partner with Molycop and UNSW to further enhance the recycling capability of this innovative technology.
Molycop aims to reduce its reliance on imported carbonaceous materials from China, reduce the volume of wastes going to landfill, improve the energy efficiency of the steelmaking process and reduce the carbon intensity of its products.
The total investment into the project is $2.6million which includes the AMGC grant, Molycop’s capital investment and the funding of ongoing R&D activities and trials to further increase this technology’s resource recovery and recycling capability.
Director of the UNSW Sustainable Materials Research and Technology (SMaRT) Centre, and inventor of the technology, Professor Veena Sahajwalla, congratulated Molycop for its commitment to both implementing and further developing SMaRT@UNSW Green Steel technology as part of its sustainability leadership.
“The AMGC grant will enable Molycop to work towards fully operationalising our existing technology in its Newcastle facility,” Sahajwalla said.
“And what’s also exciting is that we are collaborating in developing our Green Steel 2.0 technologies, which we are confident will at some point in the future allow us to be able to fully replace coking coal in EAF steel making with a range of waste materials.
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Metso Outotec wins $37M grinding mill supply contract
METSO OUTOTEC HAS WON A $37
million (EUR 24 million) contract to deliver several horizontal grinding mills and thickeners to a greenfield nickel project in Indonesia.
The scope of delivery includes five grinding mills with a total installed power of 10.6MW, as well as 13 HCT high-compression thickeners, which are part of the company’s Planet Positive offering.
Metso Outotec President, Minerals and Deputy CEO Markku Teräsvasara said the company is pleased to have been chosen as the supplier of this key equipment for this major project.
“A diligent verification process with the customer confirmed that Metso Outotec grinding mills and thickeners will provide significant added value to their process,” Teräsvasara said.
“The customer selected our grinding mills based on robust, proven technology, and industry leading availability. The HCT thickeners are proven to provide the best washing efficiency, thus reducing the loss of nickel metal in leaching residue.”
Metso Outotec will deliver five grinding mills and 13 HCT high-compression thickeners.
• materials handling • asset life extension • infrastructure
A 2.2-KILOMETRE ROCK WALL HAS
been built for the $232 million Port of Townsville Channel Upgrade, which will help allow larger ships access to the port.
The rock wall is a key step in widening Townsville’s shipping channel.
Dredging to widen Townsville’s 14.9-kilometre shipping channel will commence shortly, with all dredge material to be placed in a 62-hectare reclamation area bounded by the rock wall.
Dredging is expected to take two years, with the project set for completion in late 2023.
During peak construction, there were 200 trucks passing through the site gates every day to deliver over 20,000 tonnes of rock a week.
Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts Minister Paul Fletcher, said the channel upgrade was a key project under the Townsville City Deal.
“This is a major milestone in the channel upgrade project, which is not only the biggest infrastructure project ever undertaken at the Port of Townsville, but will help position Townsville as the economic gateway to Asia and Northern Australia,” Fletcher said.
“This project is one of many significant investments that we’re making through the City Deal, which is helping to generate local jobs, drive economic growth, and ensure that Townsville is a vibrant and liveable city for years to come.”
Queensland Transport and Main Roads Minster Mark Bailey, said upgrading the port’s channels would support Queensland’s COVID-19 Economic Recovery Plan, unlocking capacity for commercial, defence and cruise ships up to 300 metres long.
“We know that when the port is strong, close to 800,000 Queenslanders reap the benefits,” Bailey said.
Dredging to widen Townsville’s 14.9-kilometre shipping channel will commence shortly.
“That’s why we’re investing in this largest-ever port upgrade, which is supporting local jobs and providing work to local suppliers now during construction and will expand the trading capacity of one of Queensland’s largest publicly-owned ports.”
Queensland Resources Minister and State Member for Townsville, Scott Stewart, said the Channel Upgrade would support jobs in the Townsville region, providing local opportunities during North Queensland’s economic recovery.
“The project has so far provided employment to more than 1,300 people since 2018, when design work started,” Stewart said.
“Expanding the Port of Townsville’s footprint builds capacity for our resources sector to export more to the world through our pit to port approach, which involves upgrading the Mt Isa to Townsville rail line too.
“The resources sector plays a vital role in supporting jobs across the state and it will be a key part of Queensland’s plan for economic recovery from COVID-19.
“More exports means more royalties, and more jobs for Queenslanders.”
Port of Townsville Chief Infrastructure Officer, Marissa Wise, said seven local rock suppliers provided 900,000 tonnes of rock, with construction of the 10-metre-high wall requiring specialist knowledge.
“It was a complex project that called on the marine construction expertise of designers, engineers, environmental experts and contractors working together,” Wise said.
“We have used a number of innovative design and construction techniques to ensure the rock wall withstands tidal action, storm surges, cyclones and rising sea levels.”
The Channel Upgrade project is the largest infrastructure project in the Townsville Port’s history and is the first stage of the 30-year Port Expansion Project.
Image credit: Cam Laird / Shutterstock.com
