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Volume 14, Wednesday, August 23, 2017
Roxby solar plant still on agenda A
lthough construction of the Kingfisher solar plant near Roxby Downs has been delayed, the project is still hoped to begin construction next year.
That’s according to the Lyon Group, who The Monitor contacted for an update last week, following the announcement of a major new solar thermal plant – called Aurora – to be built near Port Augusta. The new plant will generate 150 megawatts of power, create 650 local construction jobs and 50 ongoing positions, and is hoped to meet the State Government’s power needs. It’s been just over 12 months since the Lyon Group proposed to build the $300 million, 100 megawatt solar plant as part of their Kingfisher project – a combined solar and battery storage plant in South Australia. In a statement to The Monitor, Lyon confirmed the Kingfisher project is still a priority, however construction has been delayed. “In the period since we announced the project in September 2016, we have been able to make greater progress on three of our other integrated solar and battery storage projects,” the company said. “These are Cape York Solar Storage, Nowingi Solar Storage and Riverland Solar Storage, all of which are in advanced stages of development with construction to commence in 2017. More detail is available at www.lyonbatterystorage.com.au. “We are still negotiating land and network access at Kingfisher Solar Storage. Construction will not commence now until 2018. We still anticipate that operations will commence in 2018.” According to Lyon Group’s website, the Cape York, Nowingi and Riverland projects are estimated to provide a total of 635MW of solar photovoltaic power, along with 200MW of storage. The sites were chosen for multiple reasons, including their solar resources, an already existing power line, and the large parcels of land already being cleared of native vegetation. Lyon Group began a tender process for the projects in June this year.
BHP Olympic Dam Lead Community, Chad Menzies (second from right) accepted a BHP HSEC Award last week for the Mining Minds: Building our Community project. Also pictured are Emily Perry (Head of Corporate Affairs, Olympic Dam), Angela Thompson (Mining Minds) and Troy Wilson (General Manager Mine, Olympic Dam).
Double honours for Olympic Dam
T
wo BHP Olympic Dam-based initiatives have won awards at the company’s Health, Safety, Environment, and Community (HSEC) Awards last week.
BHP Senior Fleet Specialist Sasha Miric’s Diesel Particulate Matter Reduction project took out the health category at the global awards. Mr Miric’s work has reduced diesel exhaust exposure for the Olympic Dam workforce. In 2016, the average level of exposure was three times lower than what it was in 2014. “The project team has put in a significant amount of time and effort into bringing the project to completion,” Mr Miric said. “We strongly believe it will make a significant impact to the working conditions of our underground workforce, but the recognition from BHP for the work we have carried out and the result we have achieved is a wonderful way to top that off. “I am humbled by the experience.” In addition, BHP Lead Community, Olympic Dam’s Chad Menzies’ Mining Minds: Building Our Community project won the awards’ community category. Mining Minds has been running for three
years and has been working to improve learning outcomes in the area by transforming education in the Roxby Downs community. “I’m enormously proud of the collaborative approach of Mining Minds to reach better educational outcomes for the community of Roxby Downs,” Mr Menzies said. “This project is close to my heart and something I hope will continue for many years”. Mining Minds Project Manager Angela Thompson said the initiative has had a visible impact on residents. “What we’ve seen in our work is growth in people,” she said. “Our job at Mining Minds is to connect people together and with other agencies, and also to work with them to make sure they have the skills to go on and do their own projects and develop their own ideas in their workplaces. “It’s about building that social capital in the community.” Ms Thompson said the project’s results were also noticeable “on the ground”. “We now have the community hub which is a place where parents can come and they can connect with education and health,” she said.
“When we started, we only had two or three people coming in a week, now we have 30-50. “The other big thing that has come out of the project is the development of the Roxby Downs Children’s Centre.” Ms Thompson said none of this could have happened without Mr Menzies. “If it hadn’t been for the vision of Chad in those early days, we wouldn’t have a project because it was his vision to ask people what they wanted,” she said. “(Winning the award) is recognition for Chad and the hard work that he’s done, and it cements us as an ongoing project in lots of ways.” Mining Minds has been renewed for another three years, and Ms Thompson plans to build on the project’s success. “Obviously some of our projects have been really successful so we will probably re-run those because they build sustainability,” she said. “But also there’s potential for new projects and new ideas as well, because the research goes on in talking to people and finding out what’s best practice.” BHP’s Olympic Dam site was the only BHP Minerals Australia asset to win two awards.