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August, 2018, Edition 209
THE LOAD OUT
RECORDS FALL AT PEAK DOWNS, SARAJI, CAVAL RIDGE, SOUTH WALKER CREEK AND POITREL
400% PAY ON YOUR LUNCHBREAK? Coal and gas awards close to finalisation
BUSY IN BOWEN
Adani, GE, Aurizon, Glencore, Qcoal, and solar buzz
GOD’S GIFT IN A UTE
Skills shortage not in crisis….yet August, 2018 1
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CONTENTS
News
NEWS 04 G AS
GREENFIELD PROJECT APPROVED
06 B HP
LITE BUYS EAGLE DOWNS
07 G REGORY
CRINUM TO REOPEN ASAP
10
BEST BUYS IN MACKAY
REGULARS 19 F RANK THE TANK 22 P UZZLES 25-26 M INER’S TRADER For all general enquiries 07 4921 4333 or admin@shiftminer.com
NEWS & SUBSCRIPTION
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August, 2018 3
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Banking out Council’s across the Bowen Basin are exploring options to fill the hole left by major banks and credit unions who have abandoned a bricks and mortar presence in communities like Moura, Clermont, Tieri, and Middlemount recently. In May, the ANZ Bank in Moura closed and the Queensland Credit Union office in Tieri is scheduled to close this month, prompting the Central Highlands Regional Council to pass a motion at their last meeting to try and find alternative cash banking facilities. Further North in the Isaac Region, Mayor Anne Baker says there’s been a similar departure from mining communities within her Shire. “It’s definitely an issue for us,” she told Shift Miner. “What we have seen is major banks withdrawing from our regional communities, and we have seen it happen in Dysart, we have seen it happen in Middlemount and just recently in Clermont. “I understand that times do change and there are now services like online banking, but there are still a lot of things that need to happen face to face in a bank. “I am sure there is some sort of economic trigger for this, but all we are asking is that instead of removing all services from every community, they meet us halfway and retain some services in some communities.”
Rules of labour hire
Partners Paul Burns and Nick Le Mare from Law Firm Corrs Chambers and Westgarth (Corrs) are predicting mining businesses will have to be more diligent in the way they handle their enterprise agreements in the wake of a recent federal court ruling involving One Key Resources. During the mining downturn in 2015, One Key recruited three new employees and begun the process of developing an enterprise agreement covering them at work. Two of the three employees were casual, and all of them (after an emailed request) voted in favour of the proposed agreement. There was no union bargaining representative for the agreement, and no bargaining took place. The proposed agreement was submitted to the FWC, approved and made official in
Contractor Sold Mackay based G&S Engineering has been sold to international Engineering firm DRA Global. G&S started in Mackay 23 years ago providing mining services to the Bowen Basin, but in 2012 was sold to diversified construction and maintenance business Calibre Group and today employs around 1000 people across Australia. DRA got started in the African mining sector in the mid-1980’s, however, has now got businesses globally. According to Managing director of DRA for the Asia-Pacific region Greg McRostie, G&S offers them exposure to the East Coast of Australia. “The acquisition of G&S Engineering is very much in line with our growth strategy,” he said.
4 August, 2018
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“We have been working closely with them for over a year now, and I am delighted they will be joining the DRA group. “Australia is a key market for DRA, and this acquisition gives us a well-established maintenance and optimisation platform as well as a greater presence in the region while broadening the scope of services we can offer our clients. “The management team at G&S has a strong track record and relationships with a number of Australian resources companies, and we look forward to working with them and the broader G&S team as we grow our business.” The terms of the sale haven’t been released, and it won’t be completed until some standard sale conditions are met, including Foreign Investment Review Board approval.
November 2015. Two years later the CFMEU challenged the authority of the EA in the Federal Court, arguing that the cohort of people who voted on the EA were not representative of the ultimately far larger group of people who were employed under it after it was approved, and the three that did vote were not “reasonably” informed about the contents of the EA. Despite an appeal by OneKey, a Full Bench of the Federal Court found in favour of the CFMEU and ordered that the Enterprise Agreement be made void. Despite the court’s findings, Corrs says startup agreements are still an option, but businesses need to be more careful in the future. “The One Key Decision does not spell the death knell for the ‘startup’ agreement model made with a small number of
employees,” they said. “Both the FWC and the Courts at all levels accept that enterprises come in all shapes and sizes, and that to outlaw employers from embracing this model in appropriate circumstances is not supported by the current regulatory framework. “Further, the Full Bench in this case was at pains to distinguish the One Key Decision outcome from the ‘facts’ with which they were confronted. “Which pointedly, established a business rationale to support the ‘startup’ agreement model involving the three employees, and that there was no evidence of the employer seeking to undermine the collective bargaining regime. “What the One Key Decision does demonstrate is that, despite the ‘Change the Rules’ campaign being run by the ACTU and affiliated unions, the current regulatory framework is capable of dealing with employer excesses in the agreement making space. “The lesson is clear: employers should not impermissibly overreach in implementing their agreement making strategies. “The other point of immediate relevance for employers is the heightened standards to which employers will now be held by the FWC in ensuring the obligation to explain the terms of any proposed agreement to employees is appropriately discharged.”
Shot in the arm for Surat Basin The Western Surat Gas Project (WSGP) moved a step closer this week after the Federal Government gave the project environmental approval. The WSGP is located just North of Roma, and - if built - could see the development of around 1000 coal seam gas wells over thirty years, across nine hundred square kilometres. The approval this week covers the proposed stage 1 which includes the drilling of up to 425 wells and the establishment of supporting infrastructure. Senex previously said stage one would happen over about five years, with the compressed gas piped east for export out of Gladstone or into the East Coast domestic gas network. In 2017, global investment firm EIG announced it would inject around $55 million into WSGP, which Senex Managing Director and CEO Ian Davies said would give them the momentum to develop their Surat and Cooper Basins.
“We know the Western Surat Gas Project is a great asset, given our understanding of the subsurface and our ability to operate safely and at low cost,” he said at the time. “EIG is a respected global energy investor and their support shows they also see the opportunity for Senex to build a significant east coast gas business. Back in 2015, Senex sold off part of the Western Surat Gas Project to Gladstone based gas exporter Santos GLNG for around $42 million. They also signed a binding 20year gas supply agreement that would see them supply the Gladstone GLNG processing. The environmental approval comes with a suite of conditions relating to the area of land that can be cleared, and the appropriate offsets required. Senex will also have to develop management plans for significant species management, the environment, and groundwater.
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End of an era Monopoly rail network owner and coal haulage business Aurizon, has officially closed its Rockhampton maintenance depot after 114 years of operation. Aurizon first announced they were closing their Rockhampton facility midway through last year and had been sequentially closing down sections of the workshops since. There have been around 180 roles lost from the depot, with the majority made redundant and the remainder transferred elsewhere. However, it’s not all doom and gloom for Rockhampton, with Aurizon concurrently increasing investment in their Rockhampton administration building.
“As indicated in September last year we expect this transition will happen over the next few years,” the company said. “This year for example, through our graduate development program, we recruited six graduates who will be based in Rockhampton, as we focus on bringing more of our people closer to our regional operations.” Of the roughly 2000 people employed by Aurizon across Central Queensland around a third live in the Rockhampton region. Meanwhile, Aurizon’s threats to reduce the amount of spare capacity on its coal rail network is attracting increased opposition from local miners, concerned about
the implications for their coal exports. As the monopoly rail network operator, Aurizon’s pricing structure is decided by the Queensland Competition Authority (QCA). However, Aurizon has been challenging QCA over what it sees are excessive restrictions on what it can charge its rail users. According to commodity analysts Wood Mackenzie, the dispute - on its current trajectory - will cost the industry about 2 million tonnes of coking coal exports this year. Bowen Basin coal miners ran ads in metropolitan media this week calling on Aurizon to revert to normal maintenance while the regulatory process unfolds. “Stop playing games with Queensland’s coal exports,” the ad said. “You are damaging the reputation of Queensland’s largest export industry, and you are short-changing Queenslanders with the loss of royalties from lost exports. “Aurizon is a monopoly infrastructure provider, and it’s time they stopped threatening Queensland coal producers and got back to the regulatory process.”
News
Mine sale finalised Whitehaven Coal has purchased the remaining part of the Winchester South coal deposit near Moranbah it doesn’t already own, saying it will start developing the deposit soon. In March, Whitehaven paid Rio Tinto $200 million for the first 75% of Winchester South, saying at the time it offered “ an opportunity to develop and operate a high-quality, large-scale coking coal mine in one of the world’s premier coking coal basins”. Having paid the same price for the last quarter of Winchester South (on a pro-rata basis) as they did to Rio Tinto for their share, Whitehaven’s Managing Director Paul Flynn said they were planning to develop the project soon. “The acquisition of this highly sought after metallurgical coal development asset will provide Whitehaven with a substantial growth option beyond the Vickery project,” he said. “Following completion, Whitehaven will commence work on the activity required to develop the project.” According to Whitehaven, Winchester would be developed as an above-ground coal mine producing between 7 and 15 million tonnes of coal a year for 20 or 30 years.
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Shift Miner Magazine www.shiftminer.com Isaac Plains expansion Stanmore Coal has finalised the purchase of two mining tenements located within 15 kilometres of their existing Isaac Plains mine from US-based coal miner Peabody for around $30 million. Known as Wotonga South, the two tenements have a JORC resource of 22.8 million tonnes, classified mostly as semi-soft coking coal. Stanmore will rename the area as the Isaac Downs Project and says they will start working on developing it immediately. “Stanmore has recent project approval experience with the successful permitting of the Isaac Plains East Project and will commence the approval process required for the Isaac Downs Project,” they said. “Subject to further studies, an opencut mine plan with 15 – 20 million ROM tonnes and strip ratio (bcm: ROM tonne) of circa 8:1 can be developed.” The leases are still at the environmental approval stage and are therefor years away from becoming operational. However, Stanmore says when operating, they will provide enough coal to maximise output from their existing Coal Handling and Preparation Plant (CHHP) at Isaac Plains, securing their long-term future. Under the terms of the deal, Stanmore will pay $24 million in cash instalments over the next 12 months, followed by $6 million in production royalties in the future. It’s hoping it will be able to fund the transaction just using cash flows from their existing Isaac Plains mining operations.
Thiess Qcoal
Mining contractor Thiess has secured a $480 million extension to its existing contracts at Qcoal’s Northern Hub South of Collinsville. The Northern Hub comprises Qcoal’s Sonoma, Cows, Jax and Drake mines along with the recently opened Byerwen pit. Under the agreement, Thiess will provide mine planning, drill and blast services, overburden removal, and coal mining services. Thiess Managing Director Douglas Thompson said the contract continues their long relationship with Collinsville. “We’re proud to continue our work at the QCoal’s Northern Hub,” he said. “We look forward to continuing our strong relationship with the Collinsville community with whom we have worked closely for more than 20 years.” The Northern Hub contract is the latest in a long list of contract wins by Thiess who have closed significant deals with Coronado Coal, Anglo American, BMA at Peak Downs, and Jellinbah in the last two years.
6 August, 2018
News
How feasible is Eagle Downs
Less than five years after buying Aquila Resources for significantly more than a billion dollars, Chinese company Baosteel and minor shareholder Aurizon have sold one of the companies two assets - the Eagle Downs coal mine - to South32 for around $200 million in cash and royalties. Tony Poli, former Executive Chairman of Aquila (and now millionaire) said before its sale in 2014 that Eagle Downs could generate more than 400 jobs and
produce 4.5 million tonnes of coal a year for nearly 50 years. However, South32 Chief Executive Officer Graham Kerr has been more circumspect saying they will do a comprehensive feasibility study before they decide what to do. “This high-quality metallurgical coal project benefits from prior investment which has the potential to support its accelerated development and deliver significant value to both
South32 and Aquila,” he said. “Eagle Downs is a large, high quality and fully permitted metallurgical coal development project located approximately 25km south-east of the town of Moranbah and immediately adjacent to and down dip of BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance’s Peak Downs mine. “The project was placed under care and maintenance in late 2015 having benefitted from an initial investment that delivered site infrastructure including water supply and high voltage systems, office buildings and water and sediment dams. “Dual 2km drifts are also approximately 40% complete. “Aquila has previously reported a coal resource (100% basis) of 1,122Mt of which 67% (750Mt) is measured, and prior work undertaken by Aquila has indicated that Eagle Downs has the potential to export 4.5Mtpa of coal (on average) from one longwall over the first ten years of full production. “Following completion of the Acquisition we will commence a final feasibility study which will seek to optimise the mine’s design and development.”
Mine rehab clarified The Queensland Department of Environment has released a suite of clarifications to the Land Court about what will be required of prospective miners rehabilitating strategic cropping land in the future. The clarification was prompted by the Land Court in April when it dismissed an attempt by Springsure agricultural business Arcturus Downs to block the Adamalia Group’s proposed Springsure Creek Coal project. However, in the ruling, Justice Stilgoe said there was a lack of clarity over what the Strategic Cropping Land legislation means when it says a miner has to return disturbed land to the “best possible class of agricultural land’. He, therefore, directed that the court seek clarification from the
Minister as to what it meant. A fortnight ago the Queensland Department of Environment responded with a suite of clarifications relevant to the case. Firstly they said that topsoil has to be strategically stripped ahead of mining in accordance with the Soil Stripping, Stockpiling and Reinstatement Plan - even though expert presentations to the Land Court said this was not an appropriate strategy. It also clarified a number of time issues, including that rehabilitation must commence as soon as practicable to minimise the time the land is out of production, and that in the case of SCC they would need to have completed rehabilitation work
by 2068. They also amended the rules around post-closure management plans. These will now need to be developed even before the mine is opened - whereas previously it just had to be done before the mine was closed. However, the clarifications did not change the Land Court’s decision regarding SCC, with most of the clarification amendments either disregarded or considered irrelevant to the case. However, in giving his support to the granting of a mining lease for the SCC project, Justice Stilgoe attached a suite of amendments to his earlier decision. Including that Springsure Creek would have 30 years from the granting of the environmental authority to finish the rehabilitation work. Springsure Creek Coal (SCC) is 47 kilometres south-east of Emerald and was formerly owned by the now-defunct Bandanna Coal. Adamalia Group is the new owner who is led by a former Bandanna employee.
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Gregory Crinum fast tracked
Japanese miner Sojitz will massively increase its footprint in the Bowen Basin, following their decision to buy the Gregory Crinum mine from the BHP Mitsubishi Alliance for $100 million, plus the cost of taking on tens of millions of dollars worth of rehabilitation liabilities. Sojitz has two existing mines. Minerva and the just-opened Meteor Downs South pit near
Springsure which jointly will produce about 3 million tonnes of thermal coal this year. However, with Gregory Crinum, they will become the owners of a metallurgical mine, which, before being put on care and maintenance in 2016 produced more than 980,000 tonnes of coal in a month setting a new record at the Gregory coal preparation plant. Sojitz CEO & Managing Director
Cameron Vorias says they will start working on reopening as soon as they finalise the deal. “Sojitz is excited to be acquiring Gregory Crinum and recommencing the mine,” Mr Vorias said. “This purchase aligns with the Sojitz goal of managing and operating a hard coking coal mine and broadens the business opportunities in rehabilitation and alternative land uses including solar farming for internal and commercial use. “This transaction demonstrates Sojitz’s vote of confidence towards the Australian coal industry, and we look forward to further growth in the future.” BMA says it made the decision to sell the mine after a detailed review concluded another party could get more value from the mine. “This is a great outcome for the parties to the transaction and the region,” BMA Asset President Rag Udd said. “This will provide further employment in Emerald, and additional royalties and taxes to the people of Queensland
“We wish Sojitz well in its plans to recommence production at the site.” When Shift Miner reported on the mine going into care and maintenance in 2016, a source close to the Crinum mine operations told Shift Miner there were still “vast quantities of viable coal in the mine, providing the existing wage costs of mining were reduced”. When it went into care and maintenance, of the 118 enterprise agreement employees working at the mine, 68 were redeployed to other mines, and 50 took voluntary redundancies. Of the 61 BMA staff affected by the change, 54 took redundancy packages, and seven were redeployed. More than 176 million tonnes of steelmaking coal has been mined over the 36-year history of the Gregory Crinum complex. The Gregory open-cut mine opened in 1979 and operated until 2012 when it was put into care and maintenance. Development of the Crinum underground mine began in 1994 and first coal was produced in 1997.
THAT’S WHAT WE CALL HEAVY LIFTING
August, 2018 7
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Ghost of McAleese Six months after acquiring the heavy haulage and lifting division of the nowdefunct McAleese Transport, Western Australian based transport company Centurion will be preferred supplier to Anglo American’s Central Queensland mines. According to Centurion, they have established freight hubs in Mackay, Rockhampton, and Brisbane and they will provide daily direct line-haul services to Anglo’s five Central Queensland mines. Centurion’s Chief Executive Justin Cardaci says they will build on the skills they have developed in Western Australia. “Centurion has a long and extensive history of providing safe and reliable supply chain solutions to customers operating in the mining industry,” Mr Cardaci said. “Our offering is based on a very well developed mining support solution which has safety at the core and provides visibility tools tailored to client requirements. “This not only enables planning and scheduling to be more precise but also allows operators to remove working capital that is in place to buffer supply chain unknowns.” Late last year, Centurion bought 240 pieces of equipment from liquidators handling the break up of McAleese Transport three years after it’s listing on the Australian Stock Exchange. The McAleese business was started in Mackay by Wally McAleese in the 1930’s and at one point was valued at more than $630 million.
8 August, 2018
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“God’s gift in a ute”
Mining contractor Brett Comiskey says operating conditions in the Bowen Basin are “steady” at the moment despite a recent spike in coal prices. While he says there is enough work around, business isn’t easy with continued downward pressure on rates, a lack of new construction projects, and extremely tight supply lines. “There are still no-minimums getting around and that sort
of shit, still some desperado’s hanging in there,” he told Shift Miner. “We haven’t seen any improvements in rates as yet, some of the minimums have come back, some of the transport rates have come back. “But the risk with that is that nobody spends any money, then availability will drop, and you risk losing jobs, so you have to watch that.
“But look, there is enough work out there at the moment, and while nothing is starting in the short term, a few things are coming along, so hopefully they will get off the ground.” Perhaps in a sign of the fat lost during the downturn, Mr Comiskey says that even at this steady level of business every supplier they deal with is stretched. “The coal prices have gone up now, and if they stay where they are, you are not going to see any downturns for a while,” he said. “But every supplier we deal with is flat. “It’s very hard to get components at the moment, and there is a definite shortage of good quality used equipment. “A lot of it went offshore during the downturn, although I see a lot of that equipment is now coming back to Australia.” “The labour issue has settled down now; there are still a few people asking for stupid rates, thinking they are god’s gift in a ute. “But we have picked up a few contracts, and we are busy doing our thing, and we do not see any big movements with our people.”
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“Adani will pay their way”
The Mayor of the Isaac Regional Council Anne Baker has moved to reassure ratepayers across the Bowen Basin that Indian mining company Adani won’t be getting a special deal as it moves forward with their epic Galilee coal mine proposal. Mayor Baker took the unusual step in response to what she says are unfounded claims last monthg by overseas activist groups that
Adani is getting a leg up from Council. “We have to work with all the mining companies in our region, but the issue raised is regarding the cost recovery plan we have in place with Adani to protect our ratepayers,” she told Shift Miner. “We have taken it on ourselves to take it [the cost recovery agreement] to the CCC, because it’s an incredibly transparent
Curragh Coronado
Less than a month after officially taking the reins for the Curragh coal mine from Wesfarmers, Coronado Coal has made its first major operational decision, choosing to retain Thiess as its primary mining contractor. Thiess has had an unbroken run of work at the Curragh mine which stretches back fourteen years, and this latest agreement locks in around $160 million worth of overburden removal at the Curragh North Pit until mid next year. Concurrently, Thiess continues to fulfil another $1.1 billion contract for mining and maintenance work which will end in 2021. Thiess Managing Director Douglas Thompson says they are optimistic about their relationship
with Curragh and its new owners. “Thiess has operated at Curragh for more than 14 years,” he said. “Over that time, we’ve developed a deep understanding of the site and its operations and built a strong working relationship with the Curragh team. “We look forward to continuing this excellent record of delivery for Coronado Coal.” Curragh adds to a long list of contract wins by Thiess in the last two years including significant deals with Anglo American at the Dawson mine and BMA at Peak Downs, as well as contracts at the Jellinbah mine and Qcoal’s Byerwen project. Coronado Coal has not responded to calls from Shift Miner.
agreement, the details of which have the support of the State Mines Minister. “If someone suspects our ratepayers are not getting a fair deal, I welcome any investigations into the agreement.” Despite Adani adjusting contractor levels on their railway work in the last month, Mrs Baker says she’s seen no indication that Adani is pulling back on the project. However, she does point out that ultimately, Adani’s Galilee coal mine proposal is dependent on Adani, and approval from the State and Federal government (which it already has). “To give a bit more clarity, the approval authority for this project rests with State and Federal governments,” she said. “So while we wear the impacts, we have no rights to approve their application. “The attention that this one project is getting is unprecedented, but people need to do their research and get their facts straight. “We are the largest coal mining community in Queensland, with 26 operating coal mines, generating
royalties that leave the area and go toward running the country. “But our deal with Adani is very normal for this part of the world, and we are absolutely committed to the resource sector and multinationals paying their way so that ratepayers are in no way disadvantaged.” Adani recently publicly recommitted itself to its Galilee Carmicheal coal project despite asking its primary rail contractor AECOM to stop working on the rail design. Adani is planning a vast thermal coal mine in the Galilee Basin, but to make it viable, they also need to build a 300-kilometre stretch of railway and expand capacity at Abbot Point Coal Terminal North of Bowen. On top of that, they also have to build significant water supply infrastructure, a coal handling and processing plant, a huge workers’ accommodation village and an airport to service the mine. There are forecast to be more than 3300 jobs generated during the construction and operational phases of which nearly 4000 are contracted to come from newly selected FIFO hubs in Townsville and Rockhampton.
Anglo to stimulate Moura
Anglo American has announced details of a stimulus package designed to compensate the Moura community for the economic cost of a blast at the Dawson mine which destroyed the nearby Gibihi road. Following discussions with stakeholders, Anglo has announced a cash investment of $1 million over two years for projects that will stimulate the local economy, and they will also provide employees at the Dawson mine with a $750 gift card that can only be spent in the Moura district. “We understand the closure of a section of Gibihi Road has impacted the Moura community and our employees in a range of ways,” General Manager of
Dawson Mine, Clarence Robertson said. “We appointed Ernst & Young to engage with community members and help us to understand these social impacts in detail so that we could consider ways to respond.” However, Anglo’s primary focus remains on building an alternative access road to Moura. “We are working closely with Banana Shire Council to finalise plans for a new road to be built in the vicinity of the old Three Chain Road. “The replacement road will be a significant piece of critical infrastructure for the region for decades to come, and we have also committed to maximising local procurement during the road project to ensure that economic benefits flow to the Moura region.” In November last year, a crack about 30 metres long, and about half a metre wide opened up on the road following a routine blast at the Dawson Mine. Since that time a decision has been made to abandon the road and investigations undertaken to find an alternative.
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News
Mackay: “best value in decades”
Things should get better for house owners in Central Queensland according to Valuers Herron Todd White (HTW) in their latest monthly report. For the first time in years, no part of the CQ housing market is thought to have further to fall, with HTW saying Rockhampton was now at the bottom of the housing market, Gladstone and Mackay in the start of a recovery and Emerald in a rising market.
Isaac Alliance The Isaac Regional Council will join the Australian Mining Cities Alliance (AMCA), comprising the Mount Isa, Broken Hill, and Kalgoorlie-Boulder Councils. AMCA was formed in late 2017 and according to its members its goal is to help councils navigate issues like volatile commodity prices, the variable quality and capacity of mining companies, long-run uninsured environmental consequences, and the net transfer of wealth out of the centres of mining production. Mayor Baker said joining the collective made sense because all the current members confront the same issues the Isaac region does. “Together, our regions contribute greatly to Australia’s wealth and prosperity, and we want to ensure our communities share in the benefits this yields,” she said. “As resource regions, we share a high degree of commonality regarding the opportunities and challenges we face in our communities. “We are very much looking forward to working in partnership with the councils of Mount Isa, Broken Hill and Kalgoorlie-Boulder to ensure the voices of the nation’s resources regions are heard.” In March this year, the Central Highlands Regional Council politely rejected an offer by the AMCA member shires to join, saying they wanted more time to consider the proposal.
10 August, 2018
To illustrate the current environment, HTW valuers in those regions were asked what could a homeowner or investor do with $500,000 today? The answer was most bullish for Emerald. “The options are endless with a lazy half a million in Emerald as the market continues to firm,” HTW said. “Sales trnover is increasing, rental vacancy rates tightening and
jobs growth is strong. “All the stars are aligned with the housing market slowly moving upwards. “Housing construction has increased, and there is selling off the plan from $350,000 to $450,000.” In Mackay, HTW says prices are the best value in decades with increased competition. “It feels a bit like groundhog day writing this article,” they said. “The residential market in terms of value has not seen any material increases over the past 12 months, but the biggest difference with spending the lazy half million in the current market is that you have to act twice as quickly on less available stock to secure a property before it sells from under you! “The past 12 months have seen increased buyer activity with greater demand and shortening times on the market. “Over the past 18 months, rental vacancy rates have tightened significantly and currently sit
around the 3% mark with rental values starting to increase, and it’s considered to be an ideal time to invest in Mackay with values currently at levels not seen in almost 13 years.” Rockhampton remains the only locality in Central Queensland still lingering a the bottom of the market according to HTW, but even there the worst appears to be in the past. “The short to medium term performance of the Rockhampton market and region overall is generally considered to be a period of stabilisation,” HTW said. “ Capital growth is not expected to be huge, but returns should remain fairly solid in the interim with vacancy rates showing a tightening trend, currently at approximately 3%. “Buyers at this price point should be reasonably comfortable investing into the current market, where prices seem to have been stabilising over recent months.”
Fort Cooper future?
Executive Director of Vitrinite Nick Williams is optimistic that they will be mining at their Wilson Creek coal deposit 20 kilometres North West of Glenden in as little as two years. Vitrinite is one of a new group of coal companies reimagining what is possible for the Fort Cooper coal seams which historically have been the poor cousin of the Goonyella coal seams that made the Bowen Basin world famous. While no one disputes the quality, yield and size superiority of the more “conventional” coal seams, they are getting mined at a record rate and getting deeper and more expensive to extract. Mr Williams believes the Fort Cooper seams will be the new
frontier for coal mining in Central Queensland. “100 per cent,” he said. “20 to 30 years ago the Rangals were frowned upon, and now they are one of the premier coal formations. “So definitely there are a lot of companies that will be mining this in the future. “The coking coal quality once you have washed is phenomenal, high swells, high ranking, with high fluidity.. “The only thing that has hamstrung this coal measure is the yield, the Goonyella’s yield above 80 per cent while the Fort Coopers range between 30 and 50 per cent. Japanese owned coal miner Sojitz is likely to be the first to open a mine exclusively targetting
the Fort Cooper measures, but Mr Williams hopes they can complete reserve drilling and get environmental approvals not long after for their Wilson Creek project 180 kilometres by rail from the Abbot Point Coal terminal. “We are about to kick off a project called Wilson Creek which is looking to mine the Newlands and Girra seams which are part of the Fort Coopers,” he told Shift Miner. “Because it’s only going to be a small deposit we are looking at between 18 and 24 months. “We are very focused on mining so we have to startgetting cash flow. “If you know a little bit about Fort Coopers, you will know its typically banded, but we have hit a nice sweet section with a thickness of 28 metres at Wilson Creek where we have proved up over 61 million tonnes, of which 39 million tonnes has a strip ratio of less than three to one. “It’s quite astonishing that the Wilson Creek coal resources are as shallow and fresh between 5 and 10 metres from surface. “Obviously the yields are lower, but some of the coking properties within it are phenomenal.”
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News
Galilee sinks port plan
After years of speculation, the proponent of a massive coal port expansion at Newcastle in NSW has abandoned the plan, saying the demand for thermal coal they predicted during the boom years of 2009 were unlikely to eventuate any time soon. Port Waratah Coal Services Chief Executive Hennie du Plooy said this week, the holding costs associated with the port expansion were too expensive to ignore. “With significant growth capacity available in the existing
terminals, we do not expect that the conditions to support an investment of the large and longterm nature of Terminal 4 will be in place before the development approval lapses in September 2020,” Mr du Plooy said. “We are proud of the role our Carrington, and Kooragang terminals play in connecting Hunter Valley coal with the world, and we are confident that with ongoing investment in the reliability and performance of these terminals, we will be well positioned and flexible enough
to adjust quickly to changes in demand.” “Coal is a key component of the global energy mix and is forecast to remain so for the foreseeable future, particularly in our core markets in South East Asia.” The Newcastle Port is the worlds largest coal facility, with the capacity to handle 145 million tonnes annually. However, the leasing costs of the land earmarked to accommodate the T4 expansion would have cost around $100 million over the next decade, while the consensus currently is that coal exports were not going to reach PWCS’s capacity of 145 million tonnes in the foreseeable future. Last year the owners of the Port of Waratah voiced objections to the Federal Government’s North Australia Infrastructure Fund being used to help Adani (and other Galilee hopefuls) build a railway between their proposed mega-mines and the Abbot Point Coal Terminal. Thermal coal from the Galilee would be in direct competition with exports from the NSW thermal coal industry.
Treated abysmally A Gladstone based businessman predicts mining companies are in for a “rude shock” as they look for contractor support to capitalise on the current boom in coal prices. Mr McCosker is the Managing Director of McCosker Contracting, a business he founded in the 1990’s servicing, the LNG, coal, civil and aluminium sectors. After five or six years in the doldrums, he says the boom in the coalfields is slowly creating work in places like Gladstone, but nothing like the work that was promised at the start of the year. Which is lucky, because he doesn’t think the support sector would have a hope of accommodating it if it did. However worse than that, he says there is a very strong feeling among contractors that big miners will need to rebuild long-standing relationships that were destroyed through the downturn if they want their help. “I can tell you all the contractors I know have had the guts screwed out of them, and I dont think anyone is going to walk back into that minefield with a big smiling face,” he said. “Contractors were treated abysmally, we copped it, and I don’t know of one that didn’t end up in a massive year-long battle to get paid. “ People don’t forget that. “They [mining companies] are going to be met with a bit of dissent from contractors I think.
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Kestrel easier for locals Two days after being handed the keys, the new owners of the Kestrel coal mine near Emerald have begun talks with their workforce about how they hope to increase production at the mine significantly. This month Kestrel Coal Resources (KCR) officially took over the Kestrel mine, four months after parent syndicate EMR Capital and Indonesian energy company PT Adaro Energy bought the mine from Rio Tinto for $2.25 billion. Incoming KCR CEO, Peter Smith, was one of the original managers of Kestrel when it was established in the early 1990s by ARCO as Gordonstone Coal, so brings with
him a good knowledge of the potential of the mine. While acknowledging that being a far smaller company than Rio Tinto will give them certain advantages in ramping up operations, he says they have not had time to decide where the change process will begin. “Its a bit early to say,” he told Shift Miner. “We only took over two days ago, so we have only just got the keys to the house, and now we are finding out what questions we didn’t ask. “At the end of the day I don’t see any major changes, we are a small company, we have one asset
D day for slow pay A Mackay based industry group is appealing to small and mediumsized enterprises (SME) in the mining sector to report the impact of slow payment by big mining companies and contractors before time runs out. According to the Resource Industry Network (RIN), Central Queensland businesses have only days left to make a case for why the government should intervene on the issue. “To provide an understanding of the depth and breadth the matter is having on the region’s economy, we now need those who have raised this issue, to take the time and write what only has to be a brief submission that states the impact of extended payment terms on their business,” RIN general manager Adrienne Rourke said. The opportunity comes more than two years after Rio Tinto and BMA outraged local SME’s when they doubled the time they took to pay their bills, to take pressure off their own cash flows and to make their business performance look better on paper through the mining downturn. However, after significant lobbying, the matter will be raised in the Federal Parliament by a Standing Committee on Innovation,
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Industry, Science and Resources who are enquiring into how the mining sector can support businesses in regional economies. A report commissioned by cash flow finance company The Invoice Market (TIM) just over twelve months ago found that the number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in mining not being paid on time, is more than double that of other industries. It also found that 36% of mining businesses had more than 20 invoices outstanding which is more than twice the percentage in the non-mining sector. One hundred per cent of mining business in that survey said they were paid late, of which a third said they were paid between 30 and 60 days late. The top three reasons given for late payment were that it wasn’t processed (36%), it was in dispute (21%) or not approved (14%). In nearly one in ten cases, businesses had to ask five times for payment. The Standing Committee on Innovation, Industry, Science and Resources will also look at barriers to entry for regional businesses wanting to service the mining sector, mining royalties and diversification.
that is Kestrel coal mine, and we are called Kestrel Coal Resources, so we don’t have that overlay of policy procedure and corporate requirement. “That allows us to be a little simpler in the way we operate, it doesn’t mean we change the way we operate from a safety practices point of view, but I think there will be a process of rationalising what we do on the ancillary side of things. “Its really about cracking on and making this a world-class operation, so I don’t see major changes right now.” The Kestrel mine is essential to a lot of local businesses, particularly those nearby in Emerald. While there will be the usual risks associated with a significant change in procurement personnel, Mr Smith says they want to do business locally wherever they can. He even says business might be simpler because they aren’t bound by some of the purchasing
practices that global miners like Rio Tinto are. In good news for contractors and other suppliers, Mr Smith has endorsed comments made by Adaro Energy president director Garibaldi Thohir last week that they hope to increase coking coal production from 5.5 million tonnes a year to around 10 million tonnes. “If we want to be world class, we have got to ramp it up, and there is no doubt about that,” he said. “We aim to try and get this place up to being one of the best mines in this country as soon as possible. “I don’t know whether the number he [Garibaldi Thohir] quotes are necessarily correct, but it is what we want to do. “We have a long future, we are very proud to be coal miners, its what we do for a living, we are not embarrassed by it, and we want to be part of the local community.”
North Goonyella’s Indian summer
Near record levels of global steel production and soaring thermal coal demand from China have given Peabody the confidence to extend the life of their North Goonyella Coal mine for at least another eight years. The North Goonyella South expansion was first flagged in March this year when Peabody committed to the multi-million dollar purchase of a brand new 300-metre CAT longwall system which included a suite of automation technologies. “The decision to move to a new Cat system was driven by technological advances that enable automated shearer steering and face alignment, reduced exposure of operators to dust, and less maintenance,” they said at the time. This week they used the QME expo in Gladstone to confirm the direction they are heading at North Goonyella.
“The mine extension will secure employment for more than 230 employees,” Australian Peabody President George J. Schuller Jr said. “Any opportunity we have to support the local community through jobs and investment is a win for us, and we certainly feel we will be able to do this at our North Goonyella coal mine for many years to come.” According to Peabody, global steel production was up 4% in May, leading to Indian coking coal imports rising 16% in June alone. Meanwhile increasing industrial activity in China saw thermal coal imports rise by about 20%. As a consequence, Peabody has delivered the best quarterly results since it went into administration in 2016, with earnings up more than 50% across the board. The bullish outlook is a long way from the pessimism of 2016 when it reported total losses of around $A2.6 billion due to historically low coal prices and saw its share price plunged 97%. However, even at that point, the Australian coal business was a star performer with per unit costs falling to a record low of just over $51 a tonne, which was enough to offset a $420 million fall in revenue due to the low coal prices.
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CFMMEU booted
The CFMMEU has failed in its attempt to appeal McMahon’s Enterprise Agreement covering employees working on Qcoal’s Byerwen coal mine near Glenden. The EA was approved by Fair Work Commissioner Williams in March this year. However, the CFMMEU says that was a mistake because it did not pass the Better Off Overall Test (BOOT). In particular, the CFMMEU attacked the wording of the Enterprise Agreement in two areas. In the first instance, the CFMMEU argued (successfully) that the wording of a clause
allowing McMahon to modify rosters was ambiguous in that they could theoretically change a roster so that it did not conform with the rosters set out in the EA’s schedules of pay. So, in theory, an employee could be made worse off. While the FWC accepted the ambiguities identified, they also accepted some refined wording offered by McMahon to remove it and therefore said an appeal would not be allowed on that basis. “The variation is acceptable to Macmahon, and, from the CFMMEU’s perspective, it entirely resolves the legitimate concern raised in its first ground of appeal,” they said. The second issue related to what would happen if an employee didn’t show up for work for three or more days and was uncontactable. In this situation, the EA wording said McMahon “will” interpret this as an abandonment of employment which insulates them from a suite of termination payments that are usually payable. The CFMMEU argued that this would be a big problem for any employee who through no fault of
their own found themselves in this position (say through a remote injury). The FWC agreed but again said McMahon’s rewording would resolve it. “The vice is the use of the word “will”,”they said. “It mandates that Macmahon will treat as an abandonment of employment any case where the employee has been absent for three consecutive days without notification or contact, even where subsequent inquiry by Macmahon or explanations by the employee makes it apparent that there has been no abandonment of employment. “Macmahon’s proposed substitution of “may” for “will” would accommodate the situation that an employee may not have abandoned their employment in the circumstances described and accordingly will not be treated as having terminated the employment at their initiative. “Permission to appeal is refused, and the Macmahon Byerwen Agreement 2017 is varied, effective from the date of this decision.”
Grand Hypocricy? A spokesperson for Adani’s Abbot Point Coal Terminal says last weeks visit by anti-coal protestors aboard the Sea Shepherd has had no impact on port operations, and was not a catalyst for any employees to quit. “They held a dawn ceremony to ward off the dark energy or something, and called on everyone to stop working to save the reef,” a spokesperson told Shift Miner. “They also put a helicopter up to capture video footage which they said they would use for future fundraising activities, but that’s about it.” The Sea Shepherd has been on a 12 day trip up the East Coast of Australia seeking to raise awareness about what it sees are threats to the Great Barrier Reef from Adani’s proposed Carmicheal coal mine in the Galilee Basin. The Queensland Resources Council CEO Ian McFarlane labelled the visit by Sea Shephard hypocritical. “This class of ship weighs around 900 tonnes with the steel component requiring up to 620 tonnes of coking coal and up to 860 tonnes of iron ore to build. “On top of that, it carries around 240 tonnes of diesel power to keep the ship moving.”
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ART ON SHOW
Artists exhibition in Blackwater
Therese Foley and Jenny Cecil with Terese’s entry in the Local Artist section “Sunset Kawana”
Lawrie and CHRC Councillor Gail Godwin-Smith
Paul and Bhabie
Linda Connell and Dorothy Wilson with Dorothy’s entry in the Local Artist section
Hollie James with her Primary School entry (L-R) Warren, Portia and Lexi Draper
(L-R) The Smith Family admiring Gail Thomas’ “Chasing for the Gate”
Alan Nguyen and Alok Dave admiring the paintings
Ben Rauchle admiring the Blackwater State school entry
(L-R) Amy Pursche with her winning Entry Sandi McKenzie and Collen Biles admiring “Garden Art” with her daughters Jazmin and Lily Edson the entries
Di Lawrie and Josh Clutterbuck
14 August, 2018
(L-R) Casey Martinez, Ashlee Weller, Leah Barrett, jadfe Mackay, Fiona Walker, Amy Pursche, Ashleigh Kuenz and Marcus Haughton
Nicki Besgrove and Tracy Mckie
(L-R) Sandi Sainsbury, Pam Henderson, and Wendy Downey
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LISTEN TO THE MUSIC ParkWave at Lions Park Blackwater
Joachim and Elise Schroeter
(L-R) David and Helen Phillips with Jaxson and Rorty Watts
Tina and Steve Schuh
Rachel Hancock and Eric Hamey
Dianne and Michael Alexander
(L-R) Trudy, Ramon, Danielle, Tenason, Kiah, Sherita and Amy
Jasmin and Landon Weston
(L-R) Chelsea Kiely, Annabelle Smale, Shanleigh Carey and Shayla Powell
(L-R) Ashleigh Kuerz, Casey Martinez, Jade Mackay, Leah Barrett and Bridget Bolger
(L-R) Shastee, Leon, Hannah and Darcy Walmsley
Sean Ouston and Henry Hill
Blackwater Lions members Liz and Mick Gilligan who cooked the Sausage Sizzle
(L-R) Lilly, Tatiana, Kaleah, Belle and Jayden
(L-R) Kya, Buster, Liam and friends
Kwinn and Thelma Ryan
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SNAPPED IN BLACKWATER
NAIDOC week march, Crushers footy and Emergency Services day
16 August, 2018
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Clermont house buy up
The owners of the Blair Athol coal mine near Clermont have completed one of the biggest ever deals in local residential property, to house their current and future workforce. Terracom has bought up more than $15 million worth of property, including houses, guest houses and mining camps which Chairman Wal King told Shift Miner reflects their strong preference for a local workforce. “Its set in the context of Clermont,” he said. “Clermont of course when Blair
Athol was running in its previous life, was completely integrated with the town, albeit that Rio Tinto built the houses that we have ultimately purchased. “Clermont is a traditional town where mining, agriculture and tourism have been integrated for a long period of time, and there are not the sort of demarcation and boundaries of a very strong company town as such. “A lot of the people that worked previously at Blair Athol, left town when it closed and there was insufficient employment, and a lot
of those people want to come back to Clermont which has been their home for many years. “So from our perspective, it made a lot of sense, those houses were there, they were for sale, they were at a good price, and it suits our strategy of Terracom being integrated and supporting the town of Clermont as against the fly in fly out model.” The significant investment in Clermont follows a solid quarter for Terracom who reported runof - mine coal production at Blair Athol was up 78% in the June quarter, putting them on track to mine around three million tonnes of coal this financial year. Coal sales for the three months to June were around three hundred thousand tonnes with a similar amount of coal stockpiled, representing a 240% increase on the first three months of this year. As previously reported, the most significant production breakthrough for Blair Athol recently has been the commisioning of a train loadout facility in April. This step ended the double handling and logistics
nightmare of trucking it more than 100 kilometres to Stanmore Coal’s Isaac Plains mine under a contract loading arrangement. Terracom has previously said the Train loadout would add A$34 million a year to earnings. So with the business building, and a skills shortage now making national headlines, Mr King says the unique Clermont experience will be good for attracting and retaining the people they need. “Well no question,” he said. “I had a lot of experience from before FIFO came to pass, and company towns drove a lot of that. “That passed through to some sort of sensible mix in towns like Newman and Tom Price and whatever else in the West. “People in big numbers, from their perspective, want to be FIFO, but there is equally a lot of people who want to live with their families where they work. “Of course Clermont has a lot of history, and we believe very strongly this step will obviate the skills shortage because it is a great place to live and work.”
Innovation alive Stanmore double Central Queensland mining services businesses have featured strongly in the Queensland Mining Awards (QMA) in Mackay this month. The QMA awards are an initiative of networking group the Bowen Basin Mining Club who give mining contractors in Queensland the opportunity to nominate themselves in one of seven industry-sponsored categories with an overall winner made the Queensland mining contractor of the Year. This year’s overall winner was Wolff Mining who were recognised for their work with semi-autonomous Bull Dozers at Curragh mine. Greyhound Resources won the McLanahan Safety Award after retrofitting seat belt alarms, fatigue management systems and an Advanced Driver Assistance System to a regular bus to create the TechBus. Control Systems Technology won the QME best product launch award for IntelliRoll which is an autonomous, remotely accessible, plug and play conveyor belt weigher.
Quarry Mining developed an underground roof support drilling methodology at Oaky Creek which they say saved over $800,000 and increased productivity. Downer Blasting Services won the Economx Time Saving Initiative Award for their DBS Speedloader which reduced the time taken for a blasting cycle from 75 minutes to 15 minutes. The JCB CEA Project Innovation Award went to Mine Energy Solutions who successfully trialled using natural gas for off-highway mining trucks at New Acland Coal Mine. The fuel worked to standard diesel parameters with no adverse effects on engine power or performance, reducing diesel cost by up to 25%. Rio Tinto’s work with Aboriginals at their Amrun project in North Queensland won them the Hastings Deering Community Engagement Award, and finally, the METS Ignited Collaboration Award went to the Unearthed/ Origin Energy/Advance Queensland initiative to identify and develop four new resources industry startups.
Stanmore Coal has set itself the ambitious target of increasing coal production by 50% over the next 12 months to 1.8 million tonnes of saleable coal. While Stanmore has reconfigured operations at the Isaac Plains mine to increase in coal production, they are also expecting the commencement of mining at Isaac Plains East in the next four weeks, will make a significant contribution. “Operations commenced at Isaac Plains East in June with topsoil removal and drill & blast preparation works, which allowed for the commencement of truck and shovel waste removal on the 13th July,” they said. “As previously foreshadowed, Stanmore’s intent for FY19 is to operate Isaac Plains and Isaac Plains East concurrently, and this involves mining Isaac Plains East initially with a truck and shovel fleet until Isaac Plain’s mining ceases when the dragline will walk to Isaac Plains East. “We expect to boost ROM production to approximately 2.3Mt ROM for the financial
year 2019, representing a 40% increase over the 2018 financial year, and increase total product coal to 1.8Mt, representing a 50% increase over FY18.” Existing mining services contractor Golding has had their existing contracts with Stanmore extended until the end of this financial year, but Stanmore says it is still negotiating who will do the work beyond that. The company is still progressing with its investigations into a proposed underground mine within the Isaac Plains complex, that would target around nine and half million tonnes of mostly coking coal. They have partnered with Mackay based Mastermye to evaluate the possibility and expects to decide in the next six months. “The Bankable Feasibility Statement (BFS) is targeted for completion in 2018,” they said. “ A financial investment decision on the project is planned for the 2019 financial year subject to the outcome of the BFS.”
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Lunch at 400% of normal pay?
A major review of the awards covering employees in the Central Queensland resources sector is slowly moving toward completion, with just a handful of issues still being debated by employee and employer groups. The number of unresolved issues in the Black Coal Industry Award has fallen from around 30 a year ago to just nine - with all disputes now resolved on principle, but unresolved on how they are worded in the actual award document. The principal organisations making representations on the coal award have been the Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers Australia (APESMA), the CFMMEU and CMIEG, the Coal Mining Industry Employer
Group. The Gas award has still got some issues being negotiated on principle, most notably the entitlements of a gas industry worker if they miss lunch, or their break is cut short. Under the existing award, an employee is entitled to a minimum half hour lunch break in the first 5 hours of work. If they are unable to stop, they are entitled to be paid double time for the extra hours worked (above 5 hours) until they do stop for lunch. Similarly, if they resume work midway through a break, they are paid time and a half for each hour until they get a proper lunch break. Under the new proposed wording, all time worked in excess of the five hours before being allowed a meal break, will be paid at 200%
of the minimum hourly rate, plus penalties and relevant loadings, and in the case of an interrupted lunch break 150% of the minimum hourly rate, plus penalties and applicable loadings. The Australian Industry Group argues this is an unreasonable increase. “The changes proposed by the Commission would have the effect of requiring the payment of weekend penalties, public holiday penalties and shift loadings in addition to the penalty prescribed by clause 22 of the award for working during a meal break,” they said. “The changes proposed would lead to a substantial increase to employment costs. “For instance, an employee required to work for more than five ordinary hours on a Sunday would be entitled to 200% of their minimum hourly rate pursuant to clause 22.2 of the [existing] award. “Under the Commission’s proposal, the employee would instead be entitled to 400% of the minimum hourly rate.” The most significant change to the award in this review has been
the entitlements for redundancy in the black coal industry. The redundancy payout for miners who lose their job in a mining downturn will now be capped at 30 weeks For more than 30 years, miners made redundant have been entitled to 1 weeks severance pay and two weeks redundancy pay for every year of employment. So under the current rules, a lifelong employee at Peak Downs earning average mining wages, redundancy and severance at the end of their 30-year career could be 90 weeks of normal pay and worth more than $250,000. For that reason, these scenarios were often referred to as the “golden handshake” in mining circles. However, a full Bench of the FWC has decided that redundancy payments will be paid at the rate of two weeks a year, for no longer than 15 years. The severance payment of one week per year remains unchanged. If an employee is offered work on the same pay and conditions elsewhere, the employer remains exempt from paying the redundancy.
Disease funding Bolted or welded on? An announcement is expected soon on how coal dust disease will be regulated and paid for in Queensland. Following the release of 68 recommendations by a State Parliamentary enquiry into Black Lung in 2017, a Program Management Office (PMO) was established and charged with doing further work on some of them - notably the funding and structure of legislation. There are now 78 confirmed cases of coal mine dust-related lung disease across Australia and CFMMEU Safety & Health representative Stephen Woods says its crucial funding is finalised. “There is what you would call a Project Management Office through the Department that is working on those recommendations,” he told Shift Miner. “That work ended last week or the week before that, so there will be a response to that very shortly I would think.
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“The number of cases is now up to 78, that’s not just CWP but a range of coal mine dust-related diseases, all of which are now reportable. “We are happy with the process, but not happy with the speed. “We need some clarity on some of the funding models and submissions entered by stakeholders. “At the end of the day the Government’s doing something, but it’s a bureaucratic process.” Since the release of those 68 recommendations, significant work has been done to better train health professionals looking for the disease and monitoring and policing coal dust levels. However, it’s unclear what progress there has been on other recommendations like the development of a Mining Health and Safety Authority in Mackay employing 200 people, and a review of Workcover.
The Clive Palmer controlled Waratah Coal (Waratah) and China First Pty Ltd (China First) have failed in their bid overturn a court ruling that said they would have to dismantle and remove all of Queensland Nickel’s unloading equipment at Townsville Port. The equipment includes a crane, mineral unloading equipment, large hoppers, and conveyors which were used to transport ore to rail wagons for delivery to the former Queensland Nickel (QNI) refinery. Mount Isa Mines (MIM) have the lease over the Townsville Port, and in 1994 they gave QNI a licence to use the port facilities - on the proviso that when they stopped using them, they would remove all “movable” equipment. However, when Queensland Nickel went into liquidation in 2017 - owing MIM $1.2 Million in Port Fees - this didn’t happen. Another level of complication was added, when it was revealed that Waratah and China First had legal charges over all of QNI’s port equipment. In a complicated Supreme Court Case, involving the liquidators for
QNI, MIM, China First and Waratah Coal, the court ruled the two coal mining businesses to dismantle and remove the port equipment from its current location and delivered it to MIM in return for nearly $300,000 in damages. However Waratah and China First consequently challenged this ruling arguing - among other things - that removal was impossible because the port facilities were welded, not bolted, and that they would be materially made worse off by removing the equipment because it would devalue it. However, the Supreme Court rejected the appeal meaning in the absence of further Court rulings; the miners will have to remove the equipment if they want to exercise their charge over them. “The ability of China First and Waratah Coal to claim possession of the equipment or exercise their rights over the equipment is not diminished, even though the commercial value of the security may be reduced as a consequence of the work done to affect the removal of the equipment,” Judge Brown said.
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WOW BLACKWATER! WOW Group Picnic in the Park
(L-R) Amy, Alba and Steve Jablonski
Lucy Hopes
(L-R) Matt, Abigail, Deanna, Madison, Savanna, Jade and Toz
Lana and Clare Gray
(L-R) Ora, Jay and Denise Glover
(L-R) Kenzie, Ryleigh, Lexi, Wyatt and Sam Creevey
(L-R) Jade, Jason and Levi Scutt
(L-R) Sarah, Harrison and Savannah Picot Shastee and Hannah Walmsley
Leon and Darcy Walmsley
Samantha and Lane Moir
Tyrell Collins and Malavi Law
(L-R) Racheal Browne,Olivia Atkinson, Diu,Emma, Isaac Lawrie, Tanya, Ellie and Brayden Smith, Ash, Charlie and Frankie Leeder
(L-R) The hardworking Blackwater Rotarians Eric Norton, Paul Dickens and Teresa Merchant
(L-R) Lana, Greer, Brianna, Kim, Finn, Clare, Jack and Meegan Gray
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FRANK THE TANK’S
Streaking good love advice
Dear Frank, A few weeks ago I met a girl out at a nightclub and, in order to impress her, I told a few white lies. Specifically, I said I was an exceptionally skilled guitarist and that I played A grade footy. As it turns out, things are working out between us and we’ve been dating, but now she wants me to play guitar for her, and with footy season rapidly approaching she’s asking when she can come and watch me play. How can I tell her that I was lying without her breaking up with me? Todd, Rockhampton.
Well Todd, let me start by saying that I am a firm advocate of telling women lies. In fact, some of my greatest sexual conquests have come on the back of monumental fibs. Last year I convinced two Swedish backpackers that it was
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Australian law to submit to a full cavity search upon entering any establishment that served beer. I can assure you that was the most entertaining pub crawl I’ve ever been on, and well worth the subsequent term of imprisonment. When it comes to telling a great lie it really all boils down to how committed you are to making it seem true. I once went a whole month without speaking in order to impress a woman who thought I was a mute. Unfortunately I came unstuck when I yelled out in bed, she may not have been so upset if it was her name that I yelled out, but I can’t be expected to remember every minor detail about a woman. I am sensing from your letter, Todd, that you may not be willing to learn the guitar or sign up for football to impress your girlfriend. Fear not though - I have a few aces up my sleeve. Now, drugging people often gets a lot
of bad press, but it is a seriously underused technique in the dating world. Mix your girlfriend up a nice cocktail, add the ‘secret ingredient’ and when she starts to get groggy put some guitar music on the stereo and a game of footy on TV. When she regains consciousness in the morning ask her what she thought of your musical and athletic prowess. As she sifts through her drug addled mind for answers she should receive flashbacks of watching football and listening to the guitar, and naturally, she’ll think it was you she was watching and listening to. Repeat this process every Friday night for a long and healthy relationship. If you fear your girlfriend is getting wise to the repeated druggings it might be time to call it quits, unless you enjoy the quaint charm of prison food and sodomy. Frank
SENSIBLE SUSAN If you’ve been seeing this woman for a few weeks she obviously thinks you are more than just a football playing guitarist. My advice is take her out for a nice dinner, and then come clean. Let her know that you were only trying to impress her, and with a little luck she’ll be flattered. If she breaks up with you just because you’re not a gifted musician or athlete, then perhaps she’s not the right girl for you in the first place. Susan
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MadMumzie.com GENDER POLITICS AT THE COALFACE?
There have been rumblings lately as advertisements for “Female Only” roles have been shared. Which camp are you in? 1. “That’s discrimination, all they want is their bloody target [20% x 2020]. What if it was “males only” imagine the outrage?” Or 2. “Women are making up for years of discrimination throught the boy’s club. Females still must meet requirements and aptitude tests in an interview process. Your female family and friends now have more opportunity to join the resources sector too.”
I asked for feedback from men and women prior to writing this article. Most agree with my view, somwhere between the two camps. It’s common to see jobs saying “We pride ourselves in being a diverse company. Women, mature aged, aboriginal and Torres Strait islanders encouraged to apply”. There is a huge difference in that advert to “Female only,” with an exemption granted in relation to the anti-discrimination act. This is new to most of us. As for group 1 extremists, I know plenty of women, who still cannot get their start in the industry, so that is not always the case! For the group 2 extremists, yes history has shown it was a boy’s club. Have faith, traditional male dominated roles continue to be open to women. What has changed? It has taken dedication, drive and self-belief by women stepping out of traditional work, coming through the ranks, standing up to be counted, doing the blokes jobs as good as them, then sharing their journey and mentoring others. This has been going on steadily for decades, with women like my mum back in the 80’s. We now see more women think
choosing a trade is “normal.” Why can’t it just be people rather than man or woman - and let everyone who wants a crack apply? Targets from big business and government bodies, can get people’s hackles up, but that’s how they roll, all about KPI’s.mWe have come so far in things like race, mature age, anti-bullying, and sexual harassment. The number of women entering the industry is on the rise and I reckon it’s great. We also need to close the pay gap in all sections-equal pay for the same job be you a man or woman, contractor or permanent. Anger and frustration, especially in social media groups, is common. When a bloke can’t get a job and his mates tell him “you ain’t got a chance mate.... need boobs ” is that helping women who are already out there, doing the work, alongside those same blokes? Women reading those posts would be put off too. We all need to stand up to trolls and old-fashioned views…but that’s another story perhaps!
Note from the editor Enjoy this? You will love her award winning podcast “Beers with A Miner”. Last month MM was a finalist in the 2018 Australian Podcast Awards. We asked her what it was like to be recognised. “The nomination came as a complete surprise to me. I headed down to Melbourne for the finals, and had a fantastic time, even though I didn’t win my category,” she said. “Interestingly, fellow Podcasters were amazed that I drove those big trucks, and more so, had a podcast about it! “Thanks to Saraya D’Arth, underground miner and WIMARQ awards finalist from Broadmeadows, your episode 33 was the one I entered. “And of course all my other guests are great too.” Search for “Beers With a Miner” in your favourite Podcast app, or head to: MadMumzie.com/beers nd push play.
Cheers MM
August, 2018 21
Shift Miner Magazine www.shiftminer.com
Puzzles
CROSS WORD
SODOKU
Across
Down
1. Arguments 5. Fabled land of gold, El ... 9. Objects on display 10. Fired (at) from cover 12. Imperils 13. Noisy confused fight 14. Frankenstein’s creator, ... Shelley 16. Smallest & weakest 19. Booting (out) 21. Inquisitive 24. Diameter halves 25. Snags 27. People from Baghdad 28. Keep apart 29. True 30. Weighs up
1. Waits in line 2. Blackflies 3. Redbreasted bird 4. Raffle 6. Balms 7. Deeply shocked 8. Leftover pieces 11. Quickly (1,1,1,1) 15. Skills 17. Minor battle 18. Polluted shower (4,4) 20. Gallivants (about) 21. Spruces up 22. Fragments 23. Doormen 26. Supporting beam
Down: 1. Queues, 2. Aphids, 3. Robin, 4. Lottery, 6. Ointments, 7. Appalled, 8. Oddments,11. Asap, 15.Abilities, 17.Skirmich, 18. Acidrain, 20. Gads, 21. Neatens, 22. Scraps, 23. Ushers, 26. Brace Across: 1. Quarrels, 5. Dorado, 9. Exhibits, 10. Sniped, 12. Endangers, 13. Melee, 14. Mary, 16. Puniest, 19. Kicking, 21. Nosing, 24. Radii, 25. Drawbacks, 27. Iraquis, 28. Separate, 29. Honest, 30. Assesses
THE “GREATEST AUSTRALIAN IN THE CRIB ROOM” QUIZ. 1. Which cyclone devastated Innisfail in 2006? 2. Which Irish rock star performed at a Goondiwindi cattle station in 1993? 3. How many Queensland premiers were there in 1968? 4. Which Queenslander has won four Grammy Awards? 5. Near which town is a building dedicated to an insect? 6. Emma Gosbell became the 2013 Queensland Mother of the Year at the age of (a) 18 (b) 58 (c) 98? 7. In 1993, what did a CJC report reveal was Queensland’s second-most valuable cash crop after sugar? 8. 18. Fifteen people died when which Brisbane nightclub was deliberately set on fire in 1973? 9. “Clancy’s gone to Queensland droving and we don’t know where he are,” is a line from which Banjo Paterson poem? 10. How many times was the Wimbledon men’s singles title won by Queenslanders in the 1960s (a) two (b) four (c) six?
1. Larry. 2. Bob Geldof 3. Four. (Nicklin, Pizzey, Chalk, Bjelke-Petersen). 4. Keith Urban. 5. Chinchilla. (Boonarga Cactoblastis Memorial Hall). 6. (a) 18. 7. Cannabis. 8. Whiskey Au Go Go. 9. Clancy of the Overflow. 10. (c) six. (Rod Laver, four; Roy Emerson, two). ANSWERS
22 August, 2018
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August, 2018 23
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Around Town
More than Adani The business outlook at Bowen would appear to have turned the corner with a motel operator telling Shift Miner that monthly revenue is up $28000 year on year, and the no-vacancy sign’s been flashing for nearly a month. Bowen is the town most likely
to benefit from Adani’s planned railway connecting mega-mines in the Galilee Basin to Abbot Point Coal Terminal, so most of the discussion around the town’s future has been in that context. However, owner of the Port Denison Motel Anita Rogan, says a boom in the Bowen Basin coal sector and significant solar developments are bringing all types of business to town. “Yes can you believe it, things are really kicking on again,” she told Shift Miner. “We have virtually been full here for the last three weeks, and revenue is up $28,000 for the month compared to the previous year - and last year was a pretty good year. “Collinsville is basically booked out, so we are getting a lot of overflow from all the Solar
Grand Hypocricy? A spokesperson for Adani’s Abbot Point Coal Terminal says last weeks visit by anticoal protestors aboard the Sea Shepherd has had no impact on port operations, and was not a catalyst for any employees to quit. “They held a dawn ceremony to ward off the dark energy or something, and called on everyone to stop working to save the reef,” a spokesperson told Shift Miner. “They also put a helicopter up to capture video footage which they said they would use for future fundraising activities, but that’s about it.” The Sea Shepherd has been on a 12 day trip up the East Coast of Australia seeking to raise awareness about what it sees are threats to the Great Barrier Reef from Adani’s proposed Carmicheal coal mine in the Galilee Basin. Before the arrival of the boat, CEO of Abbot Point Operations Dwayne Freeman sent employees and nearby stakeholders a note advising them of the visit, and calling on the Sea Shepherd to respect the safety procedures of the port. “During the visit, my priority will be, as it always is, the safety of our employees, contractors
24 August, 2018
and their families. Our ability to operate Abbot Point Terminal safely and responsibly is critical to servicing our customers, the jobs of our employees and the benefits the terminal provides the local community,” he said. “We remind Sea Shepherd that their activities should not impact on the safety of any individual either at Abbot Point, in the nearby waters, or in the Bowen community. “We will work with the authorities including the Queensland Police Service and Maritime Safety Queensland to ensure all legal and practical options are in place to prevent criminal and unsafe actions during their proposed visit.” The Queensland Resources Council CEO Ian McFarlane labelled the visit by Sea Shephard hypocritical. “The facts are the ship the crew is using to sail up the Queensland coast is a product of resources – most notably coal,” he said. “This class of ship weighs around 900 tonnes with the steel component requiring up to 620 tonnes of coking coal and up to 860 tonnes of iron ore to build. “On top of that, it carries around 240 tonnes of diesel power to keep the ship moving.”
farm construction work going on there. “Ergon is doing transmission work, Aurizon is working on the railway…..and we have had QCoal and Glencore in here spending money and talking positively about the future. “We have even had some highlevel government people from Canberra in - but they wouldn’t say what they were here for.” While Mrs Rogan says the number of Adani shirts around town has fallen from earlier in the year, she remains very optimistic about the prospects of the project. “No there are not as many as there was, but there is still stuff going on,” she said. “So I am really positive about the Adani project going ahead. “We have had a lot of workers in from Abbot Point where there is
lots of work happening. “We also had some people off one of the properties which the Adani railway is going to cross, and they were as happy as Larry, they couldn’t wait for it to go ahead.” Adani is planning a vast thermal coal mine in the Galilee Basin, but to make it viable, they also need to build a 300-kilometre stretch of railway and expand capacity at Abbot Point Coal Terminal North of Bowen. On top of that, they also have to build significant water supply infrastructure, a coal handling and processing plant, a huge workers’ accommodation village and an airport to service the mine. There are forecast to be more than 3300 jobs generated during the construction and operational phases.
Jobs in wind A massive wind and solar project covering more than 76,000 hectares in an area North West of Marlborough has received approval from the Queensland Government.. The proponents of the project - Perth-based Lacour Energy say they are now working on a feasibility study to confirm the economics stack up. Clarke Creek Energy Pty Ltd (CKE) - a subsidiary of Lacour Energy - is proposing to build a solar and wind farm across 11 properties roughly half way between Rockhampton and Mackay. If completed it would generate nearly 2000 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity a year, which is roughly 3% of Queensland’s annual energy use. According to CKE the project will generate 300 construction jobs and would be built over three years, with stage 1 possibly operating in the next 12 months. The critical components of the proposed energy project are the construction of nearly 200 wind turbines and 13 wind monitoring towers along the ridgeline that extends Northwest from Clarke Creek towards Nebo. Each wind turbine will be nearly 220 metres high in total, comprising three 90 metres long rotor blades. To support these, CKE is proposing to build 260 kilometres of gravel roads, 140 kilometres of medium
and high voltage overhead power lines, as well as site offices, workshops, offices and a 300 man mining camp. The progression to this step follows a study done by Lacour Energy nearly three years ago that identified Clarke Creek as a perfect site for a wind farm. The significant advantages of Clarke Creek are the winds consistency, its closeness to the “backbone” of the Powerlink high voltage transmission network, existing land use and type, and its distance from settled areas. According to CKE the closeness of the project to the Broadsound substation and high voltage, powerline gives it enormous advantages over other similar projects. “By way of a direct comparison, the Stage 2 of Kennedy Energy Park near Hughenden which is of a similar scale to that of the Clarke Creek project, is located over 250km from the high voltage network and according to the Powering North Queensland Plan requires an investment in network connection of well over $150 million to connect to the network,” they said. According to CKE, they have started discussions with local landholders and hope to finalise final feasibility this year and begin construction in 2019.
Shift Miner Magazine www.shiftminer.com
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THE BEST PLACE TO FIND GOOD GEAR
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SELL YOUR ITEMS FOR FREE. BECOME A SUBSCRIBER August, 2018 25
Shift Miner Magazine www.shiftminer.com
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THE BEST PLACE TO FIND GOOD GEAR
BIKE FOR SALE
BIKE FOR SALE
BIKE FOR SALE
BIKE FOR SALE
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TRIUMPH THUNDERBIRD STORM
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2011 Triumph Thunderbird Storm. Great bike in good condition with service history and manual. Original pipes, shockies, sissy bar etc to go with it.
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BOAT FOR SALE
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HOBIE MIRAGE OUTFITTER
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2016 YAMAHA MOTOR
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2006 KAWASAKI ST12F JET SKI
2006 Quintrex 4.2 Wide Body With 40hp 2 stroke 2016 Yamaha Motor Two life jackets EPIRB Twin fuel tanks (swap over tanks with a switch) New Bimini cover.
Motor says 25hp but is actually 30, runs perfect.for right price will come with original 20hp Johnson that runs fine. SounderBattery plus rectifier on motor to charge.
1988 model Gilflite ski boat with 170 hrs 308 inboard, soft clutch, vgc interior, trailer been blasted n painted, heaps of ski gear, located Dysart, will also swap for fishing boat +cash either way.
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SELL YOUR ITEMS FOR FREE. BECOME A SUBSCRIBER 26 August, 2018
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E XPERIENCE MORE Air Con WiFi Gym Bar Shop Nestled in our village gardens are your welcoming living spaces designed for relaxation after a hard days work. Your home away from home awaits you with everything you could need, from wholesome meals — cooked daily by our in-house chefs — to fully serviced en-suite rooms and 24-hour gyms. Our friendly staff are always on hand to help, whether you’re checking in, shopping at the Store or having a drink at the HUB! We’re more than just workforce accommodation. With Civeo, experience more.
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