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TECHNOLOGY MATERIALS HANDLING VOLUME 111/6 | JULY 2019

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TECHNOLOGY MATERIALS HANDLING COMMODITY SPOTLIGHT

VOLUME 111/6 | JULY 2019

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COMMENT

UNEARTHING VALUE FOR ALL MINING STAKEHOLDERS BEN CREAGH

Ben.Creagh@primecreative.com.au

TRUSTED RELATIONSHIPS WITH STAKEHOLDERS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN AN IMPORTANT ASPECT OF A SOCIAL LICENCE TO OPERATE. HOW IS THE INDUSTRY TRANSFORMING THIS REQUIREMENT INTO LONG-TERM VALUE?

T

he concept of shared value continues to find its feet in mining.

It is a term that has become common in the language of mining companies in recent years.

It is also a concept that the mining equipment, technology and services (METS) sector, regional communities and other stakeholders rely on to see their interests develop.

But is it something the industry is truly achieving?

How to share value was a talking point at the Austmine 2019: Mining Innovation Conference in Brisbane during May. As you will read in this edition, spokespeople from the leading miners that attended the conference went a long way to promote how they go about this.

At the same time, there were cases of them questioning how well the industry had historically performed to share value with stakeholders.

The resounding finding that resonated from the event was that building better partnerships would help mining companies share maximum value.

OZ Minerals chief Andrew Cole, while acknowledging that not everyone would agree with him, went as far to say the industry doesn’t build proper partnerships at all.

Companies like OZ Minerals have, however, worked hard to reimagine how they do business to strengthen industry relationships and cement their social licence

MANAGING DIRECTOR JOHN MURPHY MANAGING EDITOR BEN CREAGH Tel: (03) 9690 8766 Email: ben.creagh@primecreative.com.au JOURNALISTS EWEN HOSIE Tel: (03) 9690 8766 Email: ewen.hosie@primecreative.com.au VANESSA ZHOU Tel: (03) 9690 8766 Email: vanessa.zhou@primecreative.com.au ALEX GLUYAS Tel: (03) 9690 8766 Email: alexander.gluyas@primecreative.com.au

to operate.

Cole and his team have become an integral part of the mining landscape in South Australia and introduced initiatives such as the Explorer Challenge to engage people and communities.

Coincidentally, this edition’s Tracking the Trends article with Deloitte also focuses on how mining companies are creating shared value.

Deloitte points out that the concept of shared value is about more than just meeting compliance and needs to be viewed as a sustainable process.

Building a school or hospital isn’t enough for many mining communities – the legacy needs to extend well beyond one-off projects.

But probably the major benefit mining companies stand to gain from creating shared value is the trust that comes with it.

The Austmine event demonstrated that mining companies have become more transparent about the engagement they have with key stakeholders and how this engagement can improve even further.

An honest approach like this will go a long way to building the trust our industry needs.

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AUSTRALIANMINING

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JULY 2019

In this edition, we look at the role nickel mining will play in the future of mining with the emergence of electric vehicles.

This issue reviews the development of Australia’s bauxite sector, from the opening of the Amrun mine to the next wave of projects.

In a regional spotlight, we analyse the partnerships that have formed in northern Australia between major miners and junior explorers.

Australian Mining also reviews the Austmine 2019: Mining Innovation Conference in Brisbane, including in-depth feature articles on the key themes at the event.

And as usual, we review the latest mining equipment and technology in our regular products spread.

Cover image: Hastings Deering.

Ben Creagh Editor

DESIGN PRODUCTION MANAGER Michelle Weston michelle.weston@primecreative.com.au

FRONT COVER

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CONTENTS

REGIONAL SPOTLIGHT

FUTURE OF MINING

14-15

42-43

ELECTRICAL VEHICLES FUTURE FOR NICKEL Nickel companies preparing for EV boom

FLY NORTH TO UNCOVER COMMODITIES Three junior companies’ prospects in northern Australia

COMMODITY SPOTLIGHT

MINERALS PROCESSING AI INITIATIVE DRIVES MINERALS PROCESSING Schenck Process using AI algorithms for vibrating machines

COMPETING WITH CHINA Australian rare earths supply solution

17-18

44-45 COMMODITY SPOTLIGHT

COLLABORATION

BAUXITE TAKES FLIGHT Australian bauxite industry set for change

POWER OF PARTNERSHIPS AND PEOPLE Key points from 2019 Austmine conference

21-22

46-47

INDUSTRY COMMENT

TECHNOLOGY

48-52

EPIROC ELECTRIFIES FUTURE OF BATTERIES Using batteries for underground machinery

INDUSTRY BODIES MAKE A POINT Voices of METS, Austmine, AUSIMM

24-26 POLITICS

INNOVATION

54

LIGHT BULB MOMENT LEADS TO INNOVATION Safescape’s underground ladders and EVs

COALITION SUPPORT CRUCIAL TO VICTORY Australia’s mining industry welcomes election result

28-29 FINANCE

WOMEN IN INDUSTRY

55

RESOURCES INDUSTRY ADMIRES LEADER An interview with the winner of excellence in mining

THE RICHES(T) OF MINING Richlist editor on mining’s contribution

31-32 DRILL & BLAST HASTINGS DEERING’S DRILL DELIVERY Delivery of Queensland’s first MD6250 drill

INTERVIEW

36-37

57 WHAT’S THE HOLD UP? Tivar solves material handling problem

PRODUCTIVITY

TRACKING THE TRENDS

38-39

MINOVA STRENGTHENED THROUGH MINING SYSTEMS Exploring integration and partnerships

SHARING SUSTAINABLE VALUE TO GAIN TRUST How mining companies secure social licenses

58 TRAINING SIMULATORS ENSURE MINE SAFETY Immersive Technologies’ simulators reduce underground risks

MATERIALS HANDLING

40-41

59

MINING GIANTS TURN TO VOLUME SCANNERS Hindustan looks to Loadscan for load measurement

REGULARS

NEWS 9-12

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NEWS

THE LATEST MINING AND SAFETY NEWS AUSTRALIAN MINING AND SAFE TO WORK PRESENT THE LATEST NEWS FROM THE BOARDROOM TO THE MINE AND EVERYWHERE IN BETWEEN. VISIT WWW.AUSTRALIANMINING.COM.AU AND WWW.SAFETOWORK.COM.AU TO KEEP UP TO DATE WITH WHAT IS HAPPENING. VICTORIAN MINERS TO BE HIT BY GOLD ROYALTY The Victorian Government has announced plans to introduce a 2.75 per cent royalty to its gold miners, putting it in line with the rest of Australia.

In Victoria, a 2.75 per cent royalty rate already applies to all minerals

other than lignite and gold. Only small miners will be exempted from the new royalty, the government says.

The Minerals Council of Australia questioned the state government’s lack of engagement with the industry’s miners prior to announcing

GOLD ROYALTIES IN VICTORIA HAVE BEEN UNDER THE MICROSCOPE.

the plan.

“The Andrews Government has not consulted or listened to regional communities that rely on highly paid, high skilled jobs that mining delivers in Victoria,” Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) Victoria director James Sorahan said.

“The Victorian Government’s gold tax threatens hundreds of jobs in regional Victoria and would undermine confidence just when new opportunities are emerging to support regional communities with increased mining investment.

“A new 2.75 per cent gold tax would add to uncertain project approval and regulatory regimes and regulatory duplication and inconsistencies.”

Sorahan said the claim that Victoria should impose a gold royalty because other states do ignored the unique characteristics of gold mining in Victoria. A state’s royalty regime includes different royalty rates, depreciation arrangements, exemptions and other features.

Kirkland Lake Gold’s Fosterville mine is the state’s top producer of gold.

In the March quarter, Fosterville produced 128,445 ounces of the precious metal. The Canadian

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

company expects to produce more than 600,000 ounces of gold at the site this year.

Mining employs nearly 12,000 Victorians and supports 88,000 more jobs through a large supply chain of small and medium sized businesses in the mining equipment, technology and services (METS) sector.

RIO TINTO PURSUES DEVELOPMENT OF ‘SILICON VALLEY OF MINING’ Rio Tinto has backed the Western Australian Government’s launch of its first ever five-pillar approach to enhancing science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) capabilities throughout the state.

The $3.3 million strategy was an election commitment for the McGowan Government in addressing the ‘current lack of diversity’ in STEM education and careers. The STEM strategy was launched at Rio Tinto’s Perth operations centre.

Women represent just 16 per cent of STEM qualified people in Australia, and Aboriginal people less than one per cent of higher

education engineering and science students.

Over 1000 teachers in lower socioeconomic public schools are already participating in a four-year professional learning program as part of the STEM strategy.

“One of the priorities for this government is ensuring all Western Australians have the opportunity to develop STEM skills and participate in the jobs of the future that will drive our economy,” Western Australian Science Minister Dave Kelly said.

“Seventy-five per cent of the fastest growing jobs require STEM skills

and STEM jobs are growing at one and a half times the rate of nonSTEM jobs.”

Rio Tinto actively participated in the development of the strategy, recognising that an increased emphasis on STEM education is “critical for our future.”

“Today, almost all our people work alongside technology in some way and given the rapid pace of innovation and digitisation, this will only increase in future years,” Rio Tinto managing director of planning, integration and assets Matthew Holcz said.

“WA’s mining industry is leading

AUSTRALIANMINING

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the way in innovation and we have the opportunity to create the Silicon Valley of mining right here in Western Australia.”

Rio Tinto offers reskilling and upskilling programs with a STEM focus, including a commitment of up to $2 million to help develop the first nationally recognised vocational education and training (VET) qualifications in automation in 2017.

“By training our educators and increasing opportunities for these students, all Western Australians can take part in a STEM future,” WA Education and Training Minister Sue Ellery concluded.

NEWS

BHP BACKS FUTURE OF NICKEL WEST TO DRIVE BATTERY MARKET BHP has indicated it will keep the Nickel West business in Western Australia as the company looks to capitalise on the emerging global battery market.

Speaking at a global metals, mining and steel conference in Barcelona, BHP chief executive officer Andrew Mackenzie said retaining the company’s nickel operation “offers high-return potential.”

“Decarbonisation, the electrification of transport, the future of work and food security are examples of strategic themes that we monitor,” he said.

“For example, Nickel West… [is] a future growth option, linked to the expected growth in battery markets and the relative scarcity of quality nickel sulphide supply.”

BHP had previously planned to sell the Nickel West division due to its failure to produce meaningful earnings.

In the past two years, however, the company has revealed plans for major expansion of the Western Australian operations.

Mackenzie also emphasised the

NICKEL WEST WILL TARGET THE EV AND BATTERY MARKET.

significant growth BHP has experienced since 2016, focusing on results surrounding increased volumes, reduced costs and keeping staff safe at work.

This includes reducing net debt by $US16 billion ($23 billion), reinvesting $US20 billion in the business and returning over $US25 billion to shareholders.

Mackenzie noted the challenges the company could face in the future, including climate change developments and dramatic shifts in technology.

He reiterated that BHP was prepared for the challenges and would also view them as an opportunity.

“To make sure that we secure the future prosperity of our company, we

constantly test our current assets and future options against many divergent scenarios for how the world will look well into the future,” Mackenzie said.

“While nobody can predict what will happen with absolute precision, I am confident BHP’s portfolio can thrive under almost all plausible outcomes in this changing world.”

SOUTH32 INKS JV WITH SUPERIOR AT QUEENSLAND ZINC PROJECT Superior Resources has signed an earn-in and joint venture agreement with South32 to advance exploration at its Nicholson zinc project in northwest Queensland.

The junior company will operate the JV over two stages, with South32 to fund an initial $2 million, or 4000 metres of drilling, within the first 12 months of operations.

South32 may elect to proceed with stage two by sole-funding a further $4 million on exploration within the

following four years to earn a 70 per cent interest in the project.

A potential stage three would allow South32 to earn an additional 10 per cent interest in the JV project by electing within six months after the completion of stage two to commence and sole fund a prefeasibility study.

The Nicholson project is within the highly prospective Carpentaria zinc province, which contains around 20 per cent of the world’s zinc inventory.

At least five large geophysical targets have been identified for the project, with only one target previously being subjected to exploration drilling.

Superior managing director Peter Hwang is optimistic about advancing the Nicholson project.

“The initial exploration program is targeting up to three Tier 1 equivalent, drill-ready Mount Isa style lead-zinc-silver targets, which we believe could be similar in size

to the McArthur River and Century deposits,” he said.

“The earn-in and JV agreement with South32 is a significant milestone for Superior’s lead-zinc strategy, it validates the potential of the project to host a world-class base metals deposit.”

Drilling is expected to commence shortly after the completion of an aboriginal cultural heritage survey, scheduled to be conducted during early June 2019.

MINERALS COUNCIL APPOINTS HELEN COONAN AS NEW CHAIR The Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) has announced that former federal cabinet minister Helen Coonan will replace Vanessa Guthrie as the organisation’s new chair.

Coonan has been appointed to the position for the next two years and started in the role when Guthrie stepped down following an MCA board meeting on June 18.

Her selection follows an extensive process involving the company’s board and chief executive officer, which concluded in early May. Guthrie, who has been MCA chair for

the past three years after joining the board in 2014, reflected fondly on her time in the role.

“It has been a privilege to advocate on behalf of so many great companies and their employees – all of whom are critical to the economic success of Australia,” she said.

“We have much to be proud of in Australian mining, including our status as a global technology leader and our record as the nation’s wealth creator and jobs generator.”

Coonan brings a wealth of experience in governance, AUSTRALIANMINING

commercial and public policy to MCA, having served in parliament from 1996 to 2011.

Her experience includes being minister for communications, IT and the arts and deputy leader of the government in the senate, while also being the first ever female member of a federal cabinet to take on treasury responsibilities.

After leaving parliament, Coonan was appointed the inaugural chair of the Australian Financial Complaints Authority and is a non-executive director of Crown Resorts and

10

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Snowy Hydro.

Coonan expressed her excitement to commence the new role, revealing what she intended to improve on for the country’s minerals sector.

“I am honoured to be appointed chair of the MCA at such a great time for our world-leading Australian minerals industry,” Coonan said.

“If Australia is to stay in front of its global competitors in an increasingly competitive world, we must continue to push for faster project approvals, greater sustainability and reforms in a whole range of policy areas.”

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NEWS

FORTESCUE GAINS APPROVAL FOR QUEENS VALLEY DEVELOPMENT Fortescue Metals Group is moving ahead with development of the Queens Valley mining area in the Pilbara after receiving environmental and heritage approvals.

The $US287 million ($416.9 million) development is within Fortescue’s Solomon Hub operations.

Queens Valley will be used to produce Fortescue’s low-alumina King Fines iron ore, in accordance with the company’s strategy of achieving higher margins through the optimisation of product mixes for its Asian customers.

Fortescue achieved a record low direct cost of $US12.36 per wet metric tonne in 2018, a price it hopes to maintain in the 2019 financial year.

Around 15 kilometres from the company’s Kings ore processing facility, Queens Valley has been forecast to launch in the 2022 financial year with an estimated mine life of 10 to 15 years.

The project will involve the construction of a hydraulic barrier wall and relocation of Solomon’s mobile maintenance facilities to maximise efficiencies.

Fortescue’s speciality at Solomon Hub

THE SOLOMON HUB WILL CONTINUE TO EXPAND. IMAGE: FORTESCUE METALS GROUP.

(which has a production capacity of 70 million tonnes a year) is the blending of higher grade, low-cost Firetail ore with low phosphorous Chichester ore to create a distinct product.

“Fortescue’s integrated operations and

marketing strategy defines a product portfolio that maximises value from the Fortescue orebodies over the long term, ensuring the continued delivery of returns to shareholders,” Fortescue chief executive officer Elizabeth Gaines said.

“The Queens mining area development will maintain our highly valued Kings Fines low-alumina sinter fines product which supplies Fortescue’s key customers in China as well as in Japan and Korea.”

AUSTRALIA WELCOMES ANOTHER HIGH IN GOLD PRODUCTION Australia has experienced its highest March quarter of gold production since 1998, according to gold mining consultants, Surbiton Associates.

Gold output for the first three months of 2019 equalled 78 tonnes, which was three tonnes or four per cent less than the last quarter of 2018.

“The March quarter almost invariably sees the lowest gold output as it is only 90 days long, compared with 91 days in the June quarter and 92 days in September and December quarters,” Surbiton director Sandra Close said.

“Every day makes a difference, since Australia’s current production of around 320 tonnes of gold a year, is nearly nine-tenths of a tonne of gold a day.”

Australia stands as the world’s second largest gold producer after China, with annual output equating to almost $19 billion at gold prices of around $1850 per ounce.

“For some years now we have seen local gold production rising, many producers have been taking advantage of the Australian dollar gold price over that period, as it has continued an upward trend, despite

the usual volatility,” Close said.

In response to recent speculation that Australian mines were running out of gold, Close commented that such claims were “rather fanciful”.

“There are many factors that affect ore reserves and therefore the life of each mine, I cannot predict the future but at the moment there do not appear to be major causes for concern on the horizon,” she said.

Fluctuations in gold prices and exchange rates, alongside changes in costs and exploration in mining and processing are all factors that affect the economics and longevity

of operations, according to Close.

“It should be remembered that Australia is a land of generally small and medium-sized gold mines and large multi-million ounce discoveries are quite rare, just because such large deposits are seldom discovered locally, it does not mean that total Australian gold production is about to fall in a heap,” she said.

Close’s optimism follows a United States Geological Survey that revealed Australia has the largest reserves of gold of any country with 9800 tonnes, or enough for 31 years of production at current rates.

THYSSENKRUPP LAUNCHES BRISBANE FACILITY Thyssenkrupp has strengthened its post in Australia by establishing a service centre in Brisbane.

The $1 million facility is strategically located to support thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions’ customer base on the East Coast of Australia, as well as clients in Oceania that use major logistic channels through Brisbane.

After many successful years in

Australia, the investment was considered a logical consequence by Industrial Solutions chief executive Andrew Howie.

The service centre facilitates the warehousing and servicing of wear and spare parts, equipment refurbishments, engineering and field services and revamps.

It includes a 350-square-metre office and 1000 square metres of AUSTRALIANMINING

warehouse and workshop space with room for 30 employees.

“As we want to offer the best possible services to our customers, we are continuously expanding our service offering in the regions,” service business unit chief executive Donald Weir said.

This facility enables the company to co-locate its engineering and project staff with its service personnel,

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according to Howie.

“For our clients in the mining, cement and chemical industries, this means they benefit from an integrated project life-cycle approach, incorporating the latest products and technologies,” he said.

The Industrial Solutions unit is a business area dedicated to the engineering, construction and service of industrial plants and systems.

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FUTURE OF MINING

ELECTRIC VEHICLES SET THE FUTURE FOR AUSTRALIAN NICKEL NICKEL COMPANIES IN AUSTRALIA, BOTH BIG AND SMALL, ARE PREPARING FOR AN ANTICIPATED BOOM FROM THE ELECTRIC VEHICLE SECTOR. ALEX GLUYAS WRITES.

I

n recent memory and even today, nickel has predominately been used to drive the rapid modernisation of developing economies, most notably China and India.

The growth of the construction, infrastructure and manufacturing industries has increasingly necessitated higher supply of the commodity, according to CRU senior consultant for non-ferrous Toby Green.

“The main consumer of nickel by far is the stainless-steel market, accounting for about 71 per cent of all demand for nickel units today,” he says “Demand for stainless steel is still growing healthily, as economies like India and China increasingly generate and purchase consumer goods and appliances.”

Looking forward, however, a potential boom in the nickel industry emanates from the growing electrical vehicle (EV) market, with demand expected to steadily increase for the highly sort after nickel sulphate.

“The rising demand for nickel, and particularly sulphate for use

DRILLING AT GALILEO’S FRASER RANGE OPERATIONS.

in EVs, necessitates more lateriteHPAL (high pressure acid leaching) projects and many of these need slightly higher nickel prices to bring them online,” Green says HPAL is a process used to extract

nickel from laterite ore, with its main advantage being the ability to process low grade nickel laterite ores and its high and separate recovery of nickel and cobalt.

The issue with HPAL projects,

WESTERN AREAS’ FORRESTANIA OPERATION.

AUSTRALIANMINING

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however, is they are expensive and according to Green, nickel prices must first spike before companies are willing to invest in HPAL. While Green notes that batteries for EVs “are still very much a niche user” of nickel, this is changing as the market takes off.

Many of the major EV manufacturers tend to use lithiumion batteries, using a cathode that is primarily composed of nickel, and mining companies around the world are responding.

BHP, for example, announced in May it will retain its Nickel West business given the emergence of EVs, coupled with a market preference for high nickel intensity battery chemistries.

The rarity of nickel sulphate deposits has BHP expecting big things from its Nickel West operations.

Its sales to the battery sector already exceed 50 per cent, while its powder sales to China are growing rapidly.

Nickel sulphate production has also further increased battery sector sales in 2019, with 90 per cent of all sales from Nickel West expected to go to the battery sector over the next two years.

FUTURE OF MINING

For Nickel West asset president Eddy Haegel, the growth of the EV market represents “a great moment for the nickel industry in Western Australia.”

“We are on the cusp of a revolution in the way energy is stored and used around the world and we want to be a part of the growth of that market as electrification and the rollout of electric vehicles happens,” he tells Australian Mining.

Given the anticipated increase in demand for nickel, it begs the question of whether supply can keep up, with the major players of the industry needing help, according to Green.

“Most of the current majors (Vale, Glencore, Jinchuan, etc) are predominantly sulphide producers (as opposed to laterite) and have expanded their production as far as reasonably possible,” he says.

“A lack of significant new sulphide discoveries means that most new supply is expected to come from nickel laterites, where the major undeveloped resources are spread across a number of new entrants and juniors in regions like Australia, Indonesia and Africa.”

Galileo Mining, which listed on the ASX in May last year, is one of the new entrants advancing nickel prospects.

While still in the exploration phase, the company has generated some quality nickel-copper targets in Western Australia’s highly prospective Fraser Range region, where it is conducting maiden drilling.

For Galileo’s managing director Brad Underwood, its portfolio of nickel and copper offers high growth potential for the junior mining company.

“We are fortunate that Galileo is positively leveraged to growth in electric vehicles and battery storage through its nickel-copper and cobalt assets,” he says.

“The increasing focus on electrical technologies such as EVs and batteries can only positively affect nickel growth forecasts; cobalt and copper also have compelling market fundamentals, with global usage estimates continuing to improve significantly for both commodities.”

A lithium-ion battery comprised of nickel, manganese and cobalt is another popular choice in the EV market that is used by Chevrolet and Nissan.

According to S&P Global, this battery has a cathode that is typically made up of 60 per cent nickel, 20 per cent manganese and 20 per cent cobalt. Many manufacturers are, however, moving towards batteries

with cathodes containing 80 per cent nickel.

The attraction to batteries with higher levels of nickel derives from its ability to provide increased energy density, while also extending vehicle range.

Western Areas is a mid-tier producer and developer that has taken notice of the potential in cobalt and nickel sulphide.

The Perth-based company approved the Odysseus underground nickel project in Western Australia last year with plans to supply the EV market.

Western Areas managing director and chief executive officer Dan Lougher expects China’s demand for nickel to continue given the Asian country’s lack of domestic sulphate projects.

“China doesn’t have enough nickel internally. They’ve always a been a net importer so there’s strong competition to supply,” Lougher says.

“Our view is though there are no new large operations coming in for nickel sulphide mines so given we’re in that field now, we should be a net benefactor.”

While optimistic, Lougher remains cautious of the volatility of the commodity market, suggesting the growth in nickel sulphide prices will also depend on regulation in the

WE ARE ON THE CUSP OF A REVOLUTION IN THE WAY ENERGY IS STORED AND USED AROUND THE WORLD AND WE WANT TO BE A PART OF THE GROWTH OF THAT MARKET AS ELECTRIFICATION AND THE ROLLOUT OF ELECTRIC VEHICLES HAPPENS.” Chinese market.

“The change for us will be how China ramps up new policies which extends to making EVs affordable for everyone” he says.

“Historically, China used half of the world’s nickel production, so they have to import, and we’ve worked with them for the last 10 years.”

While more Australian companies are looking to break into the nickel market, Green notes that in order to successfully supply more of the commodity, they need financial backing.

“The hesitation of financial

institutions to put forward the considerable capital for large Australian HPAL projects will allow more dynamic Chinese enterprises to get off the ground in Indonesia and elsewhere,” he says.

“This is not so much an issue for the industry at-large as it is unfortunate for the Australian producers, who are otherwise blessed with excellent natural resources.”

It provides another example of China increasing its command over an important raw materials supply chain, which can be seen as “presenting sovereign risk,” according to Green.

China’s Tsingshan Group has already started to assert its ascendency on the nickel industry after last year surprising the market with a low-cost estimate and short construction time-frame for a $700 million HPAL plant.

Its plans, with partners on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, include ambitious project targets such as 131,000 tonnes of nickel sulphate crystals by 2020.

For the time being though, it seems the Australian nickel industry will sit and wait for the anticipated EV boom, ensuring it has the resources to capitalise should it eventuate. AM

MINING FOR NICKEL AT WESTERN AREAS’ FLYING FOX UNDERGROUND MINE.

AUSTRALIANMINING

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WAT E R

SCIENCE

TECHNOLOGY

COMMODITY SPOTLIGHT

COMPETING WITH THE CHINESE RARE EARTHS JUGGERNAUT WHILE CHINA STILL DOMINATES THE GLOBAL RARE EARTHS MARKET, SOME AUSTRALIAN COMPANIES ARE PROVIDING AN ALTERNATIVE SUPPLY SOLUTION. ALEX GLUYAS WRITES.

T

he price and demand for rare earths are on the move, with analysts speculating the catalyst for this is a United States strategy to look for nonChina sources of the material.

For many, the current US-China trade war has allowed China to leverage off its near rare earths global monopoly, in order to coerce the US to give in to trade demands.

Beneath the surface however, there could be a different reason for rare earths returning to the spotlight, and Australian developer Alkane Resources is privy to this.

The company’s general manager of marketing Alister Macdonald believes that China wants its own rare earths all for itself as it seeks to capture the entire value chain.

This includes everything from production to separations and use end products, for its own needs, as well as exporting end products to meet the two main sources of global demand – magnets for renewable energy and electric vehicles (EV).

As Macdonald says, “just as France will sell you wine and not its grapes, so too is China moving to selling just end products that contain rare earths, not the raw material.”

While China hasn’t moved to ban the export yet, as it has done previously, it has become a net importer to meet its own demand and create a value chain.

While the share prices of Australian rare earths companies such as Lynas Corporation and Alkane indicate growing US interest in alternative supply, a recent visit

by Chinese President Xi Jinping to a rare earths magnets plant revealed just how serious China is.

Rare earths themselves are a group of 17 chemically similar, metallic elements that are used to create a variety of everyday devices.

This includes everything from computer memory, DVDs, batteries for cell phones, magnets and fluorescent lighting.

Importantly, however, is the use of rare earth compounds in the batteries that power all EVs and hybrid-EVs.

RARE EARTH TESTING BEING UNDERTAKEN.

As concerns for climate change and pollution heighten, so has the interest in renewable energy and EVs, therefore driving the global rare earths market.

The state of the global rare earth markets is problematic, however, as China’s near monopoly means a lack of supply diversity and therefore, decreased sustainability.

Independent rare earths commentator Dudley Kingsnorth believes China’s push for control over the rare earths supply chain has “alarm bells ringing.”

“China produces approximately 85 per cent of rare earths oxides and their current five-year plan involves significantly increasing EV production,” he says.

“What this means is that there is a shift, if they are successful it means lots of jobs in the automotive AUSTRALIANMINING

industry will move to China.”

Australian producer Lynas currently combines with Chinese rare earths majors as key suppliers of the material, and Kingsnorth emphasises that more investment is necessary in the industry to ensure diversity.

“Alarm bells are ringing saying we have to develop supply chains that are alternative, we have China and Lynas, that’s not adequate, it’s not diversity,” he says.

“Realistically, it needs a lot of investment and time to bring projects online, so investors and end users need to support these projects.”

Alkane sees the huge potential in the industry, but like Kingsnorth, believes that heavy backing is needed to allow the Australian supply chain to be competitive.

The company, which is in the financing stage of its Dubbo project,

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intends to produce significant volumes of 15 rare earths, including neodymium, praseodymium, terbium and dysprosium.

These materials are in high demand for permanent magnets used in the high-volume markets, such as renewable energy, EVs, personal technology and robotics.

Located at Toongi, which is 25 kilometres south of Dubbo in central NSW, the construction-ready project is one of the most advanced polymetallic prospects of its kind outside China.

Alkane has been able to leverage off the success of its gold deposits to assist with the funding of the Dubbo project, which according to managing director Nic Earner, has provided “income strength.”

Earner gives a unique insight into the affect the current economic

COMMODITY SPOTLIGHT

INSIDE THE DUBBO PROJECT DEMONSTRATION PILOT PLANT .

climate has had on rare earths in Australia, as he notes “turbulent economic times are good for Alkane in a way.”

“The volatility in the sector is absolutely nothing new, while it’s good as it sharpens the focus and gets counterparties talking, it still needs more potential and pressure,” he says.

While China continues to affect the market through talks of trade halts and tariffs, Earner says the sector requires action rather

than speculation.

“What I would like to see is the Chinese really show their hand in where they are strategically taking their manufacturing sector through raw materials like rare earths because that would force global investors to act,” he says.

“I would like a removal of uncertainty, if they’re going to put tariffs on, put them on.”

The reality is that according to the Made in China 2025 policy, the Chinese economy is striving

RARE EARTH MATERIALS AT ALKANE’S DUBBO SITE. AUSTRALIANMINING

JUST AS FRANCE WILL SELL YOU WINE AND NOT ITS GRAPES, SO TOO IS CHINA MOVING TO SELLING JUST END PRODUCTS THAT CONTAIN RARE EARTHS, NOT THE RAW MATERIAL.”

to become world leaders in the downstream areas that traditionally the US has dominated.

Magnetic making is a particular area that China has been able to dominate, with the only other country being able to mass produce magnets being Japan.

An anticipated overall growth rate of magnets by Kingsnorth is equal to six to eight per cent a year, with eight to 12 per cent growth of EV magnets.

China, through strategic decisions is in a position to capitalise on this, after years of preparation.

“What some people don’t realise is that through aggressive pricing, China has hollowed out magnet making capacity in every country but Japan,” Earner says.

“Western nations must reestablish, which is a decade-long endeavour, it needs companies to prepare to not make as much money and also government support.”

Having worked in the rare earths sector for over a decade, Kingsnorth has previously recognised China’s

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strategy, which may eventually affect the Australian market.

“China doesn’t want to sell rare earths, they want to sell EVs, they want to sell products rather than the raw material,” he says.

“We have to diversify supply, without diversity of supply there’s no sustainability.”

Ultimately, Alkane is calling for an increased focus outside China on rare earths production because while China has a near monopoly on rare earths production, it anticipates there will be a scarcity of supply for world markets, given it uses all production internally.

While heavy investment and sacrifice is necessary to compete, Alkane is optimistic about its own project.

“We believe if the right pricing combines with the right partners, we can launch a profitable project,” Earner says.

And while he insists there is no “silver bullet” to solve the issue immediately, the potential is definitely there. AM

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CONSTRUCTION AT THE CARRAPATEENA PROJECT.

COLLABORATION

THE POWER OF PARTNERSHIPS AND PEOPLE IN MINING PARTNERSHIPS AND PEOPLE EMERGED AS KEY THEMES OF THE AUSTMINE 2019: MINING INNOVATION CONFERENCE. SO HOW ARE OZ MINERALS AND BHP APPROACHING THESE ASPECTS OF DOING BUSINESS? BEN CREAGH FINDS OUT.

W

hat does a modern-day partnership look like in the mining industry?

The word partnership can be overused, or even construed, in mining.

In industry speak, for example, a major company might suggest it will ‘partner’ with a smaller organisation through a merger when, in fact, a takeover is clearly at play.

The smaller company’s culture and the values it has built over many years may then be consumed, with only the legacy of the projects it developed remaining at the enlarged group.

For the mining equipment, technology and services (METS) sector, partnerships are an essential part of these businesses. Clarity around the term when they work with mining companies is, therefore, essential.

The Austmine 2019: Mining Innovation Conference in Brisbane placed an emphasis on what partnerships mean at two of Australia’s leading mining companies, OZ Minerals and BHP. OZ Minerals chief executive Andrew Cole and BHP vice president technology global transformation Rag Udd provided a transparent view of the role METS partnerships play at their companies.

Both outlined how their companies are developing relationships with the METS sector to be more effective in the digital age, while also highlighting the role of their people in this future.

Cole, the keynote speaker at the Austmine event, initially questioned what partnerships truly mean to the industry.

“My personal view is that we use partnerships, and the word partnerships, instead of (saying) contractors, suppliers or takeover targets. I don’t believe we really have true partnerships in this industry,” Cole says.

“We use the word, but we don’t actually use partnerships in the true sense of things.”

Cole reinforces how mining companies misuse the concept of partnerships when they work with METS companies during the procurement of goods or services.

He says procurement processes between miners and their suppliers are often an example of a onesided relationship where ‘real partnerships’ are not formed.

“A partnership is based on trust, it is based on respect and quite often you are joining at the hips working on something you don’t necessarily know the answer for and stepping into the unknown together,” Cole says.

“You can’t draft a scope for that, it is very hard to tender for and you AUSTRALIANMINING

certainly can’t select the best partner through a process like that.”

Udd believes the potential for partnerships with the METS sector and its people as mining accelerates through a digital transformation is enormous.

He says technology is coming whether “we like it or not”, but he also questions the development of

ANDREW COLE OF OZ MINERALS.

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partnerships in mining, asking if the industry is willing to work together to make this future a success?

“At BHP, there are thousands of things to think about as we consider our transformation agenda,” Udd says. “But, there are two things we have consciously placed at the centre – and that we never forget: First, we embrace that this is no longer

COLLABORATION

an option – it is essential.

“And second, we welcome that this must be an exercise in partnership, human network building, co-creation and collaboration.

“On this journey, we know that our progress and success will be strengthened when we choose not to walk alone – but to partner with others.”

BHP focuses on partnering with its people, as well as its industry counterparts in the METS sector, according to Udd. The company has introduced a number of people initiatives, including re-skilling mining veterans to monitor the performance of autonomous truck fleets in Western Australia.

In Brisbane, meanwhile, BHP has retrained 50 per cent of its team who formerly operated heavy vehicles within its Integrated Remote Operations Centre. These team members are now remotely driving the company’s entire East Coast coal business, from pit to port.

BHP also partners with the Queensland Resources Council (QRC), TAFE and the Queensland Government to deliver a training program focused on enhancing digital capability. The training will reach hundreds of employees, providing vital foundational skills.

In terms of the METS sector, Udd reiterates BHP’s commitment to working together with suppliers and services companies “inside the gate” as an integral part of their operations.

“We can’t truly build our competitive advantage unless mining and METS are considered as one,” Udd says.

“There’s no doubt that one of the greatest contributions we make in

RAG UDD OF BHP.

our communities is engaging local suppliers to solve challenges and in turn, stimulate innovation.

“We also know that many of the best ideas come from those who are either more agile than us or further advanced on the journey than we are. Innovators, start-ups and entrepreneurs. Other industries.”

Udd concluded his presentation with two points on how effective management of people and partnerships will help navigate disruptive change in mining.

“We all have a role to play. Not just large companies like ours. It’s every single person in this room.

We have entered an era that will

THE EXPLORER CHALLENGE HAS BEEN A SURPRISE HIT FOR OZ MINERALS.

AUSTRALIANMINING

present significant opportunities for those who harness these technologies to accelerate their own transformation,” Udd says.

Cole echoes this theme of people, saying OZ Minerals’ employees were at the forefront of how the company reshaped its culture over the past decade.

“We want people to be innovative,” Cole says. “We want people to challenge the status quo, which means you need get rid of most of the system in our companies because we are told how to operate in our businesses quite traditionally to an inch of our lives.”

OZ Minerals has, more recently, tried to break the mould of what an exploration partnership can look like with its online crowdsourcing ‘Explorer Challenge’.

The initiative, launched in late 2018, has given geologists and data scientists from around the world the opportunity to develop approaches to discover its next exploration targets at Prominent Hill and share in $1 million. OZ Minerals, which partners with innovation platform Unearthed on the initiative, is testing how the global mining and resources industry leverages data science to its potential in the future.

Six months after the initiative’s launch, the company found itself also partnering with 1100 participants from 62 countries, all working on more than two terabytes of Prominent Hill exploration data to find the site’s next deposit.

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“Exploration companies have traditionally said that their exploration data is their primary asset – it is their IP (intellectual property) if you like,” Cole says.

“They spend a lot of money collecting it, drill holes, getting geochemistry data, building geological maps, they put it into their data warehouse and it is their IP. “The last thing you would do is release it and make it open file and give it to another company because you have just lost your asset.”

Cole believes this longstanding culture to protect data is why OZ Minerals grappled with whether it should establish the exploration initiative or not for more than two years.

By taking the risk, however, the company finds itself fascinated by not only the response to the challenge, but also the concepts returned by participants.

“I have to admit we weren’t quite ready from the appetite of the world to get involved with something like this,” Cole says.

“Having a look at some of the initial stuff that is coming back from this process is absolutely remarkable, the thinking of things that we never would have thought of in ways to fuse datasets together.”

As the Explorer Challenge at OZ Minerals is proving, the power of people and partnerships is not being underestimated by the country’s leading mining companies. AM

TECHNOLOGY

EPIROC ELECTRIFIES THE FUTURE OF BATTERY MACHINES THE ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURER (OEM) IS SET TO MAKE BATTERIES NOT ONLY PART OF ITS UNDERGROUND MACHINERY, BUT ALSO THE SERVICES IT PROVIDES MINING COMPANIES. BEN CREAGH WRITES.

EPIROC’S LINE-UP OF SECOND GENERATION BATTERY ELECTRIC EQUIPMENT.

B

attery electric technology is becoming further entrenched in Epiroc’s future. So much so, the OEM plans to launch a business model that will provide an end-to-end service for this emerging part of the company.

Batteries-as-a-service, revealed during the Austmine 2019: Mining Innovation Conference, will complement Epiroc’s transition from diesel equipment to battery electric machinery.

It will be another part of the company’s ambitions to lead mining towards a sustainable future with zero emission machines.

Epiroc has rapidly moved in this direction in recent years, taking a key step in 2016 by releasing its first generation battery electric machinery, which focused on smaller models of underground trucks, loaders and drills.

In 2017, the Swedish company

HELENA HEDBLOM OF EPIROC.

started development of a battery platform involving scalable, modular architecture that could be used across its product range, from the smallest to largest machines.

The OEM, late last year, unveiled its second generation battery electric AUSTRALIANMINING

equipment, which includes a number of larger machines that will appeal to a broader market, particularly in Australia.

To support this expansion, Epiroc realised it needed to change the way it does business to accelerate the transformation.

As Epiroc introduced its new battery system, the company also started to plot the Batteries-as-a-service business model to take its development breakthroughs further.

Epiroc is shaping the business model to remove the obstacles that come with a transition to the technology, providing an ‘instant technology leap’ to battery electric machinery.

Batteries-as-a-service will move the upfront costs of batteries from capital expenditure to operational expenditure, with the responsibility of this function assumed by the OEM. Epiroc senior executive vice president, mining and infrastructure, Helena Hedblom believes Batteries-

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as-a-service will be a natural choice for many customers.

“The bigger mining houses often have the capacity to buy it all, but for the smaller and mid-sized customers the capital expenditure (of battery electric machinery) could still be resistance,” Hedblom tells Australian Mining.

“We believed if we could find a way to turn the batteries into OPEX we would have customers wanting to try this, especially as we expect the technology to improve every year.

“With this model we can put the new technology in as it is developed, which is not the case if we just sell the batteries. By that we can have a seamless improvement of technology into the fleet that is out there.”

Service focus

The OEM hopes to enhance the role it is playing to quickly move the mining industry into a battery electric future with the service.

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TECHNOLOGY

Epiroc business line manager Shaiful Ali says the Batteries-asa-service concept is similar to the business model mobile phone and telecommunications companies use.

Mining equipment batteries, like mobile phones, are expensive to buy outright for the consumers that purchase them. However, if they are procured as a service on a monthly or yearly plan then the upfront expenditure is significantly reduced.

“We decided to use that model for our battery machines,” Ali tells Australian Mining. “Our service will provide the battery at a monthly nominal fee where Epiroc will be responsible for the management of the battery, the model advances of the batteries and the disposal of the battery.

“By doing that it reduces the capital significantly, but we have also duplicated that OPEX model for the battery.”

Australian mining companies are already showing interest in the prospect of a Batteries-as-a-service model, Ali continues.

The interest comes around six months after Epiroc released its second generation battery electric equipment, which the company is confident will be attractive to Australian mine sites.

Epiroc anticipates that Australian underground miners will increasingly pursue battery electric opportunities as the technology improves from an economic perspective.

“That’s mainly because in Australia there are not a lot of greenfield mine sites – a lot of the mines in Australia are going deeper,” Ali says.

“Obviously as you go deeper it gets hotter and it’s a driver for certain mining companies to sustain the mine life. The drivers for batteries are also obviously the cost savings involved with ventilation and the safety aspects they provide.”

The OEM expects an Australian mine to receive a machine from its second generation battery electric fleet by the end of the year.

Second generation machines

Epiroc’s latest battery electric machines are the company’s next step towards transforming its core product line from diesel to electric over the next five years.

The second generation portfolio includes 14-ton (12.7-tonne) and 18ton Scooptram Battery loaders, the Boomer E2 Battery drill and the 42-ton Minetruck MT42 Battery.

Epiroc believes it has proven the technology readiness of the second generation fleet alternatives through 80,000 hours of real-time operation of its first generation machines.

Its customers using the first generation machines include Brazilian mining company Nexa Resources, which operates a Scooptram ST7 Battery in Peru.

When developing generation two, Epiroc no longer questioned if battery

WITH THIS MODEL WE CAN PUT IN THE NEW TECHNOLOGY AS IT IS DEVELOPED, WHICH IS NOT THE CASE IF WE JUST SELL THE BATTERIES.” electric technology could compete with diesel, shifting its focus to expanding the offering.

“The technical challenges have been solved as we have 80,000 hours on the generation one machines, but we were stuck with how we could scale them,” Hedblom says.

“The biggest improvement we needed with the second generation was to make it scalable because if you look at our complete offering it is quite big.

“This system is scalable, whether it is a truck, loader or drill, you decide how much energy to take. It is a completely modularised concept.”

Battery platform

Epiroc’s approach to the design and architecture of the second generation platform required it establish different partnerships to upgrade the battery electric technology.

The company partnered with ABB to develop the latest electric motors, which are designed with minimal use of rare metals, but maintain high

THE SCOOPTRAM ST14 BATTERY MACHINE.

AUSTRALIANMINING

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standards for energy efficiency and performance.

Epiroc also formed an agreement with Northvolt to enable it to scale production and match the volume of batteries that it will require as demand ramps up.

The platform is developed to be on par with the leading battery solutions in the world, but to also provide the flexibility to improve over time as the energy density of battery cells increases.

Epiroc last year introduced the battery system for the needs of heavy duty equipment, as well as mining requirements in terms of performance, reliability and safety.

“Our ambition is to produce the worlds greenest machines using the world’s greenest cells with the greenest technologies available,” Hedblom says in her Austmine presentation.

Epiroc’s partnership mentality will also include smaller OEMs as it rolls out the Batteries-as-a-service business model.

The company intends to remove the challenges these OEMs face with the transition to battery electric technology.

“We are now working together with several of the smaller OEMs to electrify their fleet as well. With Batteries-as-a-service we will offer an instant seamless tech leap to our customers. We are trying to focus on reducing the obstacle and make it easier to go electric,” Hedblom says. AM

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INNOVATION

TURNING A LIGHT BULB MOMENT INTO MINING INNOVATION FROM SAFER UNDERGROUND LADDERS TO ELECTRIC VEHICLES, STEVE DURKIN AND SAFESCAPE HAVE ACCEPTED MINING’S INNOVATION CHALLENGE. BEN CREAGH WRITES.

S

afescape managing director Steve Durkin recalls the ‘light bulb moment’ that led to the development of the Laddertube solution that today enhances safety in underground mines around the world.

At the time, Durkin was working in a Western Australian mine and had little knowledge of the path to manufacturing mining equipment.

After coming up with the idea he spent a night researching whether or not his concept to create a strong, lightweight underground ladder made of plastic had been done before Certain it hadn’t, Durkin started on a journey that took several years to convince equipment manufacturers, and then mining companies, that the idea was an innovation the industry needed.

Durkin’s persistence paid off, with the Fosterville gold mine in Victoria being the first of more than 110 mines across 19 countries that has installed the product since 2010.

Despite Laddertube becoming a well-known safety product in mining circles, Durkin doesn’t take the solution’s success for granted.

Instead, he regards the challenges he faced and lessons learned in first making the industry accept the idea, and then commercialising it for mines, as a crucial experience.

“We firstly had to design and create this new product, then we had to convince customers it was a better solution than their existing solution,” Durkin tells Australian Mining at the Austmine 2019: Mining Innovation Conference in Brisbane.

“It had to be safer in terms of the way you install it, safer in terms of its use and had to last longer. That was the main point – to not have the corrosion issue and to keep the salty water out.

“If you are going to change something reasonably dramatically it has to be better on every level.”

Durkin, who received the 2019 Austmine Champion of Innovation award, says Laddertube delivers a number of improvements over steel ladders in addition to the material it

BORTANA EV HAS BEEN RECOGNISED AS A ROBUST ALTERNATIVE FOR UNDERGROUND LIGHT VEHICLES.

THE VEHICLE WE ARE USING HAS BEEN DESIGNED FROM THE GROUND UP FOR A MILITARY PLATFORM IN BRAZIL – IT IS INCREDIBLY STRONG AND ROBUST.” is made of.

Laddertube is easily installed as an escapeway with its modular design. It also keeps out any rocks, water and salt build up that might slow an escape by being fully enclosed.

Safescape has installed more than 33 kilometres of Laddertube around the world off the back of these factors.

Laddertube proved to be the breakthrough innovation of a Safescape portfolio that now includes the Multi-Bund, Edge Protector and Paste Hole Cover solutions.

AUSTRALIANMINING

Safescape is expanding this offering with its next underground innovation – the Bortana Electric Vehicle (EV) / Agrale Marruá, which it displayed at Austmine 2019.

The Bortana EV has been designed specifically for underground mining in collaboration with 3ME Technology and the METS Ignited initiative.

Safescape identified the opportunity to develop a mine-ready EV that offers lower maintenance costs, higher uptime, zero emissions, lower heat generation and safer operational controls.

Bortana EV is based on the Agrale Marruá, a heavy-duty, diesel powered Brazilian utility vehicle that is traditionally used in the South American country’s army.

Durkin considers Agrale Marruá to be a robust, low maintenance, corrosion-resistant product that will provide a much longer life than traditional underground vehicles.

“The problem with underground diesel vehicles is that they don’t last very long because of the corrosive environment and the thrashing we

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give them by overloading or keeping them in low range four-wheel-drive day-in, day-out,” Durkin says. “The maintenance costs are astronomical.”

“The vehicle we are using has been designed from the ground up for a military platform in Brazil – it is incredibly strong and robust.

“The whole body is galvanised.

To my knowledge it is the only vehicle in the world that is totally galvanised.

“So we have a vehicle that’s strong enough for the environment, strong enough for the loads that we are carrying, and resists corrosion for an extended period of time.”

Like Laddertube a decade ago, Durkin knows Safescape will need to convince mining companies and contractors of the Bortana EV’s value.

It has already started this process with a three-month trial of the vehicle at an underground gold operation.

Safescape will aim to overcome a perception that the capital expenditure that comes with battery technology prevents EVs from being

INNOVATION

an economical investment at mines.

Durkin says Safescape will educate the market of the advantages the Bortana EV will provide from an operational expenditure (OPEX) perspective to achieve this.

“They are cheaper,” Durkin says.

“People don’t necessarily believe that or think it should be true, but it’s true.

“EVs are always going to have a higher CAPEX because of the battery – you are essentially putting the fuel source into the CAPEX. “An EV costs a lot upfront but then they have very low maintenance costs. And in our case because of how we have designed the vehicle, it will last a lot longer.”

Importantly for Safescape, the EV platform reflects the values it has established as a company since Laddertube was launched.

“The point of Safescape was to make mines safer and save them money,” Durkin says. “When you think about making light EVs that is what you are doing. You are eliminating the DPM (diesel particulate matter), reducing heat, and they are easier and safer to drive.”

The batteries and some other components will be made by 3ME Technology in Australia. The

ELECTRIC VEHICLES LIKE THE BORTANA EV OFFER SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS FOR UNDERGROUND MINING.

lithium-ion batteries have been purpose-designed for mining, are maintenance-free, and able to support rapid charging while achieving impressive energy density.

Safescape is weighing up where the vehicle will be manufactured, with Durkin having a preference for this to take place in Western Australia.

Regardless of where it is manufactured, the vehicle is set to create a new opportunity for the mining industry and the next phase of growth for Safescape. AM

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EXPERIENCE THE LATEST TECHNOLOGIES Get step-by-step training on the tools and resources you need to develop solutions and drive results.

NETWORK WITH INDUSTRY LEADERS Exchange innovative ideas with peers from around the region on how to work smarter, faster, safer and more sustainable.

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WOMEN IN INDUSTRY

JODI MOFFITT ACCEPTS THE EXCELLENCE IN MINING HONOUR.

RESOURCES INDUSTRY CELEBRATES ITS LEADERS THE 2019 WOMEN IN INDUSTRY AWARDS ARE CROWDED BY FEMALES WHO HAVE MADE A DIFFERENCE IN THEIR FIELD. ROY HILL MANAGER OPERATIONS PLANNING JODI MOFFITT REVEALS THE LIFE AND CAREER OBSTACLES SHE HAS OVERCOME ON HER WAY TO SUCCESS AT THE EVENT.

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he 2019 Women in Industry Awards are lined with gamechangers from the mining sector, not the least a planning manager that started out with no formal qualifications.

Jodi Moffitt began in the resources industry as Rio Tinto’s production operator when she was 19. Eleven years later, the 30-yearold woman, now Roy Hill’s manager operations planning, has won the Rockwell Automation Excellence in Mining Award under Gina Rinehart’s leadership.

The awards category recognises individuals who have made a positive contribution to one of the many facets of the mining industry, and for Moffitt that facet would be mine digitalisation.

There are five remote control centres operating in Australia, including Roy Hill’s, and Moffitt has played a part in the industry’s move to embrace these new technologies.

The concept of a remote operations centre was as new to the industry as Moffitt was when she started her mining career in 2007.

“I came into the industry without AUSTRALIANMINING

IT’S IMPORTANT NOT TO GET CAUGHT UP THINKING THINGS SHOULD BE DIFFERENT OR HARDER BECAUSE OF GENDER.” any formal qualifications but with a lot of self-drive and ambition,” Moffitt tells Australian Mining.

Her drive and persistence to succeed has taken her from a place of having no management responsibilities to leading a team of 44 as a superintendent at Roy Hill.

Moffitt helped set up the remote

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operations centre (ROC) with a team of four supervisors, who oversaw 40 controllers under her chain of command, providing 24/7 control of Roy Hill’s mining fleet, crushing circuit, wet process plant, train load out and port operations.

“I was given quite a bit of autonomy in this role, which enabled

WOMEN IN INDUSTRY

me to create a cohesive team and influence how the centre would run,” Moffitt says.

“Embracing technology, adapting to change and thinking outside of the box certainly helped me thrive in this role. To have played a pivotal role in setting up the ROC at Roy Hill, which has set new standards for the resources industry, has been a really satisfying feat.”

JODI MOFFITT MAKES IT A POINT TO MENTOR AND INSPIRE YOUNG WOMEN OF ROY HILL TO ADVANCE THEIR CAREERS.

Beating gender barriers

It is no secret that juggling family life with the demands of a job in mining can be challenging, but Moffitt chose to turn it into a learning opportunity and optimise her time to maximise results.

Moffitt and her husband started a family when she was 23. Moffitt actively worked in the pit as a shortterm planning engineer up until a month before her baby was due.

Within four months of having her first child, Moffitt was back into part-time work, ensuring that she maintained a quality work/ life balance.

Two years later, Moffitt returned to working full-time while pursuing her Master of Mining Engineering by correspondence after the birth of her second child.

Moffitt accepted a full-time fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) role as a scheduling engineer and became a FIFO mother, alongside a FIFO husband, after 18 months of maternity leave.

Her professional role required her to deliver mine plans weekly, chair meetings, building trusting relationships with the operational crews and be a voice for the operation.

Unsurprisingly, Moffitt counts raising two young children with a FIFO partner, while being a FIFO mother herself as she worked her way up the corporate mining ladder, as one of her biggest accomplishments.

“Juggling the commitment of a leadership role with two young children and my husband working FIFO has, of course, had its challenges,” Moffitt says.

“The (FIFO) role required me to travel from Brisbane to a central Queensland mine. I would leave my kids at home and was only able to make the experience work with the help of my family, who would travel interstate monthly to help take care of my kids.”

Her success emphasises that people can succeed in the mining industry while having a family, “given the right mindset.”

Further, Moffitt has triumphed over a bullying experience twice in her career as a young female

in the male-dominated resources industry. She persisted to follow the company’s processes and escalated her concerns.

Moffitt also focused on maintaining “a positive attitude and staying true to my convictions, standards and morals.”

“Being a woman in a maledominated industry has had its challenges, though rather than thinking about these as barriers, I’ve always preferred to focus on doing my job effectively. It’s important not to get caught up thinking things should be different or harder because of gender,” Moffitt says.

“It’s very important to me to be a good role model for my kids and the young people around me, (and) it’s equally as important knowing that I have pushed myself to be the best that I can be.”

As a long-term mine planner, Moffitt would drive a truck and pull out her university books while being parked under the excavator being loaded.

Moffitt also volunteered to take AUSTRALIANMINING

the early car into work with her supervisors in the initial stages of her career as a production operator to ensure she got the opportunity to learn the physically demanding fuel lube truck role. At the time, she was the only female lube and fuel cart operator across all of Rio Tinto’s Pilbara operations.

“I have experienced some challenging times, but it has taught me to optimise my time to maximise results,” Moffitt says.

Her current focus is to lead her team by example and continue building her own technical expertise – Moffitt believes this is how to earn the most respect.

Moffitt also made a decision to commit to a leadership path as her new goal when reaching a crossroad in her career in 2016.

Her measure of success as a manager lies in getting the best out of people and helping them realise their full potential.

While at Roy Hill, Moffitt has taken the opportunity to mentor and inspire young women to

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further themselves within the resources industry.

“I think it’s important to guide and inspire young people to set goals and work hard towards these, so they can succeed in their chosen career pathway,” Moffitt says.

The planning manager also volunteers as a mentor for the Career Mentor Link and Women in Engineering program at the University of Western Australia, where she has the opportunity to coach and inspire young women to become leaders within the resources industry.

Moffitt recounts the achievements and leadership of her chairman Gina Rinehart, which demonstrates what is possible “if you put your mind to it.”

“Mrs Rinehart’s work ethic and commitment is echoed among the Roy Hill leadership team. Their support and ‘can do attitude’ that’s embraced by all who work at Roy Hill has been instrumental to my success,” the award winner concludes. AM

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DRILL AND BLAST

HASTINGS DEERING CALLS BLUFF WITH DRILL DELIVERY THE MINING EQUIPMENT COMPANY HAS DELIVERED QUEENSLAND’S FIRST CAT MD6250 DRILL TO THE BLUFF COAL MINE EAST OF BLACKWATER. EWEN HOSIE REPORTS.

H

astings Deering has cemented its reputation as one of Australia’s premier Caterpillar suppliers with the delivery of a product that is setting new standards in the drilling sector.

The Brisbane-based company has supplied Queensland’s first and only Cat MD6250 rotary blasthole drill to contractor Mining and Civil Australia (MACA) at the Bluff open cut coking coal operation.

MACA operates both drill-andblast and load-and-haul operations at the Bluff mine thanks to a 10-year, $700 million contract with owner Carabella Resources.

The contactor is set to benefit from the crawler-mounted drill’s advanced features that are designed to maximise fuel efficiency and improve drilling.

Its features include a Cat C27 engine, variable compressor output controls, drill depth indicators and virtual head stops for operators.

In addition to the expected productivity benefit, the drill will prove attractive to MACA for another reason beyond the bottom line, according to Hastings Deering product manager, drills and large motor graders Adam Davis.

“It’s an interesting site as there are restrictions around noise,” Davis tells Australian Mining. “MACA had experience with the MD6250’s predecessor model and believed they could get the same value and production out of the new model.

“The MD6250 has proportional hydraulics, which means the machine makes less noise during operation and the fan circuit only operates when it needs to. The machine only creates horsepower when needed, which cuts down on heat, noise and energy.”

Davis says the mine’s implementation of the MD6250 drill THE CAT MD6250 IS CATERPILLAR’S LATEST MID-SIZED MINING DRILL.

AUSTRALIANMINING

THE CAT MD6250 IS LADEN WITH CATERPILLAR’S LATEST TECHNOLOGY.

MACA HAD EXPERIENCE WITH THE MD6250’S PREDECESSOR MODEL AND BELIEVED THEY COULD GET THE SAME VALUE AND PRODUCTION OUT OF THE NEW MODEL.” is emblematic of a wider industry trends towards using high-tech, mid-size drills that are suited for drilling holes smaller than the 270-millimetre sizes historically common in the Bowen Basin.

The MD6250, for instance, is equipped with a hole diameter range of between 152–250 millimetres.

“In places like the Hunter Valley in New South Wales, it’s the norm to go for mid-size machines with this kind of technology, and it’s possible that this could also happen in Queensland in the future,” Davis says.

“Once the larger coal seams begin to shrink in size and the work moves to higher-grade coal seams, smaller machines are used as they are better suited to such applications.”

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The delivery of the drill required precise logistical planning on the part of Hastings Deering’s specialist team. The drill initially had to be transported in components by road from Caterpillar’s Denison factory in Texas, United States for shipping to Brisbane.

Like the United States arm of the trip, the 607-kilometre road journey northwards from Brisbane to Port Curtis in Rockhampton required that Hastings Deering load the drill in components onto three trucks, including two large prime movers and one smaller truck.

The prime movers were used to haul the drill’s chassis and mast, while the smaller truck took care of the various other accessories.

The journey took two days, with the trucks being restricted to 80 kilometres an hour for the duration of the trip due to safety regulations.

“The MD6250 doesn’t have the size of footprint of an off-highway haul truck, for example, but it is still big enough that we required a pilot vehicle and police escort to make the journey safely,” Davis explains.

Once the components were delivered, Hastings Deering’s team of engineers set aside a week to assemble the drill before delivery to the Bluff mine site to the west of the city.

Ensuring all delivery milestones

DRILL AND BLAST

stocks in case of maintenance requirements in the future.

“With the introduction of several new models in addition to the MD6250 there are exciting opportunities for Hastings Deering and its customers. There is currently a lot of positive sentiment in the market for new drill products,” Davis says.

Hastings Deering’s success on the project was not by accident; it called on the company’s considerable experience with heavy duty delivery and assembly, and a trustworthy team.

This experience was exemplified by the company’s choice of its leading hand for equipment assembly, Joe Mastroieni, who celebrated his 43rd anniversary with the company in June.

Mastroieni, who has held various positions over the years and had a hand in building over 100 units for Hastings Deering, suggests the industry is always presenting new challenges.

“The technology is always changing; the way the future is going, everything is getting more electronic,” Mastroieni says. “You never stop learning, there’s always something new, and always ways to improve. I must like something here since I’ve been here so long.” AM

CONTRACTOR MACA HAS ACCEPTED THE FIRST DRILL IN QUEENSLAND.

were met between MACA and the mine site required some quick thinking on Hastings Deering’s part.

“Hastings Deering worked with another dealer to secure inventory and change the configuration to a Hastings Deering configuration — dealers will work together to support customers’ requirements, so that really helped us to get the project done in time,” Davis explains.

Hastings Deering’s other challenges included working

around the MD6250 itself, which was a new model for the company.

This required training its staff to familiarise them with the machine.

The training covered assembly, maintenance and operation of the drill. A Caterpillar expert was engaged to help Hastings Deering’s trainers, who in turn instructed site staff to ensure proper employment of the machine.

Hastings Deering also arranged spare parts to bolster the company’s

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TRACKING THE TRENDS

SHARING SUSTAINABLE VALUE TO GAIN SOCIAL TRUST HOW HAVE MINING COMPANIES ENHANCED THEIR APPROACH TO SECURING THE SOCIAL LICENCE TO OPERATE? AUSTRALIAN MINING FINDS OUT.

S

ecuring community and consumer trust has long been a common goal for mining companies. The expectations for how they achieve this has, however, changed.

As Deloitte states in the 2019 Tracking the Trends report, mining companies have historically tried to gain the trust of local communities by investing billions of dollars building schools, hospitals and infrastructure, while supporting them through local procurement and employment.

In many parts of the world, this approach has proven not to be enough, with communities remaining opposed to mining activities despite the promise of development and economic growth.

Deloitte believes the disconnect with communities stems from mining companies viewing their social spend as a cost of compliance, instead of a way to deliver measurable and

THERE IS A BIG DRIVE INTERNATIONALLY FOR ORGANISATIONS TO CONNECT WITH THE GLOBAL SUSTAINABILITY GOALS.” sustainable benefits.

To drive different social outcomes, Deloitte urges mining companies to change this dynamic by creating a model that will deliver ‘shared value’ to communities.

Deloitte partner, sustainability Chi Woo says the issue of establishing trust remains at the heart of the change and any strategy that has been introduced.

“A big driver from this trust is the perception that an organisation is not pulling in the direction that is in your interest, whether you are a consumer or a community,” Woo says.

“If that perception is allowed to fester and embed itself in the minds of stakeholders then it is going to be very hard to shift, no matter what you do.

“You might put out a sustainability report, you might say that you have world-leading policies in relation to biodiversity or mine rehab or water, but it is still going to be very hard because of the root issue to do with trust.

“That trust is eroded because of the perception that you are not in it to benefit the other stakeholders.”

Deloitte points to Rio Tinto’s recent work to improve in this area as a leading example of what mining organisations are trying to achieve with a shared value approach.

Rio Tinto acknowledged this emerging requirement by reshaping its image and positioning itself as part of the solution, not the problem.

The mining major used a series of media campaigns to tell a compelling narrative about its contribution to society, while recognising the fact that

COAL REMAINS DIVISIVE DESPITE THE VALUE IT DELIVERS TO CERTAIN COMMUNITIES.

AUSTRALIANMINING

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miners cannot secure a future without strong community support.

Rio Tinto backed this commitment by becoming the first major mining company to support the public disclosure of their contracts by host governments.

Mining companies have needed to become better prepared in this way to reflect the growing organisation of detractors that publicly oppose the mining industry.

“The critics or campaigns against the sector, particularly in the coal sector, have been very well organised and vocal,” Woo says.

“Part of that is social media, part of that is also that they have a common platform they are working to make change to, which is climate change, the impact of carbon emissions and the role of fossil fuels moving forward.

“In that backdrop there is heightened appreciation that to be successful moving forward we have to address those issues, but we also have to be very sharp in demonstrating how we are impacting broader society.”

For organisations seeking a guide of the values that now drive this strategy, Woo says the United Nation’s (UN) Sustainable Development Goals have helped develop the sustainability agenda for all major industries, including mining.

Introduced in 2015, the 17 goals were established as part of the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

They target action by all countries – poor, rich and middle income – to promote prosperity while protecting the plant, with focus on poverty, hunger, health and well-being, education, gender equality, and more.

“There is a big drive internationally for organisations to connect with the global sustainability goals,” Woo says.

“The reason why it is important, or why mining operations look here, is they find it useful to reconcile their purpose and objectives, and the performance of the organisation against these goals.

“It enables them to say ‘we have a purpose and an objective or strategy to focus on making change financial, socially and environmentally in these areas.”

But targeting these areas and

TRACKING THE TRENDS

traditionally done a good job engaging people’s hearts and minds. This need to change. Companies must work harder to display the positive contributions they make to community stability, environmental rehabilitation and global economic growth so that politicians are properly informed. They should spell out the huge range of consumer products, applications and services that wouldn’t exist without minerals and metals. They should work to make their reports more userfriendly, digestible and emotionally relatable.

MINING CENTRES LIKE KALGOORLIE HAVE DEVELOPED OFF THE BACK OF MINING.

Plan now for the future

In mining we know that every orebody has a limited lifespan. Mining companies need to understand how they can create a sustainable economic environment post closure. The actions and investments taken now can spur new areas of economic activity that sustains communities long after an orebody has been mined out. implementing programs is just one stage of the process, Woo continues.

He adds that companies need to also be transparent about the impact of the programs and become better at highlighting the effectiveness of their initiatives.

“There is definitely a step change in the awareness that there needs to be a lot more disclosure or analysis of it.

And then disclosure of the impact that the organisations are making socially, environmentally and economically,” Woo concludes.

Deloitte’s leading strategies: Make direct connections

It is critical for company management to engage directly with key

stakeholders to build consensus and brainstorm solutions to shared challenges. Notably, ongoing technological innovation is introducing a range of solutions miners can use to connect directly with community stakeholders.

Correct misperceptions Mining companies have not

Be transparent

Many countries report GDP leakage as a result of illicit financial flows and unauthorised commodity exports.

To build goodwill and enhance transparency, companies could use blockchain to track the flow of both their minerals and their royalty and tax payments, providing evidence of compliance with local laws. AM

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TRAINING

TRAINING SIMULATORS ENSURE MINE SAFETY AND PRODUCTIVITY UNDERGROUND MINING OFFERS ENTICING BENEFITS BUT ALSO GRAVE SAFETY RISKS. IMMERSIVE TECHNOLOGIES’ TRAINING SIMULATORS ENSURE COMPANIES HAVE BOTH COVERED. ALEX GLUYAS WRITES.

W

hen many people in the mining industry think of training simulators, they’re enticed by the bright lights and sheer magnitude of the equipment.

As Immersive Technologies regional manager Greg Karadjian describes it, training simulators are often perceived as “a sexy piece of technology” at the end of the day.

While these impressive machines are aesthetically pleasing to the eye of many mining companies, they serve a far more important purpose – ensuring the safety and productivity of mine sites around the world.

“All the (looks) are wonderful, but at the end of the day, simulators are a mechanism that get people to operate as if they were in a real machine,” Karadjian says.

“We don’t want them to feel like they are playing a video game.”

Immersive Technologies is a global technology leader in the mining industry and with the increased digitisation of underground mine sites around the world, its simulators are becoming more important in ensuring the safety of miners.

The training simulators enable a range of specific operator errors and events, allowing participants to monitor and train for equipment damage and potentially lifethreatening emergency scenarios.

“The simulation of products is a cornerstone of any safety initiative for operator training, there is no other way to practice for accidents like equipment failure,” Karadjian says.

“The area of practising risky behaviours is key because the underground environment is difficult to observe.”

Karadjian points out that while safety is imperative to all mine sites around the world, the focus of simulators varies based on the specific type of mining operation being conducted and the region it encompasses.

AN UNDERGROUND SIMULATOR FOR SANDVIK’S JUMBO DRILL

“For Australian underground mines, it’s experienced significant growth in simulators because we have addressed a lot of unknowns, such as how to quantify the skills a person has before they go onsite,” he says.

The company also has a number of contracts in African nations and its focus in those countries differs to the use of Australian companies.

“Their objective is more holistic, they use this technology as a solution to uplift communities and impart skills and best practices in areas where education is historically very low,” Karadjian says.

The intention again is different in the mature markets of Mexico, where Karadjian notes “our solutions are used to reduce cost per tonne of seasoned operators for more profit and to ensure the ongoing life of mines.”

AUSTRALIANMINING

The sophistication of underground safety technology has risen in line with an increase in underground mines and Immersive Technologies is jumping on board the trend.

“We have ramped up focus on the underground market in the last five years, which has been coupled with an industry shift in the market due to greater digitisation and automation and moving to a more comparable space to surface mines,” Karadjian says.

The company has developed a wide range of underground equipment for global giants in the mining equipment manufacturing world, such as Caterpillar, Sandvik, Epiroc to name a few.

Immersive Technologies produces line of site remotes and replica cabin conversion kits, collaborating with the equipment manufacturer to replicate its underground

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loaders, trucks, bolters and drills, with functioning controls and instrumentation.

Part of the process of training involves incorporating SimControl software, which allows for the implementation of operator errors for recording and measuring incorrect operator behaviour.

The software also enables events that allow a trainer to initiate machine faults or incidents in order to train and assess operators in responding to these instances accordingly.

Operator errors and events focus more specifically on hazard avoidance, brake and engine management, gear and tyre management and site safety procedures.

The aim of the errors and events is to provide a mechanism that ensures operators are working at maximum

TRAINING

efficiency, while also minimising equipment damage.

It also allows operators to avoid or respond correctly to hazards and potentially life-threatening scenarios.

For Immersive Technologies, one of the most important aspects of its products is the ability to quantify a person’s skills and therefore assess their ability to operate a particular piece of equipment.

“Because the environment of the machines is virtual, we can reset the environment and quantify each operator and then compare them to each other,” Karadjian says.

“It’s very important to quantify the skills of operators before taking them on site.”

The training that occurs once areas for improvement are established run at a multitude of levels, according to Karadjian.

“At the basic level, most training programs will involve baselining a scenario, taking everyone through the same environment and then identifying areas of improvement,” he says.

“We then work with operations to uplift the person’s skills and behaviours such that they represent a lower risk to operations.”

The popularity of Immersive Technologies’ simulators has allowed the company to withstand the volatility of the mining industry, with Karadjian pointing out the demand largely comes from mines due to the benefits the training provides.

IMMERSIVE TECHNOLOGIES’ CONVERSION KIT FOR CATERPILLAR’S UNDERGROUND LOADERS

“The demand for our simulators come more from mines rather than manufacturers because our products and services ultimately allow for increased productivity and reduced maintenance costs,” he says.

“For manufacturers though, they still benefit through their machines operating to capacity and higher return on investment received by their customers.”

Through its solutions, which are

deployed across 44 countries and high-profile partnerships, Immersive Technologies has experienced strong growth, particularly due to its “resilience to tough times.”

“We are a lot less prone to the cyclical nature of the mining industry because the focus is on quantifiably improving productivity and safety of mines,” Karadjian says.

“When commodity prices are down and you offer customers

a proven mechanism to achieve reduction of costs per tonne, that’s a pretty compelling conversation to have.”

While the underground mining world is fraught with safety risks, it also offers some of the most prospective mining opportunities, and the aim of Immersive Technologies’ training simulators is for its customers to address needs for both safety and productivity. AM

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REGIONAL SPOTLIGHT

FLY NORTH: COMMODITIES BENEATH THE COVER AND ON THE SURFACE MINING COMPANIES BIG AND SMALL ARE JOINING FORCES AND DIGGING INTO THE UNDEREXPLORED REGIONS OF NORTHERN AUSTRALIA. VANESSA ZHOU SPEAKS WITH THREE EMERGING COMPANIES ABOUT THEIR PROSPECTS. PRODIGY GOLD HOPES TO OPERATE FIVE DRILL RIGS BY THE END OF THE YEAR.

N

orthern Australia is laden with prospects, with mining companies of all sizes flocking to the region in the past decade.

Copper, gold, cobalt and zinc are just some of the commodities that are being sought by a line of key and emerging mining players. Newmont Goldcorp, Newcrest Mining, Rio Tinto, South32 and OZ Minerals are some of the leading miners building their presence in the area.

These mining majors are linking up their capabilities with smaller counterparts already in the region, demonstrating the considerable potential to unearth the next major discovery in northern Australia.

For Prodigy Gold managing director Matt Briggs, the prospects of the Tanami region proved appealing enough to convince him to depart Gold Fields after 14 years to pursue what he calls ‘a huge opportunity’.

The geologist started looking at the Tanami region about three years prior to joining Prodigy Gold when he was Gold Fields’ head of strategic planning. He realised the area had been underexplored for the past 20 years to that point.

“That’s why you’re getting companies with the calibre of Newcrest and Newmont coming in to do joint ventures with us, and that’s why St Barbara came to take an equity with us,” Briggs tells Australian Mining.

“They see that massive potential for discovery. Those companies are looking for large provinces that are underexplored to find Australia’s next generation of gold mines. That’s why we’re all in that province.”

Prodigy Gold holds an earn-in agreement with Gladiator Resources over the North Arunta (otherwise known as the Barrow Creek) project, which has several known mineral occurrences, including gold, copper, nickel, zinc, tin and tantalum.

AUSTRALIANMINING

It also has a farm-in agreement with Newcrest at the Euro gold project and a JV with Newmont Exploration at the Tobruk project. All three agreements are in the Northern Territory.

These developments add to Prodigy’s existing joint venture with one of its major shareholders, Independence Group (IGO), at the Lake Mackay project northwest of Alice Springs.

“I joined the company a few years ago. Our strategy was to go for the best target in the Tanami region and keep it 100 per cent to self-fund, then do JVs with the right calibre of partners on other areas that were more challenging to explore, so we could progress them and make the discoveries on the ground,” Briggs says.

“We have three rights on the ground drilling at the moment (as of May 20). There should be a fourth one joining the program in the next couple of weeks. I know Newmont is very keen to go out and do some diamond

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drilling, so there could be five rigs out there within the next month or so drilling.”

Prodigy has executed a number of exploration agreements over the past 12 months, which will lead to $30 million worth of funding going into the ground.

This investment goes on top of Prodigy’s own spending at its 100 per cent owned projects, totalling one million ounces of resources at two grams a tonne of gold in the Tanami province.

Still, the junior explorer aims to lock another deal in prior to the end of 2019 to keep its portfolio moving. This one is also reserved for the Tanami region.

“We’re out there, all to find the next world-class discovery – by that, at least two million ounces, if not five. And we’ve got our rigs out there to make that discovery,” Briggs says.

“But what’s most exciting for us in the Northern Territory in the shortterm is our JV with IGO, which is

REGIONAL SPOTLIGHT

base metals, gold and battery metals.

I think this is the biggest trigger for value in our company in the short-term.

“There’s massive drilling there for 63 targets. IGO is very positive about it. They think the project looks like a battery cathode sticking out of the ground – that’s how they’ve described it.”

Briggs’ sentiment on the prospects in northern Australia are echoed

by Encounter Resources managing director Will Robinson, who believes the Tanami, Paterson and West Arunta mining provinces will provide the next wave of mineral discoveries in Australia.

While the last decade of exploration has been largely focused on a number of bulk commodities such as coal and iron ore, Robinson is optimistic that the next wave of discoveries will involve nickel, copper, cobalt, zinc and gold.

A number of the ageing gold mines have diminished, with most companies operating in that space “scouring the world for acquisition opportunities”, Robinson explains.

“In reality, the good mines in those sectors are not for sale, and if you want to have a good operating mine in those commodities, you need to get up there and find it yourself,” he says.

While the Tanami has attracted

Newmont Goldcorp and Newcrest, the Paterson is also receiving its own elite audience, such as Fortescue Metals Group and Rio Tinto.

Encounter’s focus is centred on the prospective regions in northern Australia that cover highly prospective geology showing potential to deliver Tier 1 orebodies.

This ambition brought Encounter to the Paterson region, where it’s been operating since 2010, and also to the Tanami and West Arunta via five separate JVs with Newcrest.

“The logic is pretty clear. You’ve got prospective geology that’s delivered Tier 1 mines,” Robinson says.

“Therefore, we’re continually and aggressively pursuing new projects to bring into the pipeline. We’ve got very large exploration programs set up for the next couple of years and doing what the industry’s about to embark on, which is the renaissance in greenfield exploration.

“This year will be our busiest onground year that we’ve had since we were listed – via partnerships with Newcrest in the Tanami and West Arunta, and with IGO in the Paterson, as well as the work we’re doing under our own steam in the Paterson.”

The Northern Territory’s potential for a battery minerals deposit is also developing at TNG’s Mount Peake project, which is “unquestionably”

NORTHERN AUSTRALIA NOT ONLY HOLDS IMMENSE POTENTIAL FOR GOLD BUT ALSO BATTERY MINERALS.

IGO IS VERY POSITIVE ABOUT IT. THEY THINK THE PROJECT LOOKS LIKE A BATTERY CATHODE STICKING OUT OF THE GROUND – THAT’S HOW THEY’VE DESCRIBED IT.”

NORTHERN AUSTRALIA IS ATTRACTING SOME OF MINING’S ELITE.

AUSTRALIANMINING

one of the world’s premier vanadium development assets, according to company managing director Paul Burton.

Mount Peake, which is in “one of the world’s most stable and supportive jurisdictions”, is a large, long-life project with outstanding economic fundamentals.

The operation has evolved into a multi-commodity project and processing facility, encompassing vanadium, titanium and iron products, which will effectively form three separate business units. “(TNG) has an outstanding list of strategic development partners, having secured binding offtake agreements and terms for all of its products with a group of blue-chip customers in our various commodity areas,” Burton tells Australian Mining.

“It is important to mention that the company has been receiving great support from the NT Government and regulatory bodies, and they have shown strong commitment to the

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Mount Peake project as they believe it will deliver significant economic and social benefits across the NT. “The board and management see Mount Peake project ideally placed to become a ‘new-generation’ vanadium mine – poised to meet the demand for vanadium globally to increase steel strength, as well as from the new energy storage and grid-scale battery sectors.”

Mount Peake is close to existing key power and transport infrastructure, including the Alice Springs-Darwin Railway, Stuart Highway, Amadeus Gas pipeline hub, Darwin power plant and Darwin port, further reinforcing northern Australia’s readiness to power up mineral discoveries for generations to come.

The myriad exploration programs run by Prodigy, Encounter and TNG are just a precursor to a potential major discovery in northern Australia. The industry will watch with keen eyes for what the region unearths. AM

MINERALS PROCESSING

BREAKTHROUGH AI INITIATIVE DRIVES MINERALS PROCESSING EFFICIENCIES SCHENCK PROCESS HAS REVEALED GROUND-BREAKING TECHNOLOGY THAT ALLOWS VIBRATING MACHINES TO BE MONITORED USING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ALGORITHMS. ALEX GLUYAS WRITES.

V

ibrating machines such as screens and feeders are used at almost every mine site to classify and convey bulk materials that have been extracted.

The machines churn through tonnes of material and are integral to the successful operation of mining sites. Therefore, valuable information that drives the efficient operation of these assets is constantly created.

The challenge is that extracting this information involves deciphering cryptic and complex motion raw data, a job that can only be done by the most elite data scientists.

So, what if this intricate process could be predominantly achieved through artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms?

Schenck Process’ research and development team in Germany, led by Jan Schäfer, is using diverse data mining technologies to solve classification and time series extrapolation problems to create such AI algorithms, signifying a breakthrough in the monitoring of vibrating machines.

Schäfer’s research will be presented at the Iron Ore Conference in Perth from July 2224, explaining the “revolutionary” algorithms used to maximise the efficiency of vibrating machines.

Some of the most important information used to sustain these assets fall into two categories, the first being performance parameters that include the total loads, distribution of bulk material and speed.

The second, importantly, is labelled condition parameters, which Schäfer emphasises is a ‘cost-saving preventive maintenance strategy’ that for the most part is hidden.

Schäfer insists that the concealment of this information is leading to significant unused costsaving opportunities that mining companies are missing out on.

VIBRATING SCREEN EQUIPPED WITH THE CONIQ CONDITION MONITORING.

CONDITION MONITORING FINDS THE PROBLEM BEFORE THEY BECOME FAILURES; THEREFORE PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE SAVES SIGNIFICANT COSTS.” “Our customers’ plants handle very high throughputs, within every hour they are producing millions of dollars’ worth of material, so there is potential that major costs could occur for processes that are forced to shut down if a problem with machinery is not detected,” he explains.

“Condition monitoring finds the problem before they become failures; AUSTRALIANMINING

therefore preventative maintenance saves significant costs.”

Schäfer explains the importance of condition-based maintenance having the capabilities of taking action on a problem as soon as it’s noticed – the equation is simple.

“If you replace the right component at the right time, you can save substantially on maintenance costs,” he says.

It is widely known that most performance and condition parameters correlate with a vibrating machine’s motion pattern.

Elite accelerometers that measure the acceleration of the vibrating body are therefore used to capture the motion of a vibrating machine.

While the intricate data being produced by these accelerometers is currently given to a data specialist, Schenck Process has developed AI algorithms to process accelerometer

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raw data and output specific information.

Given the scarcity of these data experts, the algorithms offer a huge opportunity to mining companies, essentially creating the need for humans to decipher this immensely complicated data obsolete.

“The experts who eventually get that data are rarely available, our customers don’t have these people,” Schäfer explains.

“These algorithms enable customers to use the same possibilities system as we do, we can make it available to them.”

Schenck Process has found that a combination of using AI learning and human domain expertise allows vibrating machines to achieve an optimum level of reliability and accuracy.

To achieve this learning, Schäfer presents the ‘solution approach’,

MINERALS PROCESSING

which is based on a technical framework that is coined the ‘objectbased training library.’

It allows AI algorithms to constantly learn and develop in order to adjust to a wider range of situations.

“If you want to transfer data to information, you need to develop knowledge – the process to generate knowledge though, is complicated, so we started a library where we archive historic data,” Schäfer says.

“Think about all datasets as an experience, which we collect into the database, we label and structure the data.”

Labelling data is crucial for what Schäfer describes as “data mining”, a key process of finding data to then generate knowledge.

This is all done by saving and archiving data and then developing apps to explore said data.

“It’s an efficient way to create AI and maintain it so as soon we obtain new data, we are updating the algorithm,” Schäfer says.

“Each data that we put in creates a new experience and can consequently optimise your parameters.”

For many, the concept of removing humans completely from the process is frightening, however, this is not what Schäfer is suggesting, instead emphasising that both AI and humans each bring their own benefits.

“Each AI algorithm is able to perform a very specific task, it can do this in an excellent way but it’s very specific,” he explains.

“Looking at screen performance or maintenance, it’s a wider range of tasks and things to consider, AI algorithms can deal with specific tasks, but they aren’t able to consider

JAN SCHÄFER DEMONSTRATING THE CONIQ CAPABILITIES TO STUDENTS.

a variety of possibilities to action like humans can.

“The algorithm will never make the human obsolete, but it certainly will be very helpful.”

Ideally, human experts will still need to interpret the information

produced by the AI algorithms, coming to a combined conclusion.

According to Schäfer, the answer to problems associated with these machines is rarely black and white, “in most cases uncertainty remains in the diagnosis and by nature, all

CONIQ MONITORING SCREENING AUTOMATION AND DIAGNOSTICS, SCREENING AND SEPARATION.

predictions carry some grade of uncertainty.”

“Imagine you go to a doctor and they give you the best interpretation possible, sometimes it’s pretty clear and sometimes it’s vague and you have to do further tests,” he explains.

The situation for resolving issues with vibrating machines is similar to diagnosing an illness in humans, however, Schenck Process is closing the gap on the uncertainty.

Ultimately, the company’s research offers mining company’s the hidden opportunity to maximise uptime, reduce costs and increase operational efficiency.

While Schäfer admits the AI algorithms won’t be perfect in the first stage of use. Within five years he hypothesises, however, that human interaction will be less required and as algorithms evolve, so will autonomism. AM

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COMMODITY SPOTLIGHT

BAUXITE TAKES FLIGHT

BAUXITE BEING LOADED AT METRO’S BAUXITE HILLS SITE.

AUSTRALIA IS THE WORLD’S LARGEST BAUXITE PRODUCER, BUT THE INDUSTRY IS SET FOR KEY CHANGES AS IT CONTINUES TO GROW. EWEN HOSIE SPEAKS WITH LOCAL PRODUCERS ABOUT WHAT TO EXPECT.

A HAUL TRUCK AT RIO TINTO’S AMRUN MINE IN QUEENSLAND.

Bauxite’s growth is expected to continue at an average annual rate of 2.7 per cent to 416 million tonnes by 2024.

The global rise is being largely driven by the West African country of Guinea, which holds some of the highest-quality bauxite reserves in the world.

Statistics from financial services firm UBS predict the global aluminium market demand will rise

COPYRIGHT © 2018 RIO TINTO

B

auxite mining production is on the rise globally and Australia is playing a significant role in its development.

Production of the mineral stood at 331 million tonnes in 2018 and is forecast to rise to 365 million tonnes this year, according to an Australian Government Resources and Energy Quarterly report.

AUSTRALIANMINING

by 2.8 per cent in 2019, increasing to 3.6 per cent in 2020, thanks to fervent demand from China, the world’s largest aluminium producer.

This growth will in turn drive bauxite production among established and emerging global producers. In Guinea, supply is expected to increase by 27 per cent in 2019 alone.

In Australia, the world’s number one bauxite producer (ahead of China), production is projected to increase by eight per cent in the same timeframe.

Bauxite is particularly important as the principal ore for the production of aluminium, which is found in everything from Coke cans to Cessna planes.

Given that aluminium is the world’s most copious metallic element, comprising around eight per cent of the Earth’s crust, there’s a lot left to be dug up yet.

A smaller percentage of bauxite ore is also used to create alumina, which is favoured for products such as polishing powders and sandpaper due to its abrasive properties. It is also used in the oil and gas sector as an oil field proppant to keep hydraulic fractures open.

Metro Mining, which launched construction of the Bauxite Hills

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mine in the bauxite-rich Cape York region of Queensland in late 2017, is helping drive the growth in output.

The company began commercial operations last year and reached an initial shipping target of two million tonnes for the year despite a planned shutdown period during the wet season.

Metro plans to mine 3.5 million tonnes in 2019 and six million tonnes by 2021 after completing a stage two definitive feasibility study.

Managing director Simon Finnis compares the Australian product to the “remarkable” market response that Guinea’s bauxite has received.

“Guinean bauxite is a very good quality bauxite,” he tells Australian Mining. “It’s different to Australian bauxite, every bauxite is different.

“From a cost point of view, the marginal tonne is the Guinean tonne because of the ocean freight leg, as any ocean freight means that either the price goes up — and we’re happy about that as long as the demand remains for our material — or that higher cost bauxite falls out of the market, and then of course, the demand for our material would be strong as well.”

Another producer contributing to bauxite’s production growth spurt is Metallica Minerals, the developers

COMMODITY SPOTLIGHT

IN GUINEA, SUPPLY IS EXPECTED TO INCREASE BY 27 PER CENT IN 2019 ALONE. IN AUSTRALIA, THE WORLD’S NUMBER ONE BAUXITE PRODUCER (AHEAD OF CHINA IS IN SECOND PLACE), PRODUCTION IS PROJECTED TO INCREASE BY EIGHT PER CENT IN THE SAME TIMEFRAME.” for other bauxite operations in the region, which refer to themselves as “north of Weipa”, or “southwest of Weipa”, and so on.

Over the past year, the company has started shifting production away from the ageing East Weipa mine towards the newer Amrun mine, while consolidating East Weipa into Andoom.

The development is also proving beneficial for local industry as well, with Indigenous workers making up about 26 per cent of Weipa’s operational workforce.

“More than $277 million was spent with Western Cape suppliers on the Amrun project, and 400 Indigenous people, including 120 local Aboriginal people, have been employed throughout construction,” a Rio Tinto spokesperson says.

Amrun commenced production in December 2018 and is ramping up to a 22.8 million tonnes a year nameplate capacity, with room for future growth to 50 million tonnes a year.

The company has expressed a preference for “value over volume” at the mine to allow for increased flexibility to meet customer demand

COPYRIGHT © 2018 RIO TINTO

of the Urquhart project in the bauxite-rich Cape York Peninsula in Queensland.

Interim Metallica chief executive officer and director Scott Waddell says bauxite pricing has always been relatively stable, but increased exporting to China is creating more liquidity in the market.

“Chinese demand for imported bauxite is expected to remain strong as new refineries continue to be built and domestic bauxite production is hampered by declining quality. However, additional supply from Guinea, Australia and other regions is expected to fill any gap in demand,” Waddell says.

Rio Tinto’s long-running Weipa operation, arguably the highest profile bauxite operation in the country, is not far from Urquhart.

Weipa has been a commercial operation since 1963 when Rio Tinto’s aluminium division was still known as Comalco. It consists three mines — East Weipa, Andoom and Amrun — and hit the 500 million tonne milestone in 2013.

Such is the project’s size and history that it is sometimes used as a unifying geographical shorthand

A WORKER AT AMRUN.

AUSTRALIANMINING

METRO MINING MANAGING DIRECTOR SIMON FINNIS.

as the nature of the market evolves.

“Strong growth in seaborne bauxite in 2018 was driven by demand from China. This was met by rising exports from Australia and Guinea, and some Indonesian exports, which accounted for the bulk of the supply increase,” the spokesperson says.

“There are significant uncertainties around the direction of the bauxite market primarily due to the recent and substantial growth in bauxite mine capacity in Guinea and uncertainties regarding the impact of supply reforms under way in China.”

A global bauxite sector report released by Fitch in May found that Australia’s growth was supported by a “steady project pipeline” that represented 12 of 29 new bauxite projects in its mining database.

Year-on-year growth in Australia is predicted at 15 per cent for 2019, up from four per cent in 2018, according to Fitch.

The report added that bauxite accounted for less than five per cent of Australia’s mining value, but the country as a whole accounted for 28.8 per cent of global output.

The Fitch report mentioned Rio Tinto and Metallica, but curiously absent was Metro’s Bauxite Hills which, like Weipa and Urquhart, is in the Cape York Peninsula.

Metro has already sold more than 75 per cent of its annual product to customers in the Chinese market, according to Finnis.

A 30-year industry veteran, Finnis predicts that China is beginning to show signs of a gradual migration of

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aluminium refineries from inland provinces to the coast in a move to reduce costs associated with the import of high-quality bauxite.

“We’re shipping it from Australia to China, but they have to get that inland, which is actually more expensive than the ocean freight,” Finnis explains.

“Building refineries, given the capital advantage they have, makes a lot of sense, and I expect that is what will happen, and there’ll be a gradual migration from inland provinces to the coast.

“We believe that Liaoning in Northeast China is probably where that will occur because there’s a lot of aluminium smelting that goes on up in inner Mongolia and the northern part of China.”

Overall, the bauxite industry looks set for change. Australia’s status as the largest producer of bauxite, meanwhile, looks set to remain in place for the time being, bolstered by the strong activity in Cape York.

Down the line, this status may be threatened by the rapid ramp up of production in Guinea (which holds a larger resource than Australia) as the country’s infrastructure continues to develop.

Australian export earnings for bauxite are also forecast to fall due to an expected decline in the aluminium and alumina spot prices.

However, with projects such as Amrun set for a 50-year mine life, Australia looks on track to retain a sizeable piece of the bauxite pie for years to come. AM

INDUSTRY COMMENT

METS IGNITED URGES INDUSTRY TO EMBRACE AUTOMATION A CALL TO ARMS BY METS IGNITED IS ENCOURAGING THE AUSTRALIAN MINING INDUSTRY TO COME TOGETHER AND CAPITALISE ON THE HUGE OPPORTUNITY AUTOMATION PRESENTS. ALEX GLUYAS WRITES.

T

he increased adoption of autonomous technology and equipment in mining presents both opportunities and challenges for the industry.

While for many, the path to adoption of data, machine learning and automation still seems unclear, METS Ignited is adamant there will be major benefits for companies, individuals and communities if the industry invests in the training and technologies to deliver moreautomated mines in Australia.

METS ignited acting chief executive officer Ian Dover, speaking at the 2019 Austmine Conference in Brisbane, says technological change, while not necessarily a burning platform, is a smouldering platform that Australian METS (mining equipment, technology and services) and mining companies must adopt.

In his presentation, Transformative Automation in METS and Mining, Dover emphasises that it’s an exciting time to be in the METS sector given its upturn and growth.

Citing an analysis conducted by economic advisory business, AlphaBeta Advisors, Dover reveals that automation is estimated to deliver $52 billion in value to the mining sector in 2030, lifting total value added by 58 per cent.

“This is what is driving METS Ignited’s view and our focus over the next couple of years,” Dover says. “If we look at the elements of automation it includes operational productivity, capital productivity, access to new resources and also a broader systems impact.”

The economic impact of automation is perhaps the most profound, with Dover highlighting that the benefits will not be confined only to the improved efficiency and productivity of mining companies.

“There’s the secondary impact, which is the supply chain impact, where the METS companies get involved and where the benefit flows

in terms of the METS sector and the capabilities of the METS sector,” Dover says.

“Then thirdly, there’s a wider economic impact, which is really the broader supply into the METS sector, which again is supplying into mining.”

However, the fears that jobs will be lost in the industry via the adoption of automation remain. In response to a seemingly omnipresent fear about the impact on jobs that automation will have, Dover remains steadfast.

“Overall economic analysis has suggested that we will transform more jobs and economic benefit over to future work than will be lost due to automation,” he says.

“If we actually invest in this in the way we are expecting, then we will deliver more jobs, many more jobs than we will lose.”

Prospects of grass roots integration and the application of analytics are also being perceived as an area with great potential for the METS sector.

The benefits of analytics extend to a range of mining companies and not just the giants of the industry, as Dover implores the mining community to join together in support of data systems.

“METS companies want to know how to get involved, how do we get the data, how do we use it, how do we analyse it and how do we bring benefits not only to ourselves but to our customers?” Dover says.

“The benefits, in terms of analytics automation and robotics, will also be available to the Tier 2 miners, especially if they pool their money to focus on the challenges that affect them all.

“We are looking to have the mining industry come together and collaborate to address the current key challenges that are existing across many of the companies – most of them exist across the companies, they aren’t challenging one company at a time.”

A sense of urgency seems pervasive surrounding the need for the METS community to get on board.

Dover remains convinced that these technological shifts need to be AUSTRALIANMINING

IAN DOVER OUTLINING THE OPPORTUNITIES AUTOMATION BRINGS TO THE METS SECTOR.

capitalised on before it’s too late.

“We believe it is an opportunity, it is a smouldering platform, we need to take advantage of this otherwise Australian METS might get left behind in favour of overseas suppliers. There is a danger that if we don’t invest in the digital enhancements in the supply chains that we can get left behind,” he says.

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In order to assist in the technological adjustment, Dover discusses the transformative automation initiative, which aims to help METS firms enhance the design of businesses. “(This is) not just focusing right in on the technology, we are looking at the culture, the business model, the systems, the capabilities for the

INDUSTRY COMMENT

IAN DOVER SPEAKS AT THE 2019 AUSTMINE CONFERENCE.

most effective application of the full suite of analytics and automation technologies that they will deliver in their customers operations,” he says.

In order to achieve this, METS companies are urged to explore a number of key areas, beginning with discovering where mining companies are investing in their operations now and where they will invest in the next 10 years.

This coincides with consolidating what Australia’s capabilities are, including current METS companies that are developing new technology.

Finally, Dover says the Australian METS industry must look at what’s happening abroad, including where the “big money” is being spent by

WE BELIEVE IT IS AN OPPORTUNITY, IT IS A SMOULDERING PLATFORM, WE NEED TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS OTHERWISE AUSTRALIAN METS MIGHT GET LEFT BEHIND IN FAVOUR OF OVERSEAS SUPPLIERS.” original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), and therefore avoid going into direct competition with them.

“We know already that we can integrate a lot of the technologies, a lot of the automation that’s occurring now, by those companies,” he says.

“The other thing we can do is capture the economic and job

AUSTRALIANMINING

opportunities for Australia from the development of the domestic supply chain capability.”

While recognising the domestic innovation that exists on Australian soil, Dover emphasises that it is just as important to integrate other technology to further enhance their own.

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“Yes, Australia has developed some incredible technology, the wireless blasting and also going right back in terms of flotation, but we are also exceptionally good at integrating other people’s technologies and making them work exceptionally well in remote mining operations,” he says.

“That’s part of our DNA, we can use that in terms of integrating technologies that are coming forward now.”

Dover’s encouragement to embrace and get behind automation technology can be described as a “call to action”, but it now seems to be up to the METS and mining industry to respond. AM

INDUSTRY COMMENT

THE LEADING TRENDS DRIVING THE METS SECTOR AUSTMINE REVEALS THE FIVE KEY THEMES THAT EMERGED FOR THE MINING AND METS SECTOR AT ITS 2019 MINING INNOVATION CONFERENCE IN BRISBANE.

A

ustmine 2019: Mining Innovation – The Next Horizon, welcomed over 1200 attendees from around the world to Brisbane, Queensland, for three days of inspiring and thought-provoking conversations, presentations and exchanges.

Several key themes emerged over the days, with miners and METS (mining equipment, technology and services) alike singing from the same song sheet about the challenges our industry faces, the opportunities for growth and success, and what lies ahead for us next.

THE ORICA DISPLAY IN THE EXHIBITION HALL.

Partnerships and collaboration Collaboration has been an industry buzz-term for several years now, since the Austmine conference in 2015, but never before has its true meaning been challenged or held up to the microscope so much.

Andrew Cole, chief executive and managing director of OZ Minerals, kicked off Austmine 2019 with a keynote presentation that focused on what partnerships should really look like and how OZ Minerals is working to encourage these.

SIMON BRUZZONE OF HANCOCK PROSPECTING.

One example he gave was of OZ Minerals’ ‘Explorer Challenge’, where OZ opened up their exploration data to people all around the world to analyse and identify the hottest prospect to win from a $1 million prize pool.

In separate presentations, CMOC Northparkes and Orica both discussed their partnership on the WebGen 100 wireless electronic blasting system’s implementation in Northparkes’ block cave mine.

Neil Freeman, innovation manager at Rio Tinto, shared insights into the company’s new initiative, the Rio Tinto 4.0 Pioneer Portal. This is a website dedicated to allowing companies and individuals to share their innovative ideas or technologies directly with Rio Tinto. It presents an exciting new opportunity for companies to engage with the miner.

Innovation adoption cycle

Mining is well known for being ‘first AUSTRALIANMINING

to be second’, a cultural attitude that has previously not allowed us to adequately accelerate the innovation adoption rate.

However, this is changing. Mark Boon, GM transformation and effectiveness at Evolution Mining, discussed the impressive number of innovations the company is implementing or trialling across its sites. These include Artificial Intelligence (AI) in seismic/geology and mineral processing and InSar Monitoring, or in the scoping phase with nano filtration and density separation.

Alan Broome AM, chairman emeritus of Austmine, remarked that what was most noticeable across the technology presentations was that so many innovations are now being implemented, not just talked about.

AI, machine learning, robotics, augmented reality, digital twins, big data analytics, drones, IIoT: all of these are now a reality in the mining

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industry, in significant part due to Australian METS innovating faster than ever before.

Towards Zero

Ann Burns, resources industry lead at Accenture, perfectly encapsulated the goal here: ‘Triple zero – zero harm, zero loss, zero waste’. Digital twinning and simulation are not only critical technologies in relation to improving productivity and efficiency, but also perfectly allow for experimentation of new systems or processes in a zero-risk digital environment.

Zero loss can only be achieved through looking across the entire mining value chain and using automation, cognitive decision making and process optimisation.

Zero waste is no longer a conceptual impossibility, with Burns drawing on examples from the aviation and FMCG industries for where step-changes have been made, and

INDUSTRY COMMENT

pointing to drill and blast, load and haulage, crushing and processing and finally, transport, as the key areas for waste elimination in mining.

Natascha Viljoen, group head of processing at Anglo American, shared the company’s vision for the mine of the future, which is concentrated, waterless and modern.

All three of these pillars incorporate visions of mining where it is welcomed and embraced by the local communities, delivering shared value to them through the use of renewable energy, mining precision techniques, and repurposing land use.

John Welborn, managing director and chief executive of Resolute Mining, told the audience how zero harm was exactly the reason behind their “crazy” decision to implement the world’s most complex underground mining production automation system in West Africa.

Removing people (especially people without a high level of experience) from the Syama underground mine, which has several hazards such as mud/fines rush, ground failure and vehicle interactions is Resolute’s top driver for going autonomous.

The people factor

The people aspect of innovation and our industry’s sustainable future was firmly in the spotlight for many at the conference. Any technology is only as good as the people using or interacting with it. With the loss of traditional mining roles, comes the addition of new roles, requiring new and diverse skill sets.

Mining no longer just competes with itself for employees: now we compete with companies such as Google, Amazon and NASA. Austmine’s Future METS Skills Forum took place just before the conference kicked off and outlined some exciting ideas from the participants for tackling the problem of attracting the next generations into our sector.

Simon Bruzzone from Hancock Prospecting discussed Roy Hill’s roadmap for the next five years.

Within this they have four strategic priorities, including “smart people”.

At each major step on this journey, before a new technology roles out, Roy Hill have steps in place to ensure their people will be worked with to identify their preferred career pathways, and then equipped with the right skills. ‘ROC Ed’ is one such pathway allowing staff to learn on the job.

BHP hosted a breakfast panel on the second day of the conference, to focus on inclusion and diversity as a leading indicator of innovation. The

panel, including speakers from BHP, Haultrax and Alacris, discussed how critical diversity (all kinds!) is for companies wishing to be truly innovative.

Meanwhile, in the plenary conference session, Rag Udd, VP technology, global transformation at BHP, spoke at length about how BHP is working to upskill and reskill its people to prepare them for the roles of the future. He summarised perfectly why BHP is doing this: “The technology is coming, whether we like it or not. What will determine who wins in this future, is people.”

Cyber security

Once again, Ann Burns from Accenture brought cyber security to the forefront early in the Austmine conference, flagging it as a key factor for consideration in the goal of zero harm.

Rafael Estrada from Antamina Mining gave a chilling reminder to everyone that mining is just as vulnerable to cyber attacks as the next industry, noting the recent attacks around the world in Australia, Canada, the Middle East and Malaysia, to name a few.

Rob Labbe, director information security at Teck Resources, discussed the changing “attack

surface” mining provides to hackers.

The increasing reliance on IT, the increased use of OT: all of these contribute to making cyber security consistently identified as one of the top five risks to mining companies, by all the major consultancies.

Labbe noted that cyber security is both a core operational risk, while also being an enabler for innovation.

He also warned that cross-industry and cross-company cyber security collaboration will be critical for the success of digital transformation in mining.

Summary

While the Austmine conference covered many different technologies, projects and ideas, the overarching theme was one of partnershipdriven, technology-enabled improvement for mining operations, focused around safety and productivity.

Nowhere more was the celebration of partnerships and technology more evident, than at the Austmine Industry Leaders’ Dinner and Awards evening. Congratulations to all of the awards winners once again.

Austmine Champion of Innovation Award: Steve Durkin, Safescape managing director, Austmine METS Innovation

TECHNOLOGY WAS A KEY ATTRACTION OF THE EXHIBITION HALL.

AUSTRALIANMINING

ANN BURNS OF ACCENTURE.

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Award: Orica Craig Senger Excellence in Export Award: Metallurgical Systems Austmine Miners Innovation Award: PanAust AM

INDUSTRY COMMENT

MANAGEMENT OF VENTILATION RISK CENTRAL TO SAFETY TECHNOLOGY SOLVES MANY THINGS, BUT IT CANNOT BE SOLELY DEPENDED ON TO KEEP UNDERGROUND WORKERS SAFE. VALE NORTH ATLANTIC’S MANAGER FOR VENTILATION DESIGN AND TECH SUPPORT SPEAKS TO AUSTRALIAN MINING.

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very mine operation should meet regulatory requirements, but doing so is a bare minimum.

Even so, a regulation cannot cover every possible situation, according to Vale North Atlantic manager ventilation design and tech support Cheryl Allen.

The ventilation specialist, with 30 years of mining experience, leads a team that develops the strategy, standards and guidelines, long to short range designs and execution support for ventilation projects and operating systems at eight Canadian mines.

Allen believes the above principle should be applied to every part of an operation, not the least the design of mine ventilation to ensure worker health and safety.

She emphasises that a ventilation system is designed to keep workers safe without the use of technology.

“However, technology can greatly enhance the efficiency of the ventilation system,” Allen tells Australian Mining.

She says the latest technology advances are in underground communication systems, which are the backbone of more cost-effective concepts (that have been considered and applied for many years) to automatically control ventilation systems.

The industry’s move towards battery electric equipment (BEV) to replace the diesel-powered equipment is also a step change to eliminate diesel particulate in the mine environment and reduce the heat resulting from the engine.

With technology advances, however, caution should be undertaken.

“In today’s ventilation design, it is expected that a numerical model will be built to demonstrate the air flow distribution and associated infrastructure,” Allen says.

“Numerical modelling tools, regardless of the type, will produce results. However, caution must be given to ensure inputs are sound and the results are checked.”

Though numerical modelling allows the completion of designs in relative ease and speed, a ventilation designer must be skilled to create an air volume

ALTHOUGH EVERY MINE MUST MEET THE REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS IN THEIR JURISDICTION ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD, A REGULATION CANNOT COVER EVERY POSSIBLE SITUATION.” CHERYL ALLEN OF VALE NORTH ATLANTIC.

demand and distribution system without a model.

Technologies that are chosen must also be deemed fit for the mine, considering their complexity, skillsets requirement and levels of maintenance.

Companies need to establish and align the criteria they will use to design their ventilation system before the design is initiated.

Risk assessments also need to occur to ensure the design is robust and appropriate controls are included in the final optimised design.

The ventilation system necessary for a selected mining method may also require a specific type of equipment to

mine the orebody.

“This decision is based on many factors, such as type and value of the minerals, orientation, lateral expanse and depth, which can complicate the extraction of the ore,” Allen says.

“The ventilation design is intended to dilute and remove airborne hazards from the work environment. However, when conditions arise are abnormal, personal protective equipment (PPE) may be required.

“It is important to note that PPE is not considered good engineering practice in the design of a ventilation system, and considered only as a last alternative to ensure the health and safety of a worker.”

These contaminants are largely sourced by dust, gas and heat that is

created from diesel engines which power mobile vehicles, or from breaking and moving ore and rock.

Technology advances have the potential to dilute airborne hazards to acceptable levels where people and equipment are working in the mine.

With real-time monitoring, the environmental conditions will be transparent. Employees will better understand the state of their environment and make informed decisions to implement necessary adjustments.

“If we analyse the data and better plan changes, we will operate more efficiently and reduce risk,” Allen says.

“Technology can optimise design and help to manage ventilation systems more efficiently, but humans are required to ensure that the technologies are functioning as designed, the air quality is as being reported and the correct volumes of air are being delivered to the workplace.

“The health and safety of workers must be ensured.” AM Cheryl Allen will speak at the Mine Ventilation Conference 2019, organised

by The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. The conference will be held in Perth from August 26-28. To find out more, visit minevent.ausimm.com.

THE CRITERIA OF A VENTILATION SYSTEM DESIGN MUST BE ESTABLISHED BEFORE INITIATING THE DESIGN PLAN.

AUSTRALIANMINING

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

VOLUME 111/6 | JULY 2019

DRILLING DOWN HASTINGS DEERING’S NEW ARRIVAL IN QLD

Established in 1908, Australian Mining continues to lead and inform the Australian mining industry of the latest innovations in mining technology and equipment.

Australian Mining’s special features provide organisations with a forum to showcase the role each mining sector plays in helping the industry achieve its modern-day targets.

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POLITICS

COALITION SUPPORT OF MINING DECISIVE IN ELECTION VICTORY

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he Australian minerals industry believes it will benefit from the reelection of the Coalition Government through reduced taxes and increased investment in the sector.

Labor’s staunch opposition to the coal industry was a key contributor to the election result, according to Coal Council of Australia chief executive officer Greg Evans.

“Anti-coal policies concerning Adani, the suggestion of ‘transitioning’ of coal workers elsewhere and resisting coal-fired power generation have damaged the Labor Party, and as they reset their policy platform, they need to reverse their anti-coal positions,” Evans says.

“Suggestions that coal workers are second class citizens has rightly been viewed as insulting.”

Evans instead praised the Coalition’s support of coal, claiming it as a key factor in the victory.

“Resources minister Matt Canavan has been an active and very effective supporter of the coal sector and his advocacy has engendered trust throughout the coal regions,” he says.

Queensland, in particular, backs the coal industry’s importance with many residents voting to support the state’s largest export.

“Queenslanders have spoken, and their message is clear. They support mining jobs and they expect their governments to support them too,” Queensland Resources Council chief executive Ian Macfarlane says.

“Prior to the election, Bob Brown and his convoy of cars drove around Queensland telling mine workers and people living in regional Queensland that they were wrong and that they should reskill, there was no defence of these Queenslanders from the Queensland Government.”

Prime Minister Scott Morrison made a number of commitments that will “deliver further growth and expansion of Australia’s resources sector”, according to the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA).

They include pledging $30 million for the Central Queensland University School of Mines and Manufacturing in the Gladstone and

THE COALITION ELECTION WIN CAME AS A SURPRISE.

Rockhampton regions, alongside an investment of $3.4 million over four years, to encourage more women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

The Coalition also promises to continue development of the critical minerals strategy to promote investment and give priority status for funding applications as part of the $20 million round seven stage of the cooperative research centres project.

It has also renewed its commitment of $100 million to produce new precompetitive geoscience data through Geoscience Australia’s ‘exploring for the future’ program.

This coincides with $100 million to assist with greenfield exploration as part of the junior mineral’s exploration and a further $100 million to support the development of hydrogen technologies.

The Coalition’s victory has also provided a clear mandate for resources projects that have lawful approvals to proceed, including the Adani coal mine in central Queensland and the Yeelirrie uranium mine in Western Australia.

MCA praises the commitment Morrison has made to the resources sector, with chief executive officer Tania Constable saying it will “work in partnership with the cabinet to deliver a strong economy.”

“This is a win for regional jobs, particularly in the big resources states of Queensland, New South Wales and Western Australia,” Constable says.

AUSTRALIANMINING

EDITORIAL CREDIT: / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

MINING COMPANIES AND INDUSTRY BODIES ALIKE HAVE WELCOMED THE RESULTS OF THE 2019 FEDERAL ELECTION. AUSTRALIAN MINING WRITES.

“(It) will promote our national brand, boost cooperation with the states on the development of new resource basins, upgrading and enhancement of skills and investment in advanced seismic and aero-magnetic surveys to discover the critical minerals we will need for Australia’s future.”

The Morrison Government’s move to reappoint a large number of its ministers has also been commended

by MCA, which notes it as a “sign of stability.” “(It) shows that the government is getting on with the job of growing Australia, strengthening regional communities and supporting our world-leading minerals industry,” Constable says.

MCA also congratulates Senator Canavan on his reappointment as Minister for Resources, having previously worked closely together to develop the Coalition’s resources statement.

Constable says MCA is looking forward to continuing its work with Minister for Energy, Angus Taylor, who has also started a new portfolio of emissions reduction.

MCA plans to work with Taylor to help deliver Australia’s commitments in the Paris Agreement through “practical action on sites including energy efficiency and increasing the use of renewable energy.”

“Affordable, reliable and sustainable energy is central to Australian business and households and MCA looks forward to working with

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Minister Taylor to deliver pragmatic policies that reduce power prices and emissions,” Constable says.

She also welcomes the appointment Ken Wyatt as the first indigenous Australian to represent the first Australians in the cabinet.

“Australia’s minerals industry has a long-standing focus on Indigenous empowerment and invests substantially in training and education to increase employment opportunities for Indigenous people in regional and remote communities,” she says.

The Australian Resources and Energy Group (AMMA) welcomed the Coalition’s victory, while taking aim at the Labor Party for its “divisive class warfare rhetoric”.

“AMMA is delighted the Australian people have voted for aspiration, not the Australian Labor Party/Australian Council of Trade Unions’ phony industrial relations policies aimed at pitting workers against employers,” AMMA chief executive Steve Knott says.

AMMA encourages the government to pursue improvements to the workplace relations system.

“This should start with lifting governance standards and accountability for all employer and union organisations registered under the Fair Work Act, through the passage of the Ensuring Integrity Bill that passed the lower house in the last parliament,” Knott says.

The Australian resources sector, which produces more export revenue than all industries combined, generated $12 billion in royalties for state governments in 2017-2018.

Recognising its record earnings, AMMA urges the government “to continue growing our industry’s record earnings, the 46th Parliament must prioritise competitive and productivityunlocking workplace regulation and skills development.”

AMMA expresses its optimism about working with the Coalition through focusing on its shared “vision for productive and competitive workplace relations, unleashed through a flexible and future-focused system, safeguarding the industry’s competitiveness in the future global economy.” AM

FINANCE

THE RICHES(T) OF MINING THE LIST OF AUSTRALIA’S RICHEST 250 SEES THE SAME MINING FIGURES MAKING HEADLINES, BUT THE EDITOR OF THE 2019 EDITION REVEALS TO VANESSA ZHOU WHAT LIES BENEATH IT ALL.

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ancock Prospecting chair Gina Rinehart and Fortescue Metals Group counterpart Andrew Forrest are no strangers to Australia’s rich list.

They are the second and eighth richest Australians, with wealth that is estimated at $13.12 billion and $7.34 billion, respectively, according to The Australian’s ‘The List: Australia’s Richest 250’.

The List exhibits the strength of iron ore as the founding commodity of Rinehart and Forrest’s wealth, but it also demonstrates the Queensland coal story being played out by QCoal managing director Chris Wallin (31st) and Jellinbah Resources founder Sam Chong (75th), according to The List editor John Stensholt.

The two coal barons have received large royalties on the back of their independently-run businesses and last year’s coal comeback in Queensland, beating the wealth of ASX-listed company executives like Mineral Resources managing director Chris Ellison (143) and Glencore chief financial officer Steven Kalmin (222).

Many mining magnates accumulate their fortune from royalties every year, leading to the inclusion of mining personalities like Clive Palmer.

The 13th richest man on The List gets a $US66 million ($94 million) royalties cheque every quarter from CITIC Pacific, according to Stensholt.

“That’s why he’s off pursuing his career in politics at the moment, because he can afford it,” Stensholt says, adding that Palmer supposedly spent more than $50 million on advertising during the election.

Royalties are not the only income responsible for making Australia’s richest rich. Many of them are company heads who don’t only “dig the commodities out of the ground”, but have also accumulated wealth through inheritance, according to Stensholt.

Gina Rinehart is one such example, seated behind Visy owner Anthony Pratt at number two with just $200 million less.

Rinehart has received her fortune, first and foremost, from leading a company her late father Lang Hancock founded, then grown and

QUEENSLAND’S COAL COMEBACK BUILDS ON AUSTRALIA’S RICHES.

diversified her investments into agriculture, media and property.

Hancock’s late business partner Peter Wright also has his income from royalties and wealth that has lasted two generations after him, with his grandchildren Leonie Baldock and Alexandra Burt sitting 68th and 69th in the rankings, respectively.

“I just can’t see (other) young people coming through the mining industry so much as other (sectors).

There’s not necessarily any new ones in the sector in recent years,” Stensholt says.

Australia’s richest mining magnates have retained their wealth status for some time, proving the industry’s elite is cluttered to a number of people in the sector, despite the volatility of commodity prices.

Though individual wealth fluctuates according to commodity and share price movements in the mining industry more so than others, the wealth of the sector’s richest is relatively secure. It is rarely challenged by young entrepreneurs AUSTRALIANMINING

who pursue wealth in other nonmining sectors, according to Stensholt.

“You don’t necessarily see a lot of young people in mining like there are in technology or even property,” the wealth expert says.

“Mining is a harder industry to break into as young entrepreneurs these days. It’s pretty capital intensive, it’s quite competitive and obviously you need to invest a fair bit of money in it.

“It’s not like coming up with an app for technology, which you can do very quickly, relatively speaking.

With technology, you can form and run a global company from your own backyard in Sydney (such as in the case of software company Atlassian).

“Mining is a bit harder. You’re exporting a lot, but it’s much more capital intensive and it’s not just a matter of coming up with a great technology idea – it’s a lot harder work than that, that’s for sure.”

The List displays only 17 people who have accumulated or inherited

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their fortune from mining, which strikingly takes up less than 10 per cent of the list.

Property and investment still dominate the wealth of Australia’s richest 250, with their entire wealth totalling $138.33 billion.

This individual wealth ranking system reflects how big some of Australia’s listed companies (namely BHP and Rio Tinto) are, with no particular individual standing behind them, according to Stensholt.

It may have underplayed the value that Australia’s commodities hold in the economy when the abundance of the mining sector is peered in from an individual point of view.

But Stensholt could certainly see a day where Rinehart is number one on the list: “A lot of (the mining moguls) tend to want to keep working all the time and never thinking about retiring. They’re driven people,” he says.

“Maybe that’s the secret – to keep working, working and working.” And with that, he finishes with a laugh. AM

2019

AUSTRALIAN MINING PROSPECT AWARDS

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INTERVIEW

WHAT’S THE HOLD UP? TIVAR IS ONE SOLUTION TO MANY PROBLEMS WHEN IT COMES TO BULK MATERIAL HANDLING. IT’S NOT FAZED BY THE MANY CHARACTERISTICS OF AUSTRALIA’S COMMODITIES IN WET OR DRY CONDITIONS. AUSTRALIAN MINING REPORTS.

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ivar is the longest wearing liner available for a reason. In this interview, Australian Mining digs into the secret ingredients to Tivar’s proven abrasion resistance and low friction capabilities by speaking with E-Plas Engineering and Industrial Plastics director Lisa Marshall, whose family company has been an Australian distributor for more than 15 years.

How did Tivar first come about?

First developed in the United States

by Quadrant EPP over 40 years ago and now part of the Mitsubishi Advanced Chemical Materials family, the Tivar Systems group of modified UHMW-PE liners were formulated to specifically address the extreme material handling challenges faced by mining, agriculture, electrical and chemical industries. Tivar linings are used to solve problems related to friction, wear, material flow and corrosion. It is now one of the most specified names in bulk handling and flow-promotion globally. It is produced using stateof-the-art compression moulding technology and ram extrusion.

How is UHMW-PE superior to other traditional engineering materials?

There are a number of varieties of Tivar with specific benefits, such as Tivar 88’s low coefficient of friction and excellent wear properties. It is a bulk handling and mining industry champion due to its excellent performance in promoting bulk solids flow of cohesive or non-free flowing materials due to its low surface friction and it is extremely robust. It reduces or eliminates arching, ratholing and erratic material flow challenges in bins, bunkers, hoppers and chutes, railcars and others.

Tivar ESD is electro-static dissipative, while the distinct avocado-coloured Tivar Ceram P is an extremely wear resistant material known for outstanding high abrasion resistance. Incorporated micro glass beads enable use with higher mechanical loads and higher speeds.

Tivar Rubber Backed also exhibits excellent impact resistance, wear resistance and sliding capabilities.

The rubber backing results in better impact absorption and thermal

expansion and also minimises substrate corrosion.

How does Tivar remove the risks of dislodging hold-ups manually?

The additives within Tivar UHMWPE linings offer self-lubrication which means that materials that may be sticky or have a tendency to cling will flow unhindered. You do not get carry-back and hang-up.

QuickSilver truck linings are part of the Tivar UHMW-PE family and they are incredibly slippery, like Teflon. Even wet clay and hotmix glide out at a 45-degree angle.

Manual intervention is negligible. A bit of a hose down and you’re done.

No one wants to deal with trailer or heavy machinery tip-overs. Tivar and QuickSilver liners eliminate this risk.

The safety benefits combined with greater productivity are a win-win.

How long has E-Plas been a distributor?

We have distributed Tivar for at least 15 years, and honestly I’ve lost count on how many sites we’ve supplied into over the years and they just keep

WE HAVE DISTRIBUTED TIVAR FOR AT LEAST 15 YEARS, AND HONESTLY I’VE LOST COUNT ON HOW MANY SITES WE’VE SUPPLIED INTO OVER THE YEARS AND THEY JUST KEEP COMING.” coming. We’ve supplied Tivar to One Steel, Linfox and CSR – PGH, also as far and wide as Arrium Mining in South Australia to GORO Nickel in New Caledonia.

Is there a user story that stands out to you?

I think my personal favourite is the giant Goro Nickel hoppers lined with Tivar 88 that stand proud on the loading docks in New Caledonia.

The material has lasted many years without fail and they have talked about relining in the same when the time comes. That’s pretty good feedback in my book.

What does the mining industry think about Tivar?

TIVAR CAN SMOOTHLY GLIDE OUT THE TOUGHEST OF MATERIALS AT A 45-DEGREE ANGLE.

That it works. We’ve seen everything from truck bodies to digger scoops to chutes and rail cars lined in Tivar.

It is truly reliable and loved for its toughness and durability. And on top of that it is very easy to machine and install in all sorts of configurations, including drop-in hopper linings. It is a highly specified material and we can’t complain about that.

Are there any future developments in store?

Tivar already provides effective solutions to many engineering challenges from impact and chemical resistance to flame retardance and flow promotion. Mitsubishi is always looking to improve and expand the product range’s capabilities.

For the present, we can attest to the enduring quality of this top performing linings group and we look forward to seeing what other applications our users come up with.

We are always happy to work on solutions with our clients using this great material. AM AUSTRALIANMINING

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PRODUCTIVITY

MINOVA BUILDS STRENGTH WITH SPLIT SET MINING SYSTEMS THE LATEST VERTICAL INTEGRATION AND DISTRIBUTOR PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN MINOVA AND SPLIT SET MINING SYSTEMS PROVES THAT TWO IS BETTER THAN ONE. AUSTRALIAN MINING REPORTS.

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round support manufacturer Minova is making a comeback to the Western Australian mining market with a partnership and the product offerings of former longstanding distributor, Split Set Mining Systems.

Minova underwent a change in business ownership a few years ago, causing the company to shed some of its market share on both sides of the country, but not its focus on underground operational safety.

The standalone entity was providing high performance ground support products for the coal mining industry and supporting underground hard rock mines across primary commodities.

Split Set Mining, part of the Phoenix group of companies, produces friction bolt products, which are recognised around the world. It also offers cable bolts, resin bolts, mesh and steel arches, with a strong client portfolio that includes Evolution Mining and Newmont Goldcorp.

Amid this scenario, Split Set Mining was also advancing Minova’s chemical and resin products, selling them across Australia’s east and west coasts.

The manufacturer of hard rock ground support products then secured a crossover with Minova in May this year, taking its bolts offering to places they hadn’t yet reached.

“Our speciality products for niche applications open the doors to customers and provide an alternate ‘in’ for Split Set Mining,” Minova marketing manager Mandy Lubbe tells

MINOVA’S QUALITY LABORATORY IN NOWRA, NEW SOUTH WALES.

Australian Mining.

“Once we’ve opened that door, we benefit from the sale of our specialty products – our Lokset resins, injection chemicals, grouts and ventilation steel fabrications – and they benefit from bringing in their bolts to the customer.”

Split Set Mining, with its bolts and steel products, logistics and manpower, is complemented by Minova, which contributes its technical expertise, innovation and premium products (including resin, injection chemical, steel, fibre glass and ventilation control

products) to the joint venture.

The products of both companies are designed to deliver better efficiency for customers.

Minova is no longer manufacturing its steels and bolts from its factory in New South Wales, eliminating costly shipping with its steel import and partnership with Split Set Mining.

The positive response Minova has received from the Western Australian market solidifies the joint projects it has delivered even before the latest partnership with Split Set was formed.

SPLIT SET MINING SYSTEMS TURNS FROM A LONGSTANDING DISTRIBUTOR TO PARTNER.

AUSTRALIANMINING

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One of Minova’s standout agreements has been with emerging base and precious metals producer Round Oak. This project agreement builds on Minova’s success in maximising the Bentley mine’s recoveries and improving extraction outcomes in its unmined areas for more than 18 years.

Minova supplied technical advice and specialised equipment alongside 360 tonnes of FB200 grout to Round Oak, enabling the operation to consolidate the rockfill in Bentley’s ore drive within three weeks.

“We’ve always been marketed as a technical leader when it comes to product development and innovation around our resin and chemical products. These are premium in the market and they work,” Lubbe says.

“The key thing is that we strengthen that (Split Set Mining) partnership with our technical expertise. We will bring new products to the market in Western Australia, we will be able to support those products, we will start to lead the market with innovation and sound, technical, high-performing product through this partnership.” AM

MATERIALS HANDLING

MINING GIANTS TURN TO LOADSCAN VOLUME SCANNERS HINDUSTAN IS ONE OF MANY MINING COMPANIES REDUCING OPERATING COSTS AND IMPROVING EFFICIENCY BY ACCURATELY MEASURING MATERIAL LOADS. AUSTRALIAN MINING WRITES.

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he Rajpura Dariba leadzinc mine in Rajasthan, India, is running at an all-time high after last year recording its largest ever ore production and treatment.

The underground mine, which uses blast hole stoping to produce zinc and lead concentrate, is owned

by Hindustan Zinc – the world’s second largest zinc producer. The site has withstood the test of time since operations began in 1983.

The process is seamless nowadays – the ore is crushed underground,

hoisted to the surface and then crushed again and milled before undergoing a flotation process to produce the concentrate.

Zinc and lead concentrates produced are then transferred to the company’s smelters.

An issue for many mining companies in the past, however, has been the ability to precisely measure how much material is being transported within the site and then externally – a concern that Hindustan has been able to solve.

The Rajpura Dariba mine has introduced two load volume

A HINDUSTAN TRUCK’S MATERIAL BEING MEASURED BY A LOADSCAN SCANNER.

AUSTRALIANMINING

scanners (LVS) from Loadscan to monitor material with the benefits being widespread.

“Loadscan has been helpful to improve operational performance by managing haul-back to reveal our true shift tally, we can now accurately calculate net volumes delivered for processing,” says Hindustan Zinc vice president and head of corporate communications, Pavan Kaushik.

“Time is also saved by minimising paperwork, there’s no manual data entry, driver records or after-shift record sorting.”

The first scanner is situated underground to measure ore where it’s crushed and before it is taken to the surface by lift.

The second is in the form of a block-mounted portable unit, which is positioned at their portal in order to measure trucks as they come to the surface.

It has not only boosted productivity at the mine site, but Hindustan is also seeing the scanner pay dividends through increased profits.

“Production gains have also been achieved for Hindustan due to increased trucking factors; we’ve achieved lower cost per tonne of material hauled, optimising truck loading and improving productivity,” Kaushik says.

The scanning processing begins through an initial empty scan of Hindustan’s trucks, which provides baseline tray shape data into the LVS system.

Each truck is assigned a radio frequency identification tag (RFID), allowing them to be automatically identified in-motion while driving under the scan head.

This will all occur on the trucks normal route, where they are automatically scanned, and the payload volume measurements recorded.

The Loadscan load-profiling system provides real-time data, including live 3D imaging, of every load so that fill factors and correct loading is monitored.

It also provides a precise picture of the quantity of material that is being extracted or hauled, while scanning trucks on their return routes

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allows mines to monitor and manage wasteful carry-back.

Hindustan has been able to reap the benefits of Loadscan’s technology, with some of its competitors using weigh bridges and on-board scales, which often require ongoing calibration and routine maintenance.

By working from volume rather than weight, Hindustan is able to obtain a more accurate measure of their materials.

Essentially, the LVS quite literally ‘sees’ the load, whereas volume measurement converted from the weight generated from a weighing system is often affected by environmental factors such as moisture and varying material densities.

While it was previously difficult for companies to be absolutely certain of the quantity purchased in regard to bulk materials, Loadscan’s scanners have proven to be exact to plus or minus one per cent.

Hindustan’s introduction of the Loadscan technology is indicative of the wider use of autonomous payload scanning systems in the mining community.

The introduction of the first offthe-grid solar powered LVS is proving to be a success for Teranga Gold Corporation in Senegal, Africa.

It has allowed Teranga to measure the quantity of gold bearing ore carted by trucks from other mine sites in the area to the processing facility.

The solar system generates power during the day and charges a battery pack that powers the scanner throughout the night.

Global demand for such technological advancement is steadily increasing, with the mining, bark and mulch, civil construction, sand/ gravel pits and quarrying industries leading the charge.

Mining operations, in particular, are seeing a 15 per cent increase in their trucking factors, while mulch producers have, similarly, reported increased business given they can now guarantee supply volumes.

Loadscan is also seeing a spike in global demand for its products, which are now operating in multiple countries around the world. AM

PRODUCTS

EPIROC TELEREMOTE OPTION FOR SIMBA DRILL RIGS

ROCKWELL AUTOMATION STRENGTHENS BUILT-IN SECURITY

The Simba automation package features various functionalities to monitor, plan and automate drilling operations from onboard the rig or a remote location.

This teleremote e-tramming option enables the Simba rig to be operated remotely and work more productively in a continuous ‘ring-to-ring’ fashion. After drilling a ring and retrieving the rods, the rig can be teleremotely trammed to the next ring, saving time and work effort.

“Teleremote e-tramming makes for an easier, safer and more continuous drilling process. Fewer disruptions mean greater productivity,” Epiroc global product manager – automation at underground rock excavation division, Guilherme Paiva, says.

The e-tramming function also provides a safer work environment since the operator can control the machine out of harm’s way, even between rings.

With information provided by laser sensors and cameras mounted on the rig, the operator can navigate, position and stabilise the rig to ensure that drilling is executed according to plan.

Rockwell Automation is lining up new solutions to deliver security to industrial control devices.

Its product offerings are up to globally accepted security standards, protecting control level-communications and overall system integrity that help prevent production downtime or worker injuries.

The Allen-Bradley ControlLogix Ethernet/IP communication module helps ensure only authorised devices are connected in industrial operations.

It uses the CIP security protocol from ODVA, the first industrial automation protocol to support transport layer security, according to Rockwell Automation.

It prevents tampering or interference with communications between those devices.

The Allen-Bradley ControlLogix 5580 controller is newly enhanced and the world’s first controller to be certified compliant with IEC 62443-4-2, building on the 2018 certification of the Rockwell Automation security development lifecycle (SDL) to the IEC 624434-1 standard.

• epiroc.com

• rockwellautomation.com

SANDVIK DIGITAL DRILLER FOR TRAINING Operators learn to operate a rig in a safe environment through Sandvik’s digital driller – a realistic simulator that optimises the transition to the real machine.

Training sessions can be conducted for multiple participants in a safe environment, keeping everyone away from any injury risks or material damages.

The digital driller operates with authentic controls that are combined with the same control system software as the one installed on the machines.

Sessions can be tailor made to fit with the audience level using a wide range of exercises, mine conditions and situations.

The digital driller also comes with a transportation case and wheels, helping save set-up time for the training room installation. Operator training no longer needs to impact mine productivity.

• rocktechnology.sandvik

LATEST SEEQUENT RELEASES FOR MINING Christchurch-based developer of 3D geological modelling and visual data science software, Seequent, has launched new releases for its mining solutions – Leapfrog Geo, Leapfrog Edge, and Seequent Central and View.

Leapfrog Geo 4.5 includes performance improvements designed to smooth day-to-day workflows for users, including informed uploading, simplified editing and exporting, redesigned file structures and intuitive polar nets.

Seequent also rolls out a major addition to Leapfrog Edge, which is the provision of a variable orientation tool that locally re-orientates the search and variogram. It features visual search ellipse validation, easy setup and updates.

The company’s Seequent Central also receives major advances in the form of a new intuitive web interface and central data room, which brings all critical project data into one place. This feature allows teams to work together from a single source of facts. View’s latest update, meanwhile, allows all data and communications to be saved to the cloud.

• seequent.com

AUSTRALIANMINING

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PRODUCTS

KVX FOR TUNNELLING

DELTA INTERNATIONAL SALE LUBRICATORS GREASEMAX

KVX has developed a complete system with wearplates for tunneling that offers superior strength and lifetime.

The new system is developed especially for Komatsu WA600, CAT988 and Volvo 250G/350G. It contains 50 millimetre wearplates made of KVX Sagitta steel and M60 bolts. Its corner plates are also reinforced with three bolts in a triangle for maximum strength.

Due to the design changes, the lifetime is extended as the wearplates can be made both longer and wider. The extra wide corner plates also provide good protection of the side edges of the bucket. This makes the KVX system superior to corresponding plow bolt systems.

• kvx.no

GreaseMax automatic lubricator has a rugged design, aimed to provide accurate lubricant discharge and reliable operation for lubrication of bearings in all situations. These include hot, cold, moving, vibrating and wet conditions.

The lubricators operate without batteries or electrical and mechanical components. They are self-regulating, requiring no maintenance or adjustment.

Installation is also simple. GreaseMax lubricators are easily and quickly activated with no user training required. Change-over of empty units can be completed in a matter of seconds. The rugged design and exacting production standards of GreaseMax lubricators ensure performance and reliability, where user input is minimised, further improving reliability.

GreaseMax is economical and easy to use, backed by over 25 years of demonstrated reliable performance in mining applications around the world.

• greasemax.com.au

SCHAEFFLER’S X-LIFE SPHERICAL ROLLER BEARINGS

PULPMAX HIGH-PERFORMANCE MILL LINERS

The latest X-life designs enhance the load capacity and service life of its spherical roller bearings ranges to further reduce wear and downtime for industries such as mining and minerals processing.

The high-performance X-life bearings offer up to 70 per cent longer service life with the same loads, delivering benefits of greater efficiency and operational reliability.

As a result, there is a reduction in the stress conditions present on the rolling elements and mating track under identical load. This produces a higher dynamic load rating, and thus a longer rating life, less friction, lower bearing temperatures and a reduction in the strain placed on the lubricant.

X-life advantages also include new roller dimensions with crowned face, movable central rib, improved surface quality, upgraded running accuracy and improved contact geometry between rollers and raceways.

Spherical roller bearings in X-life design meet the requirements of DIN 6352 and can replace the conventional E spherical roller bearing design.

The PulpMax composite mill liners are high-performance SAG and ball mill liners for all minerals processing applications.

They are uniquely constructed with a rubber-ceramic matrix and reinforced with carefully selected high-hardness steel inserts.

The liners are customisable to fit the specifications of any SAG or ball mill, allowing for improved throughput, safer maintenance and additional uptime.

With lighter-weight PulpMax composite mill liners, installation is faster and safer, as each liner is easier to manipulate. There are also fewer parts, and hence fewer movements are required to perform a reline. This results in a significant decrease in scheduled downtime.

Another important benefit of the composite material used in many of FLSmidth’s redesigned liners is that, unlike worn steel liners, composite liners can be removed without torching.

• flsmidth.com

• conbear.com.au

AUSTRALIANMINING

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EVENTS

CONFERENCES, SEMINARS & WORKSHOPS EVENT SUBMISSIONS CAN BE EMAILED TO EDITOR@AUSTRALIANMINING.COM.AU Iron Ore Conference 2019, Perth, July 22-24 The optimisation of iron ore value is not only the major focus of the resources industry in recent years, but also the key theme for AusIMM’s Iron Ore Conference in 2019. The program will feature 11 keynote speakers who will discuss the importance of iron ore producers to remain flexible and be able to respond to major industry disruptions in a more competitive environment. This conference will cover a range of topics from innovative ironmaking technologies to applications for sustainable mining, and new iron ore deposits to ore characterisation.

Delegates will be offered unparalleled opportunities to network with iron ore producers and consumers from around the world and access an exhibition showcasing the latest technology for exploration. An extended program of workshops and tours will be available to delegates pre- and post-conference, providing further professional development opportunities to conference delegates.

• ironore.ausimm.com Diggers & Dealers Mining Forum, Kalgoorlie, August 5-7 Diggers & Dealers Mining Forum is back with its unique combination of mining presentations and large exhibition area, with a delegation made up of mining and exploration companies, mining services companies, investors, bankers and financiers, among others. Highly respected experts will be in attendance to provide insightful commentary to delegates. A world-class entertainment program also ensures that delegates

experience the best of the style and hospitality of Kalgoorlie.

• diggersndealers.com.au PNG Investment Conference 2019, Sydney, August 19-20 The annual Business Advantage Papua New Guinea Investment Conference is dedicated to the promotion of business and investment opportunities in PNG to a global audience. Featuring an unrivalled line-up of influential speakers, the 2019 conference will provide a forum where delegates will have the opportunity to hear from investors, innovators and facilitators across key industry sectors – including mining and petroleum – focusing on current trends and opportunities in PNG’s growing economy. Attracting some of the most dynamic companies in the Asia Pacific, as well as government backed and global institutional investors, delegates will rub shoulders with industry thought-leaders, company heads, senior executives, investors and board members.

• pnginvestmentconference.com Mine Ventilation Conference 2019, Perth, August 26-28 Ventilation controls are one of the core risk activities in mines. There have been significant developments in practice and research in recent years to ensure an improvement in safety levels in underground mines.

Coupled with this is the re-emergence of pneumoconiosis in mine workers.

Mine Vent 2019 calls on expertise from industry and academia to present these developments. The fifth in a series of ventilation conferences will bring together operators, planning

AUSTRALIANMINING

personnel, equipment manufacturers and suppliers, government regulators, consultants and research and technology personnel to explore achievements and build a better industry.

• minevent.ausimm.com AIMEX 2019, Sydney, August 27-29

metallurgy (processing), environment and related themes. Various workshops will be incorporated within the program and keynote speakers from Nothern Star, Minerals Council Australia, Goldcorp, Regis Resources and Optiro will also feature.

• worldgold.ausimm.com

AIMEX will host a free-to-attend conference series that will discuss ground breaking topics within the mining industry. The program will deliver operational improvements for all mining techniques and bring together industry leaders and mining experts, allowing visitors the opportunity to create a personalised program that addresses specific areas related to their job function or site. The program will address themes such as the economic and political outlook for mining; automation and digital advancements to improve operational efficiency and maintenance; advancements in drilling and blasting, processing and bulk materials handling; fleet performance and tyre management; occupational health and safety.

• aimex.com.au

2019 Australian Mining Prospect Awards, Brisbane, October 10

World Gold Conference 2019, Perth, September 11-13

IMARC will host its sixth annual conference at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre this year. The program will cover the entire mining supply chain from exploration to investment, as well as production to optimisation. It will also explore the new technologies available and the revelation of new global opportunities. A selection of brand-new conferences on energy, the environment and workforce engagement will feature alongside mine and plant optimisation at this year’s event.

• imarcmelbourne.com

The World Gold Conference is a joint venture between The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (The AusIMM), the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (SAIMM) and the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM). The event will provide a holistic exploration of gold mining, including exploration, geosciences, mining (including geotechnical aspects),

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The Australian mining industry’s biggest awards celebration is heading to the Sunshine State for the first time this year. With coal becoming the nation’s biggest mining export this year, the timing couldn’t be better to celebrate the industry’s contribution in Queensland.

The 2019 Australian Mining Prospect Awards will take place at Moda Events in Brisbane on October 10, honouring the best and brightest of an industry that prides itself as a cultural and economic cornerstone.

• prospectawards.com.au International Mining and Resources Conference and Expo (IMARC), Melbourne, October 29-31

“Intelligently investing in our customers, always pays the best interest.�

Rafael Fernandes AEL Executive Director: Finance

AEL Intelligent Blasting Tel: +61 7 322 101 68 www.aelworld.com

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