AM Dec 2020

PROSPECT AWARDS MINING SERVICES VOLUME 112/11 | DECEMBER 2020

MINERALS PROCESSING

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PROSPECT AWARDS MINING SERVICES VOLUME 112/11 | DECEMBER 2020

MINERALS PROCESSING

INDUSTRY OUTLOOK OPTIMISM FOR THE FUTURE OF MINING

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COMMENT

OPTIMISM EMERGES AS A NEW YEAR BECKONS BEN CREAGH

Ben.Creagh@primecreative.com.au

CHANGES TO HOW MINING COMPANIES OPERATE HAVE BEEN NECESSARY OVER THE PAST YEAR. HOW WILL AUSTRALIAN MINES CONTINUE TO ADAPT TO THESE CHANGES IN 2021?

I

t’s hard to imagine that many people will be sad to say goodbye to 2020, but the Australian mining industry has reason to look back on the year with pride.

Australian Mining has reported countless times during the second half of the year that the industry has responded well to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The industry was quick to react, and mining companies didn’t allow the disruptions to get in the way of their growth strategies.

Instead, they adapted efficiently, with many companies now in a position of similar strength to when the year started (or even stronger in some cases).

Our governments across the country, in the most part, should also be commended for their role, as they identified mining’s potential to drive the national recovery and have promoted the industry’s growth.

With this being the December edition, and there being reason to be optimistic about the mining industry’s prospects, it’s time to look ahead to 2021.

As has become custom in December, we have included a series of ‘industry outlook’ features summarising the prospects for mining in the coming year.

The overwhelming theme of these feature articles is that mining is well placed to capitalise on how it has adapted to the challenges of 2020 in the next 12 months.

This has created an opportunity for

not only mine operators to revamp how they operate, but also for METS (mining equipment, technology and services) companies to bring new technologies and innovations to the market.

‘New ways of working’ might have now become the catchphrase of the moment in mining – there is always at least one phrase that industry commentators like to overuse, after all.

Nevertheless, it’s a phrase that has emerged to represent a major opportunity for the industry in 2021.

Identifying these new ways was a necessity for companies to keep operating for several months during 2020, but it has now also become a necessity to introduce these methods to keep pace with the competition.

The digital transformation of mining is one area that continues to accelerate in particular, but in which direction will this transition move during 2021?

Ben Creagh Managing Editor

FRONT COVER

In this edition, we profile the winners of the 2020 Australian Mining Prospect Awards with a 26-page special covering this year’s event.

This issue includes a number of features exploring the outlook for the mining industry in 2021 as its response to the COVID-19 pandemic continues.

We look at the Australian gold sector and the prospect for more mergers and acquisitions following the mega deal between Northern Star Resources and Saracen Mineral Holdings.

We also put the spotlight on Australia’s ambitions to develop its critical minerals sector on a global scale.

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

Cover image: Macmahon Holdings.

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER JOHN MURPHY

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DECEMBER 2020

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IN INTHIS THISISSUE ISSUE 34

22 14

INDUSTRY OUTLOOK

Golden partnerships

Northern Star and Saracen join forces in merger

16 ENVIRONMENT

Restoring mine land to former glory Monash University unlocks mine rehabilitation opportunities

20

FUTURE OF MINING

Australia’s critical opportunities Northern Minerals and ASM take a leading role

22

COMMODITY SPOTLIGHT

Diamonds are forever End of an era with Argyle mine closure

24

50

PROSPECT AWARDS

66

Pumping with precision Xylem showcases its slurry pump solutions

INDUSTRY OUTLOOK

68

MINING SERVICES

76

INDUSTRY COMMENT

The best of the best in mining The biggest stars of 2020 announced

What’s next for mining?

A series of features on the next trends

60

DIGITAL MINING

The arrival of Mining 4.0 TI Mining’s software builds digital awareness

62 TECHNOLOGY

Smart safety solutions Unlocking the full potential of mining operations

WATER MANAGEMENT

Keep moving forward How companies provide efficient, productive solutions

Turning down the heat FM Global’s advice to combat fires in and around mines

78 MAINTENANCE

The kit to avoid downtime AMCAP’s Industrial Service Kits for mines

79

MINERALS PROCESSING

81

MINING EQUIPMENT

The Kings of grinding How King’s Beads increases grinding productivity

Low emission engines AllightSykes powers mining with clean engines

83 INDUSTRY COMMENT

Staying cool in a crisis Austmine’s positive approach to handling a crisis

REGULARS 5 COMMENT 8 NEWS

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84 PRODUCTS 86 EVENTS AUSTRALIANMINING AUSTRALIANMINING 66 DECEMBER OCTOBER 2020 2020

NEWS

THE LATEST MINING AND SAFETY NEWS AUSTRALIAN MINING PRESENTS THE LATEST NEWS FROM THE BOARDROOM TO THE MINE AND EVERYWHERE IN BETWEEN. VISIT WWW.AUSTRALIANMINING.COM.AU TO KEEP UP TO DATE WITH WHAT IS HAPPENING. CIMIC REVEALS BUYER OF THIESS STAKE CIMIC Group has agreed to divest a 50 per cent interest in mining services provider Thiess to Elliott Advisors.

The 50 per cent interest is valued at $4.3 billion, based on the 100 per cent value of Thiess.

Elliott Advisors, which is one of the oldest fund managers of its kind, manages more than $US40 billion ($56 billion) in assets in Australia and globally.

Under the agreement, CIMIC will retain the remaining 50 per cent equity interest in Thiess, with it to jointly control the mining services company alongside Elliott Advisors.

CIMIC keeps ownership of minerals processing and infrastructure solution

company Sedgman as part of its 50 per cent share in Thiess.

The transaction is expected to generate a pre-tax gain of $2.2 billion for CIMIC, and a post-tax gain of around $1.4 billion.

CIMIC noted that the transaction would strengthen its balance sheet by generating realised cash proceeds of $1.7 to $1.9 billion on completion.

The company will have an option to repurchase the 50 per cent interest from Elliott at the lower of the agreed sale price or fair market value between three and six years after the sale.

“The sale agreement reflects Thiess’ ongoing strategic importance as a core activity for CIMIC,” CIMIC

Group executive chairman Marcelino Fernández Verdes said.

“It capitalises on the robust outlook for the mining sector and, together with Elliott, we will pursue market opportunities in line with Thiess’ growth and diversification strategy.”

Elliott Advisors made headlines in the mining sector during 2017 and 2018 when it launched a campaign for BHP to demerge its United States petroleum assets.

The fund manager, which holds a stake of around 5 per cent in BHP, also suggested the major miner should change its dual-listed company structure and operate as a London-based and listed company.

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

MACMAHON LINES UP $250M FOXLEIGH CONTRACT

IMAGE: MACMAHON HOLDINGS.

MACMAHON IS SET TO STRENGTHEN ITS ORDER BOOK.

Macmahon Holdings has won the status of preferred tenderer for equipment hire and maintenance services at the Foxleigh joint venture project in Queensland.

The proposed scope of work involves the hire and maintenance of 21 large capacity dump trucks and ancillary equipment over a five-year term.

AUSTRALIANMINING

Macmahon will also provide maintenance to client equipment at the Bowen Basin site, which is jointly owned by QMetco, POSCO Australia and Nippon

8

DECEMBER 2020

Steel Australia.

The contract is estimated to generate around $250 million in revenue for Macmahon, requiring a capital expenditure of around $50 million.

The majority of the cost falls on the acquisition of 220-tonne dump trucks, which are expected to have a life of 10 years.

Macmahon chief executive and managing director Michael Finnegan said the company was pleased to be selected as the preferred equipment and maintenance provider for the project.

“We are looking forward to delivering for a new client in Queensland,” he said. “This selection highlights our expertise in sourcing and maintaining large scale mining equipment and our ability to offer a range of service models to our clients.”

The Foxleigh mine, which is an open cut, truck and excavator operation, produces low volatile pulverised coal injection (PCI) coal.

This is exported to Asian steel mill customers, with the company’s key markets including South Korea, Taiwan and Japan.

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NEWS

FORTESCUE COMPLETES CHICHESTER AUTOMATION PROJECT miner’s integrated operations centre in Perth.

“Mining is one of the most innovative industries in the world, and Fortescue continues to build on our leading autonomy capability to deliver productivity and efficiency benefits,” Fortescue chief executive Elizabeth Gaines said.

“Most importantly, the introduction of AHS (autonomous haulage system) technology has improved safety outcomes across our operations and we’re very pleased that the team achieved this important milestone in the truck conversion program to the highest safety standards.

“Our approach to autonomy has been to be open and transparent with

our plans and to work closely with our team members to offer opportunities for re-training and re-deployment.”

Caterpillar group president, resources industries Denise Johnson congratulated Fortescue for its achievement.

“Fortescue is a leader in the implementation of autonomous solutions. This important milestone further reinforces the transformation Fortescue has made with autonomy to improve safety, site productivity and machine utilisation.

We congratulate Fortescue on this significant achievement,” Johnson said.

According to Fortescue chief operating officer Greg Lilleyman, the

autonomous haulage fleet has driven up productivity numbers.

“Fortescue’s autonomous haulage fleet has delivered a 30 per cent increase in productivity,” he said.

“Looking ahead, the flexibility of our efficient, multiclass autonomous fleet offers considerable potential for further productivity and efficiency gains.

“Our operations are more connected than ever before and by using data from our autonomous haulage fleet, we can paint an accurate picture of our operations and focus on the optimal opportunities for improvement, such as haul road design and maintenance scheduling.”

IMAGE: FORTESCUE METALS GROUP.

Fortescue Metals Group now has 183 autonomous haul trucks operating across its Pilbara iron ore mines after the company finished a major project at the Chichester Hub in Western Australia.

The fleet of Cat 793F, 789D and Komatsu 930E autonomous haul trucks at the Chichester and Solomon Hubs have travelled more than 52 million kilometres, moving 1.5 billion tonnes of material since 2013.

Fortescue has also deployed 900 automated assets including excavators, wheel loaders and light vehicles that use CAT Minestar Command for Hauling technology, which is operated from the

ONE OF FORTESCUE’S AUTONOMOUS HAUL TRUCKS.

GLENCORE SIGNS ON SANDVIK FOR LONG-TERM EQUIPMENT SUPPLY Sandvik has signed a $249 million agreement with Glencore Queensland Metals to supply underground and mobile mining equipment at Glencore’s Queensland and New South Wales metalliferous mines.

The deal will see Sandvik provide drills, loaders and trucks to Glencore over a six-year period.

After inking the deal in June this year, Glencore placed an initial equipment order totalling $47 million, with Sandvik supplying the first piece of equipment under the deal on September 1.

Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology global account manager

for Glencore Tim Redmond said this deal was signed after more than a year of negotiations.

Glencore issued a heavy mining equipment tender in 2018 before it requested an additional response to the tender in early 2019, asking Sandvik to provide a more innovative and collaborative solution.

“We spent nearly a year working closely with the Glencore team to identify exactly what was needed for the long-term success of their assets,” Redmond said.

“Our solutions enabled us to optimise the upfront capital costs and provide a competitive supply AUSTRALIANMINING

of aftermarket services moving forward.”

A key advantage of the partnership is that Glencore’s fleet will now be based on one technology platform, ensuring the company can promote additional automation, mine intelligence and vehicle interaction controls in the future.

Glencore Queensland Metals general manager – mining Simon Pope said the agreement would see all heavy mobile mining equipment at the company’s Queensland sites supplied by one original equipment manufacturer (OEM).

“This partnership with Sandvik will

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DECEMBER 2020

help us improve the way we operate and maintain mobile equipment in our underground mines by providing us with a real reduction in the total cost to operate our primary fleet,” Pope said.

“We look forward to working with Sandvik to share operational and maintenance insights through new and emerging technologies and unlocking further improvements in safety for our people and the productivity of our mines.

“Sandvik machines have played a role in our operations for a number of years and have a proven track record for productivity and reliability.”

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NEWS

RIO TINTO SIGNS OFF AT ARGYLE DIAMOND MINE

RIO TINTO PRODUCED MORE THAN 865 MILLION CARATS AT ARGYLE.

Rio Tinto has completed its final day of mining at the iconic Argyle diamond mine in the East Kimberley region of Western Australia.

The Argyle ore body was discovered in 1979 and mining of the alluvial and surface deposits commenced in 1983. Prior to 1998, no plans had been finalised for the mine to continue past 2002. But Rio Tinto’s decision to build an underground mine below the existing open pit operations in 2005 led to an extended mine life to 2020.

More than 865 million carats of rough diamonds have been

produced at the Argyle mine in its 37 years of operations, making it the world’s largest supplier of coloured diamonds.

Rio Tinto chief executive of copper and diamonds, Arnaud Soirat, said 50 years ago there were very few people who believed in the existence of diamonds in Australia.

“To arrive at this final chapter has required vision, courage and determination to overcome significant challenges to enter new territory in diamond exploration, mining and marketing,” he said.

“Today Argyle’s influence stretches into many spheres and

over many continents and I am very proud to acknowledge all those people who have contributed to the discovery and development of the mine and the production of some of the finest diamonds the world has ever seen.”

Rio Tinto will employ a smaller workforce to oversee the closure process at the Argyle mine.

This is expected to take around five years, including mine decommissioning and dismantling as well as rehabilitation.

“A new chapter will now begin as we start the process of respectfully closing the Argyle mine and

rehabilitating the land, to be handed back to its traditional custodians,” Argyle mine general manager, Andrew Wilson, said.

The Argyle mine is the source of a very small but consistent source of rare pink diamonds.

Only 5 per cent of the diamonds mined at Argyle were of gem quality, and only one of 10,000 of these were made up of pink diamonds, according to Australian Diamond Portfolio executive director Anna Cisecki.

Read about some of the final diamonds produced at Argyle on pages 22-23.

STRIKE TO PRODUCE FIRST PILBARA IRON ORE IN 2021 A new iron ore mine is set to emerge in the Pilbara region of Western Australia after junior miner Strike Resources completed a feasibility study (FS) for the Paulsens East project.

The project is envisioned to produce six million tonnes of iron ore over an initial four-year mine life.

Three-quarters of the production will comprise direct shipping ore (DSO) lump at 62 per cent iron.

Strike considers the project to

have a low technical risk as it opts for conventional mining, crushing and screening, as well as direct transport to Port Hedland for export.

“The completion of the feasibility study is another key milestone achieved in moving Paulsens East towards production,” Strike managing director William Johnson said.

“The continued strength to the iron ore price contributes to the robust economics of the project, which are driven principally by the high-quality AUSTRALIANMINING

nature of the iron ore contained within the deposit and the low life of mine strip ratio.”

Strike plans to develop an open cut mine for the Paulsens East project, which is around 10 kilometres from Northern Star Resources’ Paulsens gold mine.

Johnson flagged the possibilities of improving grades, increasing production rate and extending the mine life at Paulsens East after the company achieved its initial target.

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DECEMBER 2020

Strike aims to commence first ore production in the first half of next year.

The company has received a 21-year mining lease and intends to complete mining proposal submission, undertake heritage surveys required and advance contract negotiations with potential providers for Paulsens East mine site construction, drill and blast and mining and crushing services during the December quarter.

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INDUSTRY OUTLOOK

IS AUSSIE M&A SET TO RISE?

I

n early 2020, Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines (KCGM) in the Goldfields region of Western Australia became part of a joint venture between Northern Star Resources and Saracen Mineral Holdings.

This was the first time in KCGM’s 30-year history that it was brought under 100 per cent Australian ownership.

By October, the two owners had taken their relationship a step further, announcing a merger-of-equals to combine both companies and their operations in Australia and the United States.

If the first milestone at KCGM wasn’t enough, the merger will see the famous Golden Mile in the region consolidated under a single owner, with the deal valued at $16 billion.

The mining companies delivered a joint presentation at this year’s Diggers and Dealers Mining Forum in Kalgoorlie in the week after the announcement, going into further detail about what the deal would provide through their portfolio of Tier 1 mining assets.

According to Northern Star executive chairman Bill Beament, the two companies will deliver a mix of risk and opportunity culture for what

IMAGE: BILLY STOKES/DIGGERS AND DEALERS.

NORTHERN STAR RESOURCES AND SARACEN MINERAL HOLDINGS’ ANNOUNCEMENT OF A $16 BILLION MERGER HAS BROUGHT ANTICIPATION FOR THE RISE OF A NEW TOP 10 GLOBAL GOLD PRODUCER, WITH SIGNS THERE MAY BE MORE MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS IN THE GOLD SECTOR.

NORTHERN STAR RESOURCES CHAIRMAN BILL BEAMENT.

he expects to be a successful outcome.

“The way the Saracen team addressed the opportunity was looking at all the risks here as Northern Star looked at all the opportunities,” Beament, presenting at the 2020 Diggers and Dealers Mining Forum, explains.

“So, blending that risk and opportunity culture in I think is going to create an absolute mega opportunity

for every stakeholder associated with this business.

“We will be the sixth largest gold producer by market cap and we’re eighth on a production basis, and growing further as we hit our two million ounces in the coming years.”

Future proofing is set to be a key outcome of the merger-of-equals, with Saracen managing director Raleigh Finlayson highlighting the importance of increasing growth.

“One of the other key ingredients of our merger is Saracen has invested in the future and an increase in grade over the next five years,” Finlayson explains.

“The only companies I can think of – number one and number two – (are) Northern Star and Saracen for that future growth profile, which is obviously more of a compelling reason why we’re bringing the two companies together.

“Saracen has gone along in future proofing so investing money now with a strong prevailing gold price (will) underpin and secure us through the future regardless of what the gold price is. There’s lots of work to do over the course of the next 12 months to fully optimise that, but we have significant opportunities and frankly very few of those are fully reflective of the $1.5-2 billion of MPV (market potential value)

THE SUPER PIT IS ONE OF AUSTRALIA’S LARGEST OPEN PIT GOLD MINES. AUSTRALIANMINING

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synergies that we’ve articulated to the market.”

Outside of KCGM, other growth opportunities are on offer due to all of Northern Star and Saracen’s assets being located in Tier 1 jurisdictions.

“We see (Pogo in Alaska) as an absolute beachhead for growth into the future after we ramp up to 300,000 ounces,” Beament adds.

For KCGM, meanwhile, the merger has been dubbed as its true consolidation. “(The) 1989 KCGM was formed as a consolidation of the Golden Mile. This is actually the true consolidation of the Golden Mile of Kalgoorlie and hence the name ‘Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines’ will live on and will be referred to that entire operation,” Finlayson says.

The merged board between the two companies will include five Northern Star directors and four Saracen directors. Beament will chair the combined entity, while Finlayson will become managing director for the first 12 to 18 months.

Mergers under the microscope

Herbert Smith Freehills partner and head of global mining team Jay Leary says the gold sector has weathered the COVID-19 storm through mergers and acquisitions (M&As), including the

INDUSTRY OUTLOOK

world, there will be a need to increase the production of minerals such as copper and lithium (among other minerals),” Leary says.

“The question is not so much a matter of if, but when. We suspect that that demand is likely to ramp up in the medium term, rather than the near term.”

SARACEN MINERAL HOLDINGS MANAGING DIRECTOR RALEIGH FINLAYSON. IMAGE: BILLY STOKES/DIGGERS AND DEALERS.

Northern Star and Saracen deal.

“While overall M&A activity has been subdued in light of the COVID-19 pandemic (both in Australia and abroad), the resources sector – in particular the gold sector – has continued to generate M&A activity throughout, including public M&A deals such as the Northern Star/Saracen merger,” Leary tells Australian Mining.

“As markets have begun to adapt to aspects of the pandemic, public M&A activity is starting to ramp up again, with 21 Australian deals announced in the three months from June to September (compared with 51 for the total FY20 year).”

Leary says that the Saracen and Northern Star deal exhibits advantages associated with project ownership.

“The Northern Star/Saracen merger is underpinned by its own unique logic — i.e. bringing the KCGM Super Pit operations into one common ownership structure,” he says.

“The deal does bring a renewed focus to the benefits of rationalisation of project ownership and operation within producing regions.”

According to Leary, there are also benefits for both companies with the merger receiving equal benefits.

“The genuine merger of equals/ zero premium nature of the proposed transaction also reinforces the capacity for companies to proceed with transactions without a winner/loser scenario,” he explains.

Other commodities outside of the gold-focussed Northern Star and Saracen merger are also expected to have large M&As in the coming years.

“To create a new de-carbonised

Compelling competition

While the Saracen and Northern Star merger plans to catapult them up the list of the top 10 gold producers, they have not been the only major players dipping their feet into new M&As. According to Wood Mackenzie head of gold research Rory Townsend, the central theme for these major mergers is to improve shareholder value, which is commonplace in the resources industry.

“There are quite a few examples of such high-profile mergers, like Barrick and Randgold, Newmont and Goldcorp and Barrick and Newmont’s JV for their Nevada assets,” he says.

“The central theme for a considerable number of these mergers, including Saracen and Northern Star, is to unlock shareholder value through expected synergies.

“Other than securing the Tier 1 assets, some of the driving force in this bigger-is-better mentality seems to be the desire to entice some of the more generalist investors to the space and the belief that scale and reduced operational risk will help to do that.”

Locally, Townsend believes Western Australia is the place where the industry is likely to see more M&A activity.

“If I had to choose one, I think WA

AUSTRALIANMINING

seems like a natural choice given the sheer number of miners, combined with the concentration of operating mines, projects and truly exciting prospects emerging there,” he says.

M&A activity is more likely to occur at the junior to smaller mid-tier side of the market, compared with companies such as Newcrest Mining and Evolution Mining, he continues.

“Evolution Mining, of course, completed the acquisition of the Red Lake mine this year and are in the process of evaluating their options at Mt Rawden,” Townsend says.

“The takeaway from (Evolution chairman Jake) Klein’s speech at Diggers is that they will not be buying assets for the sake of buying assets, with a strong emphasis on quality.

“At the more junior, to smaller mid-tier end of the market then it is likely that we see more action

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here, particularly where miners are operating in each other’s backyards, it just feels like a bit of a no brainer if they can agree on nil-premium deals.

“I’m also sure those miners who are struggling to replenish reserves through exploration will undoubtedly be scouring the landscape for opportunities.”

Townsend says a “buy versus build mentality” is prevalent within the industry, which has added attention on M&A opportunities.

“It would certainly seem that the buy versus build mentality is still there, even if high prices have created a bit of a buzz again around exploration, particularly when it comes to greenfield projects. Part of that is due to the lack of exploration success we’ve seen over the past decade or so, which is why we’re seeing this re-shuffling of the deck chairs,” he concludes. AM

IMAGES CREDIT: GLENCORE

ENVIRONMENT

GLENCORE’S WESTSIDE COAL MINE HAS BEEN RETURNED TO BUSHLAND AND FEATURES NATIVE VEGETATION.

ABANDONED MINES UNLOCK HIDDEN TREASURES AN INNOVATIVE MONASH UNIVERSITY STUDY HAS PROPOSED THE MINING INCIDENCE DOCUMENTATION AND ASSESSMENT SCHEME AND QUANTIFIED AUSTRALIA’S 80,000 ACTIVE, INACTIVE AND UNREHABILITATED MINES TO SHOW THE VALUE OPPORTUNITIES OF REHABILITATION AND REUSE THAT MAY BE HIDING IN THE DIRT.

A

s the mining industry sews the seeds of fortune for Australia’s economy, it is important that it understands the ways that the environment and local communities may be impacted.

These social responsibilities are increasingly recognised by all active mine sites in Australia, which are required to have progressive rehabilitation plans in place.

This was not always the case, with thousands of abandoned sites across the country lying dormant for decades.

Approximately 80,000 inactive mines are littered across Australia, with 19,000 of those located in Victoria.

Many are from Australia’s gold rush that started in the 1850s – long before the introduction of

progressive rehabilitation during a mine’s life cycle.

While the economic benefits of the gold rush can still be felt today, having kickstarted the development of cities like Melbourne, issues including dust pollution and waterway contamination remain an issue still being solved today by state governments.

A team of researchers at Monash University, led by the university’s associate professor of the resources engineering of the Department of Civil Engineering Mohan Yellishetty, has compiled a study that shows that Australia’s abandoned mines have the potential to become assets rather than liabilities.

As an expert in sustainable mineral resources, Yellishetty has experience at Monash University, CSIRO and Yale University.

The team’s research paper, A AUSTRALIANMINING

Geospatial Database for Effective Mine Rehabilitation in Australia, identified abandoned mines across Australia Geographic Information System (GIS) to quantify the data.

It is part of an ongoing study from Monash University to provide a spatial analysis of mines globally.

“The important findings of this study are there’s a bit of inconsistency among states in Australia in terms of how they report abandoned mines, and secondly there is no real national-level database set up for rehabilitation,” Yellishetty tells Australian Mining.

“Some states have broader rehabilitation programs compared to other states, so we are far behind compared to our counterparts in Canada or the US.” Yelilshetty and his team based their research on the Canadian National Orphaned/Abandoned

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Mines Initiative (NOAMI) framework to classify abandoned mines as either active or inactive sites.

This was followed by the Mining Incidence Documentation & Assessment Scheme (MIDAS) scheme to catalogue and compare active or inactive mine data without specific reporting conventions.

“For inactive, we’ve got terminated, negligent, maintenance, rehabilitated and heritage (mines), so from our estimates, what we found is close to 80,000 inactive mine sites exist in the country,” Yellishetty says.

A wide range of rehabilitation and reuse opportunities have been identified by Yellishetty’s team, including critical minerals’ extraction, construction works, tourism potential to rehabilitated sites, carbon farming, renewable energy generation, overburden waste

ENVIRONMENT

to create building bricks and ceramic products, and recycling facilities.

Using the research team’s GIS, the facility that a mine will be rehabilitated into can be determined by factors such as its proximity to farming areas.

Yellishetty is also a co-founder of the Critical Minerals Consortium, which provides advice to assist policy makers on minerals criticality and opportunities to reduce criticality through the development of domestic supply.

“There are numerous ways which (abandoned mines) could be brought to life. For example, one of the areas that we are currently engaged in is the Critical Minerals Consortium,” he says.

“We wanted to see if some of these abandoned mines have the potential for critical minerals extraction because critical minerals are often companion metals to base metals such as copper, nickel and zinc.

Critical minerals can sometimes be found in fly ash (from the burning of coal) and tailings from alumina and other refineries.

“For example, if you’re mining for copper, a number of other critical minerals are part of that ore complex.

“We want to explore some of those options as well, alongside looking into some tourist attractions and also looking at electricity production

potential. If you have two adjoining abandoned mines with some elevation difference, pumped hydro could be a potential option there.”

Principal consultant at Whittle-DG and researcher (Minerals Criticality Assessment) at Monash University David Whittle has been assisting the research team in its study.

With a wealth of experience and previously serving as BHP’s senior manager for resource planning and development, he co-founded Monash University’s Critical Minerals Consortium.

Whittle says there are many factors that require the effort of both the industry and government bodies to rejuvenate these mine sites.

“Some of the thinking that’s been driving (Yellishetty’s) work is to look at not only where you can spend money to make things better, but where you can find opportunity to make money and also make things better,” he tells Australian Mining.

“There’s a whole lot of fairly complicated factors that go into determining these things.

“Since this paper has been published, we have been approached by a quarry company that signed a deal to take some additional research in repurposing a quarry that will close at some time in the future.

“We’ve also had a strong enquiry from water companies who are

indeed looking at how can we use these quarries, and the study hasn’t been done for them but we’re still in discussions.”

During Whittle’s time at BHP, he was involved in mine closure planning, which he says has become a challenge within the industry.

“If people think quarry and mine planning is difficult, they ought to try closure planning,” he says.

“Closure planning is significantly more difficult partly because you’re planning to do something 10 or 20 years in the future, and it’s very difficult to know what the conditions will be like, what community expectations are going to be, what the government expectations are going to be and what new knowledge you’ll gain about the area and the mine between now and when it is actually closed.

“Most good closure studies are actually continuous research and development studies and they take considerable time and investment.”

Taking initiative

Glencore has received government certifications for several of its mining rehabilitation efforts across Queensland and New South Wales.

The mining powerhouse has completed progressive rehabilitation of over 1300 hectares of mined land.

“Glencore has also received

Queensland and NSW Government sign-off (certification) for areas of this work in each of the past four years,” a Glencore spokesperson tells Australian Mining.

“Earlier this year, our Westside open cut mine in the Lower Hunter region of New South Wales achieved certification for 38 hectares of rehabilitation, a first for the state’s coal industry under contemporary mine rehabilitation criteria.

“In 2019, our Rolleston open cut mine achieved certification for another 166 (hectares) of its rehabilitation in central Queensland.

“Rolleston now has sign-off for almost 400 hectares of rehabilitation (equivalent to nearly 670 football fields), which represent almost 40 per cent of the total amount of mined land that has been rehabilitated at the site since operations began in 2010.”

Glencore’s Liddell open cut mine in the Upper Hunter region of New South Wales started a six-year trial in 2012 to show cattle grazing could be sustained on rehabilitated mining land.

“In part, the trial responded to criticism from some sections of the community who did not believe that land that (had) been mined for coal could be rehabilitated to sustainable grazing land,” Glencore states.

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ENVIRONMENT

THE MANGOOLA NORTH PIT BEFORE REHABILITATION IN 2011.

The trial found that cattle on rehabilitated pasture performed better than those on natural or tropical grass pasture.

“Performance of the soil and pasture on the rehabilitated land has been closely monitored along with the cattle,” Glencore states.

“Results from the trial consistently showed that cattle on the rehabilitated pasture are performing better than those on natural pasture and that tropical grass species selected for the rehabilitated pasture are also providing higher quality feed than natural pasture.”

According to Glencore, its mine rehabilitation success has been the result of a shift in focus that began in 2010.

“The key to these results lies in a shift in focus that began in 2010, when the company (then Xstrata Coal) introduced a more systematic approach to rehabilitation that has seen more challenging rehabilitation targets set and achieved; helped some sites address rehabilitation backlogs; and created a process by which progress towards rehabilitation goals can be measured,” Glencore states.

“The plans go beyond any regulatory requirement and aim to ensure that at all sites, the active mining footprint is minimised and that once mining has finished, land is returned to either self-sustaining native ecosystems, open woodland,

agricultural use or other suitable purposes that meet requirements agreed between Glencore, government and local communities.

“By embracing a more systematic and integrated approach to rehabilitation planning and delivery, a number of Glencore’s sites are already providing benchmark results with their rehabilitation.”

Planting an opportunity

Anglo American is another major miner that has delivered successful mine rehabilitation projects.

In Australia, the company is focussing on rehabilitating thousands of hectares at two of its major coal mines in Queensland.

“We strive to deliver a lasting, positive contribution to local

THE MANGOOLA NORTH PIT AFTER PROGRESSIVE REHABILITATION IN 2020

AUSTRALIANMINING

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communities where we operate,” Anglo American metallurgical coal business chief executive Tyler Mitchelson tells Australian Mining.

“This year, we will complete rehabilitation of more than 400 hectares of land at our two open cut mines (Dawson and Capcoal) in Central Queensland, ensuring the land is available for other uses, such as cattle grazing.”

Anglo American has formed the Growing Together partnership with Komatsu to plant over 9000 trees at the Dawson mine in Queensland.

“We continue to innovate and pursue best practice mine rehabilitation across our business, and this approach is already delivering outstanding results,” Mitchelson explains.

“Anglo American’s Dawson mine has been leading the way in innovative rehabilitation approaches, including techniques that saw the successful rehabilitation of areas previously containing a tailings dam and a void highwall.

“Our Dawson mine has also been part of an innovative METS Ignited (the federal government Growth Centre for Mining Equipment, Technology and Services) project with emapper, other miners and industry suppliers, using drone technology to aerially map rehabilitation areas.”

Anglo American’s rehabilitated areas at the Dawson mine cover more than 1800 hectares, representing a significant step forward in improving the safety, efficiency and accuracy of the company’s mine rehabilitation monitoring programs. AM

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COMMODITY SPOTLIGHT

AUSTRALIA’S CRITICAL STEPS TOWARDS SECURING A FUTURE OPPORTUNITY THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT IS FOCUSSING ITS ATTENTION ON IDENTIFYING AND PROGRESSING OPPORTUNITIES WITHIN THE CRITICAL MINERALS AND RARE EARTHS SECTORS. SALOMAE HASELGROVE FINDS OUT WHAT ROLE TWO AUSTRALIAN COMPANIES CAN PLAY.

A

ustralia has the potential to be a global leader in the environmentally responsible supply of critical minerals like lithium, zircon and dysprosium due to its large but underexplored deposits.

While the nation is a leader in the exploration, extraction and production of critical minerals, Australia is lagging behind when it comes to downstream processing and manufacturing opportunities.

Due to the long-time dominance of China in this space, it is a challenging field to break into, but companies like Northern Minerals and Australian Strategic Materials (ASM) are taking steps by forming partnerships with nations that are consumers of critical minerals.

Northern Minerals has inked an agreement with international engineering company thyssenkrupp, which will buy rare earths from the mining company and support the expansion of its Browns Range dysprosium project in Western Australia.

As Northern Minerals chief executive officer Mark Tory explains, the partnership with thyssenkrupp, which has existing relationships with

ASM’S DUBBO RARE EARTHS PROJECT IN NEW SOUTH WALES.

the Chinese market, will help the Perth-based company to establish itself within the critical minerals super nation.

“China has done a fantastic job over the last 20 to 30 years developing the downstream rare earths industry so the market is controlled by China,” Tory

ASM HAS SIGNED A CRITICAL MINERALS AGREEMENT WITH ZIRCON TECHNOLOGY IN SOUTH KOREA.

AUSTRALIANMINING

tells Australian Mining.

“It isn’t just the mining and processing that’s over there, it’s the magnet making and electric vehicle industries, so it’s going to be really challenging for Australia to break in.

“Our agreement with thyssenkrupp will be helpful as they have existing relationship into where we need to go in China, so they will act as a marketing arm for us and our Browns Range project.”

The agreement will see thyssenkrupp purchase 100 per cent of the output from the Browns Range pilot plant and give Northern Minerals the flexibility to supply heavy rare earths as separated products in the future.

This allows Northern Minerals to focus on its operations at Browns Range and develop new technology for this on-site separation, further distancing its capabilities from China’s dominance in the sector.

“The product we produce at Browns Range is a carbonate that has all 17 elements in it all mixed together in a pure form,” Tory explains.

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DECEMBER 2020

“They still need to be separated and the only place that can be done at present is China. “thyssenkrupp has existing relationships with separation companies in China, which means we don’t have to go in there and form those relationships ourselves.”

Northern Minerals’ next step is to complete further testing of its beneficiation plant to extract the desired rare earth elements and produce concentrate closer to the end product before it is exported.

The company has invested $17 million in a pilot plant to test its abilities before doing an updated feasibility study to build a larger scale plant to complete more of the downstream process in Australia.

“Because China dominates the downstream industry, the next logical step for Northern Minerals is magnet making,” Tory says.

“China holds about 85 per cent of the market for permanent magnets.

While we’re moving to make sure we can process and separate rare earths in Australia, the end market for

COMMODITY SPOTLIGHT

permanent magnets is still in China.”

For the Australian critical minerals industry to be successful, Tory says the government must create a longterm plan based on the way China has built itself up over three decades in this industry.

“Critical minerals are seen as highly valuable and we’ve got to think of the long-term strategy and think outside of the box, like China, if we’re really serious about a future in critical minerals,” he says.

“We are in the perfect position globally in relation to heavy rare earths.

We have high-grade deposits – we just need to be able to commercialise it.”

ASM is another Australian critical minerals company that has set up a strategic relationship in Asia by partnering with South Korean company Zircon Technology to produce high purity dysprosium.

The company then acquired 95 per cent of its joint venture partner in early November, giving it access to the low emission and high purity metal-refining technology and Zircon’s pilot plant.

The company partnered with South Korea as it is highly developed in manufacturing with a very stable manufacturing industry, but does not have the natural resources to source the materials it requires for modern vehicles and technologies.

For the partnership, Zircon Technology will fund the final stage research and feasibility of converting metals from the Dubbo project into oxide, so it is of high marketable purity.

ASM will invest $US1.2 million ($1.7 million) towards a pilot plant facility for late stage piloting and feasibility studies for a larger scale development and commercialisation of the process.

ASM managing director David Woodall says nations like South Korea are looking to alternative sources for the rare earth materials they require for manufacturing because the publicised tensions between the United States and China are threatening trade relationships.

“South Korea realised it has to have an alternative supply of critical minerals with the increased tensions between the United States and China, increased nationalism within the trade sphere and COVID-19,” Woodall says.

“To protect its manufacturing sector, it developed a strategy to de-risk its critical minerals supply chain.”

From here, ASM formed a partnership with the South Korean Government, which provided the company with a $US4.5 million grant to progress its Dubbo project, which has a large in-ground polymetallic resource of rare earths, zirconium, niobium, hafnium, tantalum and yttrium.

ASM MANAGING DIRECTOR DAVID WOODALL.

With Australia’s range of deposits, skilled workforce, educated people and the world-renowned Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), the country is an attractive destination for South Korea to invest in for a stable supply of critical minerals.

This fits with ASM’s strategy to enter a larger market and bring the value into the critical minerals sector that China has enjoyed for so long into Australia.

Similarly with Tory, Woodall says Australia must move towards bringing more downstream processing activities

THE DUBBO PROJECT DEMONSTRATION PILOT PLANT.

AUSTRALIANMINING

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to the country’s shores to unlock the true value of the critical minerals sector.

“When you’re selling a particular rare earth material as an oxide, the oxide market around the world is worth about $US4 billion,” Woodall explains.

“However, once that oxide is converted into a permanent magnet, the magnet industry is valued at closer to $US40 billon and once you begin selling electric vehicles or wind turbines, your operation is part of a $US4 trillion market.

“ASM’s strategy is that we want to be part of that larger $US40 billion market.”

While the Australian Government has been proactive in forming relationships with the United States and India, Woodall urges Australia to take advantage of the market before the opportunity slides.

“Australia has a great opportunity in the market, but the window is only open for a short period of time,” he says. “If we haven’t got a definitive and focussed strategy for the next five years, we may lose that opportunity.

“The next step is providing an alternate, stable, secure and sustainable supply chain in Australia now that it is highlighted how important these metals and materials are to future technologies.” AM

COMMODITY SPOTLIGHT

FROM ARGYLE MINE CLOSURE TO A NEW BEGINNING IT MIGHT BE THE END OF AN ERA FOR PRODUCTION AT THE ARGYLE DIAMOND MINE IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA, BUT DEMAND FOR ITS ESTEEMED PINK DIAMONDS WILL LIVE ON. VANESSA ZHOU DELVES INTO THEIR INTRINSIC VALUE WITH AUSTRALIAN DIAMOND PORTFOLIO EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ANNA CISECKI.

N

o mine in the world has produced rare pink diamonds that can compete with the vibrancy and colour depth of those unearthed at Rio Tinto’s Argyle mine in Western Australia.

The pink diamonds found in the mines of India, Brazil and Russia also don’t compete with the character of Argyle’s famous gems.

The abundance of Argyle’s pink diamonds fit into just a small bucket in any given year, with Australian Diamond Portfolio executive director Anna Cisecki saying they represent only one of every 10,000 gem-quality diamonds produced at the mine.

Further, they represent less than 1 per cent of the world’s supply of diamonds, putting them in a muchelevated position to yellow diamonds that comprise around 60 per cent of the fancy-colour diamond market.

This scarcity has given pink diamonds inflation protecting qualities and steadily increased their prices by 11 per cent in the past 15 years, outperforming the Australian Securities Exchange, which returned 7.9 per cent.

“They can be relied on to maintain their value when financial markets wobble and they are also truly limited in supply, which is one of the reasons why the increasing demand has pushed their prices so much in the last 15-20 years,” Cisecki tells Australian Mining.

Investors of pink diamonds also enjoy much lower volatility compared with those investing in equity markets and precious metals such as gold and silver.

This was proven during the global

THE VALUE OF A PINK DIAMOND IS JUDGED BY ITS SHADE AND INTENSITY.

financial crisis when pink diamond prices remained steady and those of gold and silver tumbled. This year, pink diamonds have avoided the impact of COVID-19.

The volatile share markets, money printing and low interest rates that characterise today’s uncertain economic climate, coupled with the closure of the Argyle mine in early November, have all contributed to the soaring demand of pink diamonds.

They have proven very resilient and strengthened in value during 2020, with the pending closure of the Argyle mine stimulating a wave of buying interest, according to Cisecki.

“Investors continue to seek benefits from the asset’s price growth this year,” Cisecki says.

“That is only natural in our view

as the supply constraints that are hitting the market are encouraging investors to get a seat at the table now before the closure of the Argyle diamond mine helps kickstart another potential sharp (increase) in the price of pink diamonds, and give birth to what is likely to be a robust secondary market in pink diamond trading.

“Pink diamonds have a number of characteristics that investors find very attractive when putting together a diverse portfolio, and that’s what’s driving their performance for the 2030 years since they were discovered.”

The appeal of the pink diamonds started with the owner and operator of the mine. When Rio Tinto launched operations at Argyle in 1983, the company sparked a popularity in pink diamonds that

ARGYLE WAS THE WORLD’S TOP PRODUCER OF PINK DIAMONDS UNTIL ITS CLOSURE. AUSTRALIANMINING

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previously wasn’t there.

Since then, the value of the pink diamonds has soared and has become better understood by the market, Cisecki says.

Rio Tinto chief executive of copper and diamonds, Arnaud Soirat, says that there were very few people who believed there were diamonds in Australia 50 years ago.

“To arrive at this final chapter (of Argyle mine closure) has required vision, courage and determination to overcome significant challenges to enter new territory in diamond exploration, mining and marketing,” he explains.

The record for a pink diamond sale is currently $US50 million ($71.3 million), and the largest rough pink diamond ever found at Argyle, named the Argyle Pink

COMMODITY SPOTLIGHT

THE LAST UNDERGROUND LOADER LEAVES THE ARGYLE DIAMOND MINE IN NOVEMBER.

Jubilee, weighed 12.76 carats (however, it was tragically shattered during the polishing process and was subsequently donated to Museums Victoria).

The demand for pink diamonds today is strong enough to continue to live on in secondary markets even after the Argyle mine has stopped producing.

Australian Diamond Portfolio plans to continue to focus on pink diamonds and their expected robust secondary market.

The closure of the Argyle mine has put the production of pink diamonds at a standstill, Cisecki points out, as it takes a mine a minimum of 10-15 years to reach an optimal stage of producing saleable diamonds.

“Rather than spelling the end of the pink diamond investment story, I think the closure of the Argyle mine will mark a new beginning, and a highly profitable one at that,” Cisecki says.

“The number of jewellery collectors and investors, as well as the number of financial organisations buying pink diamonds to preserve wealth is exceptional. We expect demand for

IMAGE CREDIT: RIO TINTO.

AUSTRALIAN DIAMOND PORTFOLIO EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ANNA CISECKI.

them to continue to rise meaningfully in the years ahead.”

In the meantime, Australian Diamond Portfolio has released The Legacy Collection, which features the last of Argyle’s pink diamonds.

The collection focusses on the lighter, sweeter shades of pink like cherry blossom and pink rose in sizes up to 0.14 carats to make them affordable and accessible to a much larger audience.

Representing a gift from the Argyle mine, The Legacy Collection’s diamonds are valued at $1000 to $10,000, in contrast with the $20,000$25,000 usually fetched for an investment diamond of rarity and beauty, according to Cisecki.

The Legacy diamonds have been shaped and polished by a master cutter, with each piece inscribed and lasered with a unique Argyle ID number that matches its certificate to indicate its authenticity.

“Pink diamonds come in all different shades and intensities, ranging from a subtle hint of rose, to the rich colour of a raspberry. The richer and more vibrant the colour, the more expensive the stone,” Cisecki says.

“However, even the lighter shades of pink are an excellent store of value as they are still far rarer than white diamonds.”

Looking ahead, Australian Diamond Portfolio will keep a close

watch on the Ellendale diamond project in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.

Although the mine has been dormant since 2015, Cisecki believes it is on track to restart production soon.

“I recall the (yellow diamonds) it produced were exquisite and may very well put Australia on the map again as far as the yellows are concerned,” she says.

This would be timely and welcomed as the world loses 90 per cent of its pink diamond supply upon Argyle’s closure.

For now, the industry will sit tight and wait for a new Australian diamond mine to reach production, even if it takes a decade. AM

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PROSPECT AWARDS

2020

AUSTRALIAN MINING

NATIONAL GROUP MINE OF THE YEAR

PROSPECT AWARDS

SEW-EURODRIVE COAL MINE OF THE YEAR

MOOLARBEN COAL OPERATION NABS TOP HONOURS THE MOOLARBEN THERMAL COAL OPERATION IN NEW SOUTH WALES IS A JEWEL IN YANCOAL’S EXTENSIVE MINING PORTFOLIO. AUSTRALIAN MINING EXPLAINS WHY IT IS NOW AN AWARD-WINNING SITE.

Y

ancoal’s efforts to advance the Moolarben joint venture (JV) coal operations in New South Wales with a consortium of Korean power companies have been anything but modest.

At a time when many Australian mining companies are retreating from thermal coal, the 95 per cent owner and operator has continued to deliver year-on-year growth at Moolarben.

In 2015, the JV produced nearly seven million tonnes before output soared to 9.3 million tonnes the following year and 12.4 million tonnes in 2017.

The upward streak was maintained with 16.5 million tonnes of production in 2018 and nearly 18 million tonnes in 2019.

Moolarben is on track to deliver its production guidance of 18.5 million tonnes this year, with run-of-mine (ROM) and saleable coal volumes from both the underground and open cut operations in the September quarter tracking ahead of the prior period and 2019 volumes.

It is no secret that Moolarben is the apple of Yancoal and its parent company Yankuang Group’s eye.

Moolarben has today become the highest producing yet lowest cost thermal coal operation in Australia.

The complex comprises four open cut mining areas, three underground

IMAGE: MOOLARBEN COAL OPERATIONS.

YANCOAL INCREASED ITS STAKE IN MOOLARBEN IN MARCH THIS YEAR.

AUSTRALIANMINING

THIS YEAR HAS POSED UNIQUE CHALLENGES, SO WE ARE COMMITTED TO SUPPORTING MINES WHO HAVE STOOD OUT FROM THE REST AND DISPLAYED OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENTS THROUGHOUT 2020.” mining areas and other miningrelated infrastructure.

It has secured its global Tier 1 asset status and has now been crowned the National Group Australian Mine of the Year and SEW-Eurodrive Coal Mine of the Year in the 2020 Australian Mining Prospect Awards.

Given the strength of the operation, it is no surprise that Yancoal acquired an additional 10 per cent stake in Moolarben from Sojitz Corporation for $300 million in March, a move that Yancoal chief executive David Moult describes as a pursuit of strategic growth opportunities despite the challenges presented by COVID-19.

Moolarben’s increased output and the additional stake, in fact, contributed to Yancoal’s resilience during COVID-19, with the company stating it’s had no material impact to production due to the virus.

The company is also optimistic in the recovery of coal prices after they were negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

But the resilience of the Moolarben coal operation wasn’t built overnight. It started with an $800 million open cut and underground expansion in late 2015.

This includes a brownfield expansion of the existing open cut operation and the start of a greenfield underground operation, with each project guided by its own dedicated leadership team.

The expansion was completed in 2017, with the underground mining operation fulfilling Yancoal’s intended design to be a high technology and low-cost operation that focusses on automation.

It features an autonomous

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DECEMBER 2020

Caterpillar longwall, full shear sequence that is undertaken completely by automation and pan gradient that is set to follow the defined coal seams.

Not shying away from using automation to improve development performance, Yancoal has implemented a continuous miner auto cut cycle, continuous miner real time monitoring and reporting, as well as auto drill feed on bolting rigs.

The automation has resulted in a year-on-year production uptick, with 1.7 million tonnes produced in its first full year of operation in 2017, before reaching 5.6 million tonnes during the following year.

By 2019, the Moolarben underground operation alone yielded 6.4 million tonnes, and is now on track to deliver budgeted ROM tonnes this year.

During the September quarter, the operation allowed better than expected volumes to bypass the processing plant, boosting the saleable coal volume.

The Moolarben coal handling preparation plant (CHPP) hasn’t evaded the JV’s attention either.

The company was committed to upgrading the CHPP to increase its efficiency.

This effort has seen the CHPP availability improve by 2 per cent and average annual feed rate rise from 1700 tonnes per hour to 1950 tonnes per hour.

Train loading time has been slashed by 10 per cent and magnetite consumption by 35 per cent.

There were above-average rain events and unplanned maintenance events at the open cut operations, but the processing plant performed above expectations, according

PROSPECT AWARDS

2020

AUSTRALIAN MINING

NATIONAL GROUP MINE OF THE YEAR

PROSPECT AWARDS

MOOLARBEN UNDERWENT AN $800 MILLION OPEN CUT AND UNDERGROUND EXPANSION IN 2015.

a boost from the 21 million tonnes that were previously permitted.

Determined to set the operation up for its long-term viability and sustainable production levels, the JV engaged in a complex water management project to ensure Moolarben doesn’t run out of water during seasons of drought. This included a water sharing agreement with Glencore, as well as reworking of the mine plan.

The JV has also taken a proactive stance in developing a solution to predict the volumes of water it could

expect over Moolarben’s life of mine to stay compliant, while operating in more challenging conditions and to ensure that it meets its target operating quantity and quality in regard to water management.

This has resulted in the construction of a $37 million water treatment plant, completion of brine and clean water dams at an approximate value of $50 million and installation and replacement of all water pipelines to 600 millimetres to ensure pumping capacity.

The strength of the Moolarben operation stands on the shoulders of its 800 workers, some of which stepped away from the coalface and helped defend communities during the bushfire season last summer.

This is the same team that has maintained the best safety performance in regard to health and safety metrics across the Yancoal group and secured the New South Wales Minerals Council’s Safety Excellence Award in 2016.

Sponsor of the Australian Mine of the Year, National Group, has continued its commitment to support the prestigious category since 2019, recognising the best of the Hard Rock and Coal Mine of the Year categories.

“This year has posed unique challenges, so we are committed to supporting mines who have stood out from the rest and displayed outstanding

achievements throughout 2020,” National Group managing director Mark Ackroyd says.

“We would like to congratulate the finalists for this year’s awards and to wish them the best of luck.”

In a year that no one will ever forget, the Moolarben coal operation has emerged as a standout winner, knocking back a strong line up for the Epiroc Hard Rock and SEW-Eurodrive Coal Mine of the Year finalists that are automatically included in the running for the National Group Australian Mine of the Year title.

They included New Hope Group’s Jeebropilly coal mine in Queensland, Glencore’s Mangoola coal operation in New South Wales, Mineral Resources’ Koolyanobbing iron ore mine in Western Australia and OceanaGold’s Haile gold mine in the United States.

SEW Eurodrive takes great pride in sponsoring the Coal Mine of the Year award, with national service manager IG Daniele Dallari saying, “This award acknowledges the nominees who demonstrated the highest level of productivity, efficiency and safety.

“The awards provide an opportunity to showcase the capabilities of the industry.”

One thing’s for sure, the Moolarben coal operation will help define the future opportunities that exist in the Australian and global thermal coal sectors. AM

IMAGE: MOOLARBEN COAL OPERATIONS.

to Yancoal in its September quarter report.

“The processing throughput and yield combined with the underground by-pass volume delivered yet another strong quarter,” the company states.

Further, mining operations at Moolarben are set to continue until December 2038, with Yancoal permitted to produce up to 24 million tonnes of ROM coal per year.

This includes 16 million tonnes from the open cut operation and eight million tonnes from the underground,

IMAGE: MOOLARBEN COAL OPERATIONS.

SEW-EURODRIVE COAL MINE OF THE YEAR

MOOLARBEN IS THE HIGHEST PRODUCING YET LOWEST COST THERMAL COAL OPERATION IN AUSTRALIA.

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2020

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EPIROC HARD ROCK MINE OF THE YEAR

PROSPECT AWARDS

MINRES PUSHES KOOLYANOBBING INTO OVERDRIVE

SINCE ACQUIRING THE KOOLYANOBBING MINE FROM CLEVELAND-CLIFFS IN 2018, MINERAL RESOURCES HAS EXCEEDED EVEN ITS OWN EXPECTATIONS AT THE IRON ORE OPERATION IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA.

IRON ORE FROM THE KOOLYANOBBING MINE IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA IS TRANSPORTED VIA MINRES’ OWN MINE-TO-PORT INFRASTRUCTURE.

M

ineral Resources’ (MinRes) revival of the Koolyanobbing iron ore mine in the Yilgarn region of Western Australia is an acquisition success story.

When the acquisition from former Koolyanobbing owner ClevelandCliffs was completed in August 2018, MinRes anticipated that it would operate the mine at a 6-6.25 million tonnes a year rate.

A few weeks later, first blast and load out of the site took place, and within less than two years MinRes has significantly ramped up production, with shipments from the site reaching an annualised rate of 12.7 million tonnes.

To achieve this turnaround, MinRes transitioned two of the 10 pits in operation at Koolyanobbing – Deception and Jackson – to lowerstrip ore delivery phases, with stage two mining of ore at Deception on schedule as of the June quarter.

The 134 per cent jump in shipped tonnes from Koolyanobbing pushed MinRes to a 33 per cent year-onyear increase in total iron ore exports across the company, with a record 14.1 million tonnes in the 2020 financial year.

MinRes shipped 7.4 million tonnes from Koolyanobbing over the same period, generating an average revenue of $116 per tonne and costs of $72

per tonne and freight (compared with $104 per tonne and $81 per tonne, respectively, at MinRes’ largest iron ore operation in Western Australia, the Iron Valley mine).

The incredible developments at Koolyanobbing have guided MinRes to the Epiroc Hard Rock Mine of the Year honour at the Australian Mining Prospect Awards in 2020.

And MinRes is set to take Koolyanobbing to another level, with the company targeting a run rate of 13 million tonnes a year at the operation by the end of the year, and even further growth planned in 2021.

The company has overcome delays in receiving environmental approvals

at the new F1 pit at Koolyanobbing, with access works and site clearing commencing in the June quarter ahead of the pit’s targeted start-up in the September period.

MinRes also plans to achieve its growth ambitions with the introduction of a new mobile crushing plant to supplement the primary Koolyanobbing crusher.

The new crusher, which was commissioned in early August, will help ramp up production and shipping from Koolyanobbing in the remaining quarters of the 2021 fiscal year.

MinRes transports iron ore from the Koolyanobbing mine to the Port of Esperance for export itself. The company boasts mine-to-port logistics for all its mine sites, including 81 onhighway road trains, 23 rail locomotives and 844 wagons that help carry iron ore for export to Asia.

With Koolyanobbing’s progress, MinRes continues to look for growth opportunities at the site, having commenced resource definition drilling during the September quarter.

The drilling program included 6000 metres of reverse circulation at the Windarling deposit and 11,000 metres at the Parker Range deposit.

Although operational performance is key to MinRes’ success in the iron ore business, the company is eager to highlight and seize the benefits that diversity and inclusion offer.

As at June this year, almost 18 per

cent of the MinRes commodities workforce identified as female, exceeding the industry average of around 16 per cent.

The company welcomed 14 operators to its entry level operator training program in March and recruited another 18 operators in June, with some heading to the Koolyanobbing operation.

Epiroc, also a champion of diversity and inclusion, is proud to be the sponsor for the Hard Rock Miner of the Year award.

“We strive for all people to be welcomed, valued, represented and included,” the company states. “Epiroc recognises that gender diversity is particularly critical to our success.

“We’re passionate about our strategies to attract and retain talented people in our global operations and proudly support women in mining and resources in Australia.”

MinRes chief financial officer and secretary Mark Wilson, in the company’s full-year results briefing, says the company has been determined to set Koolyanobbing up to not only to hit its stride in 2020 but also in the years ahead.

Followers of the mining industry can sit tight and watch the Koolyanobbing mine grow and continue to surpass its initial expectations.

Koolyanobbing edged out OceanaGold’s Haile gold mine in the United States to win the Epiroc Hard Rock Mine of the Year honour. AM

PRODUCTION FROM KOOLYANOBBING HAS INCREASED SIGNIFICANTLY SINCE MINRES TOOK CONTROL OF THE SITE.

AUSTRALIANMINING

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DECEMBER 2020

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PROSPECT AWARDS

2020

AUSTRALIAN MINING

LIEBHERR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

NORMAN MOORE’S LIFETIME OF ACHIEVEMENTS IN MINING

PROSPECT AWARDS

THE PRESTIGIOUS LIEBHERR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD HAS BEEN PRESENTED TO THE FORMER WESTERN AUSTRALIAN MINES AND PETROLEUM MINISTER AND GOLD INDUSTRY GROUP FOUNDING CHAIR NORMAN MOORE.

A

s someone born in the famous mining city of Kalgoorlie, Norman Moore’s pedigree in the industry should not come as a surprise.

Norman Moore has received the Liebherr Lifetime Achievement award at the 2020 Australian Mining Prospect Awards off the back of a prolific list of contributions to the industry.

The Liebherr Lifetime Achievement award is presented to a person that has committed themself to Australia’s mining industry through their business, social and community interactions across the course of their career.

Moore, who is now retired, focussed much of his professional career towards supporting the industry, whether that’s through politics or as part of industry bodies.

This includes his work as Western Australia’s Mines and Petroleum Minister and in helping to establish the Gold Industry Group.

Mining is the economic lifeblood of Australia and has seen a flurry of highly revered individuals rise to the forefront of pushing the industry forward. Moore is undoubtedly

amongst that company in the Western Australian mining community.

The Liebherr Lifetime Achievement award itself provides an opportunity to commend the achievements of people within the industry, with Moore providing a textbook example of a positive contributor.

Born in Australia’s gold mining hub in 1945, Kalgoorlie, Moore’s first career venture was a teacher and then high school principal.

From there, he began his parliamentary career in 1977, spending several years of his political life as the Western Australian Minister for Mines and Petroleum, including between 1997 to 2001, and from 2008 to 2013.

Western Australia strengthened its position as one of the world’s leading mining jurisdictions during both of Moore’s stints in the role.

Its world-class gold sector continued to be internationally recognised, while the state’s iron ore industry rapidly grew into the global mining juggernaut that it has become today.

Moore also oversaw the state’s education, employment and training, sport and recreation, and tourism portfolios over the course of

NORMAN MOORE (FAR LEFT) AT THE WOMEN IN GOLD SUNDOWNER 2017.

AUSTRALIANMINING

NORMAN MOORE AT THE LAUNCH OF THE GOLD INDUSTRY GROUP IN 2015.

his political career.

After garnering an extensive amount of knowledge through his political and business ventures in Western Australia, Moore played an instrumental role in creating the Gold Industry Group, the nation’s first gold group that’s focussed on building educational and community initiatives to deliver positive change within the industry.

The Gold Industry Group is a not-for-profit industry association established in 2015. It also aims to partner and collaborate with organisations within the industry and community, as well as grow the understanding of gold’s value and relevance in day-to-day life.

Built off his passion for the mining industry, the Gold Industry Group was founded by Moore to unify Australia’s gold sector while supporting the community in the process.

Moore first served as the Gold Industry Group’s founding chair and then as a director from November 2015 to the end of 2017.

At the Gold Industry Group, Moore was an integral part of building its membership and credibility during its early years.

He has helped to raise the awareness of gold’s value to the Australian economy and community.

Off the back of Moore’s vision, the

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Gold Industry Group has continued to prove itself through its industry and community programs that serve Australians in the areas of education, health, employment, tourism, diversity and innovation.

Moore has also supported and mentored Rebecca Johnston to become Gold Industry Group’s executive officer.

With the recent resurgence of gold in Australia, industry bodies including the Gold Industry Group are as important as ever to steer the nation’s local gold industry forward.

Award sponsor, Liebherr-Australia, states that during a time where good, positive stories are few and far between, the Prospect Awards offer a respite and a reality check that mining is a dynamic and innovative industry that’s here to stay.

“Liebherr-Australia would like to congratulate all finalists for this year’s Prospect Awards and thank them for their contribution to the Australian mining industry,” the original equipment manufacturer states.

The Liebherr Lifetime Achievement award is widely regarded as the most prestigious of the Australian Mining Prospect Awards. It is determined through recommendations made by the judging panel. AM

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PROSPECT AWARDS

CDE MINING MINERALS PROCESSING OF THE YEAR AWARD

2020

AUSTRALIAN MINING PROSPECT AWARDS

ROY HILL INNOVATION GUIDES MINERALS PROCESSING SUCCESS

ROY HILL HOLDINGS HAS WON THE CDE MINING MINERALS PROCESSING OF THE YEAR AWARD FOR ITS WET HIGH INTENSITY MAGNET SEPARATOR PLANT, WHICH SAVES HIGH-GRADE ULTRAFINE IRON ORE UNITS THAT WOULD OTHERWISE END UP ON THE TAILINGS WASTE PILE.

ROY HILL’S WHIMS PLANT PROCESSED ITS MILLIONTH TONNE OF IRON ORE IN MAY 2020.

R

oy Hill built the wet high intensity magnet separator (WHIMS) plant in 2018 to deliver another four to five million tonnes of highgrade iron ore from the mine, increasing its export capacity to around 60 million tonnes.

By filtering tailings through a series of electromagnets that extract the iron particles, Roy Hill is able to recover iron from the waste and place it onto the stockpiles for production.

Roy Hill achieved first ore from the plant in December last year and commenced production during January, hitting a production milestone of one million tonnes by May. The Australian Mining Prospect Awards judges were most impressed by Roy Hill’s clear demonstration of using smart innovation to process minerals in a more efficient and sustainable way.

“Of particular emphasis in the nomination was Roy Hill’s commitment to ‘challenge, adapt and modify our approach to create new ways of working’,” judge and Australasian

Institute of Mining and Metallurgy chief executive officer Stephen Durkin says. “(This) positive attitude reflects excellence not only in Roy Hill’s operation but should provide inspiration for all companies and professionals in the sector.”

In addition to boosting production at the Pilbara mine, the Roy Hill WHIMS also has significant environmental benefits, decreasing the amount of waste sent to the tailings pile by up to five million tonnes per annum.

Durkin also describes Roy Hill as a leader in the space of decreasing wastage with a WHIMS plant.

“Roy Hill’s thought leadership in recovering ultrafine iron ore through its WHIMS plant has also positively influenced the broader sector, with other companies now investigating how to adopt the process in their own operations,” he says.

“This provides a clear example of one company’s commitment to efficiency and sustainability driving better outcomes for the rest of the industry and community.”

AUSTRALIANMINING

Roy Hill turned this piece of innovative equipment into something deeply personal to the company, painting the WHIMS plant pink to honour Roy Hill executive chairman Gina Rinehart’s long-term commitment to breast cancer research.

Through the Rinehart Medical Foundation, Roy Hill has supported a two-year program worth $500,000 to support cancer patients.

Although about 200 people in the Pilbara are required to travel the 1600-kilometre trip to Perth for treatment, this was the first outreach program specifically set up for Pilbara patients.

CDE Mining, sponsor of the Australian Mining Prospect Awards Minerals Processing of the Year award, values excellence in innovation and sustainability in the mining industry such as the Roy Hill WHIMS plant.

The company states that it is proud of the talent showcased in the Minerals Processing of the Year category in 2020, with each finalist bringing innovative talent to the global minerals processing community.

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“The Prospect Awards highlight the value of mining and minerals projects that contribute to the local economy every day without compromising on safety and environmental protection,” CDE Mining states.

“We’re delighted to sponsor the prestigious awards’ Minerals Processing of the Year category in 2020.”

Roy Hill edged out fellow finalists Weir Minerals, presenting Tronox with a total asset management (TAM) agreement and the OceanaGold Haile gold mine in South Carolina, the United States.

Weir Minerals presented Tronox with the TAM agreement to increase production, which helped it to reduce downtime by 75 per cent and shut intervals by 33 per cent, while saving 10 per cent on maintenance costs.

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PROSPECT AWARDS

2020

AUSTRALIAN MINING

EPIROC CONTRACT MINER OF THE YEAR

PROSPECT AWARDS

MACMAHON A STAR MINING CONTRACTOR FROM COAST TO COAST FROM AUSTRALIA’S EAST COAST COAL MINES TO REMOTE GOLD PROJECTS IN THE WEST, MACMAHON HOLDINGS PROVIDES SERVICES FOR MINING OPERATIONS ALL OVER THE NATION. ITS WORK TO BUILD UP SOME OF AUSTRALIA’S TOP PROJECTS HAS LED TO IT TAKING OUT THE EPIROC CONTRACT MINER OF THE YEAR TITLE.

D

uring the course of the year, Macmahon strengthened its order book with key contract wins, including at the Byerwen coal mine in Queensland and the Mount Monger gold mine in Western Australia.

Macmahon has been working at the Byerwen coal mine in the Bowen Basin since its greenfield days in August 2017 and undertakes all drilling, blast design, loading, hauling, haul road maintenance and mobile plant maintenance work.

In June, Macmahon’s contract at Byerwen was extended until at least November 2023, with the option of another two-year extension by joint venture owners QCoal Group and JFE Steel.

Under the contract extension, Macmahon will boost production at the hard coking coal project from five to 10 million tonnes of coal per annum.

During the 2020 financial year, Macmahon not only enhanced operations for its mining customers but also its own portfolio, finalising the acquisition of the GBF Underground Mining business.

Through GBF Underground Mining, Macmahon is executing works at the Mount Monger gold mine, after inking the contract with Silver Lake Resources.

This boosted Macmahon’s order book in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, positioning it strongly to work through this challenging period.

Macmahon’s work at Mount Monger is representative of its versatility across a range of commodities, servicing multiple gold mines, in addition to its work at Queensland coal sites.

The contractor also provides a full scope of services for fellow Western Australian gold operation, Newcrest Mining’s Telfer gold-copper mine in the Great Sandy Desert.

At Telfer, Macmahon has been contracted since 2016 on a rolling basis, which will last until 2022. It mines the open pit at the fly-in flyout (FIFO) mine, completes bulk earthworks, drill and blast work, hires out equipment and subcontractors and is responsible for dealing with

MACMAHON AT WORK AT THE BYERWEN HARD COKING COAL MINE IN QUEENSLAND’S BOWEN BASIN.

mining waste materials.

During 2020, Macmahon also ramped up the Boston Shaker underground project at the Tropicana gold joint venture in Western Australia.

Underground mining at Boston Shaker will improve the gold production profile and cash flow at the Tropicana mine between 2021 and 2023 while the mining plan includes periods of higher waste stripping from the Havana open pit.

First commercial production from the Boston Shaker underground mine was declared during the September quarter of 2020, mining a total of 14,637 ounces of gold in the period.

This was achieved on schedule, thanks to the hard work of Macmahon, as well as joint venture partners AngloGold Ashanti (70 per cent) and IGO (30 per cent).

Macmahon also led the Batu Hijau copper-gold mine in Indonesia and Byerwen to record volumes of production during 2020.

AUSTRALIANMINING

The company tackled a challenging year by taking quick action to implement appropriate COVID-19 measures across its sites and using its Strong Minds, Strong Mines mental health program to support the workforce during this time.

This strategy paid off, with Macmahon experiencing minimal interruption to its business and supply chain and entering the 2021 financial year with an order book of $4.5 billion and a significant tender pipeline worth $7 billion.

“Our aim is to be an advanced mining contractor and as such we are investing in our systems and technology,” Macmahon chief executive officer and managing director Michael Finnegan says.

“We are building a platform to connect our people, processes, equipment and production plans to identify and eliminate waste, improve safety and increase production for our clients.

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“In addition, we remain focussed on expanding our service offering across the mining value chain, with specific focus on the civil, underground and rehabilitation sectors.”

Contract Miner of the Year sponsor Epiroc is proud to support this award, stating that it values diversity and inclusion for the success of Australian mining businesses, striving for all workers to be welcomed, valued, represented and included.

“As a long time award sponsor of the Prospect Awards, we have returned in 2020 to sponsor the Contract Miner of the Year award, which recognises a site that sets the standard for the rest of the industry to follow,” Eprioc states.

“Epiroc recognises that gender diversity is particularly critical to our success. We’re passionate about strategies to attract and retain talented people in our global operations.

Congratulations to all the finalists for being nominated for the Australian Mining Prospect Awards.” AM

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PROSPECT AWARDS

2020

AUSTRALIAN MINING

AUSTMINE INNOVATIVE MINING SOLUTION

EMESENT MAPS OUT AWARD-WINNING INNOVATION

PROSPECT AWARDS

EMESENT’S HOVERMAP SOLUTION FOR UNDERGROUND MINE DATA AND IMAGERY HAS RECEIVED THE AUSTMINE INNOVATIVE MINING SOLUTION AWARD AT THE 2020 PROSPECT AWARDS. HOVERMAP CAN BE ATTACHED TO DRONES TO ENTER INACCESSIBLE AREAS OF UNDERGROUND MINES.

E

mesent’s Hovermap exemplifies what the Austmine Innovative Mining Solution award stands for, which is a solution that pushes the boundaries of what is possible in the mining industry.

From productivity to safety, the Hovermap demonstrates outside-thebox thinking that has led to a truly positive and productive outcome.

Due to the nature of underground mines hosting a number of inaccessible and hazardous areas, Emesent developed Hovermap to prevent personnel from entering inaccessible areas.

Hovermap is able to use light detection and ranging (LiDAR) point clouds and imagery that captures inaccessible areas otherwise deemed difficult to assess through previous methods of inspection – something that has come to the aid of the industry through its key benefits.

Traditionally, mining engineers and surveyors are required to inspect and map an underground mine’s inaccessible areas using a cavity monitoring system (CMS) as they can be a danger to workers, infrastructure and equipment.

According to Emesent, the CMS method is time consuming and only provides low quality point cloud data.

Hovermap combats this by introducing simultaneous localisation and mapped-based (SLAM) collision

avoidance and automated flight technology, enabling accurate mapping of environments without a GPS signal.

The solution is, however, capable of flying into inaccessible areas including stopes, drawpoints, orepasses and drives, positioning it to record high quality, shadowless cloud data when handheld, mounted on a drone or attached to a vehicle.

Prospect Awards judge, CSIRO’s Mark Dunn, says Hovermap provides a unique capability for areas that would otherwise be inaccessible, describing it as a game changing piece of technology.

Fellow judge, Austmine’s Clytie

Dangar, also hails Hovermap as an impressive solution for the industry.

“The application of the drone technology with a combination of other sophisticated scanning and mapping technology is impressive and is an elegant solution to overcoming surface signal reliance and delivers a versatile technology with simple operation,” Dangar says.

“The safety payoffs are immense and it clearly is solving a complex customer need.”

Emesent has deployed Hovermap at Evolution Mining’s Mungari gold operation in Western Australia.

Due to poor data quality at the mine, Evolution was demanding a mapping solution that provided quality stope data in particular.

Evolution selected Hovermap as the best mapping tool, first using it for stope voids and then for mapping all underground voids.

Obstructions became a non-issue, with the survey team able to mount Hovermap to a drone and capture the required data.

“Hovermap has been an unprecedented success in our eyes,” Evolution senior surveyor Matt Jones says.

“This game-changing piece of technology allows us to make much more informed decisions about our underground voids, with data

HOVERMAP USES LIDAR POINT CLOUDS AND IMAGERY.

AUSTRALIANMINING

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collection that is orders of magnitude above existing methods, yet with a comparable collection and processing time.

“The teams on site have been totally blown away by the level of detail they now have access to and consider it an essential piece of equipment.”

Hovermap’s versatility and easy-touse interface enable it to deliver fast and efficient, high quality data from any part of a mine.

Within minutes, Hovermap can fly into an asset to capture high resolution LiDAR point clouds and images, allowing for increased visibility in environments.

To ensure data is received immediately, Hovermap features realtime point clouds that are sent directly to the operator’s tablet – even while still underground.

Award sponsor Austmine is a longterm supporter of the Australian Mining Prospects Awards and the Innovative Mining Solution Award category.

“The Australian Mining Prospect Awards and similar events are critical in raising the profile of Australian innovation and technology,” Austmine chief executive Chris Gibbs Stewart says.

“We congratulate all finalists and winners on their phenomenal achievements in 2020 and look forward to celebrating the best in METS innovation at future events.” AM

PROSPECT AWARDS

2020

METSO OUTOTEC EXCELLENCE IN ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT AUSTRALIAN MINING

HAPPY ENDING FOR MANGOOLA REHABILITATION PROJECT

PROSPECT AWARDS

GLENCORE MAY HAVE FINISHED MINING THE NORTH PIT OF THE MANGOOLA OPEN CUT COAL MINE IN NEW SOUTH WALES, BUT ITS EFFORTS TO REHABILITATE THE SITE HAVE BEEN RECOGNISED WITH THE METSO OUTOTEC EXCELLENCE IN ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT AWARD. THE NORTH PIT IS NOW HOME TO MORE THAN 70 NATIVE ANIMAL SPECIES.

L

ike all significant mining projects in New South Wales, Glencore was required to complete progressive mine rehabilitation at the former North Pit. Glencore has taken a different approach to create a full, natural landform ecosystem restoration, which has influenced other Australian sites to do the same.

Mangoola employed an on-site restoration ecologist within its environmental team to enhance the rehabilitation outcomes, who led the team in using a GeoFluv natural evolution model to design the final rehabilitation landform.

It was the first site in Australia to adopt the natural landform approach in mine site rehabilitation, which uses global positioning system-guided dozers to shape overburden dumps and re-establish vegetation communities on the shaped post-mine land.

“It is the ethos at Mangoola Coal to continually refine processes to improve in all areas of the operations,” Glencore states.

“This mindset continues to drive innovation and the use of established best practices as part of the site’s rehabilitation activities.”

When revegetating the Mangoola North Pit, Glencore completed all seeding by hand to ensure accurate placement of the vegetation communities according to the natural landscape, unlike most mine rehabilitations that use machinery to complete seeding.

The oldest rehabilitation at Mangoola is now eight years old, where many trees and shrubs are showing regular cycles of flowering and seed production, some even with evidence of second generation seedings.

Glencore has been monitoring the site as it completes the rehabilitation project, keeping track of the new flora and fauna species that are starting to call the former Mangoola mine home.

AUSTRALIANMINING

“Throughout monitoring in 2019, Mangoola recorded more than 70 native fauna species in the mine rehabilitation,” Glencore states.

“There is also evidence of use of nest and bat boxes in the rehabilitated areas with observations of scats including bat, bird and other mammals, nesting material, feathers, eggs and chewed leaves.”

These species include common wombats, red-necked and swamp wallabies, eastern grey kangaroos, short-beaked echidnas, common brushtail possums and common wallaroos, lace monitors, three species of frog (spotted marsh, broad palmed and green tree frogs) and various woodland birds.

To share the successes and learnings of the Mangoola rehabilitation, Glencore regularly hosts site tours, including for international mining industry peers.

“Mangoola welcomes around 600 visitors per year, including community members, mining industry peers,

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government representatives, university groups and school teachers and students,” Glencore explains.

“During 2019, Mangoola constructed a visitor information viewing area and nature walk through the rehabilitation with interpretive signage. The signs explain the rehabilitation process and flora and fauna species that visitors will likely encounter along the walk.”

To date, Glencore has rehabilitated more than 670 hectares of mined land, surpassing the 2019 target of 100 hectares.

The Prospect Awards judging panel commended the high standard of Glencore’s submission and long-term commitment to the mine rehabilitation.

“Mangoola’s commitment to this project over a long term is exemplary and the approach has been well thought out, well-resourced and showing measurable impact,” judge and Austmine board member Dallas Wilkinson says.

“The community aspect was also outstanding, with the transparency provided through their visitor program and reporting.

“Their approach has been very scientific and thorough from flora and fauna, ecology and historical land/ environment composition.”

To win the award, Glencore nudged out New Century Resources for its site-specific mine rehabilitation design, Decipher for its tailings governance and disclosure and Oleology for its perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances water treatment system.

Excellence in Environmental Management award sponsor Metso Outotec states that it is encouraging to see so many companies entering this important category and congratulates the four finalists.

“Reducing the environmental impacts of our industry, such as energy usage, water consumption and carbon footprint is a top priority,” Metso Outotec states.

“As sponsors of the Excellence in Environmental Management Award, Metso Outotec has a strong sustainability culture and heritage and is focussed on offering more responsible and efficient solutions.” AM

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PROSPECT AWARDS

2020

AUSTRALIAN MINING

CRC MINE MANAGER OF THE YEAR

PROSPECT AWARDS

MOOLARBEN LEADER TAKES HOME TOP MINING MANAGER HONOUR STEVEN CHANDLER HAS BEEN THE OPERATIONS MANAGER AT YANCOAL’S MOOLARBEN UNDERGROUND COAL MINE SINCE 2017, OVERSEEING 800 STAFF. HIS INTRODUCTION OF SEVERAL NEW INITIATIVES AT THE SITE HAS BEEN RECOGNISED WITH THE CRC MINE MANAGER OF THE YEAR AWARD.

N

ominated by Moolarben human resources and health, safety and training manager Grant Arnold, Chandler’s leadership is backed by the mine’s impressive performance, with year-on-year production increases and productivity improvements.

Arnold says Chandler has been a driving force behind the success of the underground operation in New South Wales.

“He has been the content expert for many of the automation initiatives at the underground operation at the same time as being responsible for the safety, production and responsibility of the operation,” Arnold says. “(He) has also led the mine management team in the implementation and further adoption as standard operating practices.”

The new automation initiatives include installation of autonomous longwall mining, real-time monitoring and reporting, auto drill feed on bolting rigs, breaker feed light activation and conveyor bunkering.

These automation processes are being investigated by Yancoal’s Chinese parent company, the Yangkuang Group, as opportunities for the company’s other operations around the world.

Chandler has also dedicated much time and effort to support the future

THE MOOLARBEN COAL MINE EXPANDED AUTOMATION PROCESSES UNDER CHANDLER’S LEADERSHIP.

MOOLARBEN UNDERGROUND COAL MINE OPERATIONS MANAGER STEVE CHANDLER HAS BEEN NAMED MINE MANAGER OF THE YEAR.

of Yancoal and the Moolarben mine as a valuable mentor to other employees at the site.

“He has had the foresight to develop staff and employees at all levels to ensure the long-term viability and success of the underground operation at Moolarben,” Arnold says.

“Chandler has been instrumental in developing and mentoring a new leadership team in the underground operation to ensure the effective management of the underground workforce and delivery of the budget and plans.”

Yancoal’s underground operations at Moolarben started in 2017, the same year Chandler became the underground coal operations manager at the site.

As manager of the greenfield underground operation, he was not only responsible for overseeing a safe and productive work environment, but also for recruiting and developing a dedicated and cohesive team.

Since Chandler joined the team and oversaw the start of underground coal operations at Moolarben, the site has welcomed 64 Certificate III in Underground Coal Mining participants and four electrical and mechanical apprentices.

Of those, 70 per cent have gone on to transition into direct full-time positions at the Moolarben coal operations.

AUSTRALIANMINING

“Chandler’s ability to impart his knowledge and to mentor and support a new generation of underground miners is best represented in the numbers of trainees and apprentices that have commenced their careers at the operation since 2017,” Arnold says.

“He has been a strong supporter of the traineeship program for new to industry employees to ensure a longterm growth pipeline of skills for the industry and to deliver meaningful employment outcomes for the residents in the local community.”

With Chandler’s hard work and team management, the Moolarben coal mine is on track to deliver its guidance of 18.5 million tonnes for the 2020 calendar year, which would see production increase by 168 per cent during the period.

Mine Manager of the Year sponsor CRC Industries states that mining managers are essential to any mining organisation as they are responsible for all aspects of a mine operation.

CRC Industries recognises all these qualities in Chandler, who has been instrumental in developing the aforementioned automation

THE MOOLARBEN COAL MINE IN NEW SOUTH WALES.

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HE HAS HAD THE FORESIGHT TO DEVELOP STAFF AND EMPLOYEES AT ALL LEVELS TO ENSURE THE LONG-TERM VIABILITY AND SUCCESS OF THE UNDERGROUND OPERATION AT MOOLARBEN.” and leadership programs at the Moolarben coal mine.

“As a solution provider to the resource industry, CRC Industries understands how essential mining managers are to any mining organisation,” CRC Industries states.

“Management of a mine operation is no mean feat and includes responsibility for teamwork, safety, quality and customer focus among others – fundamentals which also align to CRC’s own global operating principles.” AM

CONGRATULATIONS FROM CRC INDUSTRIES

MINE MANAGER OF THE YEAR. As a solution provider to the resource industry, CRC Industries understands how essential Mining Managers are to any mining organisation.

CRC is again a proud supporter and sponsor of the Prospect Awards’ Mine Manager of the Year category.

Management of a mine operation is no mean feat and includes responsibility for teamwork, safety, quality and customer focus among others – fundamentals which also align to CRC’s own Global Operating Principles.

Congratulations to all this year’s finalists and award winners.

PH 1800 224 227 info.au@crcind.com WWW.CRCIND.COM.AU

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PROSPECT AWARDS

2020

AUSTRALIAN MINING

SCHENCK PROCESS EXCELLENCE IN MINE SAFETY, OH&S

ME SAFE SOLUTION SAFELY & EFFICENTLY BLOCKS HOLES CONTAINING LOST DRILL RODS

PROSPECT AWARDS

LOST DRILL RODS ARE A COMMON PROBLEM IN THE UNDERGROUND MINING INDUSTRY. HOWEVER, IT IS UNCOMMON TO FIND A SOLUTION THAT DOES NOT REQUIRE DEMOBILISATION OF THE PRODUCTION DRILL OR INTERRUPT OPERATIONS. ME SAFE HAS FOUND A SOLUTION. ME SAFE’S LONG HOLE PLUG IS AN INNOVATIVE SOLUTION FOR A COMMON MINE SITE HAZARD.

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ost drill rods, or bogged rods get stuck in drill holes and have the potential to fall out without warning, posing a serious safety threat to the employees and equipment working below.

Current industry practices to alleviate the hazard are either to grout the hole to lock the bogged rods in place or to plate over the hole with a rock bolt, which require production drills to be shut down, operations halted and workers and equipment moved away to fix the problem.

Both methods are expensive and time consuming, consequences that were not wasted on ME SAFE. To remove the hazard without wasting valuable production time and capital, ME SAFE developed the long hole plug (LHP) to safely secure lost rods from drill holes.

In finding a solution to this common mining industry issue, ME SAFE has won the Australian Mining Prospect Awards’ Schenck Process Excellence in Mine Safety, Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) title in 2020.

“The LHP, when struck by falling drill rods, behaves similarly to an

expansion shell anchor, transferring the axial forces from the falling drill rods horizontally into the rock mass,” ME SAFE general manager Sam Thomas tells Australian Mining.

“It is installed using standard production drills, allowing work to safely continue with little interruption.”

The LHP is a far safer solution than grouting a hole, as it removes employees from the line of fire below the hole, while when pumping the grout, they would be required to work around the bottom of the hole.

If the heavy drill rods fall out without warning this can have catastrophic consequences.

“The LHP removes this personnel exposure as the plug is inserted into the hole remotely with the production drill, thus removing personnel from the line of fire,” Thomas explains.

“It is common for these holes to contain hundreds of kilograms of drill rods which have the potential to fall out of the hole at any time without warning.”

Thomas says the other conventional method of plating over bogged rods with a rock bolt is also ineffective, as it provides a false sense of security.

AUSTRALIANMINING

“There have been several incidents in the underground mining industry where this solution has failed, resulting in lost drill rods falling from a hole without warning,” he says.

“The LHP is able to replace this industry practice by providing an engineered solution to a common industry hazard.”

Since ME SAFE launched the LHP in 2017, it has been used to remove lost drill rods from around 60 mines in Australia, the United States, Canada and Indonesia.

“This is due to its increased safety benefits and time and cost savings when compared to the current industry practices,” Thomas says.

ME SAFE pipped fellow finalists BHP, Austar Coal Mine and New Hope Group to win the Schenck Process Excellence in Mine Safety, OH&S category in 2020.

BHP was nominated for eliminating live work with Dash Maintainer Tools, Austar for its coal burst management system and New Hope for its Fit for Change program following the closure of the Jeebropilly mine.

Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy chief executive Stephen

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Durkin, a judge of this year’s Prospect Awards, says ME SAFE addressed a specific and dangerous industry problem with a clever and cost-effective solution.

“This sort of creative problem solving is the backbone of our industry and its continued growth and improvement,” Durkin says.

“As well as improved safety outcomes, the significant cost savings provided by the solution show the clear benefits for the industry.”

Max Wijasuriya, the managing director for Australia at Schenck Process, sponsor of the Excellence in Mine Safety, OH&S category, says making sure all mine workers get home safely to their loved ones in the same state that they left in is a daily focus for the industry.

“Our people work in some of the harshest and most demanding environments that industry has to offer,” Wijasuriya says.

“Sponsoring the Excellence in Mine Safety category is our way to recognise and celebrate the hard work and leadership that gives the Australian mining industry its reputation of being a leader in safety.” AM

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PROSPECT AWARDS

FLEXCO SAFETY ADVOCATE OF THE YEAR

STRIVING FOR ZERO HARM ACROSS ASIA PACIFIC

2020

AUSTRALIAN MINING PROSPECT AWARDS

NO INJURY GOES UNNOTICED FOR WEIR MINERALS REGIONAL MANAGING DIRECTOR APAC (ASIA PACIFIC) AND PROSPECT AWARDS FLEXCO SAFETY ADVOCATE OF THE YEAR WINNER TERESE WITHINGTON. AUSTRALIAN MINING LOOKS AT HER EFFORTS IN DRIVING ZERO HARM OPERATIONS.

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eir Minerals regional managing director APAC Terese Withington has taken home the 2020 Australian Mining Prospect Awards for the Flexco Safety Advocate of the Year honour.

She is instrumental in improving the safety of Weir’s regional operations across Australia, the Pacific, Southeast Asia, China and India.

This is no small feat, with 2000 employees working in nine manufacturing centres, 19 service centres and 31 sales offices across seven countries.

Withington keeps safety standards high in the workplace by introducing initiatives across the region. This includes safety kaizens and learnings, where she is personally involved in the review of and learning from every incident to achieve zero harm in the company.

Specific tasks, such as the movement of heavy SAG and ball mill liners that are manufactured in Weir’s Artarmon foundry to various locations, do not evade Withington.

She has been the driver behind the introduction of lugs on the mill liners – an anchor point from which to lift the equipment – to reduce the safety risks associated with the task.

Withington also ensures that Weir employees, maintenance technicians and operators follow the correct lifting procedures using certified equipment in regards to lifting Warman centrifugal pumps.

As some pump components weigh more than five tonnes, Withington leads the introduction of training videos to demonstrate the correct techniques, with education pieces also published on the company website and LinkedIn page.

During Safety Week in September last year, Withington set the focus of the event on hands and finger injuries, which account for the largest proportion of injuries at Weir.

As a result, all APAC teams focussed on finding and eliminating hazards that pose risks to hands and fingers at their safety stand-downs,

WITHINGTON KEEPS SAFETY STANDARDS HIGH IN THE WORKPLACE

BY INTRODUCING INITIATIVES ACROSS THE REGION. THIS INCLUDES SAFETY KAIZENS AND LEARNINGS, WHERE SHE IS PERSONALLY INVOLVED IN THE REVIEW OF AND LEARNING FROM EVERY INCIDENT TO ACHIEVE ZERO HARM IN THE COMPANY.

WEIR MINERALS REGIONAL MANAGING DIRECTOR APAC TERESE WITHINGTON.

with the Clayton facility introducing guards on rubber lining machines to prevent injuries.

Weir’s Clayton service centre achieved two years without an injury, while hitting 23 years lost time injury (LTI) free and three years medical treatment injury free (MTI).

These high achievements are also demonstrated at Weir’s technical centre, which completed eight years LTI free and MTI free.

Under Withington’s leadership, Weir’s Asia Pacific operations have halved the traumatic incident reduction (TIR) in the past year.

However, the high achievements don’t slow Withington’s ambitions as every injury is one too many in her eyes.

She continues to drive Weir’s safety culture and progress its journey to becoming a zero-harm workplace.

At the outbreak of COVID-19, Withington introduced additional safety measures and regular communication with all employees.

AUSTRALIANMINING

Placing their physical and mental wellbeing at the core, she holds daily meetings with senior leaders to formulate decisions and procedures for keeping employees safe.

She works with country managers to highlight the measures required in every country to ensure safety of all employees according to local regulations.

Under Withington’s leadership, she ensures that positive stories of exemplary performance by Weir employees are shared within the Asia Pacific region, initially every week and now maintained every fortnight.

There have been no infections at Weir’s 19 facilities across Australia, with a total of seven infections recorded across Weir’s six other operating countries in Asia Pacific (at the time of her nomination).

This year, Withington broadened the safety indicators into the APAC regional key performance indicators to include lag indicators, as well as lead safety indicators.

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CSIRO mineral resources principal research engineer Mark Dunn says all Prospect Awards nominees should be commended for their efforts to improve the safety, sustainability and productivity of the Australian mining industry.

“The quality of nominations was high, especially given the current disrupted environment from COVID-19,” he says.

Flexco managing director Mark Colbourn congratulates the finalists of the category, including WesTrac health, safety and environment manager Natalia Trewin; CITIC Pacific Mining health and safety specialist Madeleine Holloway; and Yancoal Mount Thorley Warkworth mine dragline, drill and blast officer, Melissa Cedelland.

“Each year, Flexco takes pride in sponsoring a safety focussed awards category; it’s our top business priority as a global organisation and is always our biggest focus when we develop and launch new products,” he says.

“It’s at the core of everything we do, and we applaud those who take on the additional responsibility to advocate for safety in their workplace.” AM

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PROSPECT AWARDS

2020

AUSTRALIAN MINING

IFM EXCELLENCE IN IIOT APPLICATION AWARD

BHP TAKES IIOT AWARD WITH DASH – LIVE WORK, ELIMINATED

PROSPECT AWARDS

BHP’S AWARD-WINNING DASH – LIVE WORK, ELIMINATED TOOL PREVENTS WORKERS FROM GETTING CAUGHT IN THE FIRING LINE OF HAZARDOUS MINING OPERATIONS BY ENABLING REMOTE MAINTENANCE.

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HP’s Dash – Live work, Eliminated solution is part of the mining industry’s constant evolution to deliver the latest and greatest technological developments that improve efficiency, productivity and safety.

Inspired by a company focus to eliminate live work, the Dash – Live work, Eliminated, this year’s inaugural winner of the ifm Excellence in IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) Application award, allows maintenance technicians to conduct diagnostic tasks directly from mobile or tablet devices.

A key advantage of the solution is that it reduces hands-on maintenance work, taking full advantage of some of the most effective benefits of IIoT technology.

BHP’s solution is making maintenance work more accessible for people with different physical capabilities.

It reflects the aim of the ifm Excellence in IIoT Application award, which is to identify the successful implementation of IIoT to enhance mining and minerals processing operations.

BHP’s Dash – Live work, Eliminated tool improves the safety of maintenance operations by stopping frontline mining personnel from being on the ground among hazardous mining equipment.

According to Austmine’s Clytie Dangar, who was one of this year’s judges at the 2020 Prospect Awards,

BHP has won the award because of the solution’s effective means of moving personnel out of harm’s way.

“BHP’s Dash is a neat and effective way of removing people from the line of site when undertaking infield diagnostics on equipment,” Dangar says.

“It appears to have been very effectively developed in a short amount of time using an agile approach.”

Dash – Live work, Eliminated includes temperature and read pressure information to prevent dangers associated with live work.

It reduces maintenance time and provides frontline workers with what is required to maintain machines safely and efficiently.

Dash – Live work, Eliminated can operate within an 80-metre radius of mining equipment, which allows workers to access vital sensor information without leaving their vehicle.

Hazards long associated with diagnostic activities on surface mining equipment are eradicated through the remote solution, with BHP anticipating the residual risk rating for fatality risks in mobile equipment to decrease with Dash – Live work, Eliminated’s implementation.

With thousands of mining vehicles across the globe, BHP’s machine maintenance team makes up a third of its frontline.

The four major benefits of Dash – Live work, Eliminated include safety, productivity, culture and inclusion.

BHP is striving to remove live

DASH – LIVE WORK, ELIMINATED ALLOWS WORKERS TO PERFORM MAINTENANCE WITHOUT REQUIRING HANDS-ON MAINTENANCE WORK.

work from its heavy mobile mining equipment across its operations by using IIot technologies, including permanently fitted sensors, an industrial computer and the company’s sensor gateway.

The company has aimed to eliminate live work from heavy mobile equipment deployed across its operations.

South Flank is set to be one of the world’s largest iron ore operations that uses IIoT technology and autonomousready vehicles to help set the stage for the future of the mining industry.

BHP had developed more than three BHP HAS WON THE IFM IIOT APPLICATION AWARD FOR ITS DASH – LIVE WORK, ELIMINATED SOLUTION.

AUSTRALIANMINING

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quarters of the South Flank project by August this year.

By keeping workers out of the line of fire to improve safety, BHP has installed Dash – Live work, Eliminated on its Liebherr 9400s at the South Flank mine, along with four Komatsu 930E-5 haul trucks.

According to BHP, 129 live work tasks are undertaken on a Liebherr 9400, the most common excavator at its Western Australia Iron Ore operations (WAIO), each year.

Over 50 per cent of exposure hours have been eliminated through Dash – Live work, Eliminated, with sensor development work to reduce another 30 per cent of live work tasks.

Due to the diverse portfolio of OEM machinery at BHP’s operations, the company also developed Dash – Live work, Eliminated to be used with a variety of equipment types from separate vendors.

BHP identified two major risks in WAIO that Dash – Live work, Eliminated prevents, including the prevention of a worker being entangled with equipment and the uncontrolled release of stored energy.

The major miner will roll out the innovative solutions to 110 types of mobile machines that range from tool handlers to the 600-tonne Liebherr 9600 excavator. AM

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PROSPECT AWARDS

2020

AUSTRALIAN MINING

INDIGENOUS ENGAGEMENT AWARD

IRONMERGE’S RULES OF INDIGENOUS ENGAGEMENT

PROSPECT AWARDS

AFTER WORKING AT FORTESCUE METALS GROUP’S IRON BRIDGE PROJECT THIS YEAR, IRONMERGE HAS BEEN CROWNED AS THE WINNER OF THE INDIGENOUS ENGAGEMENT AWARD AT THE 2020 PROSPECT AWARDS. IRONMERGE GM OF OPERATIONS BRENDAN MILBURN (FROM LEFT), CHAIRMAN AND NYAMAL TRADITIONAL OWNER IAN TAYLOR AND NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR MATTHEW SHIER.

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ronMerge’s vision for reconciliation has gradually evolved across Australia’s mining industry.

The company has won the Indigenous Engagement Award after this year undertaking a bulk earthworks contract from Tier 1 contractor NRW Holdings, which was hired by Fortescue Metals Group to help develop the Iron Bridge magnetite project in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

IronMerge, which is a Nyamal Supply Nation indigenous mining and civil works services company, was subcontracted by NRW for the work.

Mining activities across the country, such as those at Iron Bridge, operate on the lands of Traditional Owners, with many companies looking to give back to local communities in the form of employment opportunities.

In the communities in which major mines operate, it is increasingly a priority for companies to help improve areas such as employment.

The Indigenous Engagement Award

acknowledges collaboration between an Aboriginal-owned business and mining and mineral processing companies, with the achievements of IronMerge and NRW a standout example of this.

According to IronMerge chairman and Nyamal traditional owner Ian Taylor, the contract with NRW marks a significant milestone in the company’s goal to create an Indigenous mining services company for projects on and around Nyamal lands.

This vision started to pay off with the NRW contract and has now been recognised with the inaugural Indigenous Engagement Award.

A total of 60 per cent of IronMerge’s workforce at Iron Bridge was Indigenous and included two Indigenous women operating heavy earthwork machinery. The communityboosting employability made possible

by IronMerge shows its value and consideration towards the Indigenous community.

Minerals Council of Australia Tania Constable says IronMerge demonstrates a positive example of AUSTRALIANMINING

supporting local content.

“I commend all of the award nominees for showing the courage to put their company or employee forward for these nominations,” she says.

“Building local content is a must for mining and Indigenous-led IronMerge’s partners for the Pilbara nomination is a great example of how to get it right.”

IronMerge has helped deliver a “flat hierarchy” of communication among itself, Fortescue and NRW to provide sustainable employment of local workers.

The Indigenous contractor has demonstrated it can deliver what it sets out to do with the contract, which also shows Fortescue and NRW’s commitment to engaging Indigenous businesses.

With the mission of delivering a diverse workforce, the contract with NRW and Fortescue has also broadened its industry presence for future opportunities.

As a Nyamal family business, IronMerge has continued to generate employment for the Nyamal region of

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Western Australia, helping to start the careers of local Indigenous people.

It helps to improve on the situation outlined in the Australian Government’s Closing the Gap Report 2020, which found that the Indigenous employment rate was at 49 per cent in 2018.

Areas with the lowest employment were classified as remote or very remote locations. These locations are primarily where mining operations operate.

IronMerge, NRW and Fortescue have now developed a positive relationship that has been referred to as interdependent.

Due to the initial success shown

by IronMerge, the program has expanded to include water carting, earthworks and procurement services at Iron Bridge.

NRW has also provided earlier payment options to IronMerge to enable further investments in plant and equipment to boost its capabilities.

Austmine’s Dallas Wilkinson, a judge of the awards, says the submissions for the Indigenous Engagement Award all demonstrated a conscious effort to work with local communities.

“Submissions were also of high value with all companies displaying engagement with the local communities and an emphasis on developing people and enduring relationships,” Wilkinson says.

Gold Industry Group executive officer Rebecca Johnston also congratulates IronMerge and its partners on this achievement, describing it as a “fantastic example of collaboration”.

The success of IronMerge and its employees is continuing, with the company forming an incorporated joint venture with Carey Mining to create IronMerge Carey.

Carey Mining is a major Aboriginalowned mining and civil contractor, with the joint venture helping to expand both businesses.

The joint venture is expected to continue to deliver ongoing employment for Australia’s Indigenous communities, staying true to the theme of reconciliation and continuing to position IronMerge on a path of sustainable growth trajectory. AM

PROSPECT AWARDS

2020

AUSTRALIAN MINING

XXX CONTRIBUTION TO MINING

DIVERSITY CHAMPION’S IMPACT ON MINING SHINES

PROSPECT AWARDS

SINCE STARTING IN HUMAN RESOURCES, TEAGAN DOWLER HAS GROWN TO BECOME AN AWARD-WINNING MENTOR WHO FIGHTS FOR A GREATER LEVEL OF DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION IN THE MINING INDUSTRY.

A

champion of diversity and inclusion in heavy industries, STS Consulting Australia’s capability manager and project manager Teagan Dowler has been honoured in the Contribution to Mining category at the 2020 Prospect Awards.

Dowler’s contribution started when she undertook a university vacation placement with Thiess in 2007.

She moved interstate for three months to take the role, supporting Thiess in the ramp up of operations at the Tarong coal project in Queensland and then covering the unexpected leave of Thiess’ human resources (HR) manager at Whyalla in South Australia.

Dowler ultimately became the sole HR representative for Thiess at Whyalla, fuelling her appetite for the

mining industry that led her to pursue a master’s degree in HR with the desire to build a mining career.

Since then, Dowler has worked tirelessly to contribute to the mining industry, including establishing a contracting organisation that provided supervisory and project management services to STS Consulting in 2011.

As the STS capability manager, Dowler designed learning programs for numerous STS clients and services standards for STS team members.

She has also been responsible for assisting her team to deliver increased productivity and safety performance, while minimising costs in her role as the STS project manager.

Through the years, Dowler has risen to be one of, if not the youngest leadership coaches in the heavy industry.

STS CONSULTING AUSTRALIA CAPABILITY MANAGER AND PROJECT MANAGER TEAGAN DOWLER.

AUSTRALIANMINING

She has coached over 500 supervisors and superintendents across the mining and resources industries in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia since 2012.

Dowler is known for her ability to quickly form relationships of trust to challenge even the most hardened leaders to improve their leadership capability.

This has guided her success in launching an online community called the Blue Collared Woman (BCW), a platform that was created to support women in mining.

It has, however, grown to also become a provider of pro-bono and diversity and inclusion services to the mining industry for the likes of BHP, Sedgman, Thiess, Aurizon, CPB Contractors and Engineers Australia, while supporting more than 3500 people hosted by the platform.

Dowler’s development of whole-ofmine diversity and inclusion strategies has contributed to the enhanced capability and knowledge of women who are entering the heavy industry.

Her feat in the area of diversity and inclusion culminated in the co-establishment of the non-profit Diversity Practitioners Association (DPA) in Brisbane in 2015.

As a representative of the mining industry, she was instrumental in the development of services and events offered by the DPA. During Dowler’s time on the board, the DPA ran 23 events that were open to all industries in Queensland, covering topics such as workplace response to domestic violence, diversity and inclusion naysayers, LGBTQIA+ inclusion and retaining a diverse workforce in masculine industries.

In 2016, Dowler wrote the book, Rules of the Game: Women in the Masculine Industries, sharing the perspectives of over 50 women and men who worked in the mining, resources and construction industries.

A top 10 best seller in the women and business section on Amazon, Dowler addresses topics such as unconscious bias, gender wage gap and cultural considerations and strategies for success.

She is also a panel member in

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IN A RELATIVELY SHORT PERIOD OF TIME, SHE APPEARS TO HAVE NOT ONLY DELIVERED AS PART OF HER DAY-TODAY RESPONSIBILITIES BUT GONE BEYOND THIS TO ESTABLISH LASTING INITIATIVES THAT HAVE MADE A REAL IMPACT AND WILL LIVE BEYOND HER INVOLVEMENT... A VERY IMPRESSIVE LIST OF ACHIEVEMENTS AND CONTRIBUTION.” many industry events such as those hosted by Women in Engineering, Tradewomen Australia as well as Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM).

This year, she introduced a weekly video series that interviews women across the heavy industries to spark conversation and build connection in times of social isolation.

The series seeks to share the variety of roles women can pursue in the heavy industries, the challenges and accomplishments women are facing and how to create change in the workplace.

Prospect Awards judge and Austmine board member Clytie Dangar says Dowler is an outstanding contributor to the mining industry.

“In a relatively short period of time, she appears to have not only delivered as part of her day-to-day responsibilities but gone beyond this to establish lasting initiatives that have made a real impact and will live beyond her involvement,” Dangar says. “A very impressive list of achievements and contribution.”

Dowler has beaten a highly competitive list of finalists for the award, including Wilson Mining Services product application specialist, Simon Lovell; Powerlines Plus national safety, health, environment and quality manager Liam O’ Connor; and Yancoal mine manager at Mount Thorley Warkworth David Bennett. AM

INDUSTRY OUTLOOK

AN ACCELERATION OF INTELLIGENT MINING

IMAGE CREDIT: RIO TINTO

THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC HAS DISRUPTED MINING BY PUSHING THE INDUSTRY FURTHER IN THE PATH OF DIGITAL AND CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT. VANESSA ZHOU SPEAKS WITH DELOITTE AUSTRALIA PARTNER, CONSULTING, PAUL KLEIN ABOUT THE PREVAILING SHIFT.

A WORKER AT RIO TINTO’S BAUXITE INTEGRATED OPERATIONS CENTRE IN BRISBANE.

T

he COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the move that many mining companies are making in the direction of intelligent mining, but this doesn’t mean they have lost their focus on people.

Intelligent mining is a term used by Deloitte to describe the future vision of mining organisations and operations that are connected, integrated and automated, but still human-centric.

Long before the impact of COVID-19, Australia’s largest miners had started a journey towards automation, including a focus on developing the skills of the future within their workforces.

Rio Tinto, for example, has committed $60 million to developing

automation skills in its Western Australian mining workforce.

The company has helped build automation courses in the state since 2019 as part of the first nationally recognised automation qualifications.

According to Deloitte Australia partner, consulting, Paul Klein, mining companies are putting their focus on people more than ever to complement the digital transformation.

“Global major miners have been on the journey of automation in their operations for many years, particularly BHP and Rio Tinto in the Pilbara region of Western Australia,” Klein tells Australian Mining.

“They run autonomous trucks, drills and trains, which clearly has a productivity benefit, but arguably the biggest benefit of these AUSTRALIANMINING

automation initiatives is safety.

“Safety is the number one objective for most mining organisations.

Automation takes people out of dangerous situations and roles where safety incidents are more likely.”

The pandemic has accelerated investment in digital capabilities and automation of operations, and this is the biggest shift that Klein sees happening since COVID-19 impacted the mining landscape.

Due to necessity, the mining sector is welcoming new and remote ways of working with more urgency than during pre-COVID-19 days.

“If there hadn’t been COVID-19, technology innovation to support new and remote ways of working would’ve been considered by many as something nice to have, but

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not a priority,” Klein says.

These changes are driving more demand for employees with science, technology and data analysis skills in the mining industry.

“This has a positive outcome in regard to improving the diversity of the workforce. It opens up the way for new people,” Klein says.

“Now, there will be a greater diversity of people who come from different backgrounds and fulfil these new roles because of where the jobs are located, compared with those who typically fulfil hands-on roles on site.”

The consulting partner emphasises that technology and automation do not take jobs away from people – they simply shift the skills that are required.

This results in a reduction of certain skills and an increase in others.

Fortescue Metals Group, for example, has achieved zero redundancies during its transition to autonomous haulage across its Pilbara operations in Western Australia.

The company re-trained 3000 workers in autonomy on the path to introducing 183 driverless haul trucks across its Solomon and Chichester Hubs in the Pilbara.

A fleet of Cat 793F, Cat 789D and Komatsu 930E autonomous haul trucks have travelled more than 52 million kilometres and moved 1.5 billion tonnes of material since 2013.

“Our approach to autonomy has been to be open and transparent with our plans and to work closely with our team members to offer opportunities for re-training and re-deployment,” Fortescue chief executive Elizabeth Gaines explains.

“Around 3000 Fortescue team members have been trained to work with autonomous haulage, including over 200 people trained as mine controllers and AHS (autonomous haulage system) system professionals.

“Most importantly, the introduction of AHS technology has improved safety outcomes across our operations and we’re very pleased that the team achieved this important milestone in the truck conversion program to the highest safety standards.”

Part of Deloitte’s vision of intelligent mining includes the realm of the “nerve centre”. This is where data

INDUSTRY OUTLOOK

converges from across the value chain to enable integrated and datadriven decision making.

The concept is more prevalent in the manufacturing sector, where more processes have been digitised and operations have been automated to aggregate data across the value chain.

“It varies in terms of the different types of manufacturing and its extent, but I believe they are further down the path than where the mining industry is right now,” Klein says.

The shift to new ways of working this year also opens up a greater openness to wearable technology and artificial intelligence (AI) among miners.

BHP puts AI alongside process digitisation and automation as the three key sources that will drive the next wave of productivity in the mining sector.

AI has already produced cost and operational efficiencies at BHP’s Western Australia Iron Ore operations, where a system helps to choose which crusher a truck should use to minimise queueing and reducing costs and idle time.

According to BHP, the changes not only deliver operational efficiencies, but also help to make the company’s workplace safer.

Klein says COVID-19 has shifted the way all organisations are thinking about workers and the workplace.

governance processes need to be aligned to new ways of working, with the right culture and mindset.

When implementing new digital capabilities, mining companies need to start small and quickly get to the point of realising the value.

The deployment of technology solutions needs to be driven by business outcomes, and not technology outcomes.

“It has got to involve the right

The push towards intelligent mining prompts organisations to consider various opportunities to make better use of technology and digital capabilities.

In response, miners should reconsider the work (what), the workforce (who) and the workplace (where) in the context of future work scenarios.

New skills, new roles and changes to organisational structures and

people across the organisation from the start,” Klein says.

“You need to have a business vision and strategy of where you want to go.

Having set the big picture of what you want to achieve and starting small are very important.

“Begin with a minimum, viable product and deliver them quickly while involving people as the beneficiaries in the process.

That’s the key to success.” AM

THE FUTURE WORKFORCE IS PREDICTED TO BRING GREATER DIVERSITY TO MINING.

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INDUSTRY OUTLOOK

WHAT’S NEW IN MINING TECHNOLOGY? A LOT HAS CHANGED IN THE INDUSTRY SINCE THE BEGINNING OF 2020 AND THE MOVEMENT ISN’T ABOUT TO STOP. REDMAP CHIEF EXECUTIVE BEN WOOLLEY WEIGHS IN ON THE SWEEPING CHANGES THAT ARE SET TO ARRIVE AND EVOLVE THE SECTOR.

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ew ways of working isn’t just a catch phrase that has emerged in 2020, according to Redmap chief executive Ben Woolley, who’s been working with mining companies for over a decade.

It is a new mode of operating that the sector wouldn’t be immune to even after the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic have passed.

In this article, Australian Mining speaks with Woolley about the direction that the mining sector is moving in as it pertains to back office technology.

He flags four movements that mining companies can expect to occur in the coming year: greater use of artificial intelligence (AI), remote working, the new Peppol e-invoicing standard and rising vehicles and assets optimisation.

Redmap is one of the forerunners when it comes to using AI to automate the extraction of valuable data from invoices. How do you think it will proliferate across aspects of a mining operation?

You’re right, the use of AI is not just limited in the finance space but all of the knowledge space.

Look at all of the technology giants, they’re investing significant time and money to see what AI means for their customers. At the start of the millennium, people thought robots were going to replace humans. I don’t think that’s going to happen yet, maybe never.

What AI will help businesses with is the ability to make quick decisions; it informs and allows us to make better decisions because of its ability to interpret vast amounts of data. AI is also such a useful tool in performing AUSTRALIANMINING

I DON’T THINK ANYONE WHO HAS AN OFFICE JOB WILL EVER GO BACK TO FULL-TIME WORK IN THE OFFICE. BUSINESSES HAVE CONTINUED TO OPERATE DURING THIS TIME WITHOUT HAVING PEOPLE TURN UP TO THE WORKPLACE, AND IF MANAGED EFFECTIVELY THIS CAN HAVE TREMENDOUS UPSIDE FOR THE BUSINESS.”

mundane tasks. We’ll continue to see significant investment in its development – much of it will offer no value at all, but the portion that does will continue to remove or speed up tasks that humans either don’t want to or can’t do.

How will the use of AI change our traditional jobs?

We just completed an implementation with a customer

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in Griffith in central New South Wales. They invested in Redmap’s services because two of their accountants were ready to retire and their business was growing.

Their goals are to automate the job that the two people were doing previously and get some visibility into their accounts.

What was interesting for them, however, is that the implementation turned the AP job into a far more

INDUSTRY OUTLOOK

(L-R) BEN WOOLLEY WITH REDMAP BUSINESS PARTNERS AFSHIN BAKTASHI, SHANE TOMKINS AND MARTIN SZYNDLER.

analytical position rather than one where you’re manually keying and getting data into the computer without generating any value to the business.

The AP job now is providing much more value to the company.

One such example is where they’re working with the procurement department to improve their purchasing processes and raise the quality of the orders in line with business expectations and achieve higher rates of invoice match.

While this work does mean that the AP department has to touch invoices less, the real benefit is the increase in visibility of company commitments and cash flow forecasting.

What other new ways of working can you foresee?

I don’t think anyone who has an office job will ever go back to fulltime work in the office. Businesses have continued to operate during this time without having people turn up to the workplace, and if managed effectively this can have tremendous upside for the business.

For me, I have been working from home since 2005. I was working in the United States, a place where you couldn’t possibly establish an office in every single market you wanted to serve. Because of this, lots of people were, and are, working from home.

It’s a whole new paradigm, and working hours change. I think in many ways the pandemic has forced businesses to accept the fact that the employees are at the doctors’ office in the middle of the day, or that children are yelling in the back of a Zoom meeting. But what can you do?

To that end, my observation is that our employees have responded in a very positive manner and that they have found times to get the work done outside the typical 9-5 hour slot.

We had been wanting to move to work from home for some time in our Philippines office but were concerned about infrastructure and a lack of work space in some of the staff dwellings. We were forced to do so in March and, while not without challenges, this has been a great success.

Some of those team members used to spend 4-5 hours a day commuting to the office – that’s 20 hours of their life wasted every week. And this is not something that is limited to the Philippines because I know people in Sydney that suffer the same.

Working from home means that those team members are not turning up to work tired or stressed, and that in turn improves the quality of the output. They are also saving loads of money.

To take advantage of this, however, businesses have to have a technology platform that allows working from anywhere. The need for thick clients or VPN software to connect that is all old technology and limiting the businesses ability to take advantage of this change.

this way too. Businesses need to be sure that their technology supports such a protocol.

Receiving the invoice is, however, only half of the process. Advanced systems like Redmap will be able to interpret that data and then determine, does it match the PO (purchase order)? Who do I need to send it to and can I post this invoice directly to the ERP (enterprise resource planning)?

How about in the field? What kind of efficiencies do you foresee in mining?

Mining companies make significant investments in assets and resources.

It blows my mind how much they spend on property, plant and equipment. What I’ve been seeing over the last five years are investments in applications where operators can better track their company assets. And this provides several benefits, from knowing when to schedule the asset for maintenance via a predictive maintenance approach, to controlling

Speaking of productivity, isn’t the government introducing a new e-invoicing standard called Peppol?

Yes, the Australian and New Zealand Governments are trying to shift away from sending paper invoices. There are so many different e-invoice protocols that have been created in the past and this has limited the adoption of the technology.

The Peppol protocol, on the other hand, is an initiative supported by the federal governments and to that end they have mandated that all of the local, state and federal departments adopt this by July 1 2022. They are also offering payment incentives for private organisations to deal with them via Peppol.

We expect that this initiative has a reasonable likelihood of success and that this will likely see private businesses invoicing each other

AUSTRALIANMINING

REDMAP CHIEF EXECUTIVE BEN WOOLLEY.

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your vehicles and resources better by being reactive to the various jobs.

The ability to track those assets gives operators the opportunity to optimise the use of their assets and this provides significant returns to the business. AM

INDUSTRY OUTLOOK

2021 TRENDS IN HEAVY EQUIPMENT AIR CABIN QUALITY AUSTRALIAN MINING SITS DOWN WITH SY-KLONE INTERNATIONAL, LSM TECHNOLOGIES AND LYONS AIRCONDITIONING TO DISCUSS UPCOMING OPERATOR ENCLOSURE AND CABIN AIR QUALITY TRENDS. “Minimising dust through advanced air filtration and pre-cleaning allows machines to run longer and employees to operate more safely.”

LSM TECHNOLOGIES IS RECEIVING INCREASED REQUESTS FOR HEPA-GRADE CABINS.

New international mining air quality standard introduced

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ir quality and dust suppression have been trending topics throughout 2020. This focus will continue into 2021 due to the ongoing impacts of COVID-19, a dry, dusty summer that’s forecast to impact work site conditions and International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) committee work being formalised with the passing of ISO 23875, an international mining cabin air quality standard.

ISO 23875: Operator enclosures – Air quality control systems and air quality performance testing was approved internationally in November 2020. The new standard adopts critical updates in engineering and performance requirements for operator enclosures on mine sites. ISO 23875 is a lifecycle standard, addressing cabin air control systems from initial design and throughout the machinery’s operating life.

Ten mining countries, including Australia, collaborated in the development of ISO 23875. Various Australian mining, governmental and industrial hygiene related organisations commented on the standard during its development. Sy-Klone International executive vice president Jeff Moredock was the international

known as black lung.

“In industries where particulate matter is prevalent, investment in clean air systems is good for the health of machine operators and for the business,” Sy-Klone vice president of marketing and business development Austin Browne tells Australian Mining.

The rising financial impact and safety risks of dust

Although small, dust particulates can cause big problems on mine sites.

Dust can damage equipment and pose a health risk to workers when it enters heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems.

Dust can block HVAC evaporator cores, resulting in expensive repairs and machines being taken offline for extended downtime, impacting a mine’s productivity.

Worse still, dust particulates can have a harmful impact on mineworkers’ health. When operators in machine cabins or control rooms breathe in contaminants too small to see, including coal and silica dust, diesel particulate matter (DPM), or asbestos fibre, this can lead to long-term and life-threatening illnesses such as silicosis or coal workers’ pneumoconiosis (CWP), also

CLEAN AIR SYSTEMS CAN HELP TO PROLONG THE LIFE OF MINING EQUIPMENT.

AUSTRALIANMINING

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project lead for ISO 23875.

“This standard will make a huge difference in operator health and safety and how industry stakeholders address this issue around the world,” Moredock says.

ISO 23875 requirements include enhanced filtration efficiency requirements, defined maximum carbon dioxide (CO2) levels, real-time operator cabin monitoring and other key areas of cabin design, maintenance, and testing.

Increased demand for more efficient HEPA filters

COVID-19 has raised awareness of the importance of air quality, deepened understanding of airborne nanoparticles and broadened interest in high-efficiency filtration.

“We are increasingly receiving requests for HEPA-grade cabins, which is a customer reference to a properly-sealed operator cabin with HEPA filtration used in both the fresh and recirculated air systems, consistent with filtration mandates

INDUSTRY OUTLOOK

in occupational health and safety regulations, including ISO 23875,” LSM Technologies managing director Peter Woodford says.

“Our team has developed the expertise to engineer, design and service custom installations featuring the Sy-Klone RESPA system with HEPA filtration whilst maintaining air flow levels to ensure cabin pressurisation, CO2 ventilation, thermal comfort and maximum protection of the occupants of mobile and fixed enclosed cabins.”

Selecting a HEPA filter can be challenging as many HEPA filters claim 99.7 per cent efficiency at 0.3 micrometres. However, as Browne explains, this is not a classification under any current industry standards.

“HEPA filters are classified as 99.95 per cent efficient at the most penetrating particle size (MPPS) by meeting the requirements of ISO 29463 (ISO 35 H classification) and/ or EN1822 (H13 classification),” Browne says.

“All Sy-Klone RadialShield HEPA filters achieve the classification of H13 or ISO 35 H at an MPPS of 0.063 micrometres, meaning, not only are they ISO 23875 compliant, but they are also 99.95 per cent effective at arresting COVID-19 virus-sized particles. So far, this is unmatched in the industry.”

Improved monitoring systems and smart cab technology

Improved monitoring of air quality within cabins will be a key trend in 2021, including real-time measurement of cabin pressurisation and CO2 levels, which is an aspect of air cabin quality that is not commonly addressed.

High CO2 levels may impact the

SY-KLONE ANTICIPATES A RENEWED INTEREST IN HEPA-GRADE CABIN FILTERS IN 2021.

the RESPA Advisor, an all-in-one unit that will monitor cabin pressurisation and CO2 levels, alerting machine operators when either measure goes outside of permissible limits.

operator’s ability to think clearly.

“Part of cabin filtration is not just clean air, but it’s also having enough oxygen within the cabin. Too much CO2 can cause drowsiness, endanger the driver and others near the machine, and affect productivity,” Lyons Airconditioning senior commercial manager Ryan Wheeler shares.

“We strongly recommend that on every install, cabins have a monitoring system installed.”

In early 2021, Sy-Klone will release

Best practices for choosing a cabin air quality system

With the focus on new air quality standards and increased interest in HEPA filtration, buyers will demand more from cabin air quality systems.

To ensure selection of a cabin air

Electronic safety solutions for vehicles.

quality system that works as advertised to protect operators’ air quality, purchasers should choose a system that uses filters classified for human respiration. Some air quality systems are built on traditional pressuriser technology that uses modified engine filter housings, which lack filters suitable for respiration. The Sy-Klone RESPA system with RadialShield filters are explicitly engineered to improve air quality for human respiration.

RESPA’s fresh-air unit ensures continuous delivery of clean, fresh air inside the operator cabin and integrates a powered pre-cleaner, pressuriser, and high-efficiency filter into a single unit. RESPA’s precleaning technology ejects over 90 per cent of the largest debris before air reaches the filter, leaving only the smallest particles to be addressed by the filters. Sy-Klone’s patented, self-cleaning filter and filter housing continuously shed dust captured from the filter, which is then ejected out of the system, resulting in longer filter life.

RESPA’s recirculation unit provides the same high-efficiency filtration level for recirculated air.

Many competing systems do not feature these self-cleaning capabilities, allowing dust to build up on the filter and increasing restriction on the system, resulting in decreased performance and shorter filter life.

Purchasing a cabin air quality system is an investment in health and safety for employees and provides tangible benefits through reduced fleet maintenance costs.

Prepare for these 2021 air quality trends to deliver beneficial financial and safety results. AM

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INDUSTRY OUTLOOK

RPMGLOBAL BULLISH ON ITS MARCH TO THE CLOUD THE PURSUIT BY MINING COMPANIES TO BUILD REMOTE MINING CAPABILITIES IS BEING MET BY RPMGLOBAL’S CLOUD TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS. AUSTRALIAN MINING EXPLORES HOW THE COMPANY HAS STAYED AT THE FOREFRONT OF THIS SHIFT. applications and platforms that can speak natively with cloud applications and their environments.

“Mines are often located in difficult to reach, isolated places. In addition, COVID-19 has made many operations realise that they need technology to operate their applications and software systems remotely,” Mathews says.

“The big change I can see for the whole industry in the next 12 months is a greater investment in this area.

“All those investments over the last seven or eight years, where we didn’t necessarily aim to move this quickly to the cloud, were all useful, so we’re pretty happy with the way our company is going.”

RPMGLOBAL CHIEF EXECUTIVE RICHARD MATHEWS.

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ith the trend towards remote working gathering pace, and the enormous amount of data now being generated by mining operations, companies are increasingly showing an interest in cloud technology.

Mine infrastructure has steadily improved in recent years, from underground Wi-Fi networks that are now tried and tested, to using artificial intelligence (AI) to find improvements in data and remotely operating equipment from hundreds of kilometres away.

These advancements are just some of the many catalysts for the migration of mining software and data to the cloud, consistent with other industries that have already moved in this direction.

“Miners may not be the first mover or adopter of new technology in the market, but they are very fast followers,” RPMGlobal chief executive and managing director Richard Mathews tells Australian Mining.

Transitioning to a cloud environment

The industry’s recent adoption of cloud solutions has been met by RPMGlobal’s steady development of enterprise and integrated cloud capabilities across almost

the last decade.

Seven to eight years ago, the company started to transform its desktop offerings into digital enterprise products, adding cloud capabilities to the updated solutions in the process.

This strategy has seen RPMGlobal’s mining software reach enterprise grade performance, meaning companies now have many ways in which to access and use its applications.

“The rollout of our cloud technology and solutions means operations are no longer confined to an individual application on the desktop. Instead, a cloud-enabled approach allows their businesses to be conducted remotely no matter where they or their people are physically located,” Mathews says.

At the same time, RPMGlobal has been aggressively seeking acquisitions, making nine purchases and thereby growing its portfolio to six different but integrated suites of products.

This sizeable investment in software development and growth through acquisitions, worth around $130 million, has placed RPMGlobal in the best position to reap first mover advantage in software as a service (SaaS) offerings where software is licensed on a subscription basis.

With the industry’s acceleration of cloud adoption, RPMGlobal products are not simply lifting and shifting a desktop product into a cloudbased data centre, but rather having AUSTRALIANMINING

Growth ambitions aimed at accelerating innovation

Alongside the company’s shift to cloud technology, RPMGlobal has strengthened its portfolio of products in 2020 with the recent acquisition of Canada-headquartered inventory optimisation management software company, IMAFS. “You can’t optimise anything if you haven’t got the data,” Mathews says.

“IMAFS, the company we agreed to acquire in October for example, has AI algorithms that can greatly improve a miners’ inventory management.

“What IMAFS does is take inventory data out of the corporate enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, and deduce the optimal

timeframe for inventory orders, costs and order frequency in conjunction with our asset management system.

“IMAFS uses AI algorithms to work out how much stock a company needs because you don’t want zero or 20 identical parts sitting on the shelf.”

Integration has been a core philosophy for RPMGlobal from the start, and through the suites of RPMGlobal products, the company has built a capacity to help global operations extract more value where it counts.

RPMGlobal plans to continue acquiring future-forward technologies and taking on the challenge of having enough people at the company to implement its software.

This challenge, according to Mathews, is one that the company looks forward to taking on.

“We’ve opened or acquired five new offices in the last 18 months. We’re adding people and products. Our cloud-based team is getting bigger and bigger because we want to consolidate our first mover advantage,” he says.

“With a strong balance sheet, including $40 million in cash (at the time of writing), this is the time to use the strength of our balance sheet to invest in further development of our products and consider further potential acquisitions as they arise where they are the right strategic fit to deliver value for mining companies.” AM

(L-R) RPMGLOBAL CEO RICHARD MATHEWS AND RPMGLOBAL EXECUTIVE GENERAL MANAGER TECHNOLOGY CONSULTING DAVID BATKIN.

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GLOBAL INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY LOCAL MANUFACTURING, PARTS AND SUPPORT

INDUSTRY OUTLOOK

SECURE AND RELIABLE CONNECTIVITY IMPERATIVE TO MINING YEAR 2020 CEMENTED THE IMPORTANCE OF HAVING A DEPENDABLE AND SECURE TELECOMMUNICATIONS NETWORK, AS COVID-19 FORCED MILLIONS TO WORK REMOTELY AND BECOME MORE RELIANT ON USING TECHNOLOGY TO COMMUNICATE. VOCUS EXPLAINS WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE INDUSTRY’S TECHNOLOGY REVOLUTION.

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n the mining industry, the increasing importance of telecommunications networks comes on top of the technology-led transformation already underway, with Industry 4.0, automation and remote operating centres highlighting the significant value of data to operations.

Andrew Wildblood, chief executive of enterprise and government at Vocus, Australia’s specialist fibre and network solutions provider, says the growth in connected technology such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and automation, will see a focus on edge computing, data processing and cloud in 2021.

“In the mining industry, we’re seeing automation used a lot more to reduce costs and in safety, getting people out of dangerous work sites,” Wildblood tells Australian Mining.

“This opens up more opportunities in IoT, everything that is connected and has a sensor provides data, which allows decisions to be made real time on where we go, where to drill, where people are.”

He says with more advanced technology comes the need for a more advanced network that can support it.

“For all of this, you need secure, reliable fibre connectivity and quality communications,” Wildblood says. “Vocus provides strong network assets in key mining regions such as Western Australia, Queensland and South Australia.”

Remote operation centres are commonly based in Australian capital cities, allowing monitoring of operations at mine sites hundreds of kilometres away.

This became a particularly important part of operations during the COVID-19 pandemic. As state borders closed, many mining companies were forced to extend their fly-in fly-out (FIFO) rosters and implement remote working for office-based staff.

However, in the future with edge computing, Vocus anticipates there will be an influx of small data

ONE OF THE BIGGEST RISKS IS SECURITY, WHETHER IT’S THE PHYSICAL SECURITY OF PEOPLE AT A SITE, LOGICAL SECURITY OR CYBER SECURITY FROM ATTACKS.” centres built in regional towns.

These centres will be connected to fibre networks or via satellite and extended to mine sites to power telecommunications.

“With data centres located closer to mine sites, in places like Karratha and Port Hedland, they only need to receive and send data over tens of kilometres rather than thousands,” Wildblood explains.

Ensuring networks are reliable enough to support the technology used by a modern 24/7 mining operation also means that cyber security must be strong enough to protect the data created.

In a highly automated environment, every piece of equipment connected is exposed to potential cyber attacks.

Mining companies are aware of this hazard, voting cyber as the third biggest risk to operations in the Ernst & Young Top 10 business risks and opportunities 2020 report.

“One of the biggest risks is security, whether it’s the physical security of people at a site, logical security or cyber security from attacks,” Wildblood says.

“If someone can come in via a cyber attack and control a mine site, it is very dangerous and costly, security at the network layer is critical.

“Every single person in an organisation must be acutely aware of the risks or threats, be they physical, cyber or logical security, and help manage how data is collected, stored and used.”

Not only is technology being used for mines to automate operations

AUSTRALIANMINING

VOCUS IS A SPECIALIST FIBRE AND NETWORK SOLUTIONS PROVIDER.

to keep workers safer and expand profits, it is also being used to improve camp life for FIFO workers.

As COVID-19 meant many workers had to relocate for much of 2020 and spend more time away from their families, they became more entrenched in their remote location.

With a reliable and high-capacity network, workers can bring part of

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their home and family life to the mine site, making Vocus’ network a key aspect of attracting and retaining employees.

Vocus has seen this firsthand at a number of sites, including Minjar Gold’s operations in Western Australia, which upgraded from a basic network to Vocus’ fibre optic network, increasing its capacity ten-fold.

INDUSTRY OUTLOOK

VOCUS’ NETWORK PROVIDES THE MINING INDUSTRY WITH STRONG CONNECTIONS FOR BOTH BUSINESS AND LEISURE.

“Now that we are all engaging in remote work, employees expect if they are sent to a remote mine site, they can video chat back with their families,” Wildblood says.

“This brings social connectivity for remote communities and increases employee engagement.

People want to go and work there and are happier on site.”

With increased focus on enriching the health and wellbeing of employees through innovation, Vocus is continuing to support the industry with reliable networks to enable it to take advantage of technology trends.

“Enriching these experiences will continue to become more important as technology grows, (and) you need to attract more qualified and talented people to operate these advanced systems,” Wildblood says.

He expects innovation in networks and connectivity for remote sites to

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be a big focus in 2021.

Vocus is an industry leader in its work with nbn co and its satellite technology to connect remote mining sites. It is also working to support the entry of low earth orbit (LEO) satellite technology.

In development by leading global technology companies like Google, Amazon and SpaceX, LEO satellites can create a blanket of connectivity coverage for remote locations.

“Much of Australia’s drilling activity is completed in some of the most remote places in the country, and often it isn’t until the mine matures that there is a dedicated network on site,” Wildblood explains.

He says for LEO satellite technology, its success will partly depend on its ground infrastructure, which is where Vocus and its extensive regional fibre network play a role.

“We are ideally placed to help with the entry of this technology into Australia, and we intend to sell it,” Wildblood concludes. AM

DIGITAL MINING

3D VISUALISATION UNLOCKS REMOTE WORKING EFFICIENCIES AS A CREATOR OF SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS FOR THE WORLD’S LARGEST MINING CORPORATIONS, TIMINING IS PASSIONATE ABOUT TECHNOLOGY, MINING, INNOVATION AND DELIVERING WORLD-CLASS PERFORMANCE.

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IMining has partnered with major mining companies for the past three years to create software that gives mine workers access to their operations from their pockets.

The latest technology and innovation, appropriately called TIMining Aware, allows the user to experience being at a mine’s lookout without physically having to be there.

Created through advanced algorithms and connections to multiple mine operational systems, TIMining Aware creates a unique 3D and online visualisation of the mine.

TIMINING AWARE PROVIDES ONLINE 3D VISUALISATION TO IMPROVE PROCESSES.

Mining 4.0

Described as Mining 4.0, the company has responded to the challenges of COVID-19 by using the pandemic as a platform to accelerate the adaptation of its online situational awareness product.

TIMining chief executive Nicolas Jubera says the company realised when COVID-19 hit in March this year that it would change the way we work.

“We wanted to adapt and create a solution around this platform that helps mining companies adjust to these new times,” Jubera tells Australian Mining.

“The big question was how do we help companies still be at the mine site and that is when TIMining Aware was launched.”

The 3D view of the mine enables organisations to visualise their mine from anywhere, at any time and from any device.

Online 3D digital twin of the mine

By using state-of-the-art 3D visualisation engines and proprietary algorithms, TIMining integrates multiple operational systems to create an online 3D digital twin of the mine.

TIMining Aware not only boosts performance, but improves processes and practices, saves money and creates more situational awareness.

“Our solution allows you to take your smart phone out of your pocket

decide and agree to actions, while together or remotely using the updated 3D digital twin of the mine.

VP for global revenue Larin Allison says this new way of working has created efficiencies that weren’t possible until the response to the impacts of COVID-19.

“The product boosts collaboration while working remotely, and with less travel required due to fewer non-essential personnel at the operation, TIMining Aware ticks the productivity and safety boxes for operators,” Allison says.

The solution reduces the need for unnecessary visits to the mine site by mirroring what is happening hour-by-hour from a safe and remote platform, increasing safety measures and reaction times to issues.

Recruiting the best of the best “It allows companies to recruit the best skills in the industry and with the tools it allows flexibility of being able to be located where the employee wants and still sees mines in real-time on the other side of the world,” Jubera adds.

With these efficiencies being offered to the mining industry, the company believes that in a postCOVID-19 world this type of work will accelerate.

THROUGH TIMINING’S TECHNOLOGY, COMPANIES CAN ACCESS THEIR MINES ANYWHERE AT ANYTIME.

and you can see what is happening and make decisions in realtime,” Jubera says.

“The concept isn’t super innovative. Watching your mine site in real-time on a mobile device isn’t a huge leap, but its technologically hard. No one has been able to do it until now and our system works.”

Actual data, real insights

The software monitors the mine in real-time, identifies the extraction areas, locates key equipment and reviews the surface extracted by the landing equipment every 15 minutes.

Through an automated mine plan compliance feature, companies can monitor where they need to dig to comply with weekly and monthly plans.

AUSTRALIANMINING

Digital transformations TIMining Aware improves processes by visualising the drilling inventory and compliance to plan in real-time, assessing where extra effort may be required to meet operational targets.

Detailed information about the location, performance and status of loading units can also be retrieved.

This includes access to the past 24 hours of performance, providing an understanding of where the hauling fleet is losing speed against planned performance through an updated heat map every two hours.

Boosts collaboration

TIMining Aware encourages collaboration across companies. The software allows interdisciplinary teams across companies to discuss,

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“We have been preparing for scale all over the world, and in a way COVID-19 helps with that because everything we do is digital. This is something we are still investing a lot in to and very focussed on developing this product line,” Jubera says.

TIMining Aware has been designed for users of all different levels – from supervisors of the site to managers, planners and the corporate side of the company.

By expanding its operations from Santiago in Chile to Perth in Western Australia, TIMining is providing insight and knowledge into mine site data that helps industry experts make better decisions.

The software adds an extra outer layer to work environments that instantly increases awareness, efficiency and productivity. AM

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TECHNOLOGY

HUMMINGBIRD AUDIO ALERT SYSTEM KEEPS VEHICLES ROLLING, SAFELY VEHICLE COLLISIONS AND ROLLAWAYS ARE A WORRYING CAUSE OF WORKPLACE INJURIES OR FATALITIES IN AUSTRALIA. AUSTRALIAN MINING SPEAKS WITH HUMMINGBIRD ABOUT HOW ITS 16-CHANNEL AUDIO ALERT SYSTEM IS HELPING TO PREVENT VEHICLE ACCIDENTS ON MINE SITES.

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ehicle collisions accounted for 31 per cent of worker fatalities in 2018, according to data from Safe Work Australia.

Following an engine fire on a bus on Sydney Harbour Bridge, which caused confusion due to unlabelled alarms going off that did not indicate what the emergency was, Hummingbird set out to create a new alarm.

Hummingbird’s vision was to design an audio alert system that not only warned drivers when something was going wrong, but also advised what the issue was, with the use of voice commands rather than a generic alarm.

As Hummingbird mining and industrial sales manager Scott Montgomery explains, the removal of this confusion helps vehicle operators react quickly to potential emergencies.

“Modern mining machines have complicated dashboards with a lot of bells, buzzers and LED lights – this is a lot to concentrate on before they even start driving,” Montgomery tells Australian Mining.

“It is difficult to know which buzzer is being activated and where. If there is a voice command telling the driver exactly what has gone wrong and what to do next, rather than a buzzer,

they have more time to react and take corrective action.”

With 16 channels, users can input 16 different commands into Hummingbird’s audio alert system, such as basic temperature warnings, fasten seatbelt alarms or apply handbrake notifications, up to alarms that help prevent potential disasters such as engine fires.

As well as the ability to set several different alarms, what makes Hummingbird’s audio alert system unique is that the messages sent by these alarms can be arranged in the order of priority.

“Hummingbird’s audio alert system is both preventative and reactive,” Montgomery explains.

“You can program the system with different noises or commands so the operator knows a message is coming, for non-urgent alarms such as applying the handbrake before exiting the vehicle.

“You can prioritise the messages as per their urgency, with different volumes and speeds to deliver urgent messages, such as a warning alert for engine fires in an emergency or an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) CANbus engine fault signal so the driver has a few moments to pull the machine over and exit

HUMMINGBIRD’S AUDIO ALERT SYSTEM PROVIDES CLEAR INSTRUCTIONS IN AN EMERGENCY.

AUSTRALIANMINING

HUMMINGBIRD’S 16-CHANNEL AUDIO ALERT SYSTEM.

the machine safely.”

Mining companies can load custom instructions relevant to their operations and vehicle, which can even be stored in different languages, making Hummingbird’s audio alert system versatile for global operations.

These instructions are saved to an SD card, which is simply slotted into the audio alert system slot, making it user friendly and easier to program.

One of the most common applications on Australian mine sites for the Hummingbird audio alert system is accidents involving the rear tippers being left in an upright position on dump trucks.

If left elevated, this can cause dangerous accidents such as the tipper colliding into a workshop roof, bridges or even powerlines, putting the equipment, driver and other workers at risk.

“Using our tilt switch on the audio alert system, Hummingbird has helped to prevent a number of accidents on mine sites where rear tippers have been left elevated,” Montgomery says.

“The tilt alert gives the driver an alert that they are driving off with the rear tipper up. There have been hundreds of accidents on Australian mine sites where drivers have driven into a workshop with the tipper up and crashed it into the workshop, so this is a very common application.”

Another popular alert Montgomery

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frequently sees installed on Hummingbird’s audio alert system is speed monitoring and warnings.

This alert is also beneficial for mining operations, with trucks and other vehicles frequently travelling along slopes, often on unsealed roads which are a skid hazard.

“We have a number of these audio alert systems on transport trucks, which gives the driver a verbal warning that overspeed has been detected in the event of the truck exceeding the set speed limit,” Montgomery explains.

“They are also used as a tilt device on cranes, which gives the operator the alerts they need to take corrective action to avoid an over tilt.”

While Hummingbird’s audio alert system is used simply as an alarm system at present, the company is working to develop the technology so it can also log data, making it useful for tracking incident causes and weighing up risks within operations.

“Whether the device is warning you to complete your pre-start check routine when you first start a shift, to fasten your seatbelt or that there is a high engine temperature and you need to pull over, Hummingbird’s audio alert system helps operators with preventative maintenance, safety and improving reactions to emergency events, avoiding machine damage, operator injury and reducing fatalities,” Montgomery concludes. AM

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TECHNOLOGY

HASTINGS DEERING TECHNOLOGY ENRICHES ASSET MANAGEMENT TO ENHANCE ITS STANDING AS A LEADING AUSTRALIAN SUPPLIER OF CAT EQUIPMENT, HASTINGS DEERING HAS DEVELOPED AN ASSET PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT PLATFORM TO UNLOCK THE FULL POTENTIAL OF A MINE.

T

echnology has entered almost every facet of our day-to-day lives.

With many of us now living in a ‘smart’ world, it is a given that Industry 4.0 technologies, such as performance management solutions, have become an interesting option for many mining operations.

An experienced distributor of new, used and rental Cat machinery and services, Hastings Deering has launched an Asset Performance Management (APM) solution that bolsters the company’s business strategy of helping customers use Caterpillar equipment more productively.

Hastings Deering asset support supervisor Kurt Pidgeon says the new APM solution complements the company’s traditional value proposition.

“Hastings Deering has always been very effective with analysing the reliability and availability of equipment,” Pidgeon says.

“However, customers buy machines for productivity, so we decided to start providing productivity solutions to complement existing traditional

THE APM PLATFORM FOCUSSES ON THE BROADER OPERATION.

reliability analysis that we perform.”

Starting with load and haul machinery and expanding into other operational areas, the APM solution delivers a wide range of reports and recommendations to improve productivity.

HASTINGS DEERING HELPS TO ENHANCE PRODUCTIVITY WITH THE APM SYSTEM.

AUSTRALIANMINING

According to Pidgeon, APM is concerned with how the entire mining circuit is performing as-asystem, rather than a single facet of an operation, or individual machine.

“There are many information systems that aim to bolster productivity, but APM is unique in providing insights into how the whole circuit is performing as a system and specific recommendations on how to improve. We help customers achieve their maximum sustainable production rate circuit-by-circuit, as the mine plan evolves, as opposed to looking at one machine at a time,” he explains.

“Analysing machine productivity has been done well for many years. KPIs like truck payload have been a strong area of focus, for example. What if trucks are not the constraining factor on site and it is the load tool instead?

“Using APM we focus on the broader mining operation so that we can better understand exactly where the improvement opportunities are.”

When customers purchase a Caterpillar fleet from Hastings Deering, the APM solution allows them to unlock its full potential.

“For a customer not to have a really good understanding of what is driving the productivity of their operation as-awhole, is problematic in a competitive

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world,” Pidgeon says.

APM analyses the data from an entire mining operation to provide in-depth insights that lead to boosts in productivity and efficiency.

For Pidgeon, this means finding areas of improvement that may otherwise go unnoticed.

“Mining clients receive insights from the APM software via a team of specialists here,” he explains. “That leads to productivity improvements and efficiencies gained.

“Treating a mine like a team is important – like the way a champion team beats a team of champions. A high performing circuit of machines is better than a group of individual high performing machines that aren’t working together.

“It’s about providing a broader perspective and identifying those bottlenecks.”

Hastings Deering will soon expand the APM platform to other mine disciplines, such as drill and blast, with the aim of supporting the entire value chain of an operation.

“We’re about to start a module for the analysis for drill and blast processes. Further to this, we are developing analytical tools for each of the processes in mining,” Pidgeon says.

“This will also include wash plant and material handling aspects to properly understand how one part of the value chain effects the performance of another. You need the complete picture to find the weakest link in that whole value chain.”

Remote operations have become critical to sustain mine operations this year in response to the restrictions enforced by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hastings Deering has developed the APM solution to enable miners to analyse performance remotely when required.

“Remote management of mining is well accepted now,” Pidgeon says.

“Working remotely in all facets of productivity monitoring is no different.

“It certainly enables clients to review site operations without having to be there. Mining is an industry where people work and live in different locations. Minimising travel if we can do so is an important thing to do at this time.” AM

WATER MANAGEMENT

IMPROVING OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCIES IN SLURRY PUMPING WITH SLURRY PUMPS, OPERATIONAL AND MAINTENANCE EXPENSES CAN RAPIDLY OVERTAKE THE INITIAL PROCUREMENT COSTS. XYLEM OFFERS A COST-EFFECTIVE SOLUTION.

T

he concept of total cost of ownership (TCO) is not new to the industrial world. It has been cited as far back as the Napoleonic era, when his engineers would design cannons to increase availability and reduce maintenance between battles.

The study of cradle-to-grave costs of capital equipment is an important one for heavy industries where the initial cost for capital equipment is usually one of the lowest marginal factors for TCO. Slurry pumping is a prime example of procured capital equipment where operating and maintenance costs can rapidly overtake and exceed the initial procurement cost. Slurry pumps tend to wear over time due to the highly abrasive nature of the product being pumped.

With frequent servicing needs and delayed repairs from the unavailability of spare parts, slurry pumping can quickly become a loss leader in any mineral processing or quarrying plant.

Xylem Water Solutions Australia product and marketing manager for dewatering, Paul Gaby, says the company’s Flygt 5000 Series submersible slurry pumps address many of the common “pain points” associated with slurry pumping, helping to reduce operational costs and improving efficiency.

The 5000 Series submersible pumps cover a wide range of pumps, plus modular systems, for flow rate capacities ranging from 30 to 320 litres per second.

Apart from all components in contact with the slurry being designed with high chrome wear materials, Gaby says the Flygt 5000 Series submersible

FLYGT 5000 SERIES SUBMERSIBLE PUMPS REDUCE THE IMPACT OF SOLIDS. AUSTRALIANMINING

pumps incorporate design features that reduce the impact of solids on the wear surfaces.

“A key factor when dealing with submersible pumps is to keep the solids in suspension. If that is not done effectively, you end up pumping only dirty water while the sump starts to build up. The personnel are then required to jump into the sump and dig it out manually or dredge it with a Bobcat,” Gaby tells Australian Mining.

The Flygt 5000 Series submersible pumps come with an agitator or a mixer option so users can keep solids in suspension and ensure that the slurry mix is completely removed.

Flygt pumps are also modular – motors can be mixed and matched with volutes to get the exact performance that is needed, depending on the density of the slurry.

“The design also features enlarged volute to slow down the speed of slurry and reduce its wearing force,” Gaby says.

“A back swept impeller vane ensures homogenous flow and further reduces wear. All of these design considerations ensure longer mean time between the failures (MTBF) and lower the operational expenditure (OPEX).”

Additionally, Gaby says submersible slurry pumps offer certain advantages over vertical sump pumps – also known as cantilever pumps.

“Where most conventional submersible pumps are quite bulky, the Flygt 5000 Series pumps are compact and very easy to install and remove because the motor and the volute form a single integrated unit. This is also beneficial from an occupational health and safety perspective as personnel install or remove the pumps,” he says.

“Moreover, unlike the noisy snoring of the pumps that have their motors on the surface, the submersible pumps, if controlled correctly, are very quiet to operate. A submersible pump is also, by definition, flood-proof so they eliminate any additional work if a mine site is flooded.”

Xylem Australia’s national business development manager – mining, metals & industrial, Ben Attwater, says the company supports customers looking to change their existing slurry pumping

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XYLEM OFFERS A RANGE OF FLYGT PUMPS AND MODULAR SYSTEMS.

infrastructure to gain operational efficiencies.

The company has a network of branches and service centres across Australia and New Zealand that helps customers through change management to swap their conventional slurry pumps with Flygt submersible pumps, while minimally impacting their operations.

“We can help customers from pump selection through to customised designs and spare parts holding to eliminate any servicing headaches,” Attwater says.

“Xylem’s branches also hold a suitable amount of Flygt 5000 Series slurry pumps in their rental fleet for customers looking to hire slurry pumps temporarily or to trial them before a full site installation.”

Attwater says Xylem has conducted several comparative assessments across mines and quarries in Australia that have demonstrated significant OPEX savings with “change management” from cantilever to Flygt submersible slurry pumps.

“The applications of course vary depending on the slurry material being pumped. But in all these assessments, we have demonstrated maintenance cost savings and successful elimination of unplanned downtime, allowing the mines to only service their slurry pumps during scheduled maintenance. That is quite a significant achievement,” he concludes. AM

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MINING SERVICES

AN EVOLVING PARTNERSHIP FOR AN EVOLVING INDUSTRY A 20-YEAR PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN DRIVETRAIN AUSTRALIA AND SUPPLIER DANA SPICER IS CHERISHED BY BOTH COMPANIES FOR HOW IT BLENDS HIGH QUALITY COMPONENTS WITH PROVEN SERVICES AND EXPERTISE.

A

ustralia’s mining landscape is home to a number of unique, albeit harsh conditions.

From the arid environment that blankets part of the country, to the barren locations of mine sites, reliability is at the forefront of every operation.

Each mine is presented with its own set of challenges requiring careful planning to ensure that optimum levels of reliability, productivity and safety are achieved.

Reducing downtime and having the best configuration for the specific needs of a mining operation are pivotal in boosting the trajectory of a mine.

Often it is the difference between high quality and low quality equipment that determines this.

Uptime reaps rewards in these scenarios, and a machine that is not up to standard could be the deciding factor between making or breaking an operation.

It is never a good idea to ‘go the cheap and cheerful option’ on mining componentry due to the risks of breakdowns, which can cause a flow-on effect through increased downtime and reduced productivity.

In particular, the drivetrain of a mining vehicle must be up to a design standard to withstand the rocky and unforgiving terrain of Australia’s mining operations.

Drivetrain Australia recognises this and has committed itself to delivering high quality purpose original equipment (OE) designed powertrain components.

The company offers powertrain design and application engineering, spare parts, maintenance and repair, and overhaul services to the sector from locations across Australia.

As specialists in end-to-end powertrain solutions for a vast array of mining applications, including underground operations, Drivetrain collaborates with leading powertrain brands to deliver state-of-the-art powertrain solutions.

Among its extensive list of collaborators is Dana Spicer, which offers powertrain systems based on

DRIVETRAIN IS CAPABLE OF DELIVERING END-TO-END POWERTRAIN SOLUTIONS.

DRIVETRAIN’S PROVEN EXPERTISE IN POWERTRAINS IS PREVALENT ACROSS AUSTRALIA.

proven reliability and productivity.

“Working with a company like Dana and supplying products from a company like Dana, you know you’re getting the highest quality built for purpose ,” Drivetrain Australia general manager sales & supply chain Mark Griffith says.

“They have the engineering, the hours in the field to back those claims, and the innovation to keep bringing out products that are going to be fit for purpose.”

Drivetrain provides innovative and bespoke solutions for mining vehicles, including mine trucks, load and haul dumpers, blast hole drills and scoops, using Dana’s transmissions, axles and driveshafts.

The Dana Spicer range of drivetrain systems is tested in Australia by Drivetrain to ensure AUSTRALIANMINING

they meet all levels of improved traction, positioning, braking, reliability and productivity.

By offering this package, Dana Spicer powertrain components purchased through Drivetrain are bolstered by the latter’s aftersales support.

Drivetrain Australia is structured to provide fast and accessible services for the products it supplies due to a foothold across Australia’s jurisdictions, eliminating the burden of waiting weeks to maintain mining machines or keeping them up and running.

Dana Australia managing director Nick Stavrakis says downtime can be a costly surprise for a mining operation.

“The DNA of the mining industry is to keep machines working, moving

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product day and night 24/7. The use of inferior parts is significant when failure occurs unexpectedly; one day downtime could be $200,000 worth of revenue so that ability to be agile and responsive is one of their key competitive advantages by using Drivetrain Australia,” Stavrakis says.

“They are the only service dealer in the market place that has the parts and breadth of expertise to meet the mining industry’s expectations – that’s why we’re partners.

“The symbiotic relationship between Drivetrain and Dana is the key for delivering the cost benefits to customers. They help us improve our product.”

This doubles down on decreasing the downtime or maintenance of a mining operation’s machines by first supplying reliable proven parts from trusted vendors such as Dana, before then backing them once installed with a dedicated maintenance and services team at Drivetrain.

“As conditions and technology change so does investing in training, Dana’s always going to be at the forefront of that. For those reasons, they’re an easy partner to work with,” Griffith says.

“For Drivetrain, we see ourselves as the vehicle to bring together genuine parts to a genuine industry, it’s a service we are extremely proud of.” AM

MINING SERVICES

AUTOMATED LUBRICATION SYSTEMS FOR FIXED PLANT EQUIPMENT

JSG INDUSTRIAL SYSTEMS PROVIDES LUBRICATION, FIRE SUPPRESSION AND MATERIAL DISPENSING SOLUTIONS TO MINING COMPANIES ACROSS AUSTRALIA.

JSG INDUSTRIAL SYSTEMS CONTINUES TO BE A TRUSTED SUPPLIER OF AUTOMATED LUBRICATION SYSTEMS TO SOME OF AUSTRALIA’S BIGGEST MINING SECTOR PLAYERS.

J

SG Industrial Systems is a subsidiary of John Sample Group – an Australianbased company that has been delivering products and services to the mining and industrial sectors since 1968.

Today, the company offers a broad portfolio of industry leading lubrication, fire suppression and material dispensing solutions from trusted brands such as SKF-Lincoln and JSG’s own fire suppression product range, Muster.

The company has locations around Australia including Sydney, Brisbane, Mackay, Townsville, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, and a significant international presence in Indonesia, Singapore, South Africa and New Zealand.

JSG offers comprehensive support services including engineering and system design, production, installation, aftersales support and training through the company’s skilled team in Australia and abroad.

The company’s expertise in fixed plant lubrication management and

automated lubrication systems increases productivity and machine reliability, while improving worker safety by eliminating the need to access hazardous areas to manually lubricate equipment including conveyors, conveyor shuttles, belt feeders, screens, crushers and mills.

JSG’s business development manager Mike Sipman says the automated capabilities of lubrication systems demonstrate the effectiveness of Industry 4.0 in the mining industry. “I think it’s inevitable that all organisations are moving towards Industry 4.0,” Sipman tells Australian Mining.

“They can monitor different pieces of equipment and machinery from afar and if they identify a potential problem, it’s more efficient to be proactive about maintenance rather than reactive.

“We have automated lubrication systems from the simplest type of single point lubricator, right up to very large lubrication systems that automatically lubricate hundreds of points on complex assets. We AUSTRALIANMINING

literally have a lubrication product for every application.”

JSG’s offering can automatically lubricate the friction points of a machine while it is running, extending production uptime and reducing maintenance downtime.

This is particularly important in the current climate of reduced workforce numbers and interstate travel bans on fly-in, fly-out workers, which leave mining companies with no room for unplanned site shutdowns or poorly maintained machinery.

JSG’s systems also features a telemetry option developed by the company. The system enables users to monitor the equipment via the web, adjust parameters and detect faults wirelessly through a cellular connection – or a satellite link in remote locations.

The company’s bespoke products and services are used by some of Australia’s largest mining companies, including one of the country’s major iron ore projects.

“We supplied a total of 59 lubrication systems for that

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particular project,” Sipman says.

“There’s a lot of trust in JSG’s capability and SKF-Lincoln lubrication products. We supplied an engineered solution by assessing all of the requirements, the duty cycle of the pumps and the types of lubricants in use. Everything was engineered specifically for the application.”

JSG’s locations around Australia provide the mining industry with fast access to a large inventory of products, plus local and easy-toaccess aftersales support to local mining regions.

“We also have the backup and support of SKF and a very large distributor network that offers service to the industry across Australia,” Sipman says.

“When you work with JSG, you’re not dealing with just one organisation, but multiple organisations working together with specialist skills, manufacturing, engineering, distribution and service capability.

That allows us to deliver a very highquality service across a wide range of industries and applications.” AM

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MINING SERVICES

ATLAS COPCO BREATHES LIFE INTO MINE COMPRESSOR REQUIREMENTS AUSTRALIAN MINING FINDS OUT HOW ATLAS COPCO’S RANGE OF AIR COMPRESSORS AND ON-SITE GAS GENERATION SYSTEMS ARE HELPING MINING COMPANIES INCREASE OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY AND REDUCE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT AT THE SAME TIME.

A

tlas Copco approaches the mining industry with the attitude that no two operations are the same.

The company caters to each site’s unique needs with the flexibility of its range and expertise of its engineers.

Atlas Copco promises equipment longevity, with many of its air compressors still operating up to 30 years after they were installed, in spite of operating in harsh Australian mine conditions.

Its range of technologies deliver an efficient and compact solution, guiding mining companies towards a more sustainable future.

Atlas Copco business development manager for the mining sector Tony Dias says the variable speed drive (VSD) technology developed by the company provides these industryleading benefits.

As a pioneer of VSD technology, Atlas Copco ensures mining companies have the air they require when they need it, while helping them manage exactly how much energy they use.

Dias believes Atlas Copco offers a complete range of technologies, including oil free and oil injected designs.

“Our full range of air treatment products include our energy efficient refrigerant, desiccant and drum type dryers with filtration,” Dias tells Australian Mining.

“Our compressed air equipment is used in a wide range of applications, be it in underground or plant applications.”

Atlas Copco also offers energy recovery systems, allowing customers to re-use heat generated by the compressors.

For example, the company can re-use the compressor heat for its customers’ hot water requirements, thereby saving energy and reducing carbon footprint.

The efficiency of Atlas Copco’s compressors decrease the average lifecycle costs of the compressor, reducing

maintenance costs and downtime.

“For low pressure applications Atlas Copco selects either lobe, rotary screw, multistage, and or centrifugal technologies, based on which is the most efficient low-pressure solution for the customer’s operation,” Dias explains.

“Proper aeration is vital to maximise mineral recovery in leaching and flotation cell processes and Atlas Copco’s low-pressure, energy efficient blowers and compressors deliver

ATLAS COPCO IS A PIONEER IN VARIABLE SPEED DRIVE TECHNOLOGY FOR SUSTAINABLE AIR COMPRESSION SOLUTIONS.

ATLAS COPCO’S AIR COMPRESSORS ARE STRONG ENOUGH TO LAST THROUGH HARSH AUSTRALIAN MINE CONDITIONS.

a steady supply of high-quality, oil-free air.

“This way, we reduce the carbon footprint to reduce global warming, helping to make our world more sustainable,” Dias says.

Atlas Copco’s high-pressure division has a compressor for every application, including methane, natural gas, hydrogen, carbon dioxide, nitrogen and process air compression.

For control and monitoring, Atlas Copco’s Optimiser 4.0 central controller provides a smarter compressed air system package.

The Optimiser 4.0 controller gathers data, stores and analyses information that can be stored in the cloud to be used to further improve existing processes and systems.

Atlas Copco develops its solutions in house, such as its IP66, oil cooled permanent magnet motor and drive train for the company’s newly designed AUSTRALIANMINING

GA90 to 160 oil injected rotary screw range which is ideal for harsh mining environments.

The technologies are developed with the most efficient compression elements to make sure each product is sustainable, compact and reliable, while requiring less service time than other compressors on the market.

Beyond providing these solutions, Atlas Copco’s customer service includes free air management surveys to remove the guesswork of calculating compressed air usage over a typical seven-day period.

Atlas Copco compiles this information into an informative report, outlining compressed air demand for a clear understanding of actual energy usage, and providing guidance on choosing the right products to counter energy issues on site.

With an extensive service support team based across 12 offices in major

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cities, regional centres and key mining and drilling regions, the company offers localised service and repairs for its entire equipment range.

Atlas Copco’s local engineers also customise compressors or containers so they are fully compliant with mining specifications and cost less to install on remote sites.

“The mining industry is 24/7, which is why Atlas Copco’s services are also available 24/7,” Dias says.

“These services include genuine parts, lubricants, preventative services, optimisation and connectivity solutions.

“We cooperate with our mining clients to create a unique solution that is developed as per the client’s needs.

“At Atlas Copco, we are committed to sustainable productivity by our responsibilities to our customers, towards the environment and the people around us.” AM

MINING SERVICES

AEI POWERS FULL SUITE OF VEHICLE SAFETY KITS INTO MINING KEEPING PERSONNEL SAFE AND PROTECTED IS AN ESSENTIAL PART OF A PRODUCTIVE AND EFFICIENT MINE SITE. AUTO ELECTRICAL IMPORTS NOW OFFERS A COMPLETE PACKAGE OF MINE SAFETY COMPLIANCE EQUIPMENT FOR HEAVY AND LIGHT VEHICLES.

W

ith more than 30 years of experience in electrical equipment, Auto Electrical Imports (AEI) has become wellknown within the industry for designing, manufacturing and distributing high-quality lighting, switching and control systems.

Headquartered in Queensland, AEI covers all facets of electrical, lighting and safety solutions for the automotive, mining, original equipment manufacturer (OEM), transport and construction industries.

The company has also developed a reputation for providing quality products backed by unmatched customer service, providing in-

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SAFETY KITS ARE NOW AVAILABLE FROM AEI.

house expertise and a broad range of mining and safety products for its clients.

Offering a number product ranges, including Ionnic Emergency lighting, Nordic work lamps, Brigade reversing systems and alarms as well as vehicle-specific battery lockout kits and switch kits, AEI treats each mining operation differently, with many sites requiring bespoke solutions.

The company understands the industry needs to be proactive to see growth and success. It is committed to designing and manufacturing products that are specifically tailored to a customer’s requirements.

AEI managing director Norman Haupt tells Australian Mining that AEI’s focus on the customer has helped push the envelope to innovate.

“We work closely with industry in order to stay up to date with the ever-changing challenges and needs faced daily on mine sites.

In conjunction with our years of experience, it allows us to develop and bring to market products and solutions that are designed specifically to meet the needs of the Australian market,” Haupt says.

With customer interaction serving as a backbone to AEI’s innovation, the company has responded to several requests to offer a full suite of mine safety compliant equipment for heavy and light vehicles.

AEI now supplies a complete

AUSTRALIANMINING

range of mine site safety compliance products and accessories for these vehicles, enabling customers to purchase all their mine safety equipment through a single supplier.

Among the several benefits to this opportunity for customers is the extension of AEI’s expertise in safety and electrical equipment into a new range of vehicle safety accessories.

AEI has introduced products to kit out heavy service and support vehicles.

Solutions include safety flags, GME radio systems, first aid kits, reflective warning triangles, wheel chocks and fire extinguishers.

These products add to AEI’s extensive product range, preventing the need for users to buy electrical and mine safety compliant equipment elsewhere.

All are designed to ensure vehicle compliance on a mine site and aid in preventing dangers related to personnel or equipment.

Haupt explains the key reason customer demand for mine safety compliant gear has increased as compliance regulations are changed.

“With over 30 years’ experience in providing auto electrical safety equipment to the mining industry, we know how important

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AEI OFFERS A FULL SUITE OF MINE SAFETY COMPLIANT EQUIPMENT FOR HEAVY AND LIGHT VEHICLES.

quality and reliability is,” he says.

“As mine site safety and compliance regulations have evolved, we have continued to be proactive in sourcing and manufacturing products to help support these requirements.

Our ongoing focus has always been on providing products and systems that can be relied upon to keep people safe.”

With the addition of mine safety compliant equipment, AEI can now offer its clients much more than an electrical, lighting and safety solutions. AM

MINING SERVICES

MINING MOVES FORWARD WITH ITM ITM IS FINISHING ANOTHER YEAR OF PROVIDING HIGH QUALITY, RELIABLE UNDERCARRIAGE COMPONENTS AND SERVICES TO THE MINING INDUSTRY, OVERCOMING COVID-19 TO EMERGE WITH NEW IDEAS FOR THE FUTURE.

ITM MINING IS LOOKING TOWARDS REAL-TIME DATA SOLUTIONS IN THE COMING YEARS.

I

n a turbulent world impacted

by COVID-19, Australia’s mining industry has weathered the storm that 2020 has brought with it.

Despite these challenges, ITM’s mining division has remained on course, providing undercarriage solutions across Australia from its Western Australia and Queensland facilities, and abroad.

ITM Mining is focussed on supplying undercarriages for various mining machines, including shovels, dozers and drills. It offers both parts and end-to-end undercarriage solutions.

Reflecting on 2020, ITM Mining managing director Adrian Battley says it has been a successful year for the company and he is optimistic about what’s to come.

ITM MINING IS SPECIALIST IN UNDERCARRIAGES FOR MINING MACHINES. AUSTRALIANMINING

“Business has been great – better than ever in fact,” he tells Australian Mining. “We had some of our biggest months during that COVID period.”

While some companies with manufacturing facilities in Europe have been forced to shut down, ITM has factories located around the world, enabling the company to maintain high stock levels.

“Because we have multiple factories in multiple locations around the world, we’ve had back-ups to tap into getting stock – and since we had a large mining stockholding in Australia, we’ve been able to supply our customers with the stock they needed,” Battley says.

Throughout this period, ITM has continued to look for ways to innovate. This year, the company has introduced modular changeouts for its undercarriage track frames.

“We’re buying our own exchange shovel frames,” Battley says. “That’s been the biggest shift for us. We’ve also continued to grow our exchange dozer frame program by adding additional exchange units.”

This provides the customer one point of contact for the entire job – delivering end-to-end quality management, improving safety and productivity while at the same time reducing costs.

“For us, it’s all about the value that we can give to our customers.

The significant cost savings are not

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just achieved when you buy our product upfront. We can deliver even greater value when we manage your undercarriage with you over the product life,” Battley says.

The company is also committed to having an even greater presence onsite and plans to bring the installation process in house.

“At the moment, we require external companies to install our products. We want to be able to be the ones installing those parts. We design, manufacture, distribute and service the product, but we want to close that loop and be able to say it’s truly end-to-end,” Battley says.

He adds that he’s seen a clear move in the industry back to focussing quality over cheaper alternatives.

“This has become paramount during 2020 as reduced workforces and fewer people allowed on site make it more worthwhile to invest in long-lasting components that are less likely to break down,” Battley says.

In its push to continually innovate, ITM is developing real-time data solutions for its undercarriages, which will be available in the coming years.

Battley says without smart technologies, undercarriages would continue to require physical inspections.

“We see great opportunities in smart technologies, which we see bringing significant productivity benefits to our customers. For example, having real-time data to monitor your product remotely is key,” he says. “It’s still very early days, but it’s definitely an area we’re investing in.”

Battley is looking towards the future with confidence.

“The team at ITM lives and breathes undercarriage,” he says.

“We love making our customers’ lives easier by simplifying the science of undercarriage.

“We particularly love the science of our work – a system which may look uncomplicated, but it’s made up of many different components that all work together to create the most streamlined, powerful undercarriage.

“We know as a specialist undercarriage provider, our offering to the local Australian mining industry is compelling. As a team, we see many opportunities – the future is looking good.” AM

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any device. aving to be there. the mine through ational systems.

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 PROSPECT AWARDS MINING SERVICES VOLUME 112/11 | DECEMBER 2020

MINERALS PROCESSING

INDUSTRY OUTLOOK OPTIMISM FOR THE FUTURE OF MINING

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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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INDUSTRY COMMENT

MINE FIRES STILL A BURNING ISSUE DESPITE A FOCUS ON THE ISSUE IN RECENT YEARS, THE NUMBER OF MOBILE PLANT-RELATED FIRES ON MINE SITES REMAINS UNACCEPTABLY HIGH, ACCORDING TO THE NEW SOUTH WALES RESOURCES REGULATOR. FM GLOBAL GROUP MANAGER, ACCOUNT ENGINEERING MICHAEL BEAUMONT EXPLAINS HOW TO REDUCE THIS RISK.

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he New South Wales Resources Regulator expects the number of fires occurring on mobile plants to continue to elevate if no further action is taken.

Together with FM Global, the regulator takes the position that all fires on mobile plants are avoidable and preventable, and notes that it has taken a zero-tolerance approach where mine operators have not taken appropriate steps to manage this risk.

“Fires on mobile (plants) are inherently dangerous. They impact on the safety of workers and have potentially catastrophic consequences,” the regulator states.

This warning follows an earlier report released by the regulator in 2019 that showed mobile plant fires in the state had risen throughout the previous decade. More than 200 fires were reported between September 2014 and May 2017. That’s about six per month and double the incidents that occurred between 2001 and 2008.

This isn’t an issue that is confined to New South Wales. As an insurer of over 300 mining sites worldwide, including 50 in Australia, FM Global’s

frequency and severity.

Beaumont shares the below recommendations based on FM Global’s experience in supporting its policyholders to reduce the risk of fire breaking out on mine sites:

FM GLOBAL GROUP MANAGER, ACCOUNT ENGINEERING, MICHAEL BEAUMONT.

loss history shows that there is a bigger trend.

FM Global’s data shows that fire on mobile plants have remained high yet relatively stable worldwide. Over the past five years, fire has accounted for 27 per cent of all losses on mine sites. The most significant rise in fire incidents is in relation to fixed plant rubber belt conveyors, vibratory screens, hydrocyclones, piping and rubber lined equipment. These incidents have increased in both

• I nadequate levels of fire protection, or fire protection equipment that isn’t installed properly are two other issues that frequently contribute to fire losses on mine sites. Ensure fire protection equipment is regularly checked and that it is properly installed. Make sure staff are well trained in using the equipment.

•H ot work and hot surfaces have caused over 50 per cent of fire losses.

Ensure a proper hazard analysis is conducted prior to doing any hot work, including flanging off pipes so fires in one vessel will not spread so easily.

• Look at the layout and concentration of flammable materials onsite. Often, it’s clear that if combustible equipment was laid out slightly differently, the risk of fire spreading would be significantly reduced.

•P rioritise equipment maintenance.

FM GLOBAL SHARES ITS ADVICE ON PREVENTING FIRES ON MINE SITES.

AUSTRALIANMINING

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Even minor equipment failures, like seized up bearings, can significantly increase the chance of a fire breaking out. Besides regular inspections, predictive analytic technology can help identify potential failures before they occur. Discuss with risk management partners which technologies might work for equipment.

•B ring employees up to speed. When new equipment and materials are introduced at the mine site, ensure staff are made aware of any new risks that introducing those materials will open up – including their role in managing those risks. As an example, plastic equipment has undoubtedly contributed to an increase of fires on mine sites. The material itself is not the primary issue. The challenge is that awareness around its combustibility and how to manage it have not increased at a rate that matches its uptake throughout the industry.

FM Global has updated its standards for protecting plastic equipment.

Its top recommendations are: •E nsuring water-based fire protection systems are considered for all equipment that has a large component of rubber or plastic construction such as critical conveyors, screen decks, filter presses, spirals, hydrocyclones or equipment using high pressured hydraulic oil.

• Consider any flammable liquid that is used in your process. Is additional fire protection needed? Can spill or leak size be controlled? Are additional interlocks required?

•E nsure that protection systems on heavy duty mobile equipment have appropriate levels of automation and cover all areas where a fire could occur (including areas where there is lubrication oil).

As the New South Wales Resources Regulator warns, without a refreshed approach to fire prevention on mine sites, Australia can expect to see a continued and unacceptably high rate of fire incidents – and a high level of scrutiny from regulators.

The good news is that taking relatively small steps can significantly reduce the likelihood of fire-related damage and loss on Australia’s mine sites. Afterall, resilience is a choice. AM

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MAINTENANCE

MAINTENANCE SERVICE KITS, THE KEY TO COST-EFFECTIVE SOLUTIONS AFTER SUPPLYING PARTS TO THE MINING INDUSTRY FOR MORE THAN A DECADE, AMCAP INDUSTRIAL HAS INTRODUCED A KITTING SOLUTION THAT REDUCES ASSET DOWNTIME AND SIMPLIFIES THE MAINTENANCE PROCESS FOR THE END USER.

A

MCAP Industrial provides a unique and comprehensive kitting service that combines multiple products and brands for any mobile or fixed plant machinery asset, delivering a cost-effective solution for the mining sector.

The company undertakes maintenance service kits for a variety of assets, including generators, haul trucks, excavators, light vehicles, trucks and trailers.

AMCAP Industrial’s service kits are a flexible solution that provides customers with a superior level of reliability by having the replacement parts and components available when required – saving time and money, maximising asset availability and increasing productivity.

General manager Kevin Yap says AMCAP’s overall model is to identify and deliver products and services that minimise downtime of mining assets by working closer with the maintenance strategy teams.

During the peak of COVID-19 restrictions in Western Australia, Yap says demand from mining companies increased significantly, meaning AMCAP Industrial had to ensure the company had a robust supply chain of products available.

“Mining companies weren’t stopping their operations and were looking to their supply partners to ensure we increased our safety stock levels. They made sure that there was a secure supply of products because they wanted to minimise any downtime, due to critical spare parts being unavailable,” Yap says.

“What we helped manage with our Tier 1 customers was increasing the safety stock levels for their operations, so we ended up pushing out a lot more product over the COVID-19 period.”

Despite facing some challenges during the pandemic, the company met the increased demand, which was made possible through its 23,000-square-metre warehouse and flexible supply chain.

AMCAP Industrial services its kits out of a modern, purpose-built storage and distribution facility in Welshpool, Western Australia. The company has the capacity to expand the facility to cater for a larger range of products.

“From our perspective we have a secure team in terms of experience and knowledge. Our key strengths are around our capabilities to manage a supply chain for a customer,” Yap says.

AMCAP Industrial’s business development manager for off highway, Nick Petsas, says the Midlife Kits are a ‘jewel in the crown’ of the company’s parts distribution model.

The Midlife Kits offer a number of benefits, including a unique material number instead of potentially 50-100 material numbers being ordered individually.

They also provide logistical cost savings through handling and transport of a single line item, as well as the accuracy of having all parts consolidated within the kit.

The kits are packaged appropriately in bespoke cabinets and containers, ensuring they are securely delivered on site.

Petsas says the Midlife Kits can hold between 300 and 500 line item parts, with a total volume of up to 1400 line items as a total package.

Each kit is individually itemised per operation, and all parts within the kit are broken down to support individual operations.

“This allows the technicians to go the particular draw system and get the respective parts required to fit that major component,” Petsas says.

AMCAP Industrial also manages core asset components, which are not one-use items, with the Midlife Kits.

As part of this process, the company supplies a new unit to be fitted to the asset, with the old component being returned in the cabinet to be overhauled by AMCAP Industrial’s authorised vendors.

“The items, we call Cores, are actually an asset and have a significant lifecycle. Mine sites recognise the value associated with

AUSTRALIANMINING

these Cores, however managing the process of overhauling these components internally, it is time consuming and labour intensive.

Consequently, a good percentage of these items are either misplaced or disposed, at significant cost,” Petsas says.

“We have simplified that process and manage it for the customer, all that’s required is for the used Core to be placed with the cabinet and returned. Once the cabinet is received by AMCAP Industrial, the Cores are identified and reviewed with all the respective credits submitted.”

The kits are also available as excavator midlife cabinets, which can be lifted onto the platform of the machines for ease and safe access.

Petsas says the containers are designed around getting the components and parts as close to the work area as possible, which delivers time and motion efficiencies.

“In addition, these cabinets are designed to be compact and positioned on the platform, allowing technicians ease of access to all parts and components, furthermore reducing personal risk of injury not AMCAP HAS MAINTAINED A STRONG SUPPLY CHAIN OF SERVICE KITS THIS YEAR.

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EVERY MAINTENANCE SERVICE KIT IS DESIGNED WITH THE SPECIFIC PARTS AND COMPONENTS NEEDED FOR THE JOB.

having to travel up and down stairs carrying heavy loads,” he says.

AMCAP has evolved since first supplying solutions to the mining industry more than 15 years ago, ensuring its kits aren’t just about putting parts in a box.

Business development manager Barry Neale says the kits are individually designed for each application and managed through AMCAP Industrial’s cloud-based asset manager tool.

“This portal offers customer stakeholders the ability to selfmanage the service kit, with appropriate control mechanisms,” Neale concludes. AM

MINERALS PROCESSING

CHINESE CERAMIC GRINDING COMPANY ENTERS AUSTRALIAN MARKET WITH CLOSE TO 30 YEARS’ EXPERIENCE AS A MANUFACTURER OF CERAMIC GRINDING MEDIA, KING’S BEADS HAS BROUGHT ITS EXPERTISE TO AUSTRALIA’S MINING INDUSTRY.

K

A FULLY EQUIPPED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT AND PROJECT TESTING FACILITY.

ing’s Beads launched its Australian subsidiary in Western Australia during July with the vision to grow into a leading global grinding media supplier and grinding solution provider.

Technical services manager for Australia, Johan Steyn, says the King’s Beads Group’s highest objective is to produce top-quality products, while working closely with mining companies to service their needs.

King’s Beads aims to provide a total grinding solution, focussing on helping customers lower production costs and increase productivity to ensure they can economically achieve their goals.

“The company did not have any local employees in Australia before I started with it in February 2020,” Steyn tells Australian Mining.

“Following King’s commissioning of a new factory in Yixing City about four years ago, the company has expanded its capacity and Australia has become a very sought-after market.

“We approached the market purely on a technical basis. King’s prides themselves on having a very technically sound product and really good technical support for the mine sites.”

Steyn says the company will target opportunities on new greenfield and

brownfield projects, in addition to existing mines looking to improve the efficiency of their grinding circuit.

Ceramic grinding media is typically used for fine and ultra fine grinding (UFG) in stirred mills or attritors, as well as in vertical and horizontal bead mills.

King’s Beads has developed grinding media in a wide range of sizes and densities, with its latest innovative range of ceramic media – King’s MineMate – tailor made for UFG mills in the mining industry as well as establishing an Ultra-fine Grinding Technology Engineering Centre, which is the first provinciallevel technology engineering centre dedicated to superfine grinding for further mineral benefaction in China.

The engineering centre is striving to introduce various lab-scale grinding mills to better serve the mining industry.

King’s Beads’ Australian subsidiary achieved an important milestone in September with the arrival of its first shipment of ceramic beads in the country for a full industrial trial at a Western Australian gold mine.

“We are running the beads in the full production facility for about three to four months to compare the performance of wear-rate and grinding efficiency,” Steyn says.

“Hopefully from there we will find AUSTRALIANMINING

good results, which will mean we could be awarded the first tender in Australia.”

Steyn, who has 25 years of experience in mining across 14 countries, says the next year is pivotal for the company in Australia.

“In the next year we would like to get the Australian entity up and running. We hope to complete two to three full-scale trials and have at least one full-scale customer within the year,” Steyn says.

“Then our five-year plan is to have at least 20-25 per cent of the ceramic grinding media market in Australia.”

The company reinforces its highquality products through a full-scale laboratory for grinding media in China and its strong focus on product innovation, which is supported by the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Through a partnership with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, King’s Beads develops new media formulations for tailored-made ceramic media and increases the performance price ratio of the products at customer sites.

King’s Beads also strengthens its products by conducting comparative wear analysis tests on different beads in its laboratory, as well as grinding efficiency testing.

“This allows us to see how we can optimise the media or grinding conditions to get better performance and make it more efficient and cost effective,” Steyn says.

“We provide on-site technical support as well and have specialists all over the world that we can bring

into any mine site if there are any specific problems. We have a very wide technical support and technical experience on ultra-fine ceramic grinding media.”

King’s Beads also provides research and development on the manufacturing side of its business, holding 20 different patents on manufacturing and product development.

The company has a strong emphasis on using high-grade raw material in its manufacturing of ceramic beads, with one of its products coming from Western Australia.

The TA380 beads, which are the company’s most popular, contain 5 per cent raw Western Australian materials.

“We have some really unique and good quality products coming out of our factory. It’s quite an exciting time for us,” Steyn says.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the company’s Chinese operations received little impact, with only a sixweek period of manufacturing being slowed due to lockdowns.

However, Steyn says the business in Australia has been affected by travel restrictions, with personnel not being able to visit different mine sites.

“We have slowed down slightly, but it has given us time to focus on the necessary steps to get the company set up to go full ball once the travel restrictions are lifted,” he says.

By building a strong global sales network that is backed by high-quality products and service, King’s Beads is well positioned to bring its advanced ultra-fine and super fine grinding technology to the Australian market. AM KING’S BEADS PROVIDES SPECIALIST ON-SITE SUPPORT AND TRAINING.

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, D E E N U T. O Y E R R E ER N. V E F O T N A O H IS H W D IT RC A N I E F ES TH

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MINING EQUIPMENT

ADOPTING LOW-EMISSION DIESEL ENGINES IN MINING THE TREND TOWARDS ADOPTING CLEANER DIESEL ENGINES ACROSS THE MINING INDUSTRY IS GAINING MOMENTUM AND PERKINS ENGINES, AVAILABLE IN AUSTRALIA THROUGH ALLIGHTSYKES, ARE LEADING THE WAY.

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mission standards such as the US EPA Tier 4 Final, EU Stage V, Bharat IV in India, Stage IV in China, MLIT Step IV in Japan, Stage IV in South Korea and a variety of other local and regional mandates are all examples of the global trend toward cleaner diesel engines. Here in Australia, the mining industry is among the first to place this new generation of engines in service widely. Although not yet required by law, many gensets, light towers, crusher/screeners, water pumps, vehicles and other specialised pieces of equipment are already powered by Perkins diesels, meeting the latest emission standards.

AllightSykes product line manager for engines, David Whincup, says the new Perkins engines designed to meet the strictest of these standards are physically smaller and more responsive with increased power density, multiple application-driven approaches to aftertreatment packaging and an overall emphasis on providing integrated systems customers can easily incorporate into both new and existing machines.

“Greater power density is a product of more efficient combustion made possible by innovations like common rail fuel systems and ‘smart’ turbochargers,” Whincup explains.

“More efficient combustion captures more of the energy in the fuel, which not only reduces emissions, but also improves fuel economy to reduce operating costs.”

Whincup offers the Perkins 1706 as an example of what has been achieved in the drive toward lowering diesel emissions. It’s a six-cylinder, 9.3-litre engine that combines a new highpressure common-rail fuel system with an advanced aftertreatment package to produce up to 340kW and 2088Nm of torque.

Built on a proven core engine that has logged more than 200 million hours of real-world operation, the 1706 produces more power and torque while consuming less fuel.

Much of the improvement can be attributed to a new, patented aftertreatment technology package

combining the diesel particulate filter (DPF) and diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC) in a single assembly.

Regeneration is completely transparent to the operator A high-efficiency selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system eliminates the need for exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) and its associated plumbing, parts and service requirements leading to a potential reduction in the size of the engine’s cooling system. Overall, the new aftertreatment technology package is 39 per cent smaller and 55 per cent lighter than previous generation equipment.

The high-pressure common-rail fuel system used on the 1706 is also new and optimised for per-formance.

It eliminates the need for fuel coolers in most applications and permits cold starts at temperatures down to -20° Celcius without aids.

A single engine control module (ECM) with nearly 13 times more processing power than previous systems replaces the multiple control units commonly found on engines in this category.

Complete with a two-wire Ethernet port, the new ECM allows customers to perform advanced data analytics and better interface with Perkins’ digital support and integration strategies.

Many of the same upgrades also have been incorporated into the Perkins 2406, a 430kW, six-cylinder, 12.5-litre diesel and 2806, a sixcylinder, 18.1-litre engine that meet Stage V standards with technology very similar to that used in the 1706.

Monitoring these sophisticated new engines is also easier using the free Perkins My Engine App that gives operators a wealth of information about engine condition, maintenance requirements, service history, parts and much more all on their office computer or mobile device. The app also provides a direct link to AllightSykes sales and technical staff to support customers in the field.

Whincup also notes that Perkins’ commitment to a cleaner environment does not end with delivery of new engines.

“Perkins operates an extensive remanufacturing program for engine components, including everything

AUSTRALIANMINING

THE 13-LITRE PERKINS 2206 ENGINE IS DESIGNED TO MEET THE LATEST EMISSIONS STANDARDS.

from major assemblies like blocks and heads to individual accessories like turbos and fuel pumps,” Whincup explains.

“We also supply short blocks, remanufactured heads and complete remanufactured engines that can save customers a significant amount of money compared to replacing an entire machine.”

By reusing as much of the original component as possible and replacing the unusable parts with remanufactured equivalents wherever practical, Perkins keeps a substantial amount of material out of landfills around the world.

“Even something as simple as an oil filter can be redesigned with the environment in mind,” Whincup adds.

“The Perkins Ecoplus filter does away with the traditional metal can and replaces it with a re-placeable element inside a reusable filter housing. That keeps spin-on type oil filters out of land-fills. Perkins Ecoplus oil filters are also designed to drain oil back into the block automatically

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when they are opened to avoid spills.

“Most folks don’t think of those aspects of environmental stewardship, but Perkins does. It’s part of the culture at Perkins and AllightSykes.” AM

THE PERKINS 2806 IS A SIX-CYLINDER, 18.1-LITRE ENGINE DESIGNED TO MEET THE LATEST EMISSIONS STANDARDS.

THE FIRST PRIORITY FOR AUSTRALIA’S MINING INDUSTRY

ISSUE 8 - JULY-AUGUST 2020

Remote revolution

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INDUSTRY COMMENT

AUSTMINE INDUSTRY Q&A: CRISIS MANAGEMENT WITH ENGENIUM IN A DISCUSSION BETWEEN AUSTMINE AND ENGENIUM, THE PROJECT DELIVERY AND ENGINEERING CONSULTANCY RECOMMENDS THAT MINING COMPANIES TAKE A MORE PROACTIVE APPROACH TO CRISIS MANAGEMENT IN THEIR FUTURE PLANNING AS IT LEANS ON ITS STRENGTHS IN ASSESSING STRUCTURAL AND CORROSION RISK OF INFRASTRUCTURE.

I

n today’s operating environment of low capital expenditure and increased focus on driving down operating costs, many mining companies must extend the service life of their ageing infrastructure.

Running assets beyond intended design life is a difficult proposition to manage, but is nevertheless commonplace in the mining industry.

However, strategies and procedures can be put in place to mitigate risk of asset and infrastructure failure.

Austmine talks with Engenium executive general manager Newcastle, Heath Baker as this paradigm and its Critical Review and Inspection of Structures requiring Increased Service (CRISIS).

Thinking differently in tricky times

The global pandemic has shifted the focus of mining businesses around the world, and for suppliers, this has meant adapting quickly and driving new expertise.

Speaking of these challenges, Baker discusses Engenium’s approach to servicing clients in a tricky time.

“Our Newcastle office has exceptional engineering design capability, who doesn’t enjoy designing and creating something shiny and new?” he says.

“However, the global pandemic continues to drive the need for many of our clients to think differently when planning their future. This has, therefore, shifted thinking to extending the effective life of their assets.”

With new capital expenditure in the Australian mining somewhat harder to come by, investing in services to prolong the life of assets is where Engenium delivers value and results.

recommendations requires specific processes and procedures appropriate for each asset type and location, and this is what we prioritise with our CRISIS methodology.”

EXTENDING THE LIFE OF INFRASTRUCTURE IS A SOLUTION TO DRIVE DOWN COSTS.

Bringing the Internet of Things to CRISIS management

assessment methodology that can help our customers across the entire mining life cycle,” Baker says.

“With some miners running assets beyond their design life, and operating in highly corrosive environments, an impetus was placed on monitoring this infrastructure more effectively. Hence, the Critical Review and Inspection of Structures requiring Increased Service (CRISIS) was born.”

The CRISIS methodology combined Engenium’s expertise in structural engineering and corrosion engineering.

Baker makes the important distinction between these two

capabilities when managing infrastructure, stating that structural risk is not the same as corrosion risk.

“Assessment of infrastructure that confirms active corrosion and the mechanism(s) of the corrosion is crucial because the presence of corrosion does not necessarily indicate an unacceptable structural risk,” he says.

“You can mitigate corrosion degradation by putting in place simple to follow surface treatments suitable for the medium and the environment.”

“Establishing accurate findings and

Managing with CRISIS

We have all become adept at managing a crisis in 2020. However, Engenium has developed a more positive CRISIS for its mining clients.

“As we explored our strengths in structural and corrosion risk of infrastructure further, we developed an

ENGENIUM IS HELPING COMPANIES CAPTURE DATA ON PORT INFRASTRUCTURE.

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As mining gears up for digital transformation, Engenium is bringing this forward by utilising unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology to capture important aerial data.

Exploring this technology, Baker discusses the application for its mining clients.

“Engenium is working with Phoenix Drones to deliver greater value to our customers. We have now been capturing data for a range of projects, including degradation mitigation and integrity assessments on fixed plant and port infrastructure,” he says.

“This has created additional value for our clients, including time savings, removing the need to work from heights and greater data capture for 3D modelling and surveying.

“We are now capturing underwater data, utilising remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) to remove the human factor from surveying hard to access areas, including water reservoirs, tanks, towers and canals, et cetera.” AM

PRODUCTS

BLASTMAP HELPS LAUNCH PRECISE BLASTS

LIEBHERR T 236 TRUCKS TO RUN ON TROLLEY MODE

BME has designed BLASTMAP to help operators design blast timing to be jointly used with BME’s digital initiation system, AXXIS. This powerful blast design software tool allows design of the blasts from hole layouts to charge quantities, deck charging and blast timing, to name a few.

Some of BLASTMAP’s capabilities include importing survey data of the block geometry, holes and surface; virtually creating a blast and pattern with hole diameters; and calculating costs and quantities based on actual drilling information.

BLASTMAP can also produce a 360-degree view of a blast in 3D, enter charge and timing designs based on actual hole positions, as well as analyse blast timing using timing simulation options.

BLASTMAP will optimise the use of AXXIS electronic delay detonators as it’s capable of importing and exporting AXXIS electronic detonator IDs and design timing.

BLASTMAP also integrates seamlessly with BME’s drill and blast data capturing system called XPLOLOG to export the blast design to XPLOLOG where the actual values are entered and compared with the design values.

Liebherr has signed a €20 million ($33.2 million) trolley development contract with Austria’s iron ore producer VA Erzberg for six 100-tonne T 236 mining trucks.

The trucks will operate on a five-kilometre track with the upper section at around 1055 metres above sea level, connecting the truck drive system to the overhead power lines on uphill haulage segments to drive with electric power.

This allows for tracks with small radiuses and even switchbacks, as well as a wider use of the haul road width, particularly when road conditions are suboptimal.

When connected to the overhead power lines in trolley mode, the full power capacity of the electric wheel motors of the T 236 can be translated into speed on grade, while the diesel engine idles.

VA Erzberg anticipates a reduction of around three million litres of diesel for the transport of more than 13 million tonnes of rock per year thanks to the technology.

• liebherr.com

• bme.co.za

AGGREKO INSTALLS GRANNY SMITH RENEWABLE MICROGRIDS

CATERPILLAR TO ROLL OUT LATEST 785 TRUCK The Next Generation Cat 785 mining truck is designed for improved operator safety and performance as it provides more intuitive and predictable operation.

The 150-ton (136-tonne) truck delivers faster and easier access to data and streamlines maintenance, and features a new cab that is designed for efficiency.

It also includes multiple upgrades such as the anti-lock brake system, dynamic stability control, enhanced traction control, machine speed limiting, hill start assist with anti-rollback and cruise control.

Given that Caterpillar’s first large mining truck was the 785, Cat large mining trucks general manager David Rea said it was fitting that the first Next Generation Cat mining truck was the new 785.

“Cat Next Generation mining trucks feature a flexible technology platform and optional configurations that help each mining operation meet their goals,” he said.

Production of the 785 truck will begin in the first quarter of next year.

Aggreko has injected renewables into the energy mix at Gold Fields’ Granny Smith gold mine in Western Australia.

The project is part of a tender won in 2016 to provide a 22-megawatt gas power station for the next 10 years at the site.

Aggreko integrated 7.7-megawatt peak of solar power and two-megawatt battery storage with the existing gas supply to create one of the world’s largest renewable energy microgrids with over 20,000 solar panels.

The solar, thermal and battery storage are integrated in Aggreko’s software platform to guarantee full system availability and optimise the existing thermal assets life.

The project is expected to cut emissions by 9500 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, lower fuel consumption by 10–13 per cent and produce around 18 gigawatt hours of energy per year. Installation will take place in an existing gas fired power station at Granny Smith.

• aggreko.com

• cat.com

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PRODUCTS

LOAD VOLUME SCANNING: A GAME-CHANGER FOR MINING

BLACKWOODS WORKHORSE PROVIDES SAFETY, COMFORT

Many mines regularly underload their trucks, requiring additional truck movements to shift the same amount of material, reducing profitability.

During a load audit study, Loadscan found a customer overstating loads by 13.7 per cent when measured against loads scanned with its load volume scanning (LVS) system.

As a result of the study, the customer purchased a Loadscan LVS and was able to increase actual loaded volumes by 15.8 per cent.

The Loadscan LVS accurately measures loads and generates 3D scan images that clearly indicate underloading, enabling corrective action (including operator training and coaching) to be taken.

The scans indicate if there is carryback in the bins, enabling it to be deducted from shift tallies. This improves load reporting accuracy and allows carryback to be scraped out.

Loadscan has also developed a payload calculator to determine value lost due to underloading.

Since launching in 2014, Workhorse workwear has provided Australians with protective and affordable industrial uniform solutions.

Designed to withstand the harshest conditions, the Workhorse range is the product of a relentless pursuit to protect workers with quality, fit-forpurpose workwear.

Exclusive to Blackwoods, the Workhorse industrial workwear brand has updated its Australian tailored range with new clothing for night and day wear.

While adhering to Australian standards, the new Workhorse range holds safety and comfort at its core.

• blackwoods.com.au

• loadscan.com/truck-optimisation-calculator

DYNA ENGINEERING PAINTS PILBARA CONVEYOR GUARDS PINK

MICROMINE OFFERS SUPPORT FOR PITRAM The remote deployment of MICROMINE’s Pitram fleet management and mine control solution has helped miners manoeuvre through the challenges of COVID-19.

Pitram records data related to equipment, personnel and materials, providing an overall view of current mine status and enabling improved control over operations to boost production, reduce costs and improve business intelligence.

A gold miner in Greece deployed Pitram remotely after receiving 86 hours of online training and 47 hours of online coaching from MICROMINE. It removed the need for Pitram specialists to be on site while travel restrictions were in place.

“At MICROMINE, we appreciate that while our clients are usually technically savvy, integrating and deploying new systems can cause disruption if not handled efficiently. That’s where our specialist technical team and advanced training comes into its own,” Pitram product strategy manager Chris Higgins said.

Pitram is selected as the mine control solution in more than 50 mining operations globally.

Dyna Engineering has produced and installed around 660 square metres of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) conveyor guards at a major iron ore operation in the Pilbara, Western Australia.

HDPE is a thermoplastic polymer produced from monomer ethylene with a high strength-to-density ratio. Dyna Engineering used 12 tonnes of recycled plastic to produce the conveyor guards.

Dyna Engineering general manager Thomas Greaves said sustainability and recycling is the direction that the mining and manufacturing industries are moving in.

“Our customers care about sustainability and using new plastic hurts the environment,” he said. “This customer requested them to be made in the colour pink to support breast cancer awareness.”

Unlike steel guards, those made out of HDPE does not rust or corrode.

They have a lifespan of around 10 to 15 years and are fully recyclable.

• dynaeng.com.au

• micromine.com

AUSTRALIANMINING

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EVENTS

CONFERENCES, SEMINARS & WORKSHOPS EVENT SUBMISSIONS CAN BE EMAILED TO EDITOR@AUSTRALIANMINING.COM.AU WA Mining Club St Barbara’s Day Luncheon | Perth | December 4 2020 The St Barbara’s Day Luncheon will be the Western Australian Mining Club’s final event of the year, celebrating the Feast of St Barbara – the patron saint of miners.

Traditionally held on the first Friday of December, Western Australian Mining Club members and their guests take the opportunity to appreciate the people dedicated to the mining industry and celebrate its role in supporting the Australian economy.

One of the club’s biggest events, the St Barbara’s Day Luncheon attracts industry leaders, government and a range of guest speakers who share their personal journey of their careers in the resources industry.

Supported by major sponsor the Minerals Council of Australia, this year’s St Barbara’s Day Luncheon will be held in River Room 1 and 2 of Optus Stadium, Perth.

• waminingclub.asn.au Reimagining Digital Mining webinar: The Age of the Robots | Online | December 9 2020 Austmine is hosting a Reimagining Digital Mining webinar: The Age of the Robots to focus on how the advancement of robotics has made it possible to reduce the mining industry’s reliance on human labour.

The Age of the Robots will explore the applications of robotics and use cases in the mining industry; advancements in robotics technologies; and the safety, productivity and environmental effects of robotic mining operations.

This webinar will also focus on new

growth opportunities that emerge with robotics as they shift typical mining operations to allow for around-the-clock work at greater depths and heights.

Held online from 12.30pm-1.30pm AEDT (9.30am-10.30am AWST), delegates will be able to attend and view the presentations from the safety and comfort of their own home or office.

• austmine.com.au/events RIU Explorers Conference | Fremantle | February 16-18 2021 The three-day RIU Explorers Conference is a major forum for junior resources companies to communicate their latest exploration and production successes and updates on their technical and corporate performances.

RIU Explorers Conference 2021 will celebrate its 20th anniversary, which will include a special, jam-packed program of keynote speakers, exhibitors and networking events.

The conference attracts explorers, emerging new miners, brokers, fund managers and investors to tune into speeches presented by speakers from a range of junior mining companies, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), midmarket chief executive officers and other industry experts.

RIU Explorers Conference will be held at the Esplanade Hotel Fremantle

by Rydges in February and welcome presentations from companies including De Grey Mining, Chalice Gold Mines, Bellevue Gold, Legend Mining, IGO, OZ Minerals, Mincor Resources, Western Areas, Calidus Resources, Kalamazoo Resources and many more.

• riuexplorersconference.com.au

AUSTRALIANMINING

Underground Operators Conference 2021 | Perth | March 15-17 2021 The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) Underground Operators Conference 2021 will bring together mining engineers, operators, technical service managers and consultants to share their underground operational experience and practices.

Underground Operators 2021 will feature internationally recognised keynote speakers, including BHP asset president, Olympic Dam and chief geoscientist Laura Tyler, CommChain executive chairman Gary Zamel and rock engineering consultant, Sweden Knut Garshol.

The program will cover key discussion topics on process transformation, innovative mining methods and practices, health and safety, revolutionising the traditional mine and more.

Underground Operators 2021 will be held at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre on March 15-17 2021.

• undergroundoperators.ausimm.com Life of Mine Conference | Brisbane and online | April 28-30 2021 AusIMM and the University of Queensland will join forces to host the fifth Life of Mine Conference in 2021 following four years of successful events.

Being held in Brisbane and online, this hybrid event will allow delegates to safely attend the event in-person or online in case of travel restrictions still in place.

The Life of Mine Conference will explore the full life-cycle of a mine from the exploration to rehabilitation phases, as well as address current and future challenges impacting the mining value chain.

A key aim of the conference is to promote

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leading examples of applying approaches that enhance outcomes, increase efficiencies and improve effectiveness in addressing challenges in the present and years to come, including cost and production pressures, technical factors and societal and community expectations.

Conference themes include integrated mine planning; sustainability outcomes; incorporating societal and community dimensions into design, operation and rehabilitation; strategies for improving closure outcomes; influence of global trends on the future of the industry; approaches to produce viable post-mining economies, and more.

• lifeofmine.ausimm.com Austmine 2021: Harnessing Intelligence | Perth | May 25-27 2021 Austmine’s world-renowned mining innovation conference will return in 2021, creating a key gathering point for industry leaders, change-makers and innovative thinkers.

The 2021 theme of harnessing intelligence will provide the opportunity to reflect, discuss and consider the future of the mining industry following a period of significant disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Austmine 2021 will explore the importance of the interaction between people, processes and technology over two days of keynote speeches, interactive sessions and panel discussions.

The event has also welcomed BHP onboard as its principal sponsor for 2021, highlighting BHP’s continued commitment to technological excellence in the Australian mining equipment, technology and services (METS) sector.

• austmineconference.com.au

RESILIENCE MEANS NOT WORRYING ABOUT “WHAT NOW?” AND INSTEAD, FOCUSING ON “WHAT’S NEXT?” The choice to be resilient has never been more important for a business to make. Today, resilience means choosing a different approach to insuring your commercial property. Above all, it’s choosing to navigate the business, personal and risk complexities you face to ensure you move your business forward. Which is why Resilience is a Choice.

RESILIENCE IS A CHOICE.

© 2020 FM Global. All rights reserved.

Choose the most reliable and safe option to dewater your mine.

The compact high-performance Godwin NC80 rig pump.

The Godwin NC80 rig pump from Xylem, is an exceptionally powerful yet small-sized package – and fitted with Dri-Prime automatic selfpriming technology, it’s ideal for underground mining.

The offering includes proven N-Pump technology, for the highest total efficiency and reduced unplanned maintenance, and a continuously-operated Venturi air-ejector priming device that is set-and-forget.

The NC80 rig pump has flow capacity to 38 L/S, discharge heads to 64 metres, and fully-automatic priming from dry to 8.5 metres suction lift. It’s highly effective for all underground dirty mine water applications and delivers superior performance with shotcrete fibre.

Get the NC80 Rig Pump working for you.

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