Australian Mining - Dec 2018

IMARC TECHNOLOGY VOLUME 110/11 | DECEMBER 2018

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COMMENT

THE SPOTLIGHT SHINES ON SUSTAINABILITY BEN CREAGH

Ben.Creagh@primecreative.com.au

HOW ARE MINING COMPANIES ENSURING THEIR MINES AND PROJECTS LEAD TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT?

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Ihe sustainable development created by the mining industry is being put under the spotlight.

Mining’s approach to sustainable development was a central topic at the International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC) in Melbourne that set the tone throughout the four-day event.

IMARC, as you will read in this edition, attracted a number of industry leaders to discuss the opportunities and challenges posed by the modern demands in this area.

The development of practices that support sustainability is a given for mining companies – the requirements of communities, governments, workforces and shareholders make sure of that.

These requirements do not, however, need to be challenges for the industry to overcome to earn its social licence to operate, the mining leaders explained.

Instead, there is a growing focus on viewing these demands as the opportunities they should represent. They are now, as a result, being viewed as opportunities on a number of levels, particularly to enhance the image of the industry.

Another theme of IMARC was that mining is an industry under fire from a general public that does not properly understand the contribution it makes to society.

Mining, more often than not, has taken a humble approach, leaving the story of its achievements around the world left untold.

MANAGING DIRECTOR JOHN MURPHY EDITOR BEN CREAGH Tel: (03) 9690 8766 Email: ben.creagh@primecreative.com.au JOURNALISTS EWEN HOSIE Tel: (03) 9690 8766 Email: ewen.hosie@primecreative.com.au VANESSA ZHOU Tel: (03) 9690 8766 Email: vanessa.zhou@primecreative.com.au CLIENT SUCCESS MANAGER NATASHA SHEKAR Tel: (02) 9439 7227 Email: natasha.shekar@primecreative.com.au

The opportunities that sustainable development offer mining present a chance for the industry to start telling the positive side of its story.

Mining has the opportunity to deliver sustainable development in many ways, and in many ways it already does.

The industry drives development in and around the local communities in which it operates by funding infrastructure and creating jobs.

It is a major contributor to the economies of developing and industrialised countries around the world, year after year. Mining companies also develop wealth by paying dividends back to the shareholders that have put faith in them.

These are the opportunities (not challenges) that sustainable development offers. They are also the opportunities that will lead to the stories mining wants to tell.

This approach will not only ensure that mining operations are being supported by sustainable development, but it will also help guarantee a sustainable future for the industry.

Ben Creagh Editor

SALES MANAGER JONATHAN DUCKETT Tel: (02) 9439 7227 Mob: 0498 091 027 Email: jonathan.duckett@primecreative.com.au ART DIRECTOR Michelle Weston GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Blake Storey, Kerry Pert, Madeline McCarty SUBSCRIPTION RATES Australia (surface mail) $140.00 (incl GST) New Zealand A$148.00 Overseas A$156.00 For subscriptions enquiries please call GORDON WATSON 03 9690 8766

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FRONT COVER

In this edition of Australian Mining, we review the International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC) in Melbourne, including a summary of the expert sessions that were held on sustainability.

This issue profiles each winner of the 2018 Australian Mining Prospects Awards, which were held at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

In the latest Tracking the Trends feature with Deloitte, we look at the commodities of the future that are driving development.

This issue also looks at the innovation Rockwell Automation has introduced to the mining industry.

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

Cover image: Photographic Memory.

CONTENTS FUTURE OF MINING

IMARC

THE EMERGENCE OF POTASH Kalium Lakes takes steps toward an Australian potash mine

SUSTAINABLE MINING Leaders speak out on mining’s future

8-9

50-51

PROSPECT AWARDS

ENGINEERING

AUSTRALIAN MINING’S NIGHT OF NIGHTS Recognising mining’s top achievements in 2018

TRACKING THE TRENDS

IDLERS REPLACEMENT MEETS SAFETY Cove Engineering creates safer access to conveyor idlers

10-32 52

EFFICIENCY

COMMODITIES OF THE FUTURE Paving the way for major development

53 35-36

QUALITY LUBRICANTS Caltex maximises engine life with oil

TECHNOLOGY TECHNOLOGY

DIGITALISATION OF MINING Aveva grows mine capabilities

THE DEVELOPMENT OF GIRTH GEARS SEW-Eurodrive explains a revolution in the technology

38 MATERIALS HANDLING

54-55

DATA DRIVEN MAINTENANCE Rema Tip Top optimises conveyors differently

SAFETY

56-57

40

PROTECTION AGAINST THERMAL EVENTS FISCA shares fire industry experience

AUTOMATION NEW HORIZON FOR DRONE TECHNOLOGY Airobotics reaches milestones with drones

PRODUCTIVITY

42-43 MINING EQUIPMENT ARTISAN GOES UNDERGROUND The arrival of fully battery-powered vehicles

ABRASION RESISTANT E-Plas brings tough solutions

44-45 58

INDUSTRY COMMENT MAINTENANCE

60-61 METSIGNITED AND AUSIMM Promoting international collaboration

46-47

CHEMICALS PRODUCED AT A PREMIUM Sinopec fulfills expectations of modern mining

PRODUCT SHOWCASE

INNOVATION

62-63

48-49

EVOLUTION OF MINING EQUIPMENT McLanahan underlines power of collaboration

DEWATERING EXPERT Crusader Hose shares design creative thinking

REGULARS

NEWS 6

PRODUCTS 64-65

AUSTRALIANMINING

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DECEMBER 2018

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NEWS

THE LATEST MINING AND SAFETY NEWS

EVOLUTION GIVES MT CARLTON UNDERGROUND DEVELOPMENT GREEN LIGHT

AUSTRALIAN MINING AND SAFE TO WORK PRESENT THE LATEST NEWS FROM THE BOARDROOM TO THE MINE AND EVERYWHERE IN BETWEEN. VISIT WWW.AUSTRALIANMINING.COM.AU AND WWW.SAFETOWORK.COM.AU TO KEEP UP TO DATE WITH WHAT IS HAPPENING.

Gold miner Evolution Mining will advance three projects at the Mt Carlton operation in Queensland after approving a $60 million investment.

The projects include the underground development, a cut-back of the stage four pit and plant modifications.

Evolution will bring forward production from Mt Carlton’s higher-grade Link zone with these projects.

It expects to deliver first ore from the underground operation during the 2021 financial year.

Evolution is also confident the underground reserve at Mt Carlton can be expanded.

The miner plans to undertake additional drilling once the development is in place to follow up on several “promising” drill intersections that are not currently included in the underground reserves or resources.

Chairman Jake Klein described Mt Carlton as a high-margin asset which had been a standout in the company’s portfolio.

“The mine has generated over $100 million in net mine cash flow in each of the last three years,” Klein said.

“The underground development of the Link zones ensures the continued production of high-margin ounces.”

Evolution requires regulatory approval before it can launch the underground project and will lodge submissions to the Department of Environment and Science to achieve this.

It estimates that $10 million will be spent on the development and plant modifications during the current financial year and the remaining $50 million in the three subsequent fiscal periods.

Evolution produced 112,479oz from Mt Carlton’s open pit operations in the 2018 financial year.

It flagged that funds would be allocated to the development of Mt Carlton, along with the Mt Rawdon and Cracow operations, during a 2018 review.

Evolution has also received approval from the New South Wales Government to increase annual output at the Cowal mine to more than 300,000oz.

CATERPILLAR HITS MILESTONE WITH 40,000TH DOZER Caterpillar has celebrated the production of its 40,000th large dozer, a 225,000lb (102,058kg) D11T model.

The company’s representatives joined employees of Teck Resources (a major Caterpillar customer) and Cat dealer Finning Canada to mark the occasion at an event in Illinois, United States, in October.

The dozer will be used at Teck’s Elk Valley metallurgical coal mining operation in British Columbia, Canada.

It will be used for several tasks including production dozing, dump support, mining shovel support and haul roads.

The D11T has an 850hp (634kW) Cat C32 engine and can shift up to 900 loose cubic metres of material per hour.

Caterpillar handed the keys to the landmark dozer to Teck director Louis DeLuca at the event “This milestone is important, not just because of the sheer number of Cat machines sold, but also because it represents the many long-lasting and mutually beneficial business relationships established with customers like Teck,” Cat product manager for large dozers Greg Hepler said.

“We are honoured to celebrate this achievement with Teck, and we are grateful that their Elk Valley mines have counted on Caterpillar, Cat equipment and their dealer, Finning Canada, to help them reach their production goals since 1992.”

Allan Potzold, Finning Canada branch manager for the Elk Valley region, added, “We look forward to providing leading-edge service and innovative solutions to our customers to keep their equipment on-line and operating at peak performance and are honoured that the 40,000th dozer will be put to work here in the Elk Valley.”

ANGLO AMERICAN UNVEILS SEMI-AUTONOMOUS DRILL AT DAWSON MINE

ONE OF CAT’S LATEST D11T DOZERS IN ACTION.

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Anglo American has delivered a first for its metallurgical coal division following completion of a drill hole using a remote-operated, semiautonomous drill at the Dawson coal mine in Queensland.

The OD14 overburden semi-autonomous drill was controlled by an operator over four kilometres from the site, allowing for safe and efficient completion of the hole with a reduction in shift change times.

The Anglo met coal team received advice from counterparts from the company’s copper business in Chile and Kumba iron ore business in South Africa, which were already familiar with the technology.

The maintenance and engineering team from Dawson and electrical supplier Flanders also got involved to help upgrade the drill’s onboard computer, sensors and safety technology Following successful application, the next step is to automate the drill rod changing process, after which the company will look into upgrading other drills in the met coal fleet.

“We’re always looking for ways to be safer, more productive, and more sustainable, and the opportunity at Dawson was attractive, because of the ‘can do’ culture of the team,” said Dieter Haage, head of mine modernisation at Anglo American technical & sustainability team.

“Applying technology in this way is how we modernise our approach and the Dawson mine has taken an important first step on this journey.”

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My Family

IMARC

REDEFINING SUSTAINABLE MINING LEADING CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICERS TACKLED THE EVOLVING DEMANDS FOR SUSTAINABLE MINING AT THEIR COMPANIES DURING IMARC. AUSTRALIAN MINING WRITES.

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ustainability in mining has many definitions.

There is the traditional meaning that requires mining companies to use sustainable practices at their sites to gain a social licence to operate.

Mining companies must take a responsible approach to the sustainability of the environment and local communities in which they operate by developing safety, energy efficiency, climate change and water management initiatives to name a few.

Sustainability in mining today also means ensuring the future prosperity of the industry in the face of social challenges.

How does the mining industry engage society and gain the trust it requires to attract the next generation of workers and investors, as well as the backing of communities?

Sustainability, a central topic discussed at the International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC) in Melbourne, has the industry’s

leaders considering the opportunities and challenges it offers.

Rio Tinto chief executive officer Jean-Sebastien Jacques wants mining to reinvent itself and pioneer the industry into the 21st century to answer the demands of a sustainable mining company.

Jacques says the industry has reached a time when protecting air, water and land matters more than ever. He says this is also a time when technology is disrupting the industry and a lack of trust has created questions around the benefits of the corporate sector.

“What legacy do we want to leave for those that will lead our industry in the future?” Jacques asks.

Jacques points to three things that mining needs to collectively do to ensure the future of the industry.

Firstly, he reinforces the need for mining to reinvent itself. Jacques describes mining as an “old industry” that has modernised by using automation and artificial intelligence (AI).

He says mining has not, however, changed to the same extent as other industries, including the car sector, aerospace, healthcare and the media.

“This transformation may need to start with ourselves – what we do, and more importantly how we think.

Especially in a world of urban mining, where the materials we produce will be recycled,” Jacques says.

Jacques believes this means mining needs to pioneer new ways to mine or to think seriously about changing business models.

He backs digital opportunities as a fundamental game changer, saying technology will force the industry to be more imaginative.

“The key to this is to start small, with technology and digital pilots and scale up, and also more fundamentally, adopt a brand new spirit of partnership,” Jacques says.

He urges the industry to redefine the way it partners as the second thing it needs to collectively do.

He recalls an example of Rio Tinto’s reluctance to partner in the

TECH ADVANCED EQUIPMENT LIKE SANDVIK’S LATEST LOADERS IS HELPING DRIVE SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES.

AUSTRALIANMINING

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industry when he started at the company seven years ago.

“Well, those days are over. Our industry needs to re-define the way we partner with communities, customers, suppliers and governments,“ he says.

Jacques says mining companies need to start having honest and grown-up conversations with all stakeholders on challenging topics, including the trade-off between creating jobs, and economic and social progress versus doing an activity that does impact the environment.

“Surely the best way forward is to accept mining is an absolutely necessary and valuable activity, but hold all of the industry to account for making sure we operate in a responsible way with care for the environment, our people and society, while remaining economically viable,” he says.

Finally, Jacques says mining needs to ‘change the barbecue conversation’ in response to the industry’s reputation as one of the least trusted

IMARC

on the planet.

Jacques highlights that mining is essential to human progress but believes it has punched below its weight by not telling its story better.

“We need to take a page from our friends in Silicon Valley. We shouldn’t be talking about the hardware or software of our products – the iron ore and the copper – but rather how they help people to live better lives,” Jacques says.

“We need to change our language and stop talking like technocrats and start talking in everyday language.”

International Council of Mining and Metals (ICMM) CEO Tom Butler also believes that mining needs to tell its story better, particularly to compete for investment dollars and talent.

Butler says there is overwhelming evidence that mining is a force for social progress, especially in poorer countries that are dependent on mining as an economic base.

“Such payments are important in a mining country like Australia, where mining’s production value is about 10 per cent of GDP, but they are critical for the much poorer countries that are dependent on mining, including for example the 15 African countries that are in the top 25 of ICMM’s index of mining dependent countries,” Butler says.

The movement of ethical investment to the mainstream is another shift that mining is adapting to, Butler says.

The forces driving that change are similar to those driving shifts in the way mines operate – changes in community expectations and technology.

“Twenty years ago, it would have been hard to imagine that Apple would one day be a bigger driver for ESG improvements in mining than Greenpeace, or that investors would demand more accurate data on social performance than Oxfam,” Butler says.

“Today what we see is a convergence between the demands of consumers, of communities and the NGOs who advocate for them, and of investors.”

Butler says the way forward is for the industry to be clear about what it stands for, and say it clearly, in a world that is looking for more from its biggest industries.

“The mining sector has a critical role to play in the sustainability effort. We can choose whether to lead or follow in that. I believe that the leaders will be rewarded with access to finance, projects, and markets on more reasonable terms,” Butler says.

IMARC’S SUSTAINABILITY FORUM INCLUDED MANY OF THE INDUSTRY’S LEADERS.

WHAT LEGACY DO WE WANT TO LEAVE FOR THOSE THAT WILL LEAD OUR INDUSTRY IN THE FUTURE?” “It’s also time we told our story better. People outside our sector largely don’t understand our contribution, the important role we will have to play in decarbonising the planet and in helping countries develop.

“And telling our story better will help us attract the next generation of talent that we need so crucially.”

The mining industry’s social impact on communities now has similar importance to its contribution to the environment and delivering safe operations, according to a panel of chief executive officers from leading mining companies.

Newmont Mining CEO Gary Goldberg believes the need for sustainable development has evolved over the past 20 years into this focal consideration.

Goldberg says Newmont views providing sustainable development as an opportunity instead of a challenge.

“The opportunity that exists, AUSTRALIANMINING

whether it is for Newmont or other mining companies, is around transparency, and really being clear and putting yourself in their shoes, whether it is the community or individuals looking for employment, or government officials that need to hear the story clearly,” Goldberg says.

Graham Kerr, CEO of South32, says the global miner’s diverse range of operations across several countries provides sustainability challenges.

South32 operates in developing nations, such as Mozambique and Colombia, as well as many industrialised countries, like here in Australia.

Kerr says South32 focuses on delivering the expectations for sustainable development at both ends of the spectrum.

“We also have the fundamental belief that the resources we mine are actually owned by other people, so it is actually about how you create shared value,” Kerr says.

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“From our perspective at the moment, some of the real challenges are around communities and expectations of society are changing rapidly.”

Newcrest Mining CEO Sandeep Biswas sees two dimensions to the social aspect of sustainable mining.

The first dimension, he says, applies to not only operating mines, but also early stage opportunities where Newcrest is planning exploration.

“Very often you are dealing with legacy issues. You have got to get it right the first time,” he says.

“Put a lot of effort into country entry, the exploration you want to do – how do you get that engagement right from day one?”

Biswas’ second social dimension is the legacy mining companies leave after they have finished mining at a site.

“All mines will end at some time; how do you make sure of what you have contributed and leave behind a legacy of sustainability and something that you can sustain after mining closure?” Biswas says.

“These are the things as an industry we are running our mines to. There is a way to go to get where we need to

PROSPECT AWARDS

KIRKLAND LAKE UNEARTHS A GOLDEN ERA AT FOSTERVILLE KIRKLAND LAKE GOLD IS CONFIDENT THE BEST IS YET TO COME FROM ITS FOSTERVILLE MINE NEAR BENDIGO. BEN CREAGH EXPLAINS WHY. I THINK THERE’S MORE TO COME FROM FOSTERVILLE; I THINK WE HAVE ONLY JUST TAPPED THE EDGE. IT WILL BE ONE OF THE GREAT OREBODIES (AND) GREAT MINES OF THE WORLD TO BE COMPLETELY FRANK.” “I think there’s more to come from Fosterville; I think we have only just tapped the edge. It will be one of the great orebodies (and) great mines of the world, to be completely frank,” Holland says at the Prospect Awards gala dinner.

“Really, really importantly, many of the employees that have been there from the start are still there, and they have seen that journey emerge.”

Kirkland Lake will update its reserves and resources early next year, but at the end of 2017 Fosterville’s reserves stood at 1.7 million ounces at 23.1g/t.

Gold buffs will be waiting in anticipation for the update, knowing that Kirkland Lake is just getting started at the mine despite the success and accolades it has received over the past year.

The company’s long-term ambitions for the mine have been known throughout 2018 since it set an annual production target of 400,000oz by 2020 in January.

This emergence into one of Australia’s standout mining operations has been swift. In 2015, the mine produced just 123,095oz at 6.11g/t, both under half of its 2017 results (263,845oz at 15.8g/t).

Holland reminds the Prospect Awards crowd at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) that Fosterville has not always enjoyed this level of success. “(Fosterville) has been in operation in its current phase since 2005, and over much of that journey it has been a relatively low margin business,” Holland says.

“Over the last couple of years, that has changed, and it has been a journey that has been very exciting for all of the people there.”

Kirkland Lake achieved a major inflection point at Fosterville in 2015 with the discovery of the Eagle zone, which contained high-grade visiblegold bearing mineralisation.

This breakthrough resulted in a significant improvement in Fosterville’s mineral reserve grade,

production profile and unit cost performance.

Kirkland Lake continued to make exploration progress early in 2017 and more than doubled the mine’s underground reserves, while lifting the grade estimate by 83 per cent to 17.9g/t later in the year.

Holland credits the Fosterville workforce for guiding the exploration success and resultant surge in production.

“It’s not us creating the value here, it is the people working at the face,” he says. “It’s the people working underground, working on the surface, working in the mill. The same people who have been working there the whole time are working there again (now).”

Fosterville has transformed from ‘just another gold mine’ to arguably Australia’s standout site in just three years. And, most will agree, we are certain to hear much more from Kirkland Lake about this mine in the years ahead. AM Photo credit: Photographic Memory

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he Fosterville underground mine ticks all the boxes for Kirkland Lake Gold, the Canadian company that has put gold mining back on the map in Victoria.

Kirkland Lake’s company vision has three key targets: to deliver low-cost production, to advance its exploration and development pipeline, and to maintain a large resource and reserve base.

Fosterville, which won the Mine of the Year and Epiroc Hard Rock Mine Year awards at the 2018 Australian Mining Prospect Awards, delivers each of these targets for the company.

Kirkland Lake has rapidly increased its output at the low-cost operation since 2015, most recently producing a record 90,618oz in the September quarter at grades of 25.6 grams a tonne (g/t).

This output is a 47 per cent improvement on the same period a year earlier and puts Kirkland Lake on track to pass its 300,000oz guidance at the mine in 2018, with 231,923oz produced so far this year.

Kirkland Lake’s pipeline of exploration success at Fosterville continues to support its low-cost production growth.

In September, Kirkland Lake’s latest intercepts with extremely high grades at Fosterville’s Swan zone included 289g/t gold over 7.45m, 144g/t over 11.9m, and 423g/t over 3.55m.

The wide, high-value gold intercepts at the Swan zone were returned up to 200m from its existing mineral reserves, with a key return including 83.1g/t gold over 8.6m.

September’s results at Fosterville follow a similarly exciting announcement made by Kirkland Lake in July. They back Fosterville’s potential as a new, world-class gold camp, according to the company, which is confident the site has much more to be found in terms of reserves and resources.

Kirkland Lake vice president, Australian operations, Ian Holland reinforces the future the company envisions at Fosterville.

EPIROC NATIONAL SALES MANAGER ROD HERMANN PRESENTS THE HARD ROCK MINE OF THE YEAR AWARD TO KIRKLAND LAKE’S JOHN LANDMARK AND IAN HOLLAND.

AUSTRALIANMINING

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DECEMBER 2018

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PROSPECT AWARDS

ANDREW FORREST’S LIFETIME OF ACHIEVEMENT FOR THE PAST 15 YEARS THE SUCCESS OF FORTESCUE METALS GROUP AND GROWTH OF THE PILBARA IRON ORE INDUSTRY HAS BEEN GUIDED BY ONE MAN – ANDREW FORREST.

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ndrew Forrest’s optimistic view of the mining industry is undoubtedly one of his standout traits.

This optimism has driven the growth of Fortescue Metals Group from an ambitious exploration and development company in 2003 to the world’s fourth largest iron ore producer today.

It is what has made ‘Twiggy’ one of the most well-known and enduring personalities in Australian mining.

And it is one reason why he has been honoured with the Liebherr Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2018 Australian Mining Prospect Awards.

As Fortescue’s inaugural chairman, then chief executive officer and now chairman once more, Forrest has guided the company into a powerhouse of the Pilbara.

The Perth-based company today produces 170 million tonnes of iron ore a year from three Pilbara mine sites.

Its focus on productivity and improving efficiencies has helped it become the lowest cost seaborne provider of iron ore into China.

Forrest’s achievements as Fortescue’s leader have, however, covered a number of areas important to mining.

For all of the company’s economic and operational successes, he most fondly speaks of the achievements that have helped increase diversity and improve the public perception of the industry.

“We employ almost 15 per cent Indigenous people (and) a good quarter of our ranks are women,” Forrest explains by video recording at the Prospect Awards gala dinner.

“In leadership, I think we are still one of the only major companies with half or more than half women on our board.

“It is not because women are better than men, they certainly aren’t, right. We are equal with opportunity and talent but those talents are so different.

“If you don’t have those different talents coming on to your board, you

ANDREW FORREST DISCUSSES WINNING THE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD.

LET’S NOT THINK ABOUT THAT SHORT-TERM DOLLAR. LET’S THINK LIKE THAT LITTLE BOY AT TWO OR THREE YEARS OLD. ONE DAY HE IS GOING TO BE 18. ONE DAY HE OR SHE WILL BE ABLE TO MAKE A GREAT CONTRIBUTION.” are going to go monologue – you are going to think in a monologue. That would be dangerous.”

Fortescue appointed its first female CEO, Elizabeth Gaines, in February. Five of its nine board members are currently female.

In addition to a workforce that is 15 per cent Indigenous Australian, the company provides considerable support for Aboriginal businesses throughout its supply chain.

Fortescue introduced the Billion Opportunities program in 2011.

AUSTRALIANMINING

Since the program’s inception, the company has awarded 270 contracts and sub-contracts worth $2 billion to 110 Aboriginal-owned businesses and joint ventures.

Forrest’s aforementioned achievements already mean he has a lifetime’s worth of accomplishments to speak of, but it’s obvious he wants to grow this list even further.

He has his sights on a longterm, sustainable future for mining where the importance of the industry is recognised by the next

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generation of Australians.

“Let’s not think about that shortterm dollar,” he says. “Let’s think like that little boy at two or three years old. One day he is going to be 18. One day he or she will be able to make a great contribution.”

Forrest wants the industry to tell its positive story to the wider community and make sure it understands the massive contribution mining makes to Australia.

“Let’s remove any argument that we are not environmentally friendly, environmentally neutral and environmentally sustainable,” Forrest says.

“Let’s remove the fact that we don’t employ a huge proportion of Indigenous people. Let’s continue to be Australia’s leaders of employing Indigenous people, and let’s continue to set the world straight by bringing women into our ranks.

“They are equal, they are so fantastic and they have done wonders for Fortescue. Let’s make sure that we become the most diverse industry in the world.”

Despite Forrest’s optimism for mining, there is another passion that trumps this commitment to the industry – his family.

Forrest was unable to make the trip across the Nullarbor to accept his Prospect Awards honour, instead delivering an inspiring pre-recorded speech to the crowd at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) by video.

His son, Sydney, was studying for his final school exam at the time.

And like many teenagers, Sydney studies harder when his father is at home.

“He is about to leave school, and even though I make the worst tea and I am barely welcome in the house, there is just a little fact that if dad is in the house, Syd does more study. If dad is not in the house, Syd does a lot less study,” Forrest says.

“I am kind of chained to my home for the next few days and for that reason I’d like you to forgive me for not being there.”

Not to worry, Andrew, we forgive you. AM

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PROSPECT AWARDS

FROM SMALL TOWN TO BIG MINING REGION, A THOUGHT LEADER RISES BHP’S JIMBLEBAR MINE WOULDN’T SEE THE ADVANCEMENT IT DOES TODAY IF IT WASN’T FOR ELSABE MULLER. AUSTRALIAN MINING WRITES. I HOPE BY RECEIVING THIS AWARD, I ENCOURAGE MORE FEMALES TO JOIN THE MINING INDUSTRY. IT’S REALLY AN EXCITING TIME IN THE INDUSTRY. AND IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR A COMPANY THAT REALLY DEVELOPS THEIR PEOPLE, COME JOIN BHP.” Muller, accepting the award in Sydney, pays tribute to her team: “Thank you for the recognition, but I think this award is really a recognition of the exceptional talent and the commitment of the team at the Jimblebar iron ore mine at BHP. “I can’t help to comment on the fact that within BHP, there’s a significant focus on inclusion and diversity and developing talent.

“I was just the result of those development opportunities within the company, and so I hope by receiving this award, I encourage more females to join the mining industry.

“It’s really an exciting time in the industry. And if you’re looking for a company that really develops their people, come join BHP.” Muller, with experience in five commodities, has built extensive

professional tenure at BHP that allowed her to set foot in many parts of the world, from South Africa, the Netherlands, Singapore and recently, to Australia.

Prior to her roles at the Jimblebar mine, Muller was general manager of integrated production and remote operations, and general manager of non-process infrastructure at BHP in Western Australia.

She also held various international roles at BHP, including global general manager marketing, manganese in Singapore, operations manager at the Middelburg mine, and senior projects manager (energy coal) in South Africa.

As a keen promoter of early science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education, Muller has also been involved in a number of community engagement Photo credit: Photographic Memory

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rowing from humble beginnings in South African farming town, Frankfort, Elsabe Muller has soared to a 24-year career spanning four continents with BHP before pioneering the company’s vision – to be fully integrated and highly automated.

Muller achieved this at the Jimblebar mine, where she was a fly-in, flyout (FIFO) general manager that spearheaded BHP Iron Ore’s first fully autonomous haulage site in November last year.

Through the integration of the technology, Jimblebar experienced more than 80 per cent reduction in significant events and achieved record production year on year.

Under Muller’s leadership, she ensured a culture of inclusion and diversity was instilled in the mine – a topic close to her heart.

As she embarks on her new role as asset president of BHP Billiton Mitsui Coal (BMC) and New South Wales Energy Coal (NSWEC), Muller was awarded with the CRC Industries Mine Manager of the Year honour at the 2018 Prospect Awards.

CRC INDUSTRIES AUSTRALIA NATIONAL MARKETING MANAGER SIMON HATTON PRESENTS THE CRC MINE MANAGER OF THE YEAR AWARD TO ELSABE MULLER.

AUSTRALIANMINING

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ELSABE MULLER UNDERLINES THE VALUE OF INCLUSION AND DIVERSITY, PARTICULARLY FEMALE PARTICIPATION.

activities. This includes the Newman community in the Pilbara in Western Australia, 41km east from BHP’s Jimblebar mine operation.

Muller, speaking at the International Women’s Day event in Newman, credits her family’s role in paving the way to success.

“As part of the rural culture when I grew up, there were limited opportunities and encouragement for females to pursue professional careers.

In my high school class of 30, I was the only female who went to university, let alone begin a career in the maledominated mining industry,” “One of the key differences between me and the other girls in my class, was the fact that I received a lot of encouragement from my parents. From a young age I believed in reaching for my dreams, just like my brothers.

“When my mother passed away, I was only 10 years old, but I already had a sense that I could achieve anything I set my mind to.”

Muller underlines the power of encouragement as something that could change one’s life, and the advantage and ability of a small community to provide inclusive environments.

She passes on the business value of diversity and inclusion in her presentations at various industry conferences, including at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange where she was a keynote speaker. AM

CONGRATULATIONS FROM CRC INDUSTRIES

MINE MANAGER OF THE YEAR. Congratulations to Elsabe Muller, who was recognised as an Outstanding Mine Manager.

Elsabe Muller has over 24 years of experience in the resources industry and is currently employed by BHP Billiton as General Manager for the Jimblebar Mine. Elsabe Muller has worked long and hard to achieve Mine Manager of the Year and so have CRC Industries.

Next year, CRC will be celebrating 50 years of manufacturing quality chemical specialty products in Australia. CRC’s registered brands include Brakleen, 5.56,Trefolex, Aerostart, Kitten, So Easy and RePo. CRC is a proud sponsor of the Australian Mining Prospect Awards.

Congratulations to all involved.

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

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PROSPECT AWARDS

BMT BLASTS TO AN INNOVATIVE FUTURE

BY ACCURATELY MEASURING THE MOVEMENT OF HARD ROCK BLASTS, THE BLAST MOVEMENT MONITORING SYSTEM BRINGS ADVANTAGES TO BLASTING OPERATIONS. AUSTRALIAN MINING REPORTS.

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Since blast movement is variable to quite a wide degree — between 0.5–40m — Blast Movement Technologies developed a solution that more accurately accounted for these variations.

BMT has been recognised for this innovation in the 2018 Australian Mining Prospect Awards with the Austmine Innovative Mining Solution Award.

Chief executive officer Jacques Janse says customers usually achieve a return on investment “within two to three blasts”.

“We help open pit mines generate additional value in every blast,” explains Janse. “Our solution has been implemented at more than 102 mines in 35 countries for use in all commodities, including copper, gold, iron ore, lithium, nickel, platinum, silver and zinc.

“Our global team of blast movement consultants help customers maximise the full value

of their resource in Africa, Australia, North and South America and Russia. Our unique skill set of understanding and mastering the effect of blast movement in rock is a major strength.”

Millennium Minerals’ Nullagine gold operation in the Pilbara, Western Australia has seen significant gains using the BMM system.

The BMM System, in place of the cheaper blast vector indicator (BVI) method of blast movement measurement, increased data recovery rates from around 40 per cent to 94 per cent, generating additional revenue from previously undetectable narrow lodes.

Similarly, the White Foil open pit mine at Evolution Mining’s Mungari operation in Western Australia returned similar results when switching from BVI, improving detection rates from 32 per cent to 93 per cent, resulting in an increase of $664,978 across eight blasts.

Photo credit: Photographic Memory

last Movement Technologies’ (BMT) Blast Movement Monitoring System (BMM) is designed to reduce the financial impacts caused by mining blast movements.

The technology, which provides a massive increase in the accuracy of post-blast information, uses grapefruit-sized sensors called blast movement monitors (also acronymised to BMM). It is installed within the blast volume prior to detonation.

These BMMs are then located post-blast using a specialised detector. By combining the BMMs with BMT’s own BMM Explorer software, the 3D movement vector of the BMMs is calculated to redefine ore boundaries, calculate the value of recovered ore, dilution and misclassification, and even increase head grades.

BMT CEO JACQUES JANSE (L) AND AUSTMINE CHIEF CHRISTINE GIBBS-STEWART AT THE 2018 PROSPECT AWARDS.

AUSTRALIANMINING

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Evolution’s Cowal gold mine, which also uses the technology, reported a 7 per cent improvement in mill head grades.

In Canada, Malartic reported estimated savings of C$7 million ($7.5 million) in the first quarter of 2018 by using the BMM System.

In this way, mine grade control teams are able to ensure waste reduction and by extension, improve mill efficiency.

The Innovative Mining Solution award is a crowded category at the Prospect Awards and competition this year has been particularly strong; BMT was chosen as the winner from eight nominees, including Aveva, Airobotics, Minnovare and New Hope Group.

“We did not expect to win the award given the very innovative competitors that were shortlisted,” says Janse. “We are honoured and proud for the recognition we received in a room filled with so many of the world’s leading mining companies and METS providers.”

BMT plans to extend its services and customer base into Russia and South America — having recently opened an office in Santiago — and continues to grow to meet requirements.

“We are currently slightly ahead of budget for financial year 2019 and projecting to achieve our set financial goals for the year,” says Janse.

“The growth phase we are experiencing is due to an increased uptake of our solution in Russia, South America, Africa and Western Australia.

We are experiencing a positive but very busy 2018,” says Janse.

BMT’s research and development team is developing an off-themuck-plie unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to further improve production efficiency and safety.

It is one of the areas that Janse claims mining, equipment, technology and services (METS) companies need to “watch closely in future”.

“As we move closer to the digital mine of the future we need to prepare ourselves to be a player with others in the METS space,” he says. AM

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PROSPECT AWARDS

MORANBAH NORTH’S PROCESSING SUCCESS COMES TO FORE THE COAL MINE’S COMMITMENT TO DELIVERING AN EFFICIENT MINERALS PROCESSING PLANT HAS PLAYED A BIG PART IN THE TURNAROUND AT THE MINE. AUSTRALIAN MINING REPORTS.

MORANBAH NORTH CHPP MANAGER DEREK WILSON (L) WITH ROCKWELL AUTOMATION MANAGING DIRECTOR – AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, SCOTT WOOLDRIDGE

custom application called iDO for short-term optimisation of plant feeds, stockpiling and product specifications. This has helped maximise revenue at the mine.

Moranbah North has achieved feed rates up to 25 per cent above nameplate capacity using these techniques. Anglo American delivered record results at Moranbah North in 2018 with production of more than 10 million tonnes (Mt), a doubling of its 12-month output five years earlier.

In the 2017 financial year, Moranbah North’s production rate was 5.4Mt. In Anglo American’s 2018 half year results, Moranbah North and Grosvenor contributed to a metallurgical coal increase of 17 per cent year on year from 9.2Mt in July 2017 to 10.8Mt in July 2018.

“Our processing plant has gone from strength to strength to accommodate metallurgical coal AUSTRALIANMINING

from both our Moranbah North and Grosvenor mines,” Anglo American general manager, Moranbah North, Paul Stephan says.

“It has continued to successfully process metallurgical coal, which reflects the commitment of the CHPP team and the operational and maintenance teams who continue to collaborate to achieve nameplate capacity of the plant.”

Moranbah North, an underground longwall mine, began production in 1998 and struggled throughout its first decade.

In January 2012, the site saw a large turnaround when it went through a restructure in order to work towards improved longwall rates and increased production.

This also improved site safety; by 2015, Moranbah North had gone eight years without a lost time injury (LTI) at the CHPP and five years without

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Photo credit: Photographic Memory

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nglo American’s Moranbah North metallurgical coal mine in the Bowen Basin region in Queensland is noted for the unique setup of its processing plant.

The mine’s coal handling preparation plant (CHPP) has four operating circuits complete with secondary and tertiary flotation, enabling the system to maintain operational efficiency across a wide range of feed sizes.

The Moranbah North team added variable speed drives to its longwall armoured face conveyor, removing workers from hazardous areas while also improving efficiencies.

The company also introduced a tablet for underground communication capable of providing live Skype communication to cutting faces and direct access to paramedics and the safety health management system.

In recognition of Moranbah North’s productivity and efficiency upgrades, the mine received the Rockwell Automation Minerals Processing of the Year Award at the 2018 Australian Mining Prospect Awards in Sydney.

So what makes Moranbah North’s processing so impressive? An average of 155 hours per week has been achieved at the plant in 2018 by optimising planned maintenance regimes and identifying the causes of unplanned downtime.

The Moranbah North team developed an in-house condition monitoring program to reduce downtime while maximising throughput by using short interval control (SIC) optimisation.

SIC implements operational reviews, integrated planning and other techniques that help mine workers and managers identify and rectify production issues in an expedited manner.

Operators at Moranbah North check the status of operations next to plans by using smartphones, tablets and other digital devices and optimise performance accordingly to meet or exceed targets. In other words, it helps to eliminate bottlenecks.

Site staff also developed a

an LTI at the site’s warehouse.

The plant was upgraded in 2015 to allow for the processing of product from two separate run-of-mine coal sources, Moranbah North and Grosvenor. This move upgraded the operation’s nameplate capacity to 14.4 million tonnes a year (Mt/y).

However, the mine has demonstrated capacity of up to 18Mt/y.

It was one of two awards won by the company during the evening, the other being the SEW Eurodrive Coal Mine of the Year Award, also for Moranbah North.

Anglo American is a previous winner in both of these categories; Moranbah North previously won Coal Mine of the Year on three other occasions and Minerals Processing of the Year in 2013. Moranbah North also won the award for Australian Mine of the Year at the 2017 Prospect Awards. AM

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PROSPECT AWARDS

EMERGING CONVEYOR MANUFACTURER DELIVERS BREAKTHROUGH

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Photo credit: Photographic Memory

ew market entrant Conveyor Manufacturers Australia (CMA) is disrupting the industry by transforming the way mine personnel operate in mine sites.

Currently, most components of a conveyor system require personnel to enter extremely risky areas to assemble and disassemble the system.

Part of the day-to-day operation of underground mines and tunnels requires conveyors to continually be lengthened and shortened. To do this work, the conveyor must stop, directly impacting productivity.

Conveyors are also built hand by hand, piece by piece, involving a significant amount of manual handling – lifting, carrying, twisting, bending and shoving. Over time, productivity increases mean these components have also become heavier, increasing the strain endured by personnel.

According to business development director Ben Smith, mining processes tend to revolve around equipment.

Therefore, as that equipment has not fundamentally changed in a long time, potential productivity and safety benefits that can be attained from revised processes have not been realised – until now.

“I’m not a conveyor engineer – I’m a mining engineer. So, to me, it’s all

CMA CO-FOUNDER BEN SMITH ACCEPTS THE FLEXCO EXCELLENCE IN MINE SAFETY AWARD.

about process,” Smith tells Australian Mining. “Why do we let our equipment dictate our processes and the way we work? Why not design our work to be more ideal, and then support that with equipment that meets the desired outcome?”

Workers’ wellbeing was the driver behind CMA’s Redline underground conveyor system, which led to it winning the Flexco Excellence in Mine Safety, OH&S Award at the 2018 Australian Mining Prospect Awards.

Smith recalls wanting to make a change, so that when workforce personnel retire, they stay healthy and could play with their grandchildren.

“It’s not so much the catastrophic injuries, but the ones that you face day in, day out, over a 30-40 year career that impede you later in life,” he says.

“I remember watching people do the same hard work every day for years on end, and it took its toll – on knees, ankles, and shoulders, with resulting surgeries, rehab, and sometimes, forced retirement. It just wasn’t good enough.”

With this in mind, CMA embarked on delivering conveyor solutions that are aimed at improving users’ health, safety and wellbeing, and at creating a step-change in productivity and industry performance.

“We started with the problem first and let that drive the solution. So often a new thing is designed and made in search of a problem to solve”.

The Redline underground conveyor system all but completely eliminates manual handling of conveyor structure – namely lifting, carrying, twisting, bending and shoving – from conveyor construction, retraction and maintenance.

Redline is a modular conveyor system that is hung from an overhead monorail system and is propelled by a hydraulic traction unit.

The conveyor extends and retracts from a dedicated installation and recovery centre away from the congested working or face area.

Its key advantages include the AUSTRALIANMINING

Photo credit: Photographic Memory

CONVEYOR MANUFACTURERS AUSTRALIA CO-FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR BEN SMITH TELLS AUSTRALIAN MINING HOW THE COMPANY DEVELOPED A DESIGN PHILOSOPHY THAT CHALLENGES THE STATUS QUO.

FLEXCO MANAGING DIRECTOR MARK COLBOURN (L) AND CMA CO-FOUNDER BEN SMITH.

ability to install the final conveyor from the get-go, eliminating the current practice of developing roadways on narrow belting and later having to completely replace it with a highduty conveyor; and, the ability to be pre-fitted with monitoring, lighting, communications and other associated cabling and safety systems.

Redline’s purpose-built wardrobes also provide the ability for it to be transported to the next area without manually loading or unloading trailers and carriers.

From a productivity perspective, the underground conveyor can now be lengthened, shortened and maintained without having to stop. This directly impacts an operation’s bottom line.

Now, there is almost no need to have down-time as part of the normal process cycle – an enormous improvement in availability and overall productivity.

Smith adds, “One day I asked the question, what is the biggest issue we have in our industry at its most fundamental level? What is the biggest thing we want to get more of? Time.

Time really is the only thing we

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can’t get more of. We can buy more equipment, we can hire more labour, but we can’t get more time. Once it’s gone, it’s gone.”

Redline impacts and delivers significant benefits to many areas, from longwall and pillar extraction in coal mines, underground roadway development, single entry driveage, to civil tunnelling.

“To stand side by side with other industry heavyweights and receive this [award] is reflective of our commitment to true innovation, as well as the hard work and commitment of our dedicated staff and suppliers,” he says.

“Change often requires a shift in business thinking and organisational culture – any transformation is mostly about people. We are leading with people first. We’ve been fortunate to have many people support us to date and believe in what we are trying to achieve, and having the industry validate the value we are creating for all mine sites is humbling.

“It is our mission to disrupt the industry and improve the way businesses operate, one conveyor solution at a time.” AM

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PROSPECT AWARDS

RIO TINTO RECREATES LIFE ON CORAL REEFS RIO TINTO’S COMMITMENT TO ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY HAS PROVEN WHAT HAS NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE: VIBRANCY OF LIFE CAN BE ORCHESTRATED ON HUMAN-MADE REEF.

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was covered two years ahead of the estimated time period, exceeding the Artificial Reef and Coral Translocation (ARCT) project’s 10year key performance indicator (KPI) within just eight years.

Rio Tinto’s effort in this biodiversity preservation project led to it winning the Metso Excellence in Environmental Management honour at the 2018 Australian Mining Prospect Awards.

– Martin Buck, says, “We feel incredibly proud of this project, and it is satisfying to see the project being recognised within such a prestigious forum.

“We see the award as an opportunity to further promote the project, allowing other parties to be aware of and learn from the work we’ve done to allow replication elsewhere.”

The artificial reef project involved Photo credit: Photographic Memory

io Tinto’s iron ore business has facilitated coral life on an artificial reef as the first project of its kind in Western Australia.

Using over 10,000 tonnes of reconstituted concrete and 24 custom-made reef balls, the project has managed to facilitate coral colonisation despite thermal bleaching – in the presence of

RIO TINTO IRON ORE ECOSYSTEMS SPECIALIST JASON ROSSENDELL (L), RIO TINTO ENVIRONMENT SUPERINTENDENT MARTIN BUCK AND METSO HEAD OF MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS PETER NEWFIELD.

insufficient precedence. And the recreated life stood the test of time more than 10 years later.

A 10-year monitoring result has shown that fish, as a biodiversity indicator, has rapidly colonised the reef – not only in a population size similar to that of the local reefs, but also in greater diversity.

In fact, 10 per cent of the coral

The award goes to show the success of a project that was instigated by Rio Tinto’s port expansion at the Parker Point operations in Dampier in Western Australia, bringing net positive impact to the community in ecological values.

Rio Tinto’s environment superintendent – port operations AUSTRALIANMINING

numerous stakeholders within Rio Tinto: originally incepted and designed by Rio Tinto’s studies and approvals teams, it was constructed by the company’s own engineering group and then managed by its marine and environment teams.

“Externally, collaboration was similarly extensive,” says Buck.

“With engagement with regulators

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at both state and federal levels, the Pilbara Ports authority and other key agencies, the City of Karratha, community groups and associations, as well as various other stakeholders.

“We were also ably supported by our technical specialists, MScience, who developed the reef’s growth model, supported design, implemented field surveys and drafted scientific reports.”

Within the first five years of moving over 1000 coral colonies, giant clam and anemone species from the original site to the artificial reef and its surrounds, the project team observed a burst in growth patterns.

But the high water temperatures within the region have put the project’s 10 per cent completion target at risk, extending the project’s timeline to an additional three years.

Throughout these challenges, the corals had recovered well from the thermal bleaching, confirming the reef’s resilience; the reef’s final 10-year survey in 2017 observed an exponential growth rate to almost 3040 per cent of the natural levels.

Buck says, “There have been approximately 40 surveys conducted on the reef since it was constructed, so aside from a few local anglers fishing the area, we plan to give the reef a rest and let nature continue to take its course.”

Rio Tinto’s pioneering work has built a platform for the sharing of knowledge that goes beyond the mining industry: two voluntary peerreviewed scientific papers and an industry guidance document will be shared to the public.

“Respect for the environment is a core part of our operational philosophy, and wherever possible we prevent, or otherwise minimise, mitigate and remediate, the effects that our operations have on the environment,” Buck remarks.

“The artificial reef project is just one example of how we practically do this within the business. …

Its outcomes have exceeded our expectations and are being transparently shared. It doesn’t get much better than that!” AM

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PROSPECT AWARDS

THE COAL NINE YARDS: MORANBAH NORTH’S WINNING STREAK ANGLO AMERICAN’S MORANBAH NORTH OPERATION HAS BEEN RECOGNISED AS COAL MINE OF THE YEAR AT THE PROSPECT AWARDS FOR THE FOURTH TIME. AUSTRALIAN MINING EXPLAINS WHY THE MINE IS SO ENDURING. start of 2012 following a complete operational restructure by Anglo American.

The restructure introduced longwall cutting methods that contributed to a doubling of output from 3.7 million tonnes (Mt) in 2012 to 6.9Mt in 2013. This period was the start of a turnaround for the mine’s ailing fortunes.

Moranbah North’s production has increased each year since, and the site’s safety record has improved.

Despite these improvements, the mine faced further risk in 2015 when Anglo American announced a potential exit from the Australian coal market to ease building debts.

It eventually took the decision to cancel the sale process as the market started to improve.

Buoyed by an operational turnaround and resurgent coal prices — particularly for the high-quality

coking coal in which Anglo Coal specialises — Moranbah North and the adjacent Grosvenor mine look set for the long haul.

Anglo American produced a record 5.4Mt at Moranbah North in the 2017 financial year, representing a significant percentage of its 19.7Mt across all operations.

The site then produced 10.14Mt in the year to June 2018, surpassing the previous 12-month Australian met coal record produced by sister operation Grasstree in Bundoora in 2015.

“Our Moranbah North mine is a world-class operation. We’ve embraced longwall bi-directional cutting and longwall automation, which have made significant changes to our safety and production performance,” Anglo American executive head of underground operations Glen Britton says.

Photo credit: Photographic Memory

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nglo American is the second largest Australian producer and third largest global producer of metallurgical coal.

The company has weathered its fair share of ups and downs over the years. Nowhere is this more pronounced than at the Moranbah North coal mine in the Bowen Basin region of Queensland.

Moranbah North opened in 1998 and started longwall operations in 2000, but for its first decade of operations its results were not exemplary.

At the end of 2011, a fall of ground in the conveyor drift was a wake-up call for the mine, halting operations and reducing production considerably.

The mine started to show significant improvements at the

PAUL STEPHAN (R), SSE GENERAL MANAGER, MORANBAH NORTH WITH KRIS JARYN OF SEW-EURODRIVE.

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“Innovation is also key to our success, and we’re continuously looking for ways to improve processes and enhance safety across our operations.”

Works on planned maintenance and analysis of unplanned downtime have secured Moranbah North a site average of 155 hours of operation a week with minimal online redundancy.

The site’s coal handling and processing plant (CHPP) operates stably at 25 per cent over nameplate capacity due to targeted improvement by the Moranbah North team.

Anglo American has also shined in other areas at Moranbah North this year. In May, it launched a landmark female trainee recruitment drive in association with the Fair Work Commission to develop a female training program that encourages women to join the team and improve inclusivity.

The company received over 1200 applications for its female traineeship program from late September to midOctober.

In recognition of Moranbah North’s success, Anglo American again proved its mettle at the 2018 Australian Mining Prospect Awards in Sydney in October by winning the SEW Eurodrive Coal Mine of the Year Award.

It is not the first time the mine has been honoured — it has won the event’s Coal Mine of the Year Award an impressive four times, also winning this category in 2013, 2015 and 2017 (the same year it also won Australian Mine of the Year).

“Anglo American is extremely proud our Moranbah North mine has been recognised as Coal Mine of the Year for the fourth time, and that our Moranbah Grosvenor coal handling and processing plant won Processing Plant of the Year,” Britton says.

“It’s really the combined contributions of everyone at Moranbah North that have contributed to our success.”

The Moranbah North mine notched a rare double at the 2018 Prospect Awards by winning the Minerals Processing of the Year Award. AM

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PROSPECT AWARDS

CREATING CULTURAL CHANGE IN MINING MEC MINING GENERAL MANAGER MARIA JOYCE HAS SHOWN HOW DRIVING A POSITIVE COMPANY CULTURE DELIVERS BENEFITS TO MINING COMPANIES. BEN CREAGH WRITES. support clients at over 25 deposits both locally and internationally.

Her break with MEC came when she pitched an idea to the company’s directors and they gave it a go.

Joyce, who built a team from the ground up in a new market centre, pioneered MEC’s first feasibility study and took the project all the way through to implementation.

This experience, and the culture that was developed in the process, set the foundation for Joyce’s development towards her current role as an MEC general manager.

Joyce believes mining companies with a strong culture have concrete values and diverse leadership teams that never compromise on these standards.

“Our industry is rapidly changing; its highly cyclical nature makes it

tough to attract and retain talent,” Joyce says.

“In my experience, mining companies with a strong culture are not only more collaborative and innovative – their teams are more resilient when confronted with change.

“They respond faster than their competitors, capitalising on good market conditions and embracing disruptive technologies – sometimes even becoming disruptors themselves.”

Joyce has a strict operating philosophy that she never compromises to foster the culture in her team.

She says the philosophy focuses heavily on collaboration and ensuring a high level of engagement so the team are on a journey together.

MARIA JOYCE ACCEPTS HER AWARD FROM BGC GENERAL MANAGER ALLAN FIDOCK.

AUSTRALIANMINING

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Photo credit: Photographic Memory

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aria Joyce is passionate about the role she can play in shaping company culture.

Joyce, MEC Mining’s general manager – strategy and business development, is a strong believer in creating an environment that builds team capability and trust, while fostering collaboration.

She champions the culture within Queensland-based MEC, a role that helped guide the company through the mining downturn and now into an improving market environment.

Joyce regards diversity and inclusion as vital ingredients that create a culture that enhances mining companies.

Her team is likened to a tightknit tribe that supports each other through the good and bad times by collaborating and treating each other with respect and integrity.

This impact on MEC’s culture has been recognised with the BGC Contracting Contribution to Mining Award at the 2018 Australian Mining Prospect Awards.

Joyce says her positions at MEC and as Women in Mining & Resources Queensland (WIMARQ) committee chair have allowed her to create the change she wants to see and help shape the future of workplace culture.

“I thrive on variety, big-picture thinking, and pushing the envelope on what can be achieved by an organisation,” Joyce says.

“My role (at MEC) not only allows me to have a meaningful impact on the future of the business – I also have the opportunity to engage with our people, the community and industry to positively influence the culture of the sector and the communities in which we operate.”

The growth Joyce pursues around her through a positive culture reflects her own personal development as a mining engineer over the past 14 years.

After joining MEC as a consulting mining engineer on a drive-in, driveout (DIDO) basis from Townsville, she worked her “heart out” to

“It is important to me that MEC team members truly believe in the company vision and support our culture,” Joyce says.

“I get to know what makes them tick in order to understand how they can help achieve the company’s strategic objectives.

“This also allows me to support their development and growth – I care for them and am invested in their future.”

Joyce backs the role a diverse workforce can play in developing a collaborative and engaging culture.

She says the benefits of having diverse leadership are clear and that mining has started to move further in this direction.

“It’s definitely progressing – there are more opportunities for women in the sector than I have witnessed in my entire career – but there’s still a long way to go,” Joyce says.

“Now more than ever, the world is looking out for women and individuals from all walks of life in the workplace. It’s not enough for companies to talk about diversity in their mission statements – there’s an expectation that they deliver on that promise.

“Currently, women make up only 15 percent of our workforce in nontraditional roles, which means that businesses are missing out on such a huge talent pool.

“It is time to be bold, challenge the status quo and raise our expectations of the sector.”

Joyce urges the next generation of female mine workers to take the same ambitious attitude to the profession that she did 14 years ago.

“If you are passionate about a career in this sector, go out and get it. Don’t let any social perceptions or the ratio of men to women stop you,” Joyce says.

“To me, these factors are just noise and they didn’t enter my mind once when I took up a mining engineering degree.”

Joyce hopes to use the Prospect Award as a platform to reach a wider audience that will help take her contribution to mining to the next level. AM

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PROSPECT AWARDS

CONTRACTOR WOLFF RECOGNISED FOR AUTOMATION EXCELLENCE WOLFF MINING HAS RECEIVED THE CONTRACT MINER OF THE YEAR AWARD FOR ITS INNOVATIVE WORK AT THE CURRAGH MINE IN QUEENSLAND. AUSTRALIAN MINING TALKS TO LEON WILLIAMSON ABOUT WHERE THE COMPANY IS HEADING NEXT. hole drilling services and lowvoltage/high-voltage (LV/HV) electrical works.

Its contracts for these areas have included BMA’s Blackwater mine, Yancoal’s Yarrabee mine and Peabody’s Moorvale and Coppabella mines.

Curragh is one of the company’s longest running dozer push contracts, dating back to 2008 when

a number of locations throughout Australia where we can deploy these dozers across similar operations,” explains Williamson.

“It’s about trying to get some connectivity with players in the west and looking outside the coal sector.”

Wolff cites its status as a midtier company —employing around 170 people across operations and management — as an advantage, as

LEON WILLIAMSON (L) OF WOLFF MINING AND ROD HERMANN (R) OF EPIROC AUSTRALIA AT THE PROSPECT AWARDS.

the site was run by previous owner Wesfarmers.

Command for Dozing has moved into the production phase and Wolff hopes that it can eventually bring the technology to other soft and hard rock mine sites across the country.

The company has embarked on manned dozer push trials in Western Australia’s Goldfields region and is also keen on a potential expansion into the iron ore sector, too.

“We want to step out and have AUSTRALIANMINING

it allows the company to implement client changes quickly and effectively.

This ties into a wider company philosophy of nimbleness espoused by the company’s directors and original founders, Terry and Wanda Wolff.

“We’re not a big, bureaucratic organisation,” says Williamson.

“It’s a small, nimble company that can make decisions quite quickly and generally get some traction and engagement with clients [in a short

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timeframe].”

“To be totally honest, we thought we were a bit of a long shot so from a business point of view it was a fantastic recognition of all the work we’ve done as a team, and in particular, the work we’re doing that in the automation space.”

The next step for the company is to scale up its operations and eventually take the step from semi-

Photo credit: Photographic Memory

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olff Mining set a target this year to drive up production rates and improve operational safety at Coronado’s Curragh open cut coal mine in Queensland.

It succeeded by introducing Command for Dozing, a world-first pilot program in collaboration with Caterpillar and Queensland-based Cat supplier Hastings Deering.

This collaboration focused on the conversion of three Cat D11 dozers into semi-autonomous tractor systems (SATS) capable of providing high-end automation typical of larger mining products to low-cost operations while also improving safety for operators.

It was primarily for this work that the mid-tier company was recognised at this year’s Australian Mining Prospect Awards as the Epiroc Contract Miner of the Year.

Wolff’s overall aim with Command for Dozing was to improve dozing hours per shift while decreasing the cost of dozing per bank cubic metre (BCM).

So far, the project has seen an overall 15 per cent improvement to dozing hours, while also improving operational safety considerably since the drivers don’t have to sit in the cab.

“Autonomy is about removing people from the workplace to increase safety and increasing the number of operating hours that you get per shift,” says Wolff project development manager Leon Williamson.

“And that generally translates through to high productivity because you’re moving more tonnes and drilling more metres in a given hour.

“We were looking for a low-cost, mobile alternative that could be transported around different sites or locations within a mine. Because it’s wireless, [Command for Dozing] can be transported quite easily to different pits within the one client.

It’s less capital intensive.”

Founded in 2003, Wolff specialises in dozer push, pre-strip top soil removal, mine rehabilitation, blast

autonomous to fully autonomous systems, building a crucial space in the market as the technology continues to develop by offering a low-cost, mobile alternative to Tier 1 manufacturers.

By pushing forward the accessibility of automation technology as a midtier contractor servicing small- and mid-cap mining operations, Wolff can tacitly endorse mining’s growing status as a METS career for the operators of the future. AM

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PROSPECT AWARDS

CREATING A PROGRESSIVE SAFETY WORKFORCE Bryant and his team’s initiative, operation homestretch (also crowned a finalist in Flexco Excellence in Mine Safety, OH&S), has kept workers safe during what is traditionally a high-risk time at year’s end.

“Everyone thinks about Christmas.

Everyone’s missing their family.

There’s end-of-school holidays.

Their minds are not on the job for various reasons,” he says.

“But what operation homestretch was about is, instead of putting up posters and PowerPoint presentations saying ‘Don’t hurt yourself,’ or ‘This guy got injured. Don’t be like him,’ we went around getting a number of people’s ideas and said, ‘Talk to us about your workplaces,’ ‘How can we make it better,’ ‘Give us your ideas.’”

Employees’ suggestions were taken in addition to holding field activities that were focused on work conditions, not workforce behaviours; as well as a series of videos starring the workforce – of which Bryant spent over 80 hours of his personal time composing to create – to instil a sense of community across Australian sites.

This initiative has brought a decrease in recordable injuries and

severity, and a shift in employees’ mindset and safety culture.

Bryant says, “Many get really frustrated when minor things go wrong, and then it just becomes a really controlling environment.

“Whereas if you make your workplace quite progressive, you’re listening to the people and you treat them as individuals and humans – recognise that they’ve all got different needs, they’ve all got different learning capabilities, they all come from different backgrounds – and respect that, it’s almost like trying to make the world a better place.”

Bryant tells Australian Mining that too many times in the mining industry, the culture has to reflect that it’s “rough, tough and manly.”

But he invites the industry to approach its attitude toward the sector differently.

“Why can’t it be about looking after each other, being a bit more progressive and understand that a new generation is joining the industry?” he asks.

“Too many times in the mining industry, it’s always got to be rough, tough and manly. We need to change the way that we approach working in mining, so it’s not just that rough,

Photo credit: Photographic Memory

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aking safety a priority – successfully – is no easy task.

When Mitchell Services general manager – people and risk Josh Bryant arrived at the contractor from BHP’s Olympic Dam mine in 2016, he was tasked with changing the safety culture of a 120-strong workforce.

A fleeting two-and-a-half years later, this number grew by 180 per cent to 400 people. And what Bryant is proudest of is that “We’re growing so fast, but we kept a really strong line of communication and trust throughout the workforce.

“Everyone knows the chief executive by name, everyone knows the operation managers by name. It’s a big company, but it’s run small.”

Bryant and the team at Mitchell Services do safety differently.

Instead of viewing people as a problem to control, they regard them as a solution to harness.

His safety culture is driven by engagement and collaboration, earning him the Sick Safety Advocacy Award at the 2018 Prospect Awards.

JOSH BRYANT, MITCHELL SERVICES GENERAL MANAGER – PEOPLE AND RISK, IS PRESENTED WITH THE SICK SAFETY ADVOCACY AWARD BY SICK MANAGING DIRECTOR DAVID CROSSLEY.

AUSTRALIANMINING

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Photo credit: Photographic Memory

AUSTRALIAN MINING SPEAKS TO JOSH BRYANT ABOUT THE CHANGES HE HAS MADE AT MITCHELL SERVICES THAT LED TO HIM WINNING THE 2018 SICK SAFETY ADVOCACY AWARD.

BRYANT’S ‘SAFETY DIFFERENTLY’ APPROACH TAKES THE FOCUS AWAY FROM COMPLAINTS TO CARING ABOUT INDIVIDUALS.

tough environment, but one with a culture of care, learning and listening.”

Since Bryant’s time at Mitchell Services, he has instigated mental wellness programs; supervisor coaching; tailored injury management and return-to-work programs; and the embedment of Mitchell Services ‘fatal eight’ to monitor risks specific to drill rigs.

In less than 12 months of Bryant joining the business, the company reduced its overall injury severity by 60 per cent. Its total recordable injury frequency rate has also decreased, the number of lost-time injury cases has halved, and the manager’s initiatives have created a more connected workforce.

“I think safety advocacy isn’t purely about you knowing technical details and you knowing legislation.

It isn’t necessarily someone who’s top of the food chain,” says Bryant.

“Safety advocacy is about changes you’ve been able to make in your workplace that can be transferred to any industry. It’s about making the workplace better for the people who work for us.

“And to be individually recognised at that is really a reward that represents the team that has put together the program and recognition of a business that looks after its people.” AM

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PROSPECT AWARDS

CHANGING LIVES ONE COMMUNITY AT A TIME ROY HILL COMMUNITY FOUNDATION SHOWS WHAT COLLABORATION WITH INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES AND STAKEHOLDER GROUPS CAN DO IN THE PILBARA IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA. relationships and networks to encourage volunteer participation and promoting the program widely.

It is a whole of community effort, which has seen the program start 2018 with real momentum.

“As a result of this effort, most of Port Hedland volunteers come from the mining industry … and has exceeded expectations. Since Pilbara Mentors began in late 2016, 24 volunteers have been assessed, trained and are now actively mentoring at three Port Hedland schools, providing over 600 hours of support to students.”

The success of RHCF’s Pilbara Mentors program is measured by many key areas that will reach beyond Port Hedland in years to come, including concentration, prosocial behaviour, disruptive behaviour, character, self-esteem and stress – all of which, based on data and testimonials, was evidently achieved.

Fitzgerald says the number of schools to receive the mentoring program will increase in 2019, and will expand to further Port Hedland

schools and to Newman by 2020.

Young Aboriginal children will also be supported by scholarships from the RHCF after the mentoring program.

“The level of support for the Pilbara Mentors program in Port Hedland is an example of a great Foundation initiative being embraced by the community, with five times the national average number of mentors signing up for the program in the first 12 months,” Fitzgerald says.

The engagement of the Pilbara community is even more apparent with the initiative of a Nyiyaparli man and Roy Hill employee, who had raised funds for the foundation by creating a unique T-shirt design. His design sold in excess of 500 shirts in the first print run alone.

RHCF also collaborates with Roy Hill’s three Traditional Owner groups to produce a series of books that promote the country’s landscape.

Funds collected from book sales will go toward the foundation projects.

Further, RHCF is planning a new cultural centre for the town in partnership with the government and

SAFE TO WORK JOURNALIST EWEN HOSIE (LEFT), HANCOCK PROSPECTING EXTERNAL AFFAIRS MANAGER JAMES RADFORD AND NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK GENERAL MANAGER CONNIE SOKARIS.

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Port Hedland stakeholder groups to promote tourism and culture.

In health, RHCF has partnered with the Perth Children’s Hospital Foundation and funded Pilbara Faces, which uses 3D facial imaging technology to aid in the diagnosis, treatment and monitoring of rare diseases in Aboriginal children.

The technology provides an alternative diagnosis that is quicker and less invasive, giving insight to complex disorders that were previously unable to be diagnosed.

With the many initiatives that earned RHCF the Safe to Work Community Interaction Award, Fitzgerald says, “The foundation partners were thrilled to receive an accolade of this calibre, recognising achievements being delivered in collaboration with communities in the Pilbara.

“The win is an acknowledgment of what can be achieved when companies work together. It is a significant achievement in the eyes of the companies involved in this unique partnership.” AM

Photo credit: Photographic Memory

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he Roy Hill Community Foundation (RHCF) places an emphasis on impacting the Pilbara communities in Western Australia across all areas of arts, health and education.

It was established in 2015 as a collaborative social investment program that identifies specific issues and gaps in the community, and then creates innovative social programs that target these.

The foundation involves Roy Hill contractors, Traditional Owners, businesses and suppliers, so that together, they make a change in the 61,000-strong community.

Roy Hill chief executive Barry Fitzgerald says, “Working collaboratively with a diverse group of companies and consulting Roy Hill’s three Traditional Owner groups, the Kariyarra, Nyiyaparli and Palyku people, enables the foundation to respond to community needs with greater impact.”

The Safe to Work Community Interaction Award was presented to RHCF at the 2018 Prospect Awards, recognising the achievements that the foundation has built throughout the years.

When asked about RHCF’s biggest breakthrough this year, Fitzgerald points to the foundation’s Pilbara Mentors program, which, in partnership with EdConnect Australia, is dedicated to support vulnerable young people who are at risk of disengaging from education.

In Port Hedland, the launchpad for Pilbara mentors, school attendance and completion rates are lower than the general Western Australian population. Data specialist Remplan also shows that 21.1 per cent of the Pilbara is populated by youth aged up to 15.

“One of the challenges for Pilbara Mentors in Port Hedland has been finding a new approach to recruit volunteers. In most schools in the metropolitan area, volunteers are generally retirees, which is a small population in Port Hedland,” Fitzgerald says.

“This has meant spending significant time building

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GET SET FOR THE COMMODITIES OF THE FUTURE AUSTRALIA HAS BEEN ONE OF THE WORLD’S KEY MOVERS WHEN IT COMES TO THE TECH METALS BONANZA THAT HAS TAKEN HOLD OF THE MINING INDUSTRY. BEN CREAGH EXPLAINS. Photo credit: Pilbara Minerals.

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he commodities of the future almost always point to the ingredients needed to manufacture batteries.

Leading Australian exports like iron ore, gold, and even coal, have been established in the future of the mining industry for many years.

Iron ore and gold, in particularly, are also well placed to remain on the right side of the demand curve.

It is, instead, a number of so-called tech metals that have emerged in recent years to raise the excitement of Australian mining companies that operate both at home and abroad.

As Deloitte’s 2018 Tracking the Trends report states, “As economies mature and technological advancement progresses, mining companies are seeking greater exposure to later-stage commodities such as tech metals and boutique minerals.”

In case you haven’t noticed, the battery phenomenon has certainly engulfed the Australian mining industry.

Look at Western Australia: home to the Greenbushes operation, the world’s largest lithium mine and the only operation in Australia up until 2010.

Western Australia now hosts seven lithium mines after rapid development in the past two years to capture the demand for this commodity.

Now that Australia has developed these mines what’s next for the lithium sector?

Deloitte adds, “In anticipation of the exponential growth of electric vehicles (EVs) and energy storage systems, the global battery supply chain is mobilising.”

Australian may have moved in lithium from an upstream perspective but it is still considering its position to capitalise on opportunities further down the supply chain.

“There is an opportunity for Australia to get together and say we need to explore more and we need our ‘Lithium Valley’ to happen. What are the policies and procedures needed through regulation to move this forward?” Deloitte national mining leader Ian Sanders

AUSTRALIA’S LITHIUM EXPORTS ARE BOOMING WITH NEW MINES IN WA.

tells Australian Mining.

“The other piece of this is can industry bodies, government and mining companies get themselves together to look at the vertical integration of the supply chain of an electric vehicle. What can they do as a collective to capture that and harness it rather than having individual companies focusing on individual aspects?

“That is going to take some real nous and investment to achieve something that could revolutionise the way other countries look at what could be done to capture the overall supply chain within a particular country.”

Sanders believes Australia’s high cost environment shapes as the key obstacle that could stop it from capitalising on the battery sector supply chain.

AUSTRALIANMINING

“Without thinking about cost you would say yes, absolutely, it can be done,” he says.

“We have got a good track record and history around smelter operations and production. Then we can leverage previous and current experience across the automotive and manufacturing sectors and get into that extended supply chain.

“But we have to do it by being technologically savvy because of the high cost of labour. Technology is going to have to play a really important part.

“Whether or not that is through full automation, or significant automation with some manual labour, it is absolutely important it is tech advanced.”

Lithium has emerged as the tech

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metal front runner, but Sanders also points to the headway made

by Australian companies in other commodities of the future.

He speaks of graphite, cobalt and vanadium, which also have a role to play in the battery revolution or the growth of electric vehicles.

Sanders sees these commodities following a similar path to lithium, albeit a few years behind and possibly moving at a different pace.

“The increase in rate of consumption of lithium in comparison to graphite, it is much more prevalent.

I think we will be looking at these increases in graphite in three to five years’ time,” Sanders says.

The battery revolution is also adding diversity for minerals that have been widely mined in Australia for decades

TRACKING THE TRENDS

Image: BHP.

BHP HAS REFOCUSED ITS NICKEL WEST DIVISION TO SUPPLY THE BATTERY SECTOR.

THERE IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR AUSTRALIA TO GET TOGETHER AND SAY WE NEED TO EXPLORE MORE AND WE NEED OUR ‘LITHIUM VALLEY’ TO HAPPEN.” or more, such as copper and nickel.

BHP has backed the future of both copper and nickel with notable investment in these areas of the company’s business.

The company invested $132 million to take an 11 per cent stake in Ecuador-focused SolGold this year, giving it exposure to the Cascabel porphyry coppergold project.

BHP has openly ramped up its copper aspirations for at least a year, saying it hoped to add more resources to its portfolio to support expected growth in demand.

It is buoyant about the future of copper for two reasons: electric vehicles and renewable energy.

“Copper is getting a lot of attention as one of the new or

emerging Tier 1 assets that can be acquired by the majors,” Sander says.

“We have seen this with BHP taking small stakes in a South American copper asset. I think we will see more of that, which will keep the market buoyed.”

BHP has also restructured the focus of the Nickel West business over the past two years after most analysts expected it to divest the unit.

The miner now has a plan to be a globally significant supplier of nickel sulphide to the battery sector from these assets through to at least 2040. It also committed to the development of a $55 million nickel refinery at Kwinana in 2017.

“Some of the investment BHP has made in Nickel West is exciting and AUSTRALIANMINING

you only have to look at the forecasts that Glencore has for the demand for nickel in electric vehicles; it is going to rise astronomically over the next 10 years,” Sanders says.

These developments reinforce once more that the commodities of the future are predominantly centred around the battery.

Deloitte’s leading strategies: Keep an eye on disruptors

Disruption can be either a threat or opportunity, depending on how it is managed. For mining companies, turning disruption into opportunity requires the cultivation of a long– term view capable of assessing how emerging market trends may affect the demand for specific commodities.

Look for vertical integration opportunities

As competition for the commodities of the future heats up among industry players corporate end users may try to secure their own sources

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of supply. Mining companies should keep abreast of these emerging opportunities to potentially partner with corporate end users to secure development funds or direct–to– customer supply contracts.

Explore scenario design

One emerging forecasting approach combines human intuition with AI to enhance organisational ability to develop future–oriented strategies.

By evaluating external risks and their implications, organisations gain the ability to turn risks into opportunities.

Go in prepared

Although the commodities of the future potentially represent transformational opportunities, organisations need to differentiate the reality from the hype. This goes beyond conducting due diligence before pursuing acquisitions. It includes assessing the viability of opportunities and capabilities required to capture them, and developing strategic responses to changes. AM

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VIVA AVEVA: NOTES ON A DIGITAL FUTURE AVEVA DISCUSSES WHY THE COMPANY IS AT THE FOREFRONT OF DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION IN MINING AT IMARC IN MELBOURNE. EWEN HOSIE REPORTS.

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famous poet once said the revolution wouldn’t be televised, but it looked increasingly like it might be digitalised.

Software company Aveva demonstrated its approach to the digital transformation of mining at the International Mining and Resource Conference (IMARC).

Aveva combined with Schneider Electric’s industrial software business in March to form a company capable of delivering complete endto-end digital solutions across myriad industrial sectors, including mining.

Boasting over two million software licences across 100,000 sites in 130 countries, Aveva is responsible for 4.4 trillion daily industrial transactions and 12 petabytes of annual data collation.

In the mining space, Aveva brings its expertise in advanced process controls to both greenfield and brownfield mine sites and process plants, leading to better throughput, time saving and safety improvements.

Aveva helps amplify the benefits of digital transformation across several categories, including engineering and design, product optimisation, value chain optimisation, asset performance management, and workforce transformation.

A common theme relates to data collection, analysis and decision support. Improved site visibility across operations helps improve operational excellence. Asset performance management solutions help reduce unplanned downtime while enabling safety benefits from predictive maintenance models.

Increasing mobilisation of the mining workforce has been shown to ease workforce transformation.

According to World Economic Forum statistics, digitalisation is expected to create around $320 billion of value for mining by 2025.

Aveva has proved its muster in the digital arena in collaboration with Roy Hill on the development of its remote operations centre (ROC) in Perth.

From a single centralised control room the company established endto-end visibility across company’s pitto-port value chain.

“To manage all this [Roy Hill] built an ROC in Perth some 1300km away from the mine site,” Aveva business consulting executive – mining, minerals & metals John MacDonald says.

“The demand chain flows from right to left through the operations centre and depending on how far back from the front [a worker is]

“with things like advanced process control.

“You can start to push against your limits in the process, increasing production and minimising energy to make actual financial decisions about how you are going to run your plant.

We’re using smart algorithms to understand patterns within the way your assets are running so we can give those warning signs about when things are grading and whether we need to fix them immediately.”

MMG has also benefited from

as important as collecting the data.

Aveva business consultant executive, digital transformation Javier Orellana, co-speaker at IMARC, says technologies such as augmented reality (AR), mobile devices and simulators are ways to disseminate the data among the workforce, which increasingly comprises Millennial and Generation Z cohorts, the so-called ‘digital natives’.

“Augmented reality can really deliver competency-based and deep learning to our people to be able to C

AVEVA IS IMPROVING EFFICIENCY THROUGH DIGITALISATION.

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represents the time, so the guys controlling the plant are sitting at the front and you’ve got your business improvement people sitting at the back.The entire team is in that one operations centre.”

MacDonald says one way to optimise mine production is by identifying site bottlenecks to allow equipment to run at maximum sustainable rates, a process that is achieved with digital data analysis.

“Once we’ve got that stabilisation in place, we can look at pushing those boundaries,” MacDonald says, AUSTRALIANMINING

Aveva’s systems with the integration of the Ampla operations management software.

The system has allowed MMG to standardise its asset solutions process across its global operations (five mines in four continents), leading to capacity improvements between 10-20 per cent at the mines.

MMG’s Kinsevere copper mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo reported operations at 34 per cent above nameplate capacity following the switch.

The visualisation of the data is just

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give them new scenario-based training and learning so that they can actually undertake these functions,” explains Orellana.

“Another component of that is the combination of augmentation and simulation, which is around capturing knowledge.

“We’ve got to embed that information within systems such as model-based training or dynamic and steady states and integrate that information to deliver a holistic approach around learning management.” AM

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et against the backdrop of a mining downturn at the start of this decade, a maintenance methodology emerged to push conveyor maintenance costs down.

While miners favoured cost minimisation over performance – by stretching maintenance schedules and using aggressive supply chain practices – a detriment could be felt on asset reliability and ultimately shareholder value.

But a data-driven methodology, Rema’s complete asset reliability management approach (CARMA), goes to show that this value does not need to be forgone.

In fact, the approach has managed to save mining companies an estimated $10 million per year through the improvements that were introduced by CARMA. CARMA is able to provide step-change solutions that reduce unscheduled downtime and give a better total cost of ownership outcome by taking an engineered and analytical approach to the systems’ lifecycle. Effectively, this means that output volumes are maintained, safety is ensured, and environmental and regulatory issues are averted.

“They weren’t seeing the benefit of what they’re trying to achieve in

that time in terms of the aggregated financial result of the mines,” Rema Tip Top product manager - technologies Luke Sassé tells Australian Mining.

“Then a realisation struck – there must be a better way to do this, there’s got to be a life cycle thought put into the maintenance strategy selected.

“And in 2015, we brought what had been on paper and in our mind’s eye for a few years to reality when our first customers took up CARMA.”

Goal: Reduce costs, increase availability

Rema Tip Top was working with a particular site where its conveyor systems were underperforming.

Within three months of establishing CARMA, the site’s conveyor reliability went up from 80 per cent to 95 per cent.

“The mine was in a pickle when we arrived, but we were able to deliver a step-change to them,” says Sassé.

“CARMA has also helped them increase the rate to 98 per cent as we delivered further improvements to the site, identified and justified through data analysis.”

Since 2015, Rema Tip Top has delivered hundreds of improvements through CARMA, including a coal mine in Queensland experiencing an abnormally high occurrence of roller

RECENT INSTALLATION OF A STEEL CORD BELT SCANNER.

failures in one of its washeries, – fourand-a-half times higher than those elsewhere at the site.

CARMA data analysis produced a recommendation to use nylon idlers, instead of the previously employed standard steel rollers, across the site due to their superior corrosion, material shedding and bearing sealing arrangements.

This change provided the mine operator with a projected net benefit of $158,000 per year, while exceeding the average life on the plant by 43 per cent.

Further, unscheduled downtime associated with the rollers was reduced from an average of 1.2 hours to 0.02 hours per month.

The CARMA methodology is, indeed, applicable to the entire conveyor system, not just one component.

Setting benchmarks and industry standards

CARMA IS ABLE TO REDUCE UNSCHEDULED DOWNTIME, IMPROVE ASSET LIFE AND OPTIMISE CONVEYOR PERFORMANCE.

AUSTRALIANMINING

Think of CARMA as comprising of methodical steps – plan, do, check and act – with each phase adding compounding value.

Starting with a technique called reliability centred maintenance, this approach unpacks a mine’s conveyor system down to its essential components. It seeks to understand

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the functionality of components and how they could fail, and review all the techniques available to prevent and monitor for these failures.

Rema Tip Top analysis and innovation manager Samuel Wiffen says, “What’s important is that we have a massive volume of system performance data pointing out the trends across our customers sites.

“We have delivered over 200 projects through the CARMA data analytics.

We utilise this data to set benchmarks and industry standards, helping our customers exceed their targets.

“For example, we look at the data we’ve got on one site, and when we have a similar scenario, we can utilise that information and trends to tell us what the best routes and outcomes are and apply that to another site.

“We’re not just employing engineers to do this but a diversified team that also includes data scientists, analysts and operational experts.”

True to its own philosophy, Rema Tip Top continues to innovate and improve on this approach with better analysis, new interconnected technologies, and strategies for pioneering a new approach to the maintenance industry with guarantees and fixed fee services. AM

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AUTOMATION

AIROBOTICS TAKES FLIGHT AUTOMATED DRONE DEVELOPER AIROBOTICS HAS SECURED SEVERAL KEY MILESTONES IN THE PAST YEAR. AUSTRALIAN MINING CATCHES UP WITH THE COMPANY TO SEE WHAT’S NEXT.

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rones have become a talking point of the mining technology world over the past few years.

Utilising LiDAR, photogrammetry, video, and thermal imagery, Airobotics has received significant attention in this arena for an automated drone system that is used for stockpile analytics, tailings dam management, construction management, haul road analytics and more. It also has application for nonmining industries such as oil and gas, construction and ports.

The Israeli company, which serves several Tier 1 miners, is the first to receive flight certification from an aviation body — the Civil Aviation

Authority of Israel (CAAI) — for a fully autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) without a human pilot in command.

Airobotics continues to grow its international operations and is securing further regulatory certifications with other aviation groups, including Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) and the United States-based Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The company has Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) certification in Australia.

Airobotics’ drones take off and land autonomously from a 2.2m tall automated base station called the Airbase. The station features a robotic arm that swaps batteries and

payloads (such as thermal cameras and LiDAR) to minimise downtime.

It also analyses flight data, which are then sent to site staff.

The company hopes eliminating pilots will not only save the end-user money in the long term, but also increase safety and save significant time.

Airobotics has updated its base drone unit, Optimus 1, with several enhancements in the last year.

“It was Optimus 1, and now it’s Optimus 1 EX, which stands for extended,” Airobotics vice-president of marketing Efrat Fenigson tells Australian Mining at the International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC) conference in Melbourne.

THE DRONE AND AIRBASE HAVE BEEN UPGRADED OVER THE PAST YEAR.

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“We have optimised the battery life. With our engineers we were able to extend the time the drone flies from 25 minutes to 40 minutes per mission.

“We’ve also increased the range that the drone can fly around the docking station, so where it used to be three to four kilometres radius, we can now double or triple that with the addition of communication masts.”

The Airbase has also been upgraded, including an external kill switch and additional safety sensors (including fire detection).

The Airbase also has a self-cleaning mechanism which uses air pressure to blow dust off the drone and internal shelving.

“We also added some sensors

Keep it Safe, Keep it Clean When conveyors shut down, core staff are often overwhelmed and maintenance of conveyor belt cleaners, skirts, impact beds and other conveyor accessories are often overlooked or service is performed by people who are not trained to service the equipment. Unless conveyor accessories perform at optimal levels, belt damage, carry-back and spillage can result.

ESS provides competency based technicians to specifically monitor and maintain Conveyor Belt Cleaning, Sealing and Support systems.

THE OPTIMUS DRONE TAKES OFF AND LANDS FROM THE AIRBASE AUTONOMOUSLY.

near the robotic arm to indicate the situation of the drones. Imagine, there is a camera looking at the drone to tell the robotic arm if the props are at the right angle or not,” says Fenigson.

“It’s the beginning of the AI process for the Airbase — we are teaching it about the drone.”

Airobotics opened its first Australian office in Perth last year and its first in the in Scottsdale, Arizona in September.

The company has secured a number of coups in 2018; in its latest funding round held in October — the fourth since public launch in June 2016 — Airobotics raised $US30 million ($42.2 million) to push its total capital to $US101 million.

Airobotics has also received attention in the major tech press in the last two years, appearing in publications such as Wired in March 2017 and Fast Company’s 2018 list of the most innovative companies in Israel.

In June 2018, just two years after launching, Airobotics appeared in a Wall Street Journal list as one of the top 25 tech companies to watch.

In addition, the company appointed ex-Facebook and Google executive Richard Wooldridge as chief operating officer. Wooldridge, a former investor in Airobotics, joined the company at the beginning of 2018.

He is primarily known for his work at Google and Facebook’s respective hardware labs, Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) and Building 8. “[Wooldridge is] our champion for anything operational, manufacturing, supply chain — he’s a master in the

ESS technicians are able to inspect conditions and produce a condition report and maintenance plan that can be actioned by Owners, Contracting companies or ESS technicians in a manner that prioritizes the maintenance based on risk analysis

industry. The connections he brings, the investor relations…he’s a very senior figure,” Fenigson says.

“The guy was responsible for millions of smartphones for Google, and Nook for Barnes & Noble. He’s a hardware professional and has a great understanding of how to scale hardware operations.”

Woodridge is helping the company to outsource its manufacturing to partners so Airobotics can focus on the data and applications sides of the business rather than the manufacturing process.

Airobotics has partnered with Flex — incidentally another company Wooldridge used to work for — to manufacture its Airbases. The drones are developed in-house by Airobotics, but the company eventually plans to outsource this as well.

The company is working with Vale in New Caledonia, and BHP in Arizona with the miner’s closed mine sites business unit.

“They have selected us to provide services at their closed mine sites and we operate in “San Manuel” in Arizona. They have 16 sites that are closed in the US and they have to continue monitoring them regularly due to environmental regulations,” says Fenigson.

“Obviously, they want as few people as possible on the site because they aren’t operational, so that model of remotely operated unit was a good fit for them so we are now proving that with the site at San Manuel.”

Airobotics, from Petah Tikva to Perth to New Caledonia to Arizona and beyond, looks set to fly even further in 2019. AM AUSTRALIANMINING

ESS offers a range of flexible maintenance and monitoring services to ensure optimum performance from the plants conveying systems. We tailor our services to your requirements.

ESS Maintenance and Monitoring Services Include; • Installation and Commissioning • Service and Maintenance • Inspection and Reporting Services • On site trouble-shooting • Site Compliant Vehicles and Equipment • Maintenance Contracts • Conveyor Accessory Maintenance Training

Proudly Manufactured in Australia 43

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TECHNOLOGY

LEADING THE CHARGE: THE ELECTRIC SUCCESS OF ARTISAN VEHICLES ARTISAN IS SETTING ITS SIGHTS ON AUSTRALIA FOLLOWING NORTH AMERICAN SUCCESS WITH ITS LINE OF ELECTRIC-POWERED UNDERGROUND VEHICLES. EWEN HOSIE REPORTS.

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alifornian company Artisan Vehicles is preparing to take the next step in its ambitions for growth.

The company has made a name for itself over the last few years with its line of fully electric underground mining vehicles.

Though the company took its first steps in what has since become a fast-emerging sector of the allelectric mining equipment market back in 2011, it truly cemented its public presence at MINExpo 2016 in Las Vegas with the introduction of the A4 load-haul-dump (LHD) underground mining vehicle.

The A4 is the first fully batterypowered vehicle of its type designed from the ground up. Boasting a horsepower capability 300 per cent higher than traditional four-tonne class diesel machines it is packaged in a considerably smaller footprint.

As a bonus, because the vehicles produce zero emissions, they also deliver reduced ventilation and cooling costs in underground environments.

“Eliminating diesel underground is proven to reduce ventilation and cooling expenses,” Artisan chief executive officer Mike Kasaba explains. “But it can also reduce costly production shutdowns caused by high temperatures in the hot

THE PITSTOP SYSTEM PROVIDES FASTER BATTERY CHANGING.

summer months.”

“When we were converting diesel units to battery for major OEM’s we realised that although the conversions were extremely successful, they were still being applied to a vehicle built around diesel,” Artisan account manager Joe Giraldi explains.

“We always knew the true capabilities of our battery electric powertrains and decided to build a vehicle from the ground up around our technology to maximise its potential.”

“That was the birth of our vehicles and we haven’t looked back since,” Giraldi explains.

“We now have our third model available and set to go underground towards the end of the year.”

The vehicle Giraldi refers to is the company’s second loader, the A10. Building on the release of Artisan’s sophomore Z40 40-tonne haul truck earlier this year — which the company cites as the world’s

THE ARTISAN A4 LHD UNDERGROUND VEHICLE.

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ONE OF ARTISAN’S SERVICE BAYS AT AN UNDERGROUND SITE.

THE COMPANY EVENTUALLY AIMS TO MOVE TO A COMPLETELY AUTONOMOUS CHARGING SYSTEM THAT DOES NOT REQUIRE THE OPERATOR TO LEAVE THE CAB” first fully battery-powered haul truck capable of carrying 40 tonnes ever used underground — Artisan is readying its next release, the A10.

Another lithium battery-powered LHD in the same vein as the A4, the A10 promises a 10-tonne carrying capacity in the frame of an equivalent seven-tonne loader, building on the strengths of its smaller predecessor.

“All of our machines not only provide clean zero emission operation, but also move more tonnes every day,” Kasaba explains.

Artisan Chief Technology Officer Brian Huff adds that the A10 has added several new features.

The Artisan team’s early work with Kirkland Lake Gold attracted the mining industry’s attention in a big way; its underground fleet at the Macassa gold mine in northern Ontario currently operates over 80 per cent Artisan product.

“They are definitely the early adopters of this technology,” says Giraldi. “They are the ones that took the chance on putting battery electric vehicles underground and now we’re looking at Macassa approaching 100 per cent completion when it comes to full electric, which is quite amazing.”

The A4’s size-to-power ratio was a big selling point of the validity of battery-powered vehicles; offering improved visibility for the operator and better turning radius for navigating tight tunnels.

The A10 builds on the A4 in a number of other ways, too. It is compatible with Artisan’s proprietary in-house PitStop system, a selfloading battery changing system that can swap out a depleted battery for a fully charged one in less than 10

minutes.

This represents a major reduction in downtime when compared to traditional manual swapping methods, which require overhead cranes to complete a battery swap.

“If the choice is to onboard charge, then a good opportunity is to charge it during a lunch break,” Giraldi explains. “So, you work your four hours, take your lunch break, charge it, get back in and finish your eight to 10 hour shift.”

The company eventually aims to move to a completely autonomous charging system that does not require the operator to leave the cab, something that is briefly required of miners using PitStop’s current iteration.

“Our PitStop auto-swap system cuts battery swap time significantly,” says Artisan Chief Technology Officer Brian Huff.

“Our new diagnostic systems make repair and maintenance move much faster. We have learned a lot about how best to engineer battery equipment from our seven years in production.

The A10 is loaded with powerful new technologies that operators and technicians will really appreciate.”

The company is keenly eyeing further international expansion, and according to Giraldi, Australia is high on the list.

“Over the last six months we’ve drawn quite a bit of interest from the Australian market so the thought over there is that movement is definitely happening and we’re getting everything in line to start implementing this technology as soon as 2019,” he concludes. AM AUSTRALIANMINING

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MAINTENANCE

SINOPEC’S FOCUS IS ON PREMIUM LUBRICANTS THAT INCREASE RELIABILITY.

SMOOTH-RUNNING MINING WITH ILD AND SINOPEC AUSTRALIAN MINING SPEAKS TO COLIN OSBORNE OF LOCAL SINOPEC DISTRIBUTOR ILD TO FIND OUT HOW THE TWO COMPANIES ARE MEETING THE DEMANDS OF MODERN MINING.

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s demand for new technologies has increased at mine sites, so too have expectations.

Mining majors such as Fortescue Metals Group, Rio Tinto and BHP are all reaping the benefits of increased automation of vehicle fleets and fixed plant in order to improve haul loads, reduce downtime and improve safety for employees.

In sync with this demand for technological gains is a demand for high-quality lubricants to help push these vehicles to nameplate — or even beyond nameplate — capacity.

In particular, low-viscosity engine oils, which provide lower resistance to

flow and shear (in other words, reduce friction) and therefore improve fuel efficiency, are especially in demand.

Likewise, the viscosity of hydraulic fluid is equally important in a different way, particularly kinematic viscosity, a measure of the oil’s gravitational flow. If hydraulic fluid is too thick or too thin, this can lead to problems for machinery down the line.

The China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation, more commonly known as Sinopec, is a veritable giant of the lubrication world with operations in over 60 countries.

The state-owned Chinese company is the third-largest chemical producer in the world by sales, as well as the third-place entrant in the 2018 AUSTRALIANMINING

Fortune Global 500, an annual ranking of the world’s top companies by revenue.

The figures are staggering. In 2018, the company’s revenue stood at 2.07 trillion Chinese yuan (RMB) in total for the nine-month period to end September, or about $405.27 billion in Australian dollars.

In the same period, Sinopec posted a 54 per cent year-on-year operating profit boost to RMB 85.86 billion ($17.4 billion). Net profit in the same period was up 56 per cent to RMB 59.98 billion ($12.16 billion).

Colin Osborne, national sales manager of Sinopec’s Australian distributor International Lubricant Distributors (ILD), says the

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increasing adoption of automation in mining has been a key driver in improving lubricants and lubrication practices.

“With automation in mining, the big goal is to increase productivity by efficiency, having machines run at peak performance for as long as possible” he says.

“However, for this to work the lubrication of the components must be totally reliable – there is no use having a machine that works in total efficiency but constantly breaks down.”

As a prominent upstream, middle and downstream supplier of lubricants to a host of industries, including the international mining industry, the

MAINTENANCE

company has to ensure it keeps up with the changing pace of technology.

The company has leveraged decades of experience as a premium lubricant supplier to China’s aerospace industry — including China National Space Administration (CNSA) Shenzhou spacecrafts — and transferred this to other industries.

Osborne cites the trend of original equipment manufacturers (OEM) recommending oil drain interval (ODI) extensions as a prominent example of a way in which operators can improve the efficiency of vehicles.

As oils and lubricants have become more refined and robust over time, some engineers have extolled a preference for going beyond the recommended ODI periods determined by OEMs to maximise equipment potential.

This technique requires lubricants that exceed international OEM standards. This technique also helps to reduce oil waste.

“If premium lubricants help keep the machine running smoothly the OEM also benefits from having a more reliable machine that lasts longer than its competitors,” Osborne explains.

“Not only has SINOPEC extended drain intervals past and beyond industry-best performance, assisting to heavily reduce down

SINOPEC HAS LEVERAGED DECADES OF EXPERIENCE AS A PREMIUM LUBRICANT SUPPLIER TO CHINA’S AEROSPACE INDUSTRY” time and associated expenses, but on numerous occasions due to extreme oil cleanliness and superior oil quality has seen significant reductions in component wear rates in ageing fleets over incumbent suppliers.

“This all adds up to significant cost savings to our clients in the long term.”

Sinopec produces synthetic greases and lubricants for the Australian market from a 100,000t/y facility in Tuas, Singapore that opened in 2013.

As its Australian partner, ILD has a relationship with the company for over 10 years and has helped to

SINOPEC IS THE WORLD’S THIRD-LARGEST CHEMICAL PRODUCER IN THE WORLD BY SALES

expand Sinopec’s global footprint in that time. According to Osborne, ILD eschews large marketing spends and instead prefers to invest heavily in the company’s supply solutions.

In the last 10 years, the two companies have jointly set about establishing a unique business model that offers not just lubrication solutions, but also technical support that is “unmatched by any other oil supplier in the market to ensure we remain ahead of our competition,” according to Osborne.

In the last few years, engine oils have improved dramatically in terms of fuel efficiency and reduced emissions, particularly in response to emission regulations enforced by treaties such as the Kyoto Protocol.

Modern low-viscosity engine oils can have viscosity grades as low as 0w8. However, the challenge for companies like ILD and Sinopec now lays in replicating this sort of advancement across other areas and applications.

Osborne concludes that synthetic lubrication technologies will become less foreign over time.

“We will eventually hit a saturation point where we possibly can do no more with engine oils, so it will be other components that will and are seeing the adoption of similar technologies to achieve exceptional

THE AUSTRALIAN MINING INDUSTRY TURNS TO RONSON www.ronsongears.com.au Telephone +61 3 9276 8900

AUSTRALIANMINING

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INNOVATION

THE KEY? COLLABORATION — MCLANAHAN TALKS THE FUTURE OF MINING MCLANAHAN IS RISING TO THE CHALLENGES OF MINING’S DIGITAL FUTURE. AUSTRALIAN MINING SPEAKS TO APAC MANAGING DIRECTOR NEIL HUNT TO FIND OUT HOW.

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ustomisation is changing the modern mining landscape.

Brownfield sites in particular are deriving gains from equipment upgrades and optimisations that were not possible a few years ago.

Mining companies are seeking to partner with original equipment manufacturers (OEM), which are able to design equipment that is not only robust and reliable, but operates safely and at optimum capacity with little need for human intervention.

This means equipment designers have to consider how products are remotely monitored, how fault finding is managed and reported and what analysis is required to trend reliability.

The mining industry witnessed a trend of cost cutting during the downturn that often extended to OEM services Despite the emergence of technologies in the automation and data analysis spheres among Tier 1 miners, many operators have focused on optimising the assets they already have installed.

This is one of McLanahan’s specialisations as a bespoke mining industry OEM. By extending the life of components — such as wear items — and increasing capacity without increasing the overall footprint of equipment, the company is serving an essential industry need.

Its efforts were recognised at the Queensland Mining Awards in July when the company was nominated as a finalist in the Time Saving Initiative category for the Lake Vermont coal handling and preparation plant (CHPP) feeder breaker project with Thiess in Queensland.

The company saved Thiess hundreds of hours of maintenance time a year by installing front-end access to

MCLANAHAN MANAGING DIRECTOR, APAC, NEIL HUNT.

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the feeder breaker’s ROM bin.

“We love those challenges where a site has been operating for a number of years, perhaps well beyond its expected life, and their equipment has become unreliable and worn out,” McLanahan managing director, Asia Pacific, Neil Hunt says.

“This provides us with an opportunity to design a current solution to fit into an existing footprint. We get enormous satisfaction from doubling or tripling production through old plants by simply providing customised solutions, enabling clients to extend the life of their assets.”

Every mining site is different and work has to be tailored to fit expectations. Sometimes, Hunt explains, sites prefer to use equipment and processes they have previously had experience with, while others tend to rely on advice that has come from consultants.

Hunt says deep engagement with clients is important.

“It is our responsibility to have inclusive discussions with the client to educate and advise them of how to achieve their desired outcome, in a more efficient way, or with less cost, or perhaps utilising a different process from the one envisioned,” he explains.

“If we had a choice we’d rather have a deeper engagement with clients every day of the week and not simply take orders.”

EVERY MINING SITE IS DIFFERENT AND WORK HAS TO BE TAILORED TO FIT EXPECTATIONS.” The Human Touch

Mining is a risky occupation, and much of the equipment on mine

INNOVATION

MCLANAHAN’S PROCESSES HELP SAVE TIME AT MINE SITES.

sites requires the presence of several people to operate them safely and efficiently. However, staff is expensive, especially at FIFO operations.

“When you look at the cost of downtime, specifically around the Pilbara area, the cost of downtime just pales into insignificance next to the cost of maintaining staff,” Hunt explains.

“We’ve just come out of a period where there has been a very tight control on capital expenditure so rather than focus on installing new equipment, the miners and operators have been focusing on optimisation.

“For us, we saw it as a key differentiator that when the market

was retreating during that downturn period, we saw it as an opportunity to invest in people.”

McLanahan has developed a digital customer portal to collaborate and maintain strong links with operators and maintenance personnel.

The portal is customisable to user requirements with personalised dashboards to showcase required data from multiple McLanahan machines, driving efficiency between the company and operators.

It also hosts e-manuals, exploded models, how-to videos, parts orders, spare lists, inventory and audit reports, and many other materials to provide easier access for the user.

THE PORTAL IS CUSTOMISABLE TO USER REQUIREMENTS WITH PERSONALISED DASHBOARDS TO SHOWCASE REQUIRED DATA FROM MULTIPLE MCLANAHAN MACHINES, DRIVING EFFICIENCY BETWEEN THE COMPANY AND OPERATORS.” Hunt says this kind of postworks implementation exhibits the same philosophy of customisation as McLanahan’s work on mineral processing systems.

“The Internet of Things (IoT) offers humans the ability to haul around their individual virtual world with them by giving them access to people, knowledge, money, food, transport and entertainment that is completely personalised,” Hunt says.

“The customer portal allows the operator and maintenance personnel to access a customised experience interface for their McLanahan equipment.”

McLanahan plans to maintain close collaboration with mining clients while meeting modern

demands for improved visibility and supply chain integration.

The Wild West days of data analysis in the mining industry may be coming to an end, however, as uses for data become increasingly ratified, and this extends to OEMs as well.

“Ten years ago the demand on OEMs was to conform with ISO, safety standards and management systems, which became a box ticking exercise in order to conform to tender requirements,” Hunt says.

“Within the next five years, we expect the same demands will be placed on OEMs to confirm acquisition and analysis of data from equipment reporting back to mining company’s operation centres.” AM

Department of Agriculture and Water Resources

Call for tenders

$1.5 billion for water efficiency projects The Australian Government’s Murray–Darling Basin Water Infrastructure Program is funding projects across the Basin to recover water for the environment.

Projects

How it works

We’re seeking tenders for water efficiency projects over $1 million, including: • industrial e.g. upgrading processing facilities, mining operations • urban e.g. upgrading urban water infrastructure • off-farm e.g. channel lining • metering e.g. installing or replacing water meters • on-farm projects in Qld, SA and ACT.

Successful funding recipients must transfer an agreed volume of saved surface water to the Commonwealth. Funding of up to 1.75 times the market value of the saved water will be available for each project.

How to apply You can apply through a series of rolling tenders.

The next two tender rounds close at 3 pm on 10 December 2018 and 25 January 2019.

For more information and to access the tender documents, visit agriculture.gov.au/waterefficiency.

Email procurementhelpdesk@agriculture.gov.au for assistance.

Delivery Partners We’re also seeking tenders from organisations that will work with water rights holders to develop and deliver water saving projects.

All projects under $1 million must apply through a Delivery Partner, including on-farm projects in Qld, SA and the ACT.

Register for our webinar series to learn more about eligible projects, the selection process and how projects are delivered. Register or listen to previous webinars at agriculture.gov.au/waterefficiency.

AUSTRALIANMINING

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FUTURE OF MINING

PUTTING POTASH ON THE MAP AUSTRALIA DOESN’T PRODUCE A SINGLE TONNE OF POTASH, BUT THERE’S A GOOD CHANCE THAT WILL CHANGE IN 2020. BEN CREAGH WRITES. Photo Credit: Kalium Lakes.

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otash is not a household name when it comes to mining in Australia. It has, however, started to emerge on the radar.

Ask a Canadian miner, or perhaps a Russian, and their familiarity with potash will be much more extensive than their Australian counterparts.

The two expansive Northern Hemisphere countries produced around 42 per cent of global potash production in 2016 with a combined 16.5 million tonnes, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

Australia, on the other hand, doesn’t produce a single tonne of the key ingredient used in agricultural fertilisers.

That is, despite Australia consuming around 400,000 tonnes of fertiliser in agriculture from its various imported sources.

Australia is proving, however, that there is potential to produce potash here in the coming years.

A number of junior miners have been advancing sulphate of potash (SOP) projects in Western Australia to reach this goal.

The most advanced of these companies, Kalium Lakes, delivered the first bankable feasibility study (BFS) for an Australian potash project in September at its Beyondie site in the Pilbara.

Kalium Lakes plans to develop Beyondie into Australia’s first potash mine by 2020 (subject to it making a final investment decision).

Managing director Brett Hazelden, a metallurgist with a history in hard rock mining, describes the progress at Beyondie as an “interesting learning curve”.

“Not just for us but also the general population (in Australia),” he says. “When we started this at the end of 2014 no one knew what sulphate of potash was let alone brine mining.”

Beyondie is regarded as Australia’s highest-grade SOP brine deposit and has a proved reserve of 1.65 million tonnes.

The BFS proposes to develop Beyondie into an SOP operation that produces 164,000 tonnes per annum over a two-stage process.

A POTASH HARVESTER IN ACTION.

Kalium Lakes plans to initially spend $159 million on an 82,000 tonne per annum operation, before ramping up to 164,000 tonnes by investing an additional $125 million.

“We might seem small at 82,000 tonnes at the start but that has been a deliberate strategy. We could have gone to 300,000 or 400,000 tonnes but we didn’t think you could finance a half a million dollar potash project here,” Hazelden says.

“It is much easier to finance something that is in the $150–$160 million mark.”

Hazelden says Kalium Lakes will eventually look at increasing production to beyond the phase two target over the project’s estimated 30-year mine life.

Kalium Lakes’ feasibility studies have gradually attracted the attention of financiers, particularly in Germany. The company had previously found securing funding for the project challenging due to potash’s obscurity in Australia.

AUSTRALIANMINING

“It hasn’t been done in Australia before so we needed to demonstrate that you can get the water out of the ground and get the salts to produce in the manner that we have said,” Hazelden says.

“By taking people to the site – investors or banks – as soon as they get up there then understand it.

“It is pretty simple. It is effectively the dewatering of a mine without having an open pit or an underground.”

The proposed production process has five main steps, starting with brine pumping where it is extracted from basal sands using submersible bores, as well as pumping of trenches from an upper aquifer.

Brine is then pumped into solar evaporation ponds where calcium, sodium, potassium and magnesium mixed salts sequentially precipitates in separate ponds.

The mixed potassium salts that crystallise from the solar evaporation ponds are then

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ready to be mechanically harvested and stockpiled.

Mixed potassium salts are fed into a purification plant facility where they are converted into schoenite through a conversion and recycling process and are then separated from halite via flotation.

A shoenite slurry undergoes thermal decomposition into SOP, which after drying and compaction in a purification plant, is ready to be used and sold.

Kalium Lakes plans to target the local marketplace with its product, despite surging demand for potash in China and throughout Asia.

“Generally we are looking to capture Australia, New Zealand and a little bit of South East Asia as our main markets,” Hazelden says.

Kalium Lakes has an offtake agreement with leading German fertiliser company K+S for 100 per cent of production from stage one of the Beyondie operation.

Keeping with the German

FUTURE OF MINING

Photo Credit: Kalium Lakes.

trend, Kalium Lakes’ extensive pilot purification plant trials have taken place in the European nation with K-UTEC. Kalium Lakes’ progress towards securing funding for the project has been through the German Government’s IMC for the Export Credit Agency (ECA) scheme.

Despite Kalium Lakes being one of many emerging ASX-listed potashfocused juniors, Hazelden doesn’t expect there to be rapid increase in supply here.

“Most of the others are looking to go into China, which is an interesting place to sell into because of the price mechanisms they have,” Hazelden says.

“It is (also) still a learning curve here. No one here has a lot of understanding of potash in general; it has been an education for not just ourselves but for everyone else.

“We’ve also had to educate the JORC committees by getting people in from where there is a brine code. That has helped people to understand what look for in these types of deposits.”

Even if the Beyondie project doesn’t ignite a flurry of new potash operations, at least Kalium Lakes is proving it is possible in Australia. AM

AN AERIAL IMAGE OF THE BEYONDIE PILOT POND.

Bigger Facilities. Better Support . Closer to our Customers.

NEWCASTLE | MACKAY | PERTH +61 2 4924 8248 sales@mclanahan.com.au www.mclanahan.com

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AUSTRALIANMINING

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2/10/2018 4:24 PM

ENGINEERING

COVE CONVEYOR CONTRAPTION MAKES IDLE WORK OF IDLERS REPLACING IDLERS IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF CONVEYOR MAINTENANCE. COVE ENGINEERING IS MAKING THIS ESSENTIAL PROCESS SAFER AND EASIER. EWEN HOSIE REPORTS.

R

eplacing conveyor belt idlers is an important maintenance process that can require considerable physical exertion.

To replace damaged idlers, personnel are usually required to lift conveyor belting and lift the replacement idlers into place, which often weigh up to 70kg. The combination of manual handling and sometimes tricky access to get into position to change the idlers leads to back aches and other muscular pains.

Cove Engineering was cogent of this OH&S issue when designing its idler replacement system Smart Frame, which the company designed for quicker, easier and safer access to conveyor idlers.

General manager Michael Lay says the initial design of Smart Frame allows idlers to be changed while the belt is in operation, but the concept evolved over time to instead prioritise the benefits of superior access. This manifests primarily in the Smart Frame’s setup, which lets

users change idlers from walkways during maintenance.

“The original concept of changing idlers on the fly whilst the belt is running is still valid,” Lay tells Australian Mining.

“However, we found far more application for areas where there was poor access to the conveyor idlers, so it became more of an access and safety product rather than a productivity-focused product.”

This isn’t to say Smart Frame doesn’t provide productivity benefits, either. Lay cites a testimonial from one client who suggests the use of the system means the required downtime to switch out the idlers is 20 per cent of what is normally required.

Due to the fact that a single user can operate the Smart Frame, this provides “a compounding effect” saving both time and personnel, according to Lay. “Certainly the feedback for all of these installations — and there’s been numerous installations of hundreds of frames — has been terrific and we’ve had no

SMART FRAME SAVES TIME DURING IDLER REPLACEMENT.

AUSTRALIANMINING

COVE RELEASED ITS FIRST VERSION OF SMART FRAME IN 2006.

complaints.”

So how does it work? The Smart Frame uses a hand-operated locking mechanism that locks the idler into its intended working position.

A pivoting shaft system allows for radial movement of idlers in and out of operational position via the use of a spigot and socket tool, allowing for easy replacement from the safety of the walkway.

Basket cradles capture the idler as it is lowered out of its normal working position. The worker can then remove the old idler either by hand or with a specially designed tool and subsequently replace the old idler with a new one.

The cradle is free on both ends of the idler so when the rotating arms of the Smart Frame are rotated upwards, they automatically engage with the slots in the idler shafts and pick the idler up. The idler then locates into the frame and is locked into the operating position.

The Smart Frame system is configured to user specifications and provides the flexibility to be used for troughs, returns or a combination of the two, as well as for single and dual idler returns.

Cove is supplying a Smart Frame setup to a Western Australian gold site where the conveyor has a walkway on only one side. All return idlers will be accessible from the

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DUE TO THE FACT THAT A SINGLE USER CAN OPERATE THE SMART FRAME, THIS PROVIDES A COMPOUNDING EFFECT SAVING BOTH TIME AND PERSONNEL.” single walkway.

“It is often retrofitted to older conveyor systems,” adds Lay. “The Smart Frame concept is an idea of reversing a process; instead of lifting a belt you are removing an idler from the belt itself,” he says.

“Most of our applications are brownfield applications where a customer has a conveyor, identifies an issue that they have often been living with for years, and once installed, our product solves the issue.”

A specialist in conveyor, gearbox and container crane technology and engineering, the Wollongong, New South Wales-based engineering company works locally in Queensland, NSW and Western Australia and internationally in Chile.

Cove introduced its first version of Smart Frame to market in 2006. AM

EFFICIENCY

HOW THE RIGHT OIL MAXIMISES UP TIME

MACHINERY PERFORMS BETTER WITH THE RIGHT LUBRICATION.

AS MINING ACCELERATES, THE RELIABILITY AND EFFICIENCY OF YOUR EQUIPMENT AND OPERATIONS BECOMES MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER.

T

o ensure mining operations remain profitable, heavy duty diesel machinery needs to be productive.

And, to keep machinery working hard in the long term, its engine life needs to be prolonged.

While regular servicing and maintenance is crucial, the right diesel engine oil is just as important.

By potentially extending the life of critical engine parts, it will be protecting machinery and reducing whole-of-life costs.

A lubricant needs to do more than simply provide a protective film.

It needs to work effectively across a wide number of applications, and cater to Australia’s extreme conditions.

It needs to reduce engine wear and maximise engine life, so mining

companies get the most out of their machinery.

Choosing an engine oil that exceeds both industry specifications and manufacturers’ performance requirements is key, particularly if machinery is under warranty.

One engine oil that complies with key industry standards is Delo 400 MGX SAE 15W-40, which offers industry-leading durability and reliability.

Delo 400 MGX SAE 15W-40 offers the proven performance of Delo 400 Multigrade SAE 15W-40 combined with the latest in heavy duty diesel oil additive technology. It provides outstanding protection to a wide range of equipment used in mining.

Delo 400 MGX SAE 15W-40 is designed to maximise the life of diesel engine components to keep machinery productive for longer.

How does Delo 400 MGX SAE 15W-40 perform?

Delo 400 MGX SAE 15W-40 offers protection, performance and confidence. Formulated with ISOSYN Technology, it helps to maintain the durability of critical engine parts.

Leveraging Chevron’s patented Isodewaxing process for base oils and bespoke high performance additive systems, Delo 400 MGX SAE 15W-40 provides excellent soot dispersion, outstanding TBN retention and prevents deposit build-up.

All of which helps to keep engines clean and free from corrosion, prolonging engine life.

One engine oil for your entire operation

Delo 400 MGX SAE 15W-40 is designed for a mix of new and older diesel equipment. It’s compatible

with all engines requiring API CJ-4 or earlier specifications and the corresponding original equipment manufacturer (OEM) requirements and specifications.

It can accommodate alternative fuels such as Biofuels, CNG and LNG. That means mining companies could have the added operating efficiency of stocking just one engine oil for their business.

Caltex has the reach to meet mining lubricant needs across Australia, including bulk deliveries.

A dedicated sales team can answer any questions mining companies have about lubricants and equipment.

Delo 400 MGX SAE is fully backed by Caltex, which has been a supplier of quality lubricants to the Australian market for over 100 years. AM

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AUSTRALIANMINING

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DECEMBER 2018

22 Industry Place Bayswater VIC 3153 Australia Telephone: +61 3 9720 1100 Email: sales@crusaderhose.com.au www.crusaderhose.com.au

TECHNOLOGY

A REVOLUTIONARY MATERIAL SEGMENTED GIRTH GEARS HAVE A NUMBER OF ADVANTAGES, INCLUDING SIMPLER MANUFACTURING, EASE OF TRANSPORT AND STRAIGHTFORWARD INSTALLATION. BUT WHY HAS THIS TECHNOLOGY COME TO THE FORE IN RECENT YEARS?

F

undamental to the emergence of the technology is the austempered ductile iron (ADI) that the girth gears are made from.

In this article, the ADI is described, including its properties and how it has enabled a revolution in girth-gear technology.

They are installed around the circumference of these systems, and transfer the drive torque from the gear motor to the rotary cylinder. If necessary, the rotation of the cylinder can be induced by several drives, to distribute the load. When the girth gears are used in this manner, high torques can be achieved by smaller,

more efficient units.

According to SEW-Eurodrive technical sales representative David Atkinson, traditional girth gears generally consist of two-to-four segments that are assembled during manufacturing for further processing.

They require large and expensive machines for casting, handling and heat treatment.

In contrast, SEW-Eurodrive girth gears are split into several identical segments in order to keep the component parts short and easy to handle.

“This is made possible by the use of austempered ductile iron when casting the girth gears,” says Atkinson. “The tensile strength

of ADI is superior to that of other materials.”

Girth gears made from ADI are lighter than their traditional counterparts and feature an aboveaverage contact fatigue strength, thanks to the cold work-hardening properties of ADI. The decreased size of the girthgear segments reduces the cost of scrapping the blanks used for casting the segments. The blanks for the segmented gears can be used without additional welding or oversizing.

Because of the physical properties of ADI, segmented girth gears can be constructed with a thinner face width on the gears. This has the advantage of reducing wear and noise, as well

THE GIRTH GEARS ARE SPLIT INTO SEVERAL IDENTICAL SEGMENTS TO KEEP THE PARTS SHORT AND EASY TO HANDLE.

AUSTRALIANMINING

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as contributing to the lighter weight and reduced material cost. And, in addition to the physical advantages, ADI enables fast manufacturing times compared to traditional methods.

More quenching

The key distinguishing characteristics of ADI are introduced during the tempering stage of the iron production process. For ADI, the ductile iron is held at the quenching temperature for an extended period.

This produces ausferrite, which is a matrix (or mixture) of acicular ferrite and austenite, stabilised with about 2 per cent carbon. Named after the British metallurgist, Sir William Chandler Roberts-Austen, austenite is

TECHNOLOGY

THE ADI GIRTH GEARS MANUFACTURED BY SEWEURODRIVE ARE SUITABLE FOR USE IN A VARIETY OF SECTORS.” a non-magnetic solid solution of iron and another alloying element.

The first step in this process is to make a casting from ductile iron, which consists of traditional cast iron with the addition of magnesium and silicon.

The casting is immersed in liquid salt, sometimes described by engineers as “corrosive lava”.

This immersion leads to the matrix changing to austenite. The casting is then quenched, or cooled rapidly. The temperature is now reduced, and the austempering step begins. Finally, the casting is left to cool. It is then ready for use.

Enhanced properties

The austempering style of quenching leads to a material renowned for its low cost, design flexibility, good machinability, high strength-toweight ratio and good toughness, wear resistance and fatigue strength.

According to the Ductile Iron Society, ADI delivers twice the strength for a given level of elongation when compared with conventional grades of ductile iron. In addition, ADI offers exceptional wear resistance and fatigue strength.

For a typical component, ADI costs 20 per cent less per unit weight than steel. During manufacture, ADI gears require around 50 per cent less energy than those made from conventional materials. Other advantages include increased machine shop productivity, reduction in weight of up to 10 per cent, reduced gear noise, rapid ‘break in’

of new gears and improved resistance to scoring.

It is the cold work-hardening properties of ADI, when combined with an appropriate girth gear size, that allow for a more compact and lighter gear design than traditional solutions.

This low weight is important for the handling and assembly of the girth gear, as well as for achieving circumferential velocity.

Small segments

SEW-Eurodrive launched its first ADI segmented girth gears in 2008.

The segmented design of the SEWEurodrive girth gears simplifies handling at the construction site.

Similarly, there is no need for special transportation.

The design also guarantees an initial pitch accuracy of ISO 8, which minimises the vibrations of the girth gears. (ISO 8 is a standard that refers to the Q-number, also known as gear quality number or gear quality grade.

It indicates the geometric accuracy level of teeth on a gear.)

Atkinson says a further benefit of the design is that segments can be replaced easily, without the need for dismantling the entire ring.

In addition, with the correct dimensioning, alignment, load and lubrication, an ADI girth gear is almost wear-free. This also means that spare holdings can be simplified and reduced.

“The ADI girth gears manufactured by SEW-Eurodrive are

THE DECREASED SIZE OF THE GIRTH-GEAR SEGMENTS REDUCES THE COST OF SCRAPPING BLANKS.

suitable for use in a variety of sectors.

These include the energy sector, the pulp and paper industry, mining, the steel sector and the cement industry,” he says.

The largest of these girth gears, typically used in mills, are up to 16 metres in diameter and deliver power of up to approximately 15 MW. In these applications, the rotation speed can be up to 20 rpm.

Those used in rotary kilns are usually smaller, with diameters up to

nine metres and power typically up to 1 MW. The rotation speed of these smaller girth gears is slower, typically up to 2 rpm.

Industry is clearly taking notice of the developments in girth-gear technology.

The number of ADI segmented girth-gear projects in Australia has increased markedly over the last 12 months, particularly in the mining sector. The trend looks set to continue. AM

www.braemac.com.au (03) 9550 6600

AUSTRALIANMINING

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SAFETY

FIRE SUPPRESSION DELIVERY HOSES ARE BADLY DAMAGED DUE TO DETERIORATION.

FIRE SAFETY AUDITS AND STUDIES RETURN MINING OPERATIONS TO FULL CAPACITY AFTER FIRE WHEN A LARGE WEST AFRICAN GOLD MINE WAS STRUCK BY A SERIES OF THERMAL EVENTS OVER THE SPACE OF A YEAR, FIRE INVESTIGATION & SAFETY COMPLIANCE AUSTRALIA (FISCA) TOOK A DIVE INTO THE ROOT CAUSE OF THE ISSUE. AUSTRALIAN MINING EXPLAINS.

O

ver the last year, a large gold mine in West Africa lost some of its most valuable mobile assets to fires that occurred during normal mining activities.

In a harsh working environment like the Sahara, things don’t always

go according to plan. And even the most robust equipment such as fire suppression systems are susceptible to accelerated deterioration.

FISCA was engaged to conduct an exhaustive fire safety audit of the 200-and-over mobile fleet to identify potential triggers in an effort to limit future thermal events.

TIMELY ACCESS AND OPERATION IS CRITICAL TO THE EFFECTIVENESS OF FIRE SUPPRESSION SYSTEMS.

AUSTRALIANMINING

Additionally, a thorough review of response and emergency procedures was conducted.

Company director and principal investigator Morgan Cook says, “There are numerous reasons for fires starting on mobile plant and machinery during normal mining operations, such as: • Excessive temperatures when the machinery is working and the in ability to have these machines cool off, •S pillage of flammable substances such as diesel and oils on the engine or areas on the machine that generate excessive heat resulting in spontaneous combustion, •L ack of on-board fire suppression systems to extinguish fires, •E xcessive friction on brakes and tyres, •E arly warning detection systems that are either inadequate or don’t work the way they should, and

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•P oor maintenance including tyre degradation and build-up of dirt and grime over the engine and cooling system.”

Fire safety audit

The fire safety audit was conducted in accordance with Australian Standard 4655-2005 (Fire Safety Audits) and Mining Design Guideline 1032 (guideline for the prevention, early detection and suppression of fires in coal mines).

Despite the operation being a gold mine, the principles laid out in MDG 1032 were also applied.

The audit dealt with the largest part of the mobile plant possible to determine why, with suppression systems in place, the machines were still being lost to fire.

The fire safety audit identified several significant issues that impacted critical fire safety measures on the mobile plant and equipment.

These include the deterioration

RECOMMENDATIONS INCLUDED A MAJOR OVERHAUL OF THE FIRE SUPPRESSION SYSTEMS, INCLUDING AN INCREASE IN THE USE OF WET CHEMICAL SUPPRESSION AGENTS IN PLACE OF DRY POWDER. of suppressant delivery hoses on the on-board fire suppression systems, and the inadequate placement and damage of linear detection wires, manual activation devices and applicator nozzles – all of which resulted in an ineffective system.

Recommendations included a major overhaul of the fire suppression systems, including an increase in the use of wet chemical suppression agents in place of dry powder.

“Further observations revealed other issues that contributed to the damage caused by the thermal events,” says Cook.

“The emergency response procedures that were currently in place were not sufficient resulting in no professional fire-fighting in place for over 45 minutes during one particular thermal event, with water carts having to do most of the initial extinguishment.

“This was caused by inefficient procedural requirements and a lack of understanding of the need for a fast response in the event of a mine fire by the mine’s security staff.”

Subsequently, further recommendations included a redesign of the emergency response procedures, with the inclusion of a mobile response point. This was designed to ensure that firefighting personnel onsite have unhindered access to the mine to deliver the safest possible response in the shortest amount of time. It would minimise life risks, reduce

downtime caused by a loss of fleet and infrastructure, and get mining operations back to maximum output.

FISCA also took the opportunity to observe the installed fire safety measures throughout the site. Cook says, “The harsh conditions of the mine site mean that simple items such as hose reels and fire extinguishers have suffered.

“Somewhat paradoxically, practical issues such as access to external hydrants was compromised, not through neglect but in a bid to protect the equipment, with a prime example being a hydrant surrounded by a large haul truck tyre making the hydrant difficult to use, hindering timely access and operation.”

Through these observations, FISCA was able to highlight a number of fire safety-related areas that the mine could improve upon, and thus ensure the safety of its personnel, fleet and infrastructure in the future.

Being in the business of providing essential information and recommendations in regard to all aspects of fire safety, rather than in the business of selling fire safety products, Cook says “FISCA has been providing clients with worldclass forensic fire investigation and fire safety compliance services since 2011.

“With a collective fire industry experience spanning more than 50 years, FISCA has helped to increase the safety of some of the biggest mining operations on the planet.” AM

“ ProTrac measures reliably – even under extreme conditions.”

New from VEGA: the radiation-based instrument series, ProTrac.

ProTrac delivers reliable measurements for level, density, mass flow or point level.

Using four detector variants, ProTrac can solve the most difficult measuring problems – whether in extreme temperatures, high pressures or aggressive media. The system also provides additional security with integrated asset management. www.vega.com/au/innovation Phone: 1800 817 135

FIRE HYDRANT IS GUARDED BY A HAUL TRUCK TYRE, MAKING ITS USE DIFFICULT AND POSSIBLY DANGEROUS.

AUSTRALIANMINING

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PRODUCTIVITY

FLOWING WITHOUT IMPEDIMENTS THE MAXIMUM PRODUCTIVITY OF THE LARGEST IRON ORE MINER IN EUROPE HINGES UPON A SMOOTH – AND EXTRATERRITORIAL – FLOW OF ORE PRODUCTS. AUSTRALIAN MINING EXPLAINS.

E

urope’s biggest iron ore producer LuossavaaraKiirunavaara Aktiebolag (LKAB) yields millions of tonnes of iron ore every year.

In fact, ore mined from its two underground mines in Sweden is equivalent to around six Eiffel towers every day (in terms of steel amount).

Still, the miner aspires to increase production by an additional 5 per cent year by year up until 2021.

Before being shipped to clients – a majority of whom are European steel mills – LKAB processes its ore into fines, pellets and other products.

These are then transported by rail to shipping harbours.

In order to accommodate the demands of this distribution, LKAB built a 17,000 metric ton capacity storage hopper to facilitate a mass flow of iron ore fines. LKAB had to ensure it was void of flow problems previously experienced by other storage hoppers.

Continuous flow of ore products When arching and bridging iron ore fines and pressed pellets, LKAB’s storage hoppers encountered hangup issues that seriously impeded the company’s operation. What’s more, its ore fines were also found frozen on the surface of the unlined equipment during the cold weather.

To manage these issues, LKAB put two production lines in an alternate rather than synchronous operation so an adequate and consistent material flow could be maintained – one production line at a time.

The entire manufacturing process was also regularly shut down to reactivate material flow in chutes, hoppers, silos and railcars. These interruptions ultimately cost a considerable amount of human labour, time and money.

LKAB contacted German engineering consultant Schluze & Schwedes to assess the issues. The company decided to modify LKAB’s hopper design, while also lining the new hoppers with an exceptionally slick and abrasion-resistant material.

For a short while, A2-grade stainless steel was considered as a possible lining material. But this alternative was quickly dismissed due to possible corrosion of stainless steel when in contact with the chemical properties of the iron ore, resulting in a short wear life.

Instead, Polymeric material Tough Inert Very Abrasion Resistant (Tivar) 88 was chosen as the preferred lining – it is immune to corrosion, water repellent and even eliminates arching challenges. Further, it has been designed and manufactured for a quick installation on-site.

Tivar 88 is simply fitted with

THE TIVAR RANGE IS WIDELY USED ACROSS THE WORLD’S MINING APPLICATIONS.

AUSTRALIANMINING

TIVAR 88 – PICTURED HERE ON A CHUTE – FEATURES A SUPER SLICK RELEASE AND ABRASION RESISTANCE.

THE INSTALLATION PROCESS PRODUCES A SEAMLESS LINING SURFACE THAT WOULD NOT INHIBIT MASS FLOW. countersinking screws, which are covered by TIVAR 88 plugs and advanced butt welding at joints.

The installation process produces a seamless lining surface that would not inhibit mass flow.

Being a superior, modified grade of the base industry-standard of UHMW-PE (ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene) that increases flow of product, the material was used

by LKAB personnel to line other areas of the iron ore handling system.

In Australia, the Tivar range is imported from Germany by E-Plas Engineering and Specialty plastics.

Company national operations manager Sean Kelly says, “If a client or a production supervisor is having problems with a hopper on the mine site, we are able to assist with a variety of solutions, which will enhance production and profitability.

“Depending on the numerous applications on-site, other products within the Tivar range can be used for bulk material handling.”

With the low coefficient of friction of Tivar 88, it is exemplary

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in facilitating bulk solids flow of cohesive or non-free flowing materials such as minerals, metals, steel, cement and chemical. These properties are effective even in the extreme temperatures of -269°C to over 80°C. Additionally, among the Tivar range are a multitude of modified products, such as the distinctively avocado-coloured Tivar Ceram P for demanding applications with higher mechanical loads.

It is capable of sustaining operating speeds of up to 700 metres per minute while providing a lining of low maintenance and long lifespan.

“Further, there’s a new addition to the Tivar 88 family. It’s called Tivar 88-2, which adds UV resistance while bearing weldable property.

“All things considered, the longevity, the number of uses in the marketplace and the successful history of the Tivar88 family prove that there are so many happy clients who continue to purchase the product after many generations,” Kelly concludes. AM

XXX

2019

AUSTRALIAN MINING PROSPECT AWARDS

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INDUSTRY COMMENT

METSTECH PASSPORT BRINGS THE AUSTRALIAN AND CHILEAN MINING SECTORS CLOSER AUSTRALIAN MINING SPEAKS WITH PARTICIPANTS OF THIS YEAR’S METSTECH PASSPORT PROGRAM, A TWO-WEEK IMMERSION INTO THE CHILEAN MINING INDUSTRY.

T

he 2018 METStech Passport program has given three Australian METS (mining, engineering and technology services) companies significant insights into Chile’s lucrative mining industry.

This year’s program saw the companies cover large swathes of Chile, including the capital Santiago, Antofagasta and the Rancagua and Cachapoal Valley, home to Codelco’s El Tieniente mine.

The program, announced at the 2017 International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC) in Melbourne, is a two-week immersive course set up by government-funded METS Ignited, the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) and Expande, Fundacion Chile’s open innovation program.

Initiative sponsor METS Ignited general manager international markets Clare Sykes says the passport program has been extremely successful, fostering opportunities for METS and mining companies to create stepchange in the mining ecosystem.

In addition to the involvement of the Australian METS companies, three Chilean companies visited Australia as well.

“Expande has seen a great potential for synergy between both METS ecosystem and the Passport program aims to ignite a relationship based on collaboration that actively contribute to the development of a global mining innovation hub between Australia and Chile,” METStech Passport Expande project leader Patricio Pastorelli notes at the program’s launch.

The Australian companies that participated were Minnovare, MatrixMaterials and Conveyor Products and Solutions (CPS).

Minnovare is primarily known for its Production Optimiser drill and blast system for underground hard rock mining, CPS for its conveyor components, and Matrix for sustainable development in the transport industry.

CHILE OFFERS A WEALTH OF MINING OPPORTUNITIES FOR AUSTRALIAN METS COMPANIES.

Chile is the world’s biggest copper producer and hosts its largest copper mine, Escondida, which is responsible for around 5 per cent of global supply of the base metal.

In addition to other major minerals such as gold, iron ore and molybdenum, over 50 per cent of Chile’s exports are mining related and the mining industry accounts for 10 per cent of Chile’s gross domestic product.

Michael Beilby, commercial director and co-founder of Minnovare, says the opportunity has allowed his company to understand the underground hard rock mining landscape in Chile.

“The Chileans were very open to our technology and immediately identified other potential applications such as surface blast hole drilling,” he says.

“In order to build a business in Chile you need to be willing to commit significant time and resources. It is AUSTRALIANMINING

important that you either partner with a Chilean company or hire Chileans in order to be successful in the region.”

Max Herscovitz, CPS product development manager, says participation in the event has allowed him to assess Latin American (LATAM) opportunities for overseas growth.

A purveyor of bulk material handling conveyor rollers, idlers and pulleys, the company receives excellent exposure to a massive international mining market.

“The biggest benefit of participating in the program was the exposure the Chilean market,” Herscovitz explains.

“It gave us detailed insight into the market and also provided many useful contacts in the industry. It certainly accelerated our strategy to pursue international markets.”

MatrixMaterials is known for its construction of road surfaces using up

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to 100 per cent waste materials. This includes works on highways, local roads and heavy-duty mining haul roads.

Though this was the company’s first time in Chile, it has other international experience; just before participating in the METStech Passport program the company completed a road in the United States near Washington D.C. and Fairfax County that was blended entirely of recycled glass and incinerator ash.

“The first three days of our time in Chile was very much about learning how to do business in Chile, how to access funds and how to access business,” MatrixMaterials chief executive officer Simon Bruce explains.

“That was really most helpful. Some of us felt at the time that it was too much, but at a later stage at the end of the program you look back on those three days as very important.”

Bruce and Herscovitz both agree about the relative similarity of Chile’s mining industry to Australia’s, language and minor cultural barriers notwithstanding.

According to Herscovitz, this is a major takeaway from the program.

“The Chilean mining industry is highly advanced and they have the same focus and issues as we experience here in Australia. The program can definitely bring the countries industries closer together,” Herscovitz says.

Bruce adds it is not just the culture, but also the conditions that are comparable.

“Mining conditions are very similar to many of our conditions. These are remote communities; it’s hot and dry, so many of the conditions are very similar,” he explains.

“We learnt that Chile is a stable country and a very easy place to do business with — apart from the language which is different but a fun challenge to overcome.

“They’re fairly laid back people and it’s a really nice country to do business with.” AM

INDUSTRY COMMENT

TAKING PROFESSIONAL EXCELLENCE TO THE WORLD STAGE AUSIMM CONTINUES TO ENHANCE THE AUSTRALIAN AND GLOBAL MINING INDUSTRY IN ITS 125TH YEAR AS A LEADING BODY FOR THE INDUSTRY. AUSTRALIAN MINING WRITES.

T

he Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Global Mining Association of China.

The MOU signing, which took place at the China Mining Conference and Exhibition 2018, is a landmark development for Chinese resources professionals.

It allows Chinese professionals to gain access to Australian professional development and mining credentials.

The MOU will focus on enhancing excellence in the resources industry. It will provide members of both organisations with opportunities for networking, access to key industry events as well as world class seminars and training.

AusIMM chief executive officer Stephen Durkin says the MOU showcases the international collaboration taking place in the mining industry when it comes to best practice.

“Sharing knowledge and

professional development opportunities is core business for the AusIMM,” Durkin says.

“Ensuring that the workforce of the future across Australasia is equipped with the resources and tools to be adequately credentialed and educated by Australian standards brings enormous opportunities for national and international investment as well as for professionals.”

The GMAC is the representative body for both companies and individuals within the international mining community in China.

Its main goals focus on advocacy, networking, representation and support of its members in the international mining community in China.

Meanwhile, AusIMM used the International Mining and Resource Conference (IMARC) in Melbourne to showcase its contemporary brand revamp.

AusIMM, as a founding partner of IMARC, took the opportunity to reveal the modern style across digital screens and banners throughout the Melbourne

SHARING KNOWLEDGE AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES IS CORE BUSINESS FOR THE AUSIMM.” Exhibition and Convention Centre.

It is the first restyling AusIMM has undergone in five years.

Durkin says the new styling leverages off the strong history of the organisation, while reflecting the future direction of AusIMM. “We stand tall on over a century of recognition for the integrity and the professional standards we uphold.

This evolution of our branding builds on this history to promote AusIMM as a contemporary and externally focused organisation,” Durkin says.

“The latest AusIMM revamp brings with it a new brandmark, core colour adjustments as well as a core pattern element, to provide key branding consistency across multiple platforms that AusIMM uses and interacts on.

“The most well-known brands across the world have cultivated and

AUSIMM IS BRINGING THE MINING INDUSTRIES OF CHINA AND AUSTRALIA CLOSER TOGETHER.

AUSTRALIANMINING

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evolved their brand to foster their recognition over many generations.

AusIMM understands this to be an important element of our growth as an organisation.”

AusIMM’s online presence has been redeveloped to bring it into the modern digital age by interacting with technology away from home and on the go.

The re-brand takes place as AusIMM continues to celebrate its 125th anniversary as the peak professional body for the resources sector.

AusIMM represents more than 65,000 resources sector professionals in the Australasian region (including New Zealand), across industry, government and academia. AM

PRODUCT SHOWCASE

KEEPING WATER MOVING FROM THE GROUND UP A MINE WORKER HAS MANY THINGS TO CONSIDER, BUT NOT GROUND WATER CONTROL. CRUSADER HOSE GENERAL MANAGER DANIEL SEOW EXPLAINS HOW THE COMPANY’S CREATIVE THINKING BREEDS CUSTOM-DESIGNED SOLUTIONS.

T

here are two types of mine dewatering hoses, according to Crusader Hose general manager Daniel Seow.

Firstly, there are hoses that vertically go down and carry up water out of the ground as if against gravity; then there are those that take it from there and redirect it someplace else.

A worker may choose a new home for the water miles and miles away: a tank, a reservoir, a lake.

One thing’s for sure, Crusader Hose keeps mining activities moving forward with its humble yet crucial ability: handling voluminous water mass with minimum fuss.

Waterlord – as the name implies – is the lord of mine dewatering.

And it has one thing in common with the rest of Crusader’s family of hoses: flexibility.

This characteristic owes to its layflat form; the above-ground hose is able to go over rugged terrain environment without the need of cutting and welding. It can slope up and downhill just fine, allowing a near-immediate start to mining activities amidst tight schedules and targets.

The hose is able to save even more time by allowing more water to be pumped out at once: one, by its ability to swell up to about 10 per cent, and two, by coming up with a diameter size of up to 12 inch next to the traditional offerings of eight- and six-inch.

Seow says, “You are moving a lot of water with a 12-inch hose rather than an eight-inch or a six-inch hose.

Twelve-inch is the largest you have in the marketplace today.”

One can be sure of Waterlord’s ability to handle pumping of this amount because its tight and woven polyester fabric is covered by polyurethane. Not only does this ensure maximum abrasion, but it also withstands corrosion and features chemical resistance.

“Not all oil and chemical, but majority,” emphasises Seow.

This is something that Crusader

CRUSADER HOSE HAS CUSTOM-DESIGNED ITS OWN COUPLING TO MAKE HOSE REINSTALLATION AN EASY TASK.

Hose can attest to as their hoses are fully manufactured at its Australian factory.

At the same time, it has designed Waterlord to have tight polyester fabric to handle high pumping pressures with minimal friction loss.

Every hose has to go through a hydrostatic test before leaving the factory and they all come out with a test plate, because leaks at high pressures can not only be wasteful but also dangerous.

“When you’re pumping at high pressure, you want to make sure that the hose is secure,” explains Seow.

“The way we do it is we customdesign our hose tail. Instead of the normal tail design, we have made ours to bear a right angle-looking ridge, and specially made stainlesssteel clamps will sit on top of this ridge.

AUSTRALIANMINING

WE CUSTOM-DESIGN OUR HOSE TAIL. INSTEAD OF THE NORMAL TAIL DESIGN, WE HAVE MADE OURS TO BEAR A RIGHT ANGLE-LOOKING RIDGE ... SO WHEN YOU LOCK THE HOSE ONTO THE TAIL ITSELF, IT WON’T COME OFF.” “So when you lock the hose onto the tail itself, it won’t come off.”

When asked why Crusader invests in this tooling, Seow says simply: “Because we know the dangers and the time and cost implications of a hose tail coming off.”

The custom-designed Segment couplings prevent downtime that may be caused by a detached hose tail. This requires switching the water pump off and reinstalling the hose back in.

“If you use wire whip, the hose

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is still securely installed,” explains Seow. “However, it is hard for a wire whipped hose to be rewired on-site because the wire whipping has to be removed and redone on a machine.

“But with the segment clamps, you can cut and re-join the hose on-site. This means you save time and you may resume pumping relatively quickly.”

Waterlord mine dewatering hose is AS4020 portable water approved, proving its maker produces it to the Australian Standard. AM

PRODUCT SHOWCASE

A SMOOTH BRAKING SYSTEM ROLL OUT HILLIARD CORPORATION TELLS AUSTRALIAN MINING HOW IT IS BRINGING ITS APPETITE FOR QUALITY PERFORMANCE THAT EXCEEDS EXPECTATIONS FROM THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE TO AUSTRALIA.

C

onfidence and years of experience have taken Hilliard’s capability to various parts of the world.

Shooting out from its birth place in New York, Hilliard’s custom-engineered offerings have now trekked Oman, Pakistan, China, Cambodia, Italy, Venezuela, Brazil, Indonesia, Belgium, Scotland, the United Kingdom and the majority of the United States.

Hilliard revolutionised the machine tool industry in 1905, and has since grown into a special-applications engineering/ manufacturing company that offers a broad line of industrial motion control solutions for its customers.

Since the transition from distributor to manufacturer of its own brake line, Hilliard has extended its expertise globally.

Hilliard’s regional sales manager Rick Kallenborn, recalling the company’s old days as a distributor for other manufacturers, says, “The problem with being a distributor for another brake manufacturer is you

have no control over its quality, you have no control over where you want to go in the industry, and you have no control over how you can help the industry.

Company marketing operations manager Mark Rose who, with Kallenborn, journeyed with the business through this transition period, explains, “In 1986 we added a distribution line of industrial brakes to our product offerings.

“However, we were restricted to sell in North America only. But when we started manufacturing our own line of brakes, the globe opened up many different opportunities for us.

“This shift signifies our wanting to be in control of our own fate, work with the customer and be able to manufacture products that we know is quality versus the quality in buying and reselling.”

An inventory of pros

Hilliard designed what it wanted, listened to the people in the industry and found out what the market and what clients really needed.

Changes and adjustments were

A400 ARM STYLE CALIPER BRAKE, MOST COMMONLY USED ON DRAGLINES.

AUSTRALIANMINING

M500 MODULAR BRAKE, MOST COMMONLY USED ON CONVEYOR SYSTEMS.

incorporated in both its caliper- and modular-style brakes, and ultimately, the transition has allowed the company to develop very customerfriendly brakes.

Kallenborn remembers finding an easier way to remove brake pads.

Where the task previously required operators to purchase an additional part, Hilliard builds the part right in to its brakes so the users no longer need to remove the brake from service.

This has effectively lessened the amount of inventory needed to be kept while slashing the costs associated with it.

“Specific applications determine what spare parts should ideally be kept in stock. But with the design changes made, the costs associated with replacement parts are significantly lower than a complete brake system,” Kallenborn says.

“If it’s a spring-applied brake, you just keep one spring modular and pads, and that’s all you’re going to need for replacement parts. The same goes for our caliper style brakes – you may keep only one thruster and pads. The thruster is just there in case you somehow damage it.”

Even so, Hilliard-manufactured thrusters are readily available for an easy maintenance and repair on-site, resulting in the ease of conducting a minor brake maintenance or brake replacement while reducing downtime.

When asked about the reason why Hilliard took its time to launch

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its braking system – i.e. nine years later – Kallenborn says the company was taking its brakes under extreme testing conditions since their development.

The brakes were put under a 200 per cent load testing, more than they would ever experience, more than their normal operation. By pushing a million cycles at 100 per cent of their maximum force or more on these brakes – effectively taking them to failure – Hilliard has found the brakes’ failure points and how much they could withstand.

Knowing the harsh environment and extremely high loads that most mines operate under, Hilliard recognises that brake seals will begin to leak and result in brakes fail. So the company wants to remove the possibility of catastrophic failures.

Further, Hilliard offers a full line of fail-safe spring-applied brakes, delivering considerable safety gains compared to drag-applied brakes to users.

And with smaller parts, Hilliard’s brakes apply much more pressure – they have been designed to allow for less mechanical deflection of the components, generating more force than users would normally anticipate.

“Our brakes are truly unique to the marketplace. Others don’t offer a lot of the features we do,” Rose, echoing the company’s certainty in its robust engineering and manufacturing strengths, concludes. AM

PRODUCTS

MARTIN ENGINEERING SAC2S RM CLEANER

BST SINOTRES ABOX-5100 SERIES

Martin Engineering’s SQC2S RM (Reduced Mini) Cleaner from is a compact secondary belt cleaner that allows installation in close quarters, built with a narrow profile that resists material build-up.

Patented rubber buffers maintain cleaning pressure on the latest design, engineered to deflect and allow splices to pass without damage to the belt or cleaner, even on reversing belts.

The rugged construction incorporates individually cushioned stainless steel blades with tungsten carbide tips for effective cleaning with negligible risk to belt, splice or blade. It can withstand even punishing operating conditions, including corrosive environments, high-speed belts and high-tonnage loads.

“The blades conform to the belt profile, adjusting individually to deliver continuous contact across the belt,” explains Dave Mueller, conveyor products manager at Martin Engineering.

Like the other designs in the SQC2 product line, blade removal and replacement is a simple operation by removing the lock pin from the main support assembly and sliding out the cartridge.

Backplane Systems Technology has introduced the ABOX-5100 series for AI-related applications, such as AI deep learning, virtual reality, cloud integration, self-driving vehicles and more.

The ABOX-5100 provides advanced GPU acceleration suitable for such applications in a small footprint case that withstands harsh environments.

The series is powered by a new-generation AMD Ryzen APU (APU=CPU+GPU), which can support up to four CPU cores, eight threads, and four DisplayPort 1.4 cables.

It comes with the AMD E9260 or the Nvidia GTX-1050TI, its GPU following Vega GPU Architecture. Three full-size Mini-PCIe slots for internal expansion and one M.2 A-E Key 2230 for WiFi/GPS/4G LTE are also available.

• backplane.com.au

• martin-eng.com

EXAIR GEN4 IONISING BAR EXAIR’s Gen4 Ionizing Bar eliminates static electricity 25 per cent better than previous models by eliminating larger static charges, faster. It has improved range and is effective when mounted up to 102mm from a charged surface.

Production speeds, product quality and surface cleanliness can improve dramatically. It eliminates static on plastics, webs, sheet stock and other product surfaces where tearing, jamming or hazardous shocks are a problem.

Gen4 products have undergone independent laboratory tests to certify they meet the rigorous safety, health and environmental standards of the United States, European Union and Canada that are required to attain the CE and UL marks.

They are also RoHS compliant. The latest design features include a metal armoured high voltage cable to protect against abrasion and cuts, integrated ground connection and electromagnetic shielding.

FLOORSAFE MIGHTY LINE Flexco has added a new size to its urethane skirting range after the release of its 7.6m rolls of skirting last year.

The 15.2m skirting gives customers the option of limiting the number of gaps in skirting along a conveyor belt system.

Effectively, this restricts the amount of dust that enters the atmosphere and causes safety and environmental hazards on-site.

The skirting system also acts as an effective seal at load points without damaging the top cover of conveyor belts.

It can be applied to single direction and reversing belts, old and new belts, vulcanised and mechanically spliced systems and in wet and dry conditions.

The urethane skirting is suitable for temperatures ranging from 30ºC to 82ºC. Flexco urethane skirting uses a more wear-resistant material than typical rubber. Its superior tear resistance provides three or four times the wear life in similar applications. Its lower coefficient of friction reduces strain on the skirting system.

• caasafety.com

• flexco.com

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PRODUCTS

RONSON GEARS CNC GLEASON PFAUTER HOBBER

WEIR MINERALS MULTIFLO RF

Melbourne-based gear manufacturer Ronson Gears has become worldrenowned since its foundation in 1954 as a leading supplier of open gearing solutions for mining applications, such as vibrating screens, longwall vehicles and drill heads.

It recently produced the CNC Gleason Pfauter P400, a mid-sized gear hobber fully equipped and pre-configured to tackle a wide range of gear manufacturing tasks.

Capable of cutting with extreme precision to the highest standards, the P400 is capable of cuts up to eight module, 400mm in diameter with a face width up to 600mm.

It is ideal for cutting splined shafts, pinion shafts, spur gears and helical gears at high speeds without compromising quality.

As a leading Australian supplier of its type, Ronson Gears aims to maintain its lead with investment in the very latest in world-leading technology.

Weir Minerals has expanded its extensive dewatering solutions portfolio with the global launch of the Multiflo RF dewatering pump unit.

The diesel-driven Multiflo RF pump presents a unit that incorporates the convenience of an auto vacuum priming system with an inbuilt skid and a compact design.

The range has been developed to operate effectively in a variety of harsh environments and applications, such as mining, quarrying, and water transfer.

The Multiflo RF range includes seven new units, each designed to maximise efficiency no matter the application, with the same Weir Minerals aftersales service and support. The unit provides a wide range of standard inclusions and a comprehensive selection of optional features to suit customers’ dewatering needs.

• ronsongears.com.au

• global.weir/products

ESS EZI-GUARD ESS Engineering’s EZI-GUARD system comprises a range of brackets, lightweight panels and structural tubing that form a safety-focused guard system that can be adapted to many applications, including conveyor belt systems.

EZI-GUARD is an‘off-the-shelf’ modular guard system available in a range of materials. The EZI-GUARD is also suitable for use in corrosive environments. It is also available in customisable colours, easy to install and can be tailored to fit site needs. It is also available in materials such as aluminium, 304 stainless steel and galvanised mild steel.

The EZI-GUARD system has been engineered to meet the guard design requirements of AS 4024.3610:2015 Safety of Machinery – Conveyors and ISO 14120-2015 Safety of Machinery.

TOTAL ROCKBREAKING SOLUTIONS BOOMSAFE Developed specifically for hydraulic boom systems, BoomSafe represents a leap forward in remote operation technology, significantly improving uptime for operations.

BoomSafe combines automated movement sequences and collision prevention with true remote multioperation capability for rockbreaker boom systems. In addition, it is inherently simple to maintain and customise by site personnel.

Recent installations in the Pilbara, Western Australia have proven that BoomSafe is the most reliable and cost-effective rockbreaker boom automation and remote operation system available in the market.

BoomSafe offers operator assist functions, automated movement commands, remote module operation and can be retrofitted with existing booms regardless of brand.

• esseng.com.au

• Totalrockbreaking.com.au

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EVENTS

CONFERENCES, SEMINARS & WORKSHOPS EVENT SUBMISSIONS CAN BE EMAILED TO EDITOR@AUSTRALIANMINING.COM.AU

MINING INDABA 2019, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA, FEBRUARY 4–7 2019 Celebrating its 25th anniversary in February 2019 is Investing in African Mining Indaba, “where the world connects with African mining”.

Designed to encourage the growth of African countries as important mining hubs, the event will see mining companies, investors, government officials and stakeholders from around the globe descend on Cape Town to network and attend presentations.

The President of Ghana, Nana AkufoAddo, is announced as a keynote speaker in 2019 to discuss his plans to bring more mining to Ghana. The event will also include a battery metals day, sustainability day and investment pavilion.

• miningindaba.com RIU EXPLORERS CONFERENCE, FREMANTLE, FEBRUARY 19–21 2019 Now in its 18th year, the RIU Explorers Conference is devoted to junior resources companies, including exploration aspirants, new and emerging mining companies and more. The conference has expanded from two to three days and will take place at the Esplanade Hotel, Fremantle.

Brokers, investors and fund

managers will also be in attendance at the event, presenting a stellar business opportunity for mining juniors to get connected. The event features 50 exhibition booths and is expected to host 700–800 delegates. This conference is pivoted towards mining management such as chairmen, chief executive officers, chief financial officers, managers and heads of development and planning. Delegate registration is available through the website below.

• riuconferences.com.au PDAC, TORONTO, CANADA, MARCH 3–6 2019 Billed as the world’s premier mineral exploration and mining convention, the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) exhibition is a four-day event that includes over 1000 exhibitors, 3500 investors and over 25,000 attendees from 135 countries.

It has been running in Canada since 1932. Registration is now open for the 2019 convention, which includes myriad technical sessions, networking opportunities and short course as well as the PDAC 2019 Awards event (nominations for this have closed).

• pdac.caq

AUSTRALIANMINING

MINERAL SANDS CONFERENCE, PERTH, MARCH 20–21 2019 Part of Minerals & Investment Week, the 20th annual Mineral Sands Conference will take place alongside the 22nd Global Iron Ore & Steel Forecast and 2nd annual Lithium and Battery Metals Conference.

This event will take place at The Crown in Perth over two days and will examine Tio2 and zircon developments in Australia. With an interest in Australian mineral sands projects led by companies like Iluka Resources and Base Resources, now is the perfect time to get involved with what could be a burgeoning industry. Join several other Australian companies that will be taking part in this event.

• informa.com.au/event/conference/ mineral-sands-conference/ ALTA 2019, PERTH, MAY 18–25 2019 Now in its 24th year, ALTA 2019 shines a practical focus on technology and project development within the metallurgical sector. The event includes five international conferences over a one-week period, including day sessions devoted to in-situ recovery (ISR), lithium processing and fit-for-purpose

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leaching systems (Gold-PM). The ISR sessions are organised in partnership with CSIRO Minerals while the Gold-PM session is presented in partnership with Curtin Gold. Also included during the week are three short courses for attendees to take part in..

• altamet.com.au AUSTMINE 2019: MINING INNOVATION, BRISBANE, MAY 21–23 2019 Austmine is taking its biennial conference to Brisbane in 2019. The event will continue to feature the best in innovation from around the world.

Over the course of three days there will be workshops, presentations, case studies, networking and Austmine’s mining industry awards.

The comprehensive program features a high calibre selection of international and Australian speakers, paired with first-class and innovative content. The exhibition will present a stellar display of technology, services and solutions that can be discussed in a face-to-face environment.

Austmine 2019: Mining Innovation will be a must-attend event for the mining industry and mining equipment, technology and services (METS) sectors.

• austmineconference.com.au/

NATIONAL GROUP DELIVERS NEW LIEBHERR R 9800 EXCAVATOR AND THREE NEW ‘ULTRACLASS’ KOMATSU 930E DUMP TRUCKS TO IDEMITSU’S BOGGABRI COAL MINE IN NSW On 24th August 2018, coal giant Idemitsu added a new Liebherr R 9800 Excavator followed by three new ‘ultra-class’ Komatsu 930E Dump Trucks to increase production at their Boggabri Coal Mine in NSW This large heavy earthmoving equipment was purchased by National Mining Services, a part of the National Group of companies owned by Managing Director Mark Ackroyd.

The new Liebherr R 9800 Excavator was delivered in pieces to the Boggabri Coal Mine on 13th July 2018 and was subsequently assembled over a one month period.

The R 9800 Excavator has a load capacity of up to 92 tons per pass (up to 48m³), making it one of the most productive excavators on the market. It has an operating weight with backhoe attachment of up to 882 tons and an impressive engine capacity of 2,984 kW / 4,000 HP. Three new ‘ultra-class’ Komatsu 930E Dump Trucks were also handed over to Idemitsu. The 930E’s are notorious for being difficult to source and are some of the larger dump trucks available on the market. The 930E has a gross operating weight of 553 tons, with a load capacity of up to 320 tons per load and a powerful 2,014 kW / 2,700 HP engine.

On 31st August 2018, Mark Ackroyd met with Ray Balks of Idemitsu, General Manager of Operations at the Boggabri Coal Mine to celebrate this important milestone.

“The equipment supplied by National Mining Services was fully operational on 24th August and is expected to support our coal production

targets into the immediate future” stated Ray Balks of Idemitsu, General Manager of Operations at the Boggabri Coal Mine.

“We currently contract National Mining Services to supply our operations with ‘ultra-class’ heavy earthmoving equipment, which has added significant value to our operations.”

Mark Ackroyd, Managing Director of the National Group suggested that “the mining industry is experiencing the early signs of a recovery, with many companies such as Idemitsu steadily increasing production through the use of ‘ultra-class’ equipment.”

“This highlights a turning point for the mining industry and the Australian economy as a whole. After several years of a contracting market, it is promising to see large scale mining operations investing more resources into ‘ultra-class’ heavy earthmoving equipment in order to increase production.”

“As for the National Group, we are currently experiencing exponential growth due to the strength of our partnerships, with relationships at the very core of our business. We have built a strong industry reputation with key brands such as National Mining Services, which is why the National Group services some of the largest companies in the industry such as Idemitsu” said Mark Ackroyd.

Pictured: Left (Ray Balks, Idemitsu), Right (Mark Ackroyd, National Group).

The National Group comprises of leading companies from the mining, resource, logistics and personnel supply industries. National Mining Services is a part of the National Group of companies and provides comprehensive mining solutions to some of Australia’s largest and most respected companies.

For more information go to www.national-group.co

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