Quarry Jul 2021

A leader in sandstone quarrying turns to fit for purpose earthmoving gear

WASH PLANT ADDS TO GOOD FORTUNE

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MEETING THE CUT BLOCK BY BLOCK

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OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF QUARRYING AUSTRALIA

A start-up operation’s choice of wet processing plant has been a boost in trying times

JULY 2021

FROM SINKHOLE TO COMMUNITY ASSET How Penrith Lakes became a standard bearer for rehabilitation and conservation

Efficiency, conservation and innovation.

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IN THIS ISSUE JULY 2021

VOLUME 29, ISSUE 07

FEATURES 21 TOOTH SYSTEM OFFERS MORE PRODUCTIVITY A new generation of ground engaging tools offers significant advances over conventional buckets.

26 WASH RECYCLING - AT THE OPTIMUM A sand washing plant in a recycled aggregates operation is transforming construction wastes into clean, consistent products.

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BLOCK BY BLOCK A leader in sandstone quarrying turns to fit for purpose earthmoving gear.

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RAISED FORTUNE A start-up operation’s choice of wet processing plant has been a boost in trying times.

28 ADAPTABLE TROMMEL SATISFIES DEMAND A trommel has become an important fixture of the Australian recycling aggregates market.

30 FINE AGGREGATES PUT TO THE TEST THe first round of a fine aggregates proficiency testing program has assessed the strengths and purities of construction materials.

36 LEARNING FROM DISASTERS An IQA-sanctioned workshop iis educating quarry personnel to recognise the underlying causes of safety incidents.

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SINKHOLE TO ASSET How Penrith Lakes became a benchmark for rehabilitation and conservation.

JULY 2021

OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF QUARRYING AUSTRALIA

WASH PLANT ADDS TO GOOD FORTUNE

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QUARRY

A leader in sandstone quarrying turns to fit for purpose earthmoving gear

A start-up operation’s choice of wet processing plant has been a boost in trying times

Why Dale Elphinstone is no stranger to the twists and turns of fickle economic conditions.

Experienced infrastructure executive Domenic De Fazio outlines the importance of setting the right vision and values for your organisation.

JULY 2021

www.quarrymagazine.com

MEETING THE CUT BLOCK BY BLOCK

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40 CHASING THE BAGEL INDUSTRY DOYEN

FROM SINKHOLE TO COMMUNITY ASSET How Penrith Lakes became a standard bearer for rehabilitation and conservation

COVER ADVERTISER: The Volvo CE L150H wheel loader, at work in Gosford Quarries’ Mount White Quarry, can carry blocks of sandstone between 6.5 and nine tonnes on its tynes. Turn to page 16 or visit cjd.com.au

EVERY MONTH 04 FROM THE EDITOR

15 PRODUCT FOCUS

06 FROM THE IQA PRESIDENT

44 IQA NEWS

08 NEWS THIS MONTH

45 FROM THE IQA CEO

Quarry July 2021 3

EDITORIAL

REMARKABLE QUARRYING PEOPLE WITH GREAT STORIES

W

hat I still enjoy about being Quarry editor – after knocking about in this role for 13 years – is the variety of people I interview. They have ranged from captains of industry to former politicians, chairs and presidents of peak bodies to heads of notfor-profit organisations, scientists and technicians to mechanics and engineers, futurists to marketing gurus, and, of course, quarry professionals – from the proprietor to the manager to the supervisor to the operator.

Every interviewee has interesting, sometimes fascinating stories. And while putting those together is never easy, it is always fulfilling to inform – and perhaps even entertain – you, the readers.

This issue of Quarry, perhaps more than most, exemplifies the blend of remarkable people that make up the quarrying industry and other related sectors. By coincidence more than design, I spoke to one of Australia’s youngest quarrying managers and also possibly two of the nation’s most experienced, as well as a captain of industry.

Brad Holloway is the site manager at Kingscliff Sands (see page 22). At 24, he has been involved in a start-up in the New South Wales Northern Rivers region. It’s amazing and admirable what Brad and the Kingscliff Sands proprietors have managed to achieve in such tumultuous times for the nation generally and the industry specifically. Further, his enthusiasm is unlimited. He’s like a sponge ready to learn more.

Some of you will no doubt be familiar with Greg Cook, who is the quarry manager at Gosford Quarries’ Mount White Quarry (see page 16). If Brad Holloway is an up-and-comer, then Greg

is an elder statesman. He has not only spent 45 years in the extractive industry – but 45 years with Gosford Quarries. His credentials are impressive and his breadth of knowledge and experience is inspiring.

He has seen so much happen in the industry in that time – and has adapted and grown with each and every change.

Similarly, Steve Butcher (page 42) is an unassuming industry veteran. Like Greg Cook, he has worked in the industry his whole adult life – 34 years – and continues to enjoy the challenges of being a quarry manager as well as a mentor to the younger professionals at Hanson’s Bass Point Quarry.

Equally as impressive is Dale Elphinstone, who I interviewed after he met with IQA members at the Victorian branch’s breakfast meeting at William Adams earlier this year (page 38). Again, Dale has trod an exceptional path through the construction, rail and earthmoving industries over a period spanning almost six decades. It was fascinating to learn his story, hear his thoughts about the challenges of the past 18 months and ask him about the future – both personally and of the Elphinstone Group at large.

These four professionals are just the tip of the stockpile as far as the quarrying industry is concerned. There are lots of fascinating people to write about – and they all contribute to the rich seams that flow through the sector. If I’ve spoken to you in the past year, and you’re yet to see a story in print, never fear. I will tell your tale in due course – and I invite everyone in the IQA membership to contact me with suggestions if there is someone who is deserving of a good story.

DAMIAN CHRISTIE Editor

Published by:

THERE ARE LOTS OF FASCINATING PEOPLE TO WRITE ABOUT – AND THEY ALL CONTRIBUTE TO THE RICH SEAMS THAT FLOW THROUGH THE SECTOR

11-15 Buckhurst Street South Melbourne VIC 3205 T: 03 9690 8766 www.primecreative.com.au Publisher John Murphy john.murphy@primecreative.com.au

Editor Damian Christie damian.christie@primecreative.com.au

Journalist Henry Ballard henry.ballard@primecreative.com.au

Business Development Manager Les Ilyefalvy les.ilyefalvy@primecreative.com.au

Client Success Co-ordinator Ben Griffiths ben.griffiths@primecreative.com.au

Design Production Manager Michelle Weston michelle.weston@primecreative.com.au

Art Director Blake Storey Subscriptions T: 03 9690 8766 subscriptions@primecreative.com.au Follow Quarry online: Facebook: facebook.com/quarrymagazine Twitter: twitter.com/2021Quarry LinkedIN: linkedin.com/groups/4314906/ Web: quarrymagazine.com The Publisher reserves the right to alter or omit any article or advertisement submitted and requires indemnity from the advertisers and contributors against damages or liabilities that may arise from material published. © Copyright – No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the permission of the publisher.

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Quarry July 2021

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PRESIDENT’S REPORT

PROMOTING THE VALUE OF SAFETY IN OUR WORKPLACES The Institute of Quarrying

A

fter reading about recent safety incidents in our industry, I revisited some of the common themes Dr Sean Brady identified in his review of fatalities in Queensland mines and quarries from 2000 to 2019. The “safety game” is never truly won and there is always more to do to ensure every person at work goes home uninjured.

Recommendation 2 of Dr Brady’s report stated: The industry should recognise that the causes of fatalities are typically a combination of banal, every day, straightforward factors, such as a failure of controls, a lack of training, and/or absent or inadequate supervision. Internal incident investigations in mining companies must strive to capture these combinations of causal factors, and avoid simplifying them to a single cause, such as human error, bad luck or freak accidents, which has the potential to mask the underlying system failures.

In May, Boral’s national general manager for health, safety and environment (HSE) Brett McIntosh echoed Brady’s thoughts at the online New South Wales quarries and concrete health and safety seminar, jointly organised by the NSW divisions of the IQA and Cement Concrete Aggregates Australia (CCAA). He said all teams – maintainers, engineers, HSE experts and others on the floor – must be engaged in the implementation of critical control management systems, and conduct checks and double-checks to effectively apply those controls (see page 46).

The online seminar was one of three major safety-focused events in the past two months. In June, the IQA’s Queensland and North Queensland branches ran respective health and safety conferences in Brisbane and Townsville, in conjunction with the CCAA and the Queensland Department of Mining, Natural Resources and Energy.

The Queensland events were face to face gatherings and provided IQA members

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Quarry July 2021

Australia

with opportunities to not only view some excellent presentations but interact with the presenters.

The IQA’s face to face and online courses also provide valuable safety insights. Tony Ferrazza has in the past 18 months been running the Learning from Disasters course on behalf of the IQA and the NSW Resources Regulator, and I’m pleased to see his thoughts on paper this month (see page 36). Further, there are courses in risk management and safety supervision. Most importantly, the IQA’s national conference in Newcastle in October will also emphasise health and safety, underlined by tours and presentations of the Mine Rescue Facility in Argenton and the Westpac Helicopter Service Base.

As you can see, the IQA’s professional development programs provide fantastic sources of information, awareness, training, and education. The IQA regularly updates its members and the industry on networking events and educational offerings in safe operations. If you are an employer, why not encourage your staff to become IQA members and take advantage of these opportunities? It’s a great way to keep yourself in the loop and ensure you are also fulfilling your organisation’s work health and safety obligations, while complying with your state/territory regulations.

Dr Brady identified that of the 47 fatalities to occur in Queensland between 2000 and 2019, a significant number involved a lack of specific training, inadequate training or insufficient supervision. We are all at a juncture where we can decisively turn our OHS record around – not only through more rigorous control systems but by promoting the values of safety and education in our workplaces. And what better platform to do that than through the IQA?

SHANE BRADDY President Institute of Quarrying Australia

Educating and connecting our extractive industry

quarry.com.au ALL TEAMS MUST BE ENGAGED IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF CRITICAL CONTROL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS, AND CONDUCT CHECKS AND DOUBLECHECKS TO EFFECTIVELY APPLY THOSE CONTROLS

The IQA’s Strategic Plan 2020 to 2025 embodies the following vision, values and strategic priorities: Vision: Educating and connecting the extractive and associated industries.

Values: • A safe and sustainable environment.

• Diversity and inclusion.

• Working, development skills, careers and life-long learning.

• Networking, connection, trust and communication.

Strategic Priorities: • Maximise outcomes for industry through education and sustainable practise.

• Increase our relevance.

• A high performing and sustainable organisation.

IQA CONTACTS: Phone: 02 9484 0577 Email: admin@quarry.com.au Chief Executive Officer Kylie Fahey Company Secretary Rod Lester For all education, member and branch enquires please email: admin@quarry.com.au.

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NEWS

BORAL URGES STAKEHOLDERS TO STAY FIRM IN FACE OF SEVEN GROUP OFFER ‘WE ARE CONFIDENT IN BORAL’S STRATEGY AND REMAIN COMMITTED TO OUR TRANSFORMATION TARGETS SET ACROSS THE GROUP TO DELIVER VALUE FOR ALL OUR SHAREHOLDERS’ KATHRYN FAGG, BORAL Boral shareholders were urged to ignore efforts by Seven Group Holdings to acquire more control of the company last month.

Boral Ltd has advised its shareholders to turn down an offer from Seven Group Holdings (SGH) to sell their stakes in the construction materials supplier.

With Boral’s share price at $6.77 per share at the end of May, the price offered by SGH would have been a loss for shareholders. The SGH Offer at $6.50 - the closing value for Boral on Monday, 10 May – began on Tuesday, 25 May and was set to close on Wednesday, 30 June.

Committee insisted shareholders take no action on the deal, citing the stronger share price.

A statement from Boral chairman Kathryn Fagg said the off-market offer from SGH was “unsolicited,” “opportunistic” and “undervalues the company”.

“We are confident in Boral’s strategy and remain committed to our transformation targets set across the group to deliver value for all our shareholders,” Fagg said.

Boral’s Independent Board

The Bidder’s Statement released

by SGH outlined how the company would like to increase its stake in Bora to at least 30 per cent. SGH, which has significant interests in mining and energy, including holdings in Caterpillar distributor WesTrac and Coates Hire, had a 24.19 per cent stake in Boral Limited, as per 23 June, 2021.

In the statement, SGH believed that $6.50 will become a premium to future Boral share prices, especially in consideration of the lack of brokerage fee attached to the SGH offer.

“SGH believes that the Offer delivers a premium relative to longerterm trading prices in Boral Shares,” the statement read.

If the Offer brings SGH to or above a 90 per cent stake in Boral, the Bidder’s Statement said SGH planned to remove Boral’s listing from the Australian Stock Exchange.

The Offer opened shortly after Boral completed the sale of its 50 per cent share in the USG Boral joint venture to Gebr Knauf KG (Knauf) for $USD1.015 billion ($AUD1.33 billion).

Boral’s profit on the sale is expected to be in the vicinity of $450 million. •

ADBRI CAUTIOUS ABOUT POST-PANDEMIC RECOVERY Adbri chief executive Nick Miller has expressed mixed emotions about future construction activity, despite additional funding in the Federal Budget and optimistic appraisals about the economy.

Considering these factors, Miller declined to provide any updated guidance at Adbri’s presentation to the Macquarie Australia conference in early May. Miller said incentives such as the HomeBuilder program and a significant infrastructure pipeline were very positive, but not enough to provide certainty against the impacts of COVID-19.

“The Federal Budget has significantly bolstered the country’s infrastructure pipeline with an additional $15.2 billion earmarked for nation building projects,” Miller said.

“We believe the construction industry

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has the ability to deliver a ‘stronger for longer’ cycle and the infrastructure pipeline unveiled in the Budget can help underpin that outcome.”

But a shift in the construction sector is underway, if Miller’s assumptions are to be believed.

As the option to work from home and keep away from the city becomes more commonplace, a boost to residential and regional infrastructure may occur.

The continued impact of the HomeBuilder grant would only accentuate Miller’s theory.

Adbri chief executive officer Nick Miller is cautious about Australia’s rebuilding prospects post-pandemic.

Miller said what is most important is the ability for the $15 billion infrastructure pipeline to be upheld, with jobs and economic growth on the line.

geographic balance. In particular, it’s pleasing to see funding for smaller and medium size infrastructure projects which will help ensure shovels are in the ground faster, supporting economic activity and job creation,” Miller said. •

“The Government looks to have the right mix of projects in terms of scale and

NEWS

RECYCLED MATERIALS USED FOR RESIDENTIAL VICTORIAN ROADS A recycled asphalt mix will be implemented for more than two kilometres of road at a new residential community in southeast Victoria called Stockland Minta.

The road surfacing material – called Reconophalt – uses highly recycled materials from waste streams to reduce the amount bound for landfill.

The project has been facilitated by property developer Stockland, the City of Casey Council, Downer Road Services and Winslow Constructors Australia.

Stockland stated the first stage of Reconophalt at Minta – stage 15 for the whole project – would stop about 1,356,000 plastic bags, 39,610 printer cartridges and 724 tonnes of recycled asphalt from reaching landfill.

This waste reduction will be the equivalent of saving 23.08 tonnes of carbon dioxide or removing 9.5 cars from the road for a year – and this is only for stage 15.

Post-stage 15’s completion (980 metres of road), stages 17 and 18 will see the total length of Reconophalt will be extended to 2430 metres.

Downer Group’s manager for corporate affairs Karen Winsbury said the use of recycled materials was extremely important to the project.

“There has never been a greater need to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill, with soft plastic, tyres, glass and excavation waste being major issues globally,” Winsbury said. •

AUSTRALIAN PCI SHOWS SLOW AND STEADY GROWTH ‘THIS ELEVATED LEVEL OF DEMAND IS PUTTING PRESSURE ON THE SUPPLY OF TRADES AND MATERIALS. IT ALSO OCCURRED AT THE SAME TIME AS A SURGE IN INTERNATIONAL DEMAND FOR SHIPPING AND RAW MATERIALS, INCLUDING TIMBER’

Construction growth was maintained in May, albeit at a slower rate, according to the Australia Performance of Construction Index (PCI), compiled by the Ai Group and HIA. At 58.3 (seasonally adjusted), where scores over 50 indicate growth, the construction industry dropped 0.8 points on its April score.

Overall activity dropped 7.1 points to 55.7 – again, still indicating growth – while engineering construction was the only growing segment for May.

“The national construction sector continued to lead Australia’s rebound in May with a further expansion of activity led by the house building and engineering construction sectors,” Ai Group head of policy Peter Burn.

TOM DEVITT, HIA said. “Commercial construction and apartment building also grew at more moderate levels.”

However, apartment construction activity dropped into decline, at a score of 50.5, with commercial activity not far ahead at 51.2.

According to results from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the number of approvals for dwellings in April fell by 8.6 per cent, after the HomeBuilder-inspired spike in March.

Despite the deadline for HomeBuilder

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approvals being well past, an extension to project commencement deadlines has ensured growth rates remain higher for longer, according to HIA economist Tom Devitt.

“The volume of work on the ground continued to increase in May,” Devitt said. “The extension of the HomeBuilder commencement deadlines will see new house building levels remaining elevated for longer.

“This elevated level of demand is putting pressure on the supply of trades and materials. It also occurred at the same time as a surge in international demand for shipping and raw materials, including timber.

“This will continue to challenge house building until the market slows toward the end of this year.” •

FEDERAL BUDGET PAVES THE WAY FOR CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY The Australian Government’s Federal Budget for 2021-22 has been welcomed by the quarrying industry. It will provide $15.2 billion over 10 years to fund road, rail and community infrastructure commitments.

It is part of the government’s $110 billion 10-year infrastructure pipeline, and should create about 30,000 direct and indirect jobs.

The use of Reconophalt at Stockland Minta will remove the carbon emissions equivalent of over 23 cars for a whole year.

Construction growth continued in May - albeit at a moderated pace.

The $15 billion will be put towards major projects such as the North South corridor in South Australia, the Great Western Highway and Newcastle Airport in New South Wales, the new Melbourne Intermodal Terminal in Victoria, and the Bruce Highway in Queensland.

Cement Concrete & Aggregates Australia (CCAA) CEO Ken Slattery said the major investment was well deserved by the 110,000-strong employees who serve the national construction materials industry.

“The extraordinary expenditure directed towards advancing economic recovery from the pandemic continues to be welcome, with every dollar of stimulus provided across the building and construction sector delivering multiplied value in retaining and creating jobs and keeping businesses alive, to strengthen and underpin Australia’s economic recovery,” Slattery said. •

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NEWS

HOLCIM PROVIDES RAW MATERIALS FOR POST-BUSHFIRE COMMUNITY PROJECTS Holcim has continued strengthening its presence in local communities, providing building materials for projects serving disabled children and bushfireaffected areas.

A Holcim-owned quarry in Tynong, Victoria donated topping material to the Garfield North Outdoor Education Centre, which required a refurbishment of its sensory garden, according to Tynong Quarry manager Ben Appleby.

“Holcim donated a few loads of Tynong toppings and attended a working bee with other local community organisations, Friends of Mt Cannibal and Cannibal Creek Catchment Landcare Group, to lay the topping and plant groundcover to replace vegetation burnt out during the 2019 bushfires,” Appleby said.

A spokesperson for Holcim stated that the company undertakes a great number of similar engagements, in mutual support of local communities.

“Reflective of the hundreds of communities in which we work, every year we support more than 100 community engagement activities,” the spokesperson stated.

“With close to 300 sites operating across Australia and New Zealand, contributing to the many communities in which we live and work is incredibly important to Holcim. •

HILLVIEW HELPS TO RESTORE LOCAL HABITAT ‘THE SEVENYEAR GRANT EQUATES TO $32K IN FUNDING AND MEANS THE PROJECT CAN MAKE A REAL DIFFERENCE’ PAUL NITAS, HILLVIEW QUARRIES

Hillview Quarries has helped the Habitat Restoration Fund to plant 100 new trees in the Arthurs Seat State Park, three years into a seven-year initiative.

In 2018, Hillview Quarries provided $32,000 to the Fund and began focusing on the poisoning and removal of tobacco and other weed management practices to help restore the State Park.

Hillview Quarries chief executive officer Paul Nitas said this was a long-term plan to give back to the community surrounding the quarry business.

“The seven-year grant equates to $32,000 in funding and the long-term nature of this initiative means that the project can make a real difference, ensuring the removal of weeds is managed consistently over multiple years,” Nitas said.

Nitas said an initial grant of $30,000 in 2011, from Hillview to the Fund, began the ongoing relationship.

Hillview has been owned by local

The Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) has unveiled an investment pipeline of $7.8 billion for use on Australia’s waste, bioenergy, recycling and resource recovery sectors.

The five-year outlook was identified in a CEFC report: Energising resource recovery: The Australian opportunity.

CEFC’s lead on waste and bioenergy Mac Irving told Quarry an upscaling of infrastructure using recycled aggregates would create opportunities for the quarrying sector to contribute.

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philanthropic charity the Ross Trust for more than 50 years, by the will of the late Roy Everard Ross.

The idea behind the Trust and subsequent works of Hillview are to give back to the surrounding community in an environmentally responsible way. •

EXCITING POTENTIAL FOR RECYCLED AGGREGATES

The CEFC was established by the Australian Government under the Clean Energy Finance Corporation Act 2012. The Act aims to facilitate increased finance flows to the clean energy sector.

Holcim’s Tynong Quarry manager Ben Appleby (orange safety vest) with local volunteers.

More than 100 trees were planted in the Arthurs Seat State Park, thanks to Hillview Quarries.

“We anticipate investment in recycling and resource recovery infrastructure will lead to a greater uptake of recycled materials into

building products, concrete and aggregates, which when used with quarried materials will increase sustainability outcomes as well as ensuring industry specifications and standards are met,” Irving said.

CEFC chief executive officer Ian Learmonth said the industry is evolving rapidly, by choice and necessity, “driven by global market pressures, evolving consumer preferences and an increasing focus on reducing our carbon footprint.

“As an experienced investor in the bioenergy, recycling and energy from waste sectors, we see immediate and important investment opportunities in recycling and resource recovery, drawing on proven technologies with the potential to deliver long-term economic and environmental benefits.” •

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NEWS

BELGIAN MONKS PROTECT BEER FROM QUARRY EXPANSION A Belgian chalk quarry has been denied the chance to expand its footprint after a group of Trappist monks insisted doing so would risk contaminating the spring water they use in producing a rare beer.

The world’s largest minerals and lime producer, Lhoist owns the Boverie quarry and doesn’t believe the expansion plans would affect the spring water.

Despite this, the monks of the monastery – which is more than 400 years old – don’t want to risk ruining a beer which is only produced by 14 abbeys in the world.

The expansion would increase the life of the quarry by 24 years, until 2046. But a spokesperson for Lhoist has told The Guardian the company does have a plan B to excavate a separate area, expanding until 2040 instead.

GLOBAL QUARRY LIFE AWARD OPENS FOR SUBMISSIONS ‘THE QUARRY LIFE AWARD IS PRIMARILY A BIODIVERSITY COMPETITION SO ANY PROJECT THAT INVESTIGATES FLORA AND FAUNA IS CERTAINLY WITHIN THE SCOPE’ DOMINIK VON ACHTEN, HEIDELBERG CEMENT

HeidelbergCement has launched the fifth edition of its Quarry Life Award which aims to promote sustainable quarry management through a global competition with prizes up to €30,000 ($AUD47,160).

Since the inaugural Award in 2012, the first four editions have seen more than 1400 projects submitted, all with the goal to protect nature and promote a high diversity of flora and fauna in a quarrying context.

Dominik von Achten, the chair of HeidelbergCement’s management board, said there had never been a more important time to facilitate such a competition.

“The time for action is now. The World Economic Forum 2021 Global Risk Report has put biodiversity loss among the five most concerning global risks, both in terms of likelihood and impact,” von Achten said.

Lhoist was, according to The Guardian, denied the expansion application because it was not permitted to “remove or divert all or part of the water [that supplies] the abbey”.

“With the competition, HeidelbergCement wants to contribute to the global restoration agenda and works towards a net positive in biodiversity. Our sites can provide valuable habitats for a variety of animal and plant species during and after extraction.”

The sacred beer has been made using a well located inside the monastery walls and has earned the monks an annual turnover of about 14 million Euros ($AUD22.01 million).

There are currently three Australian projects that submitted to the cause, all from the greater Melbourne area. They are all owned by HeidelbergCement subsidiary Hanson Construction Materials.

Unfortunately, after the last two remaining beer-brewing monks retired this year without replacement, the Belgian brewery Achel lost its right to the authentic Trappist product label.

They are the Clarinda Recycling Facility, managed by the Hansonowned Alex Fraser Group, and two Hanson-owned quarry and plant operations – one of sand and the other of hard rock, in Langwarrin and Wollert, respectively.

This latest development may threaten the legacy of the monastery, regardless of the quarry outcome. •

Ken Brown is the Quarry Life Award Co-ordinator for Australia and explained how submissions are largely up to students and researchers, rather than the owners of the sites themselves.

“The three sites are opening their doors to the participants and the rest is up to the students’ and researchers’ imagination and effort,” Brown said.

A beer-producing Trappist monastery is an unlikely victor in its opposition to a quarry proposal.

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Brown added that the competition should also be seen as a learning experience, with a wide variety of project types in consideration.

The Hanson-owned Alex Fraser Group’s Clarinda Recycling Facility has contributed to the global HeidelbergCement Quarry Life Awards.

“People should apply for the Quarry Life Award if they want to use their biodiversity knowledge, or learn about biodiversity, in a real world scenario,” Brown said. “There are very few opportunities available to do research on active quarry sites or to interact with companies on biodiversity topics.

“The Quarry Life Award is primarily a biodiversity competition so any project that investigates flora and fauna is certainly within the scope.

“We will also look favourably on ideas that can be subsequently implemented on our sites to improve the biodiversity and rehabilitation outcomes.

“Topics to be addressed could be managing threatened species during extraction, improving habitat and diversity in the site rehabilitation phase or focusing on quarry wetlands which are important refuges for waterbirds and frogs.”

Von Achten said the Award not only benefits quarry operations and wildlife, but the communities which surround them.

“We are committed to maintaining our leadership position in nature conservation. Our exceptional collaboration with diverse stakeholders through the Quarry Life Award plays a large part in this,” von Achten said.

“The Quarry Life Award stimulates the exchange not only between academia and industry, it also strengthens our relationships with local communities.”

The Award is now open for submissions and will close on 18 November, 2021.

On 16 December, each of the national award juries will select up to six projects from their countries to go into the global running for the major prize. •

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Quarry July 2021 15

LOAD & HAUL

EARTHMOVING GEAR

MEETS THE CUT – BLOCK BY BLOCK Although a subspecialty of the extractive industry, dimension stone quarrying is a significant part of Australia’s heritage – and continues to add flair and innovation to building infrastructure. A near century-old leader in the field explains how its extractive techniques differ to regular quarries and draw on fit for purpose earthmoving equipment to manufacture its products.

I

n 2022, Gosford Quarries will celebrate a century of operation in the dimension sandstone business. Originally trading as the Hawkesbury Sandstones Company in Gosford, in central New South Wales, the organisation’s “Gosford Grey” sandstone has shaped buildings and monuments all over Australia. The business built its reputation in the lead-up to the Second World War, and then continued to flourish in the second half of the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st century.

In 2014, the family-owned Sarkis Bros Sandstone business acquired ownership of Gosford Quarries. Sarkis Bros was formed in 1993 by siblings John, George, Issa and Sid. Prior to its acquisition of Gosford Quarries, Sarkis Bros built a strong, healthy business and reputation in sandstone manufacturing.

The merger of Sarkis Bros and Gosford Quarries was a natural fit and brought

The L150H wheel loader can carry dimension stone blocks ranging from 6.5 to nine tonnes.

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about long-term benefits. Not only did the economies of scale result in competitive prices and more options but they enabled Gosford Quarries to introduce a broader range of specialised services in design and architecture. These include highly trained personnel in in-house design, heritage consultancy and 3D modelling. The combined company has invested in state of the art capital equipment to modernise its sandstone processing prowess.

Today Gosford Quarries’ sandstone products comprise paving, slabs, capping, cladding, landscape walling, ballast, billets and logs. Its materials have been employed in many landmark Australian projects and monuments, including the Parliament of Victoria, the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, Melbourne’s ANZ Gothic Bank building, and Sydney’s Town Hall, GPO and St Mary’s Cathedral buildings. The

company’s more recent contributions to modern architecture in Sydney include Barangaroo Towers, the Hilton Hotel, Westfield Towers and the Museum of Contemporary Art. In the heritage and restoration sector, Gosford Quarries also continues to supply “continuity of product” to developments which have used sandstone for the past 100 years.

Greg Cook, who is the quarry manager for five of Gosford Quarries’ eight quarries and the mine operator representative for the other three, told Quarry that dimension stone is unlike other quarry products.

“Our products are more on-show – the big difference is we compete on the world market, we’re up against imports that are coming in,” he explained. “Dimension stone is a very different product – to the uninitiated, it all looks the same but it’s a completely different market. The aggregates segment is

pretty safe, as it’s mainly home-based, there are some cement imports from overseas but not many. Gosford Quarries has to compete as an Australian company against the world.”

Gosford Quarries currently exports its dimension stone products to China and the United States.

UNIQUE CUTTING APPROACH Cook is not only a quarrying veteran – he is a Gosford Quarries doyen. He has worked in practically every aspect of Gosford Quarries’ business operations for 45 years. “I was a stonemason, then I did a degree in building, and I ran the factory, in production,” he recalled. “I’ve also worked on-site and offsite, I did a lot of heritage work in Sydney. I then trained in quarrying and have been the manager of Gosford Quarries in the past 20 years.

“I’ve always worked for Gosford Quarries – from the factory floor to the heritage site and into the quarries themselves. It might sound a bit boring but I’ve been able to move around within the company, and to the company’s credit, the education is ongoing. The whole 45 years I’ve been educating, so I haven’t just been sitting at the same desk for all that time.”

Cook is based principally out of Mount White Quarry, on the NSW Central Coast, about 60km north of Sydney. Mount White is one of six dedicated dimension stone quarries under the Gosford Quarries banner; the other two combine aggregates with dimension stone.

The pit’s sandstone is renowned for its rich variety of colours and textures.

“The Mount White Quarry is producing and supplying 50 per cent of the Primary Block for our manufacturing factory,” Cook explained.

“Of the eight quarries, it’s supplying 50 per cent of the Primary Block and it’s also supplying 50 per cent of the landscaping product that goes out the gate. Mount White is crucial, it’s essentially the quarry of Gosford Quarries. The main reason for that is that we quarry on spec. The colours and the quality that come out of this quarry allow us to produce blocks all the time and we know it’s going to be required.”

Gosford Quarries’ dimension stone sites do not operate to the same methods as most aggregate quarries.

“We’re quite unique because we don’t blast,” Cook elaborated. “We supply a high volume from our quarries but we’re not like aggregate quarries that are doing hundreds and hundreds of tonnes per day.

“We differ in our method of quarrying

While the ECR355EL is not necessarily designed for aggregate quarries, its smaller radius swing and lift capacity is advantageous in a dimension stone quarry.

by working with the environment and extracting with low emissions by cutting and splitting,” he continued. “We have a fairly comprehensive drilling program that we use before we quarry. We identify exactly where we’re going and what we’re doing. We even test all the stone from the top layers to the lower layers. We now have what we call a landscape product – anything which is marginal because we deliver a high quality dimensional product. Anything that falls still within that product and that quality, we turn into a landscape product.

“The landscape products we’re generating now have probably more than doubled our quantities because the demand is just growing every year – we commonly nickname them ‘logs’. Barriers, retaining walls, they are in schools for seats. Gosford Quarries initially designed that product for retaining walls but now they are being used for everything but retaining walls. The logs used to be our overburden – where we just used to rip and push, now we cut, and we’re virtually using up to 90 per cent of the material we are producing.”

As the extractive process is very different to conventional quarrying methods, it calls for machinery that has to be configured and programmed accordingly.

“The excavators are more like robots to us, they have many attachments, they have cutting, grinding, ripping, buckets,” Cook said. “With our quarry, we work out the joint pattern. Our high walls are primarily a natural joint and we’ll cut and split. Our splitting process is with a hammer or a ply plate. Ply plate is excellent because we don’t use an eating motion or a splitting motion.

“So our emissions are really low in comparison for our cubic [output in cubic metres]. There’s no blasting. We do a bit of ripping with the dozer just to make a start on the pad. The rest of it is used with excavators and we have a couple of trencors. They’re trenchers for cabling but we’ve modified them to cut. We also use our excavators heavily with cutting wheels to do the work.”

Cook explained the excavators use push blades down at the tracks to level the machine and rely on diamond cutting tools and carbide cutting wheels to cut the blocks.

A large drum is used for levelling out the floor.

Standard rippers, cleats, GP buckets, mud buckets and narrow trenching buckets are employed where applicable.

Cook said the extraction process is a mixture of century-old and modern techniques. “Gosford Quarries has significantly invested in computerised robotics and computerised saws, so we’re still doing a traditional method of processing and manufacturing with excavators and loaders but we’ve really upped the game with computerisation.

“We still have three gang saws that are more than 100 years old. They are still being used today and were converted from steam to electrical. They are 99 per cent unchanged but they have a few computers attached to gauge their downstroke.”

Cook added the traditional gang saws can achieve a finish that cannot be matched by modern diamond saws. The older equipment has been retained to meet demand for sandstone with a texture that doesn’t reflect the light and provides a “nice finish more so than a diamond-type finish. Some of our

Quarry July 2021 17

LOAD & HAUL

customers require that. The gang saw is still a very efficient way of cutting stone”.

MODERN FLEET There are up to five employees who work on the site at any one time and operate three excavators, a bulldozer, and a couple of wheel loaders.

Of the plant and equipment on the floor of Mount White, Gosford Quarries has invested quite heavily in Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) products, courtesy of national distributor CJD Equipment. Its current inventory includes three Volvo CE excavators – two 35-tonne ECR355EL long track excavators and a 300D excavator – and four wheel loaders – two L70Fs and two L150Hs. Two more L150Hs are on order.

Cook said this fleet of Volvo CE machines is doing “all the hard yards, the cutting and prep works”.

He said the “stand-out qualities” of the “35s” (the ECR355EL excavators) is “their

blades, so our set-up time is quicker and the operators can stay in the cab more than having to get out and put timber beneath the tracks to level up the blade levels of the machine. That’s a big plus in terms of exposure to silica, where the pressure in the cab and the air conditioning systems actually protect the operators. That’s a control measure so the more time they spend in the cab is a lot better for them”.

The L70F wheel loaders, he said, are “excellent for the landscape products” while the L150H loaders pick up “the big blocks”.

“Our L70Fs are picking up four logs – each log is about 650kg, so with four logs, that’s about 2.5 tonnes on tynes, not buckets,” Cook explained. “The L150H is picking up blocks from 6.5 tonnes to nine tonnes. You have to remember they are working on a hard quarry floor that is solid and clean.

“When you’re talking about the tonnage or the spilling, you have to look at where it is doing it. There is a big difference. You

Rather than conventional buckets, the Volvo CE loaders use tynes to load and haul the sandstone blocks and logs.

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couldn’t pick up that sort of weight on a civil site.”

Cook said the feedback about the loaders and excavators from his personnel is very positive. “The current generation of operators just love the Volvos. The loaders are especially comfortable, and for some of the guys, they are like a spare ‘office’. The operators can be there all day long. Even in the excavators, the ergonomics of where the operator sits, how they operate the controls, a lot of thought goes into it. Volvo looks after the operators.

There’s not an operator that gets out grumpy, they’re all happy to be in there.”

Given the importance of protecting workers from exposure to surrounding dust and silica, Cook said the compliance of the Volvo CE loaders and excavators was a paramount factor in Gosford Quarries’ purchasing decisions. “As a quarry manager, you’re not just looking at the grunt of the machine or how it produces or pulls its weight,” he explained. “The pre-starts are on the

ground and can be done within the machine.

The operators aren’t climbing all over the machines now, so someone in that spectrum [at Volvo CE] has done their thinking.”

He also credits CJD Equipment with an outstanding delivery and commissioning process, which in turn aids the operators.

“CJD has a rigorous, thorough procedure.

They’ll go through it with the operators. They will send out a technician who knows the product and explains it to (a) the operator and (b) our plant manager. There are a lot of compliance issues these days, compared to when I first started as a quarry manager, and the induction ticks the box for training and is a big requirement.”

DISTRIBUTOR PERSPECTIVE CJD Equipment’s involvement with Gosford Quarries dates back 16 years but the company’s Sydney regional sales manager Steve Wilson told Quarry that the relationship with the Sarkis Bros business predates that

relationship again.

“I’ve been dealing with Sarkis Bros since they bought their first excavator off us 18 years ago, and once they bought Gosford Quarries, our relationship grew,” Wilson said. “Initially I dealt with Greg Cook but since Sarkis Bros took over Gosford I’ve had more dealings with George and John Sarkis, and Bob Iles, who is responsible for fleet management requirements and maintenance.”

Wilson said the purchase of the first of Gosford Quarries’ ECR355EL longtrack crawler excavators was initially for a construction job. “They purchased the ECR355EL for work in the Sydney CBD. That was to excavate dimension stone for a construction site. It has the reduced swing for cutting the sandstone along the boundary. It was in the hole cutting sandstone blocks. It was bought for a purpose – and they’ve since bought a second one because it serves a purpose in the quarry as well. It can run their

single and double saws very effectively.”

Volvo CE excavators are long track machines, so generally have an advantage over other brands, which have shorter tracked frames. Traditionally, big swing machines with shorter track frames tend to be more difficult for operators to control, whereas “longer tracks are more stable and improve the lift capacity of the excavator”, Wilson said. As a result, the ECR355EL has a smaller radius swing and more lift capacity than the EC300D excavator which Gosford Quarries also runs at Mount White Quarry.

Wilson said that reduced swing excavators are not usually designed for quarries. “Most excavators have a regular tail swing but because of the requirements for this particular machine, Gosford Quarries bought it for the CBD job and because it worked so well, they decided to also run it in the quarry. The biggest benefit of the ECR355EL in the quarry is that its dozer blade provides greater stability.

“The ECR355EL generally has a reduced

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swing – in a quarry application, you’re more likely to use a regular excavator with a conventional counterweight like the EC300D. The reduced swing excavator is used for road jobs where you don’t want to swing the tail into buildings or otherwise. The EC300D is a good fit for a quarry. It also runs a saw at Gosford Quarries as well – Volvo have the hydraulics to handle the saws and hammers.”

Wilson added that particularly for the EC300D, there was no customisation or modifications to the excavators to accommodate the diamond saws, carbide saws and tynes that Gosford Quarries employs in its operations. “The excavators are pretty well specced up for anything to go on them. There’s a couple of things we have to do for safety requirements for jobs but not for the saws. The Volvo hydraulics handle that anyway,” he reaffirmed.

Wilson said Gosford Quarries has provided him with positive feedback about all the earthmoving plant CJD Equipment has supplied in the past six years. “They’ve been very impressed by the ECR355EL,” he said.

“They like the excavator’s versatility because they can use it in the quarry and externally on the tighter jobs.

“Gosford went for the Volvo loaders because of the comfort for the operators,” he added. “They like the performance and operational advantages of the Volvo loaders such as the parallel lift. They like the reliability and the longevity of the loaders as well – the loaders can exceed 20,000 plus hours.

“The L150Hs have upwards of 20,000 hours on them. Gosford Quarries has a primary loader and a back-up loader (an L150) and they would like to have a new one in each quarry as the primary loader. Predominantly, they’re being used for the dimension stone – like forklifts and fork attachments rather than the bucket work.

“So they’re really impressed by the L150Hs. Across their quarries, Gosford is about to take two more L150H loaders – and there is talk of buying more.

“The L70F is used by Gosford Quarries for its sandstone logs, which are a smaller, light sandstone block to lift. The L70 is probably too small for a quarry but you would use them in a batching plant or a soil yard.”

Wilson said the L150H is best suited to hard rock quarries, such as blue metal. “They are designed for load and carry in a range of applications, whether it’s a stockpile, or a truck, or the face, they stand up in every application.

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A CNC profiler saws a curved scroll from sandstone.

Gosford Quarries undertakes CNC profiling of fluted sandstone columns for a corporate building on 333 George Street, Sydney.

“The L150H is more like a sales loader, for loading stockpiles or hoppers. It is suitable for loading dump trucks and some highway trucks. It’s limited to its natural reach but it should be able to load A25s and normal dump trucks. The reach is about 1.36m, with the bucket at about 45 degrees, which is going to get you in the middle of the truck.”

CENTURION’S EXPANSION PLANS With Gosford Quarries set to celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2022, Cook anticipates that the company will honour its past and engage its employees to mark a century of business. However, it won’t significantly change the company’s remit.

“Basically, in our industry, we just get on with it,” he said simply.

As a family-owned business, Cook added he expects the Australian market will always remain at the forefront of Gosford Quarries’ activities, even as it seeks further export opportunities. In particular, Gosford Quarries is likely to expand its manufacturing base.

“Sandstone is going to be more of a highly

processed product as opposed to the bulkier product of the past,” he predicted. “There are more commercial buildings in steel and concrete that are being clad in sandstone.

The shape of buildings are going from square to more rounded shapes, and we are able to comply to the architects’ whims.”

Gosford Quarries is also diversifying into civil and landscaping products. “People don’t seem to have the big backyards anymore,” Cook remarked, “so they are happy to invest in higher quality products for smaller courtyards. The landscape product is expanding quite rapidly. Plus two of our quarries combine dimension and aggregate – and that is the way of the future. We expect to expand into the aggregate market with the rest of the dimension quarries.”

To that end, Gosford Quarries’ partnership with CJD Equipment will continue to be fruitful and will undoubtedly grow. As unconventional as the application may be to regular quarrying stalwarts, the dimension stone and the earthmoving plant and equipment itself are clearly fit for purpose. •

LOAD & HAUL

TOOTH SYSTEM DELIVERS HIGHER PRODUCTIVITY, INCREASED SAFETY

W

ith excavator and wheel loader owners and operators always looking for more productive, reliable and safer tooth systems for their buckets, a new generation of ground engaging tools offers significant advances over previous systems.

Komatsu’s new Kprime Tooth System from Hensley Industries has been designed as a stronger, longer lasting product, offering additional safety and productivity enhancements. Kprime is now available as standard on new Komatsu excavators and loaders.

Replacing Hensley’s market leading XS Tooth Systems range of teeth and other ground engaging tools (GET), the Kprime Tooth System is suitable for excavators with operating weights from four tonnes to 400 tonnes, and for loaders from 10 tonnes to 200 tonnes.

According to Phillip Walker, Komatsu’s national business manager for GET, the Kprime Tooth System builds on Hensley’s experience and expertise with its XS Tooth system, offering significant advances in safety, ease of use and extended periods between tooth changes.

“With Kprime, we have built a truly unique product that delivers significantly more strength, productivity, reliability and is safer,” Walker said. “We did this by listening to our customers and developing the best solution to their issues.

“The Kprime Tooth System sets new standards for what GET should do for a customer’s business.”

The safety enhancements to the Kprime include an intuitive locking system, pry slots on the tooth and wear cap for easier removal of worn parts, a low torque pin for easier tooth changes, and the weight of individual units marked on each part.

Reliability has been improved through a 10 per cent stronger adapter nose design, an improved pin design that reduces the potential for accidental unlocking, even after extended use, and an optimised design to reduce wear on adapters.

The stability of the tooth on its adapter has also been improved through a tighter fit.

The productivity of Kprime has been

significantly improved through a number of design advances, including increased wear material (so teeth don’t need to be changed so often), improved penetration, and a design that ensures the tooth stays sharp throughout its life.

“Kprime teeth are rotatable to further extend life, while wear indicators on the wear cap and fastener let users know when those parts need to be changed,” Walker said.

“And losing teeth into a crusher or conveyor is far less likely to occur with the Kprime Tooth System due to a new locking system that means no torque loss after multiple cycles, ensuring the holding pin remains locked throughout the life of the tooth.”

A range of tooth types is available for all machine sizes across both the excavator and wheel loader ranges, from light-duty

applications through to the toughest, most challenging rock and abrasive material conditions.

Buckets fitted with Kprime adaptors have the option of using different styles of teeth to meet individual digging and loading requirements.

“While Kprime teeth will be offered as standard on all Komatsu excavators and loaders, this system is also ideal for all other brands of earthmoving and mining equipment, from compact utility-class machines up to large mining machines,” Walker said.

Kprime, along with all Komatsu parts, can be ordered via Komatsu’s e-commerce platform: my.komatsu.com.au • Source: Komatsu Australia

The Kprime Tooth System is suitable for quarry-spec excavators and loaders.

Quarry July 2021 21

SAND PROCESSING

CUSTOMISED WASH PLANT

RAISES FORTUNE OF SAND BUSINESS

Kingscliff Sands, in northern New South Wales, has endured a lot for a start-up business – a global pandemic, an uncertain economy and adverse weather. Its choice of wet processing plant has been a boost in such trying times. Damian Christie reports.

T

he booming coastal town of Kingscliff is less than 10 minutes’ drive south of Gold Coast Airport, in the New South Wales Northern Rivers region. Along with the nearby villages of Chinderah and Cudgen, Kingscliff’s major industry is tourism and its businesses cater to retail, accommodation, food, and beach and water sports.

For Brad Holloway, the quarry manager of start-up extractive business Kingscliff Sands, it is both an idyllic locale and a uniquely positioned one for his burgeoning business.

“We’re on the doorstep of the Gold Coast,” Holloway told Quarry. “It’s a great spot.

We’ve had orders from Brisbane down to Lismore. It’s a great place to be, from the bottom of the Gold Coast to the top end of the Northern Rivers.”

Kingscliff Sands has been operating for 14

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months, so Holloway, who is just 24, and the business are still very much newcomers to the quarrying industry. A few years ago he was running cattle on the very land that is now home to his sand quarry operation.

“We run cattle on the land, and that’s how we got to know the owners of the resource,” Holloway explained. “They offered us the opportunity to run a sand quarry, and after three years of research and finding out what sand quarrying is, we decided to jump in and have a go.”

The 60-hectare site has about 10 million tonnes of resource and the business started export by truck in May 2020. Kingscliff Sands’ approval allows up to 300,000 tonnes per year for transport and runs until 2047.

Kingscliff Sands has already made a local impact with its sand products.

“We supply a premium sand and a premium soil to all our local landscape yards,” Holloway explained. “We’ve delivered to people who just want a single load – for backfilling retaining walls – or electrical people for backfilling trenches. Lots of golf courses love our sand for top dressing and repairs and maintenance on their turf.

We’ve also had schools use our sands for renovating their sports fields.”

There was an early “win” for Kingscliff Sands when it provided the bedding sand for the base of the new Tweed Valley Hospital. “Once the infrastructure was there, we covered it over with our sand and also put in sand to backfill the retaining walls,” Holloway said. “It was great to work with CD Civil which was the buyer and supplier to the hospital.”

A bird’s-eye view of the dual EvoWash units and the 20m large radial stockpiler.

FROM A SMALL START TO WASHING When Kingscliff Sands opened its doors it hired a mobile screening plant, an excavator and a loader. “We learnt very quickly what size screening we wanted, where we wanted our stockpiles to be and a number of other important factors,” Holloway said. “We then looked at a heap of plants, assessed what was good for our site and then we went to CDE for the washing plant.”

Holloway first met with CDE’s Australasian regional manager Daniel Webber in 2019.

Webber told Quarry the brief was pretty simple.

“They wanted to efficiently make a washed sand that could create a quality construction sand blend but they also wanted to explore any other value adds that they could get from the operation’s resource,” Webber explained.

“First and foremost was a washed sand for the construction industry and second, was to say ‘Can the sand be put to more beneficiated uses?’ So they were keen on the

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likes of glass sand, fracking sand and filtered sand.”

Webber and other members of the CDE team came to site several times to better understand the Kingscliff team’s requirements.

In turn, Holloway visited some of CDE’s customers in Queensland to see examples of its washing plants up close.

“Brad travelled to Caldwell’s on the Sunshine Coast to view plant similar to his,” Webber said. “He also went to Nielsen’s in Brisbane to see some EvoWash units that have been working hard for the best part of four years to deliver materials for the Brisbane Airport project. I think those visits gave him confidence in the solution because he saw a system set up in the same application, and he saw an EvoWash plant that has been working reliably for an extended period of time.”

After these visits and consultation with CDE, Kingscliff Sands eventually purchased

SAND PROCESSING

The Kingscliff sand plant installation is compact and economical.

dual EvoWash plants, a ProGrade screen, a dredge, a sump tank, a big radial conveyor, and a control module. Holloway described the EvoWash as a “high quality washer. It’s been a good fit from the start. Part of our resource offers a high grade silica content for glass, so we have the ability with the CDE plant to plug in a glass washing plant in the future”.

CUSTOMISED CIRCUIT The full wet processing circuit at Kingscliff Sands was commissioned in February this year. The plant makes two oversize products as well as an organic reject and an all-in washed sand. It comprises a DRS10 dredge that feeds a ProGrade P2-108 two-deck 6m x 1.8m screen. The P2-108 converts a 10mm minus sand into a 2mm minus sand, which is then transferred into a sump tank, pumped into the dual EvoWash system and eventually stacked onto a 20m radial conveyor.

“The EvoWash is cutting between 63 and 75 microns (μm), so it’s taking all of the bottom end silt out of the material,” Holloway elaborated. “Before it gets to the EvoWash, it’s already screened the sand at 2mm, producing a high quality washed sand.”

“Brad’s sand is fine, so there is a risk if you don’t have good control over your cut points you could send a lot of sand to the tailings pond,” Webber added.

“We put a lot of emphasis on the primary cyclones and the feed arrangement, and added a scavenger stage – a very fine or small diameter scavenging cyclone – to pick up filtrate and capture that again because we didn’t want to be losing any sand back to the pond.

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“The plant has been designed to cut at about 63μm, which is finer than a typical wash plant that might take it to 75μm,” Webber said. “However, it’s not a mining-spec sand, in which we might have to cut even lower than that. So I guess our experience in the mining space, where we have to go down to 38μm or 45μm, has held us in good stead here because we wanted to retain as much sand as we could.”

Webber explained that the EvoWash can make two sands but in Kingscliff Sands’ case, this is unnecessary. “Kingscliff Sands can take a bleed string off one of the EvoWash machines, so at a later date if they choose to add an extra processing stage for some value added projects, that’s already been future proofed. The provision is there for them to take 50 per cent of the sand off to serve a secondary processing plant.”

Kingscliff’s EvoWash plant has other customisations compared to regular EvoWash units. “CDE did a lot of civil

A factory image of the sump and screen.

drawings to raise the two EvoWash units off the ground,” Holloway said. “We’re on a floodplain and when the ground floods having the washing plant on plinths keeps the sensitives out of harm’s way.

“We also have a custom-made gate on our plant that is closed to do 100 per cent construction sand, and you turn the gate depending on how fast you want the sands to go into the glass plant for making high quality glass sand.”

Webber said the scalability of the EvoWash plant is an advantage for smaller, startup operations like Kingscliff Sands. “You can start with one EvoWash plant and add another one later or a third. They are really robust and no hassle. After we’ve commissioned it with the client and done some basic training, there’s not a lot of tweaking, alterations, monitoring or operator interventions, and that’s essential for a startup or a new business. They don’t want to be crawling all over their operation and they want to know that they’re keeping their valuable resource on the ground.”

‘JEWEL IN THE CROWN’ The other advantage of the wash plant is it requires few hands to operate, which is important given Kingscliff Sands’ need for efficiency. “We have a control centre with an auto-start and an auto-stop,” Holloway said.

“The plant has an LCD screen in the control room. You can walk up to it in the morning and press start and in the afternoon you press stop. Everything else is automated and programmed to start and stop in the right sequence. If there is a malfunction, either with the dredge or the wash plant, then it has

sensors, and it will shut down and an alarm will go off.”

Webber describes the control room as the plant’s “jewel in the crown”.

“It takes out all of the surge and fluctuations that are commonplace with dredge operations and gives that stable feed to the wash plant itself,” he explained. “The control room and the traffic light system enables the dredge operator to monitor the health of the plant, and we have sensor technology to safely start and shut down the plant in unexpected circumstances.”

Further, Holloway can be assured that CDE, located in Ormeau, on the Gold Coast, will provide the back-up and the maintenance Kingscliff Sands needs. “Now that I’ve got to know the CDE guys, I can call on one of them at any time and they will answer. There’s definitely lots of support there,” he said.

“Dan Webber has been great – he’s taken us seriously from the start. We had a greenfield site with no experience but he took us seriously from day one and supported and helped us through it.”

“It was agreed we will supply preventative maintenance inspections over the next two years – after installation,” Webber added. “Our guys on a scheduled basis will check on pump wear and cyclone performance, and pick up on anything early from a maintenance perspective. For a start-up like Kingscliff Sands, it’s a good move to have that continuity of operation.”

Although Kingscliff Sands’ wet processing operation has been operating for less than six months, Holloway said its performance is exceeding his original expectations and providing “excellent output”.

Webber said this feedback is encouraging. “The guys have found it has tied into their dredge and tailings systems seamlessly and they are rapt with the big radial stockpiler. They’re saying a huge pile of sand on the ground really grabs people’s attention as they drive past. It instills confidence in their customers that they have inventory on the ground to supply large orders.”

Holloway reflected that the previous 18 months have been a challenging period to begin a sand business. “To select the system and design and build the infrastructure from nothing – we only have a year since we started trading under our belt – and we’ve had COVID which closed the border, floods, just about everything thrown at us,” he said. “It’s been a massive learning curve, so we’re very positive about the future. We’ve made it work under excruciating circumstances and built the business to a point where now we’re growing every day. We have great people on board, great customers, great equipment, a site designed for efficiency, and we’re looking at new sand uses and new markets, and making the most of a great sand resource.”

Webber agreed the contrast between Kingscliff Sands in early 2020 and now is remarkable. “It’s night and day. The washing process has turned Brad’s material from what was just a fill sand into a really high value construction feed material,” he commented.

“The mobile screens were blinding up constantly with organics, and weren’t particularly good at getting fine organics or shell particles out, so that’s all been sorted out by the system we installed.”

It’s probably not without some irony that in elevating Kingscliff’s wash plant, CDE has overall helped lift the fortune of a small but robust sand operation. • To find out more about the CDE wash plant, visit cdeglobal.com For more information about Kingscliff Sands, visit kingscliffsands.com

Proficiency Testing Australia (PTA) offers scheduled and customised proficiency testing programs for construction materials testing laboratories: • Coarse and fine aggregate • Rocks • Soils • Concrete • Cement

For more information, please contact PTA at ptaenquiry@pta.asn.au

www.pta.asn.au

SAND WASHING

WASH RECYCLING

– AT THE MOST OPTIMUM

A sand washing plant, predominantly designed by an OEM for sand processing applications, has been successfully installed in a recycled aggregates operation. The plant has proven that it can cope with construction and civil engineering wastes and transform them into clean, consistent recycled products.

C

onstruction and demolition waste management specialists R Collard Ltd, based in Eversley, Hampshire, United Kingdom, has opened a state of the art aggregate washing plant.

Terex Washing Systems (TWS) designed and supplied the washing plant, based at R Collard’s recycling facility. It incorporates the latest technology to enhance the quality and efficiency of the facility’s recycling process.

The installation was specified and project managed by Duo Plc, the TWS distributor in England and Wales.

Capable of throughputs up to 120 tonnes per hour (tph), with annual production capacity of about 250,000 tonnes, the system provides a local source of high grade recycled aggregate products

12 months of the year to enhance the efficiency and environmental performance of regional construction and civil engineering developments in the south of England.

“Transport is a major factor in the cost of aggregate so our investment in this plant is a direct response to increasing demand for high quality, affordable recycled product in our catchment area throughout south east England,” Collard’s founder and managing director Robert Collard explained. “The refinements to the technology involved will enable us to process more wastes than we collect from local sites and create a truly closed loop recycling system for construction waste in the south of England.”

TWS’s recycling processes can transform construction and civil engineering wastes

into clean, homogenous recycled products.

They remove lightweight and deleterious contaminants and extract silt and clay which can bind otherwise commercially viable aggregates together. Material processed at the site will be used in a broad range of construction projects.

The plant boasts a number of innovative new features including: • Hydrocyclone technology producing high grade coarse sand product with less than two per cent silt content.

• Integrated sorting systems removing non-mineral contaminants, to a greater extent than conventional dry systems.

More wastes can subsequently be used as feedstock.

• All year round operation due to a new

A magnet (foreground) captures ferrous materials as they are passed from the scalper to the AggreSand 165.

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Quarry July 2021

feeder system that processes cohesive material, even when its moisture content changes.

• Fully adjustable, modular components that enable the generation of bespoke products.

The wash plant set-up at R Collard is an innovative, effective and coherent approach for the recycled aggregates industry. It constitutes scalping (a Warrior 1400), aggregate rinsing and sand washing (an AggreSand 165 tripledeck screen), aggregate scrubbing and sizing (an AgreScrub 150) and water treatment and recycling (thickener and filterpress).

The process starts with an AggreScalp heavy-duty scalping unit, particularly suited to claggy and clay contaminated/high soil content feeds. This unit removes excess oversize before passing the bulk of material to the subsequent washing equipment. The AggreScalp includes a magnet to capture ferrous metals, specifically located to allow such metals to be extracted in freefall before transfer to the AggreSand.

The AggreSand incorporates a 5m x 1.5m (16’ x 5’) triple-deck screen producing a clean 50mm+ oversize for subsequent crushing and delivering the mid- and bottom-deck outputs to its partnering AggreScrub 150 for subsequent attrition and sizing. The feed material contains high root content which is effectively removed by the AggreScrub. The flotation capabilities of the AggreScrub are ideal for addressing the variable contaminants found in recycled aggregate sources such as paper, wood and light plastics. These contaminants, together with most of the water and liberated sand particles, are passed from the rear of the AggreScrub to the integrated trash screen. This step recovers the lightweight contaminants as a waste and allows the water and sand to be collected.

In addition to flotation, the AggreScrub’s other key purpose is heavy attrition to liberate adherent clays, producing clean organic-free aggregates for a wide range of construction requirements. A 3.6m x 1.5m (12’ x 5’) part-rinser integrated within the AggreScrub modular chassis provides the final product splits requested by Collard.

Underflows from the trash screen and the aggregate sizing screen are collected and pumped back to the AggreSand to recover any saleable fine material and ensure maximum efficiency of water management.

The 120 tph sand plant integrated within the AggreSand produces two high quality sands

The claggy and clay contaminated/high soil feeds on the conveyor.

The AggreSand 165 produces a clean 50mm+ oversize for subsequent crushing, attrition and sizing.

from the recycled feed material, suitable for concrete, pipe bedding and general construction requirements. Sand and water from the AggreSand screen, together with return water and fines from the AggreScrub, is recovered via the integrated hydrocyclones, producing coarse and fine sand fractions.

These are dewatered by the system to ~12 per cent moisture content, providing clean and ready to handle material stockpiles.

All dirty water gravity flows from the AggreSand’s cyclones to the congruent water management system. This phase includes an 8m rake thickener with polyelectrolyte (flocculant) dosing, controlled on a batch basis with automated monitoring.

Suspended solids coagulate and sink to the bottom of the thickener and are drawn to the central outlet by the constantly rotating rakes. This thickened mud is pumped to a large homogenising sludge buffer tank while clean, recycled water overflows from the thickener to a storage tank. A high frequency screen featuring a fine steel mesh is installed between the thickener and the water tank, removing any residual organics and floatable contaminants such as polystyrene balls.

Sludge from the homogenising buffer tank is delivered to the 150 plate (2m x1.5m) filter press via a powerful double centrifugal pump, delivering sludge to the press at up to 16 bar (or 232 psi) pressure. This effectively reduces waste output to a highly compressed, low moisture content by-product that can be easily handled and removed from the site.

This thickener and filter press combination recycles 90 per cent of the water used in the plant. In turn, it allows the complete system to operate with only 30m3 of water per hour, provided by the 63.5mm (or 2.5”) mains supply.

The TWS washing plant brings an advanced, effective and efficient approach to the recycled aggregates industry, incorporating the very latest technology to enhance the quality and efficiency of the recycling process while significantly reducing the cost, fuel consumption and carbon footprint of supplying recycled aggregates. • For more information about this particular washing system and the full product offering, visit terex.com/washing In Australia, the distributor of the Terex Washing Systems product is Terex Jaques. Visit: terex.com/mps/en-au

Quarry July 2021 27

RECYCLING

The M518R is capable of screening aggregates for soil, sand, gravel, overburden and general waste.

TRICON SUPPLIES DEMAND WITH ADAPTABLE TROMMEL

T

he M518R trommel, manufactured by MDS International, is becoming a regular fixture of the recycling aggregates market, particularly as Australian industry embraces opportunities to develop substitutes for conventional quarry products.

In a strong partnership which crosses oceans, Tricon Equipment has trusted MDS for two years to deliver the best in equipment for the extractive industries.

Tricon managing director Michael Tripolone has lauded the Irish supplier for its ability to fulfil the demands of Tricon’s Australian consumer base.

“We’re quite fortunate to have such a strong relationship with MDS,” Tripolone told Quarry. “They’re an innovative and fast-growing company and we’re proud to represent MDS and distribute their machines throughout Australia.

“They’re receptive to our customers and our own needs which reflects in the new machinery that they design and manufacture.

MDS have been quite supportive in expertise and information which helps us to deliver great customer service.”

Fresh off the manufacturing line for MDS is the M518R, capable of screening aggregates for soil, sand, gravel, overburden and general waste.

In bygone years, just about any material which would have been tossed aside now has a chance at a a second life. Just give technology and the industry’s resourcefulness a minute to think and that clean fill you thought wouldn’t see another day might just find a home.

With an overall reduced height of 3.14 metres, the M518R recycling trommel can be hauled on low body trailers without the usual headache of obtaining

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Quarry July 2021

special permissions to transport.

“The MDS M518R is a compact track trommel that still packs a lot of punch. Its sleek design means that it can be easily transported where its competitors cannot,” Tripolone said.

“It was built with mobility in mind. The machine is built on tracks which allows for quicker set-up time and easier loading onto transport.”

A great benefit of this machine is the three styles of drum, thanks to MDS’s innovative design.

The mesh drum, punch plate and changeable screen-type drums each allow for their own material size. The mesh drum can process materials from 1mm to 20mm, the punch plate drum has opening sizes of 5mm to 10mm, and the changeable screens drum can accommodate between 50mm and 150mm material.

“The M518R is equipped with a hydraulic drum removal system which allows customers to easily change the configuration of its drums,” Tripolone added. “This means that customers can make different grades of products using the same unit. It also expands the applications the unit can be used in.”

Products like the M518R have seen an increased uptake, as environmental standards have risen in recent years, and great numbers of projects involving recycled aggregates have been initiated across Australia.

Tripolone agreed all kinds of clients have approached the business with interests in turning waste to revenue.

“As a supplier of equipment that helps to create recycled aggregates, the industry is quite important to Tricon,” he said. “We have seen an increase of inquiries from construction companies looking for machines that can turn their waste into aggregates or are

looking for other solutions.

“The demand is quite varied. We see inquiries from smaller construction businesses and even some farms to bigger projects for mines and quarries.

“At Tricon we carry a wide variety of equipment so the demand for products is diverse. However, we have seen a great response to the MDS range of products.”

An MDS spokesperson spoke positively on the contribution Tricon has made to MDS’s distribution efforts.

“Our partnership is growing from strength to strength. We are proud that Tricon represents the MDS brand,” the spokesperson said.

“We have a fruitful relationship that is driving our sales forward by covering all of Australia.

We share the same values when it comes to delivering great customer service and delivering on a top performing product.” •

The mesh drum, punch plate and changeable screen-type drums each allow for their own material size.

The 2021 IQA Awards will be presented in the following categories: Alec Northover Award

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Gold Hard Hat Site Safety Award

Sponsored by IQA

Gold Environment Award

Sponsored by Groundwork Plus

Excellence in Innovation and Community Engagement

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Quarry Manager of the Year <10 FTE

Sponsored by Metso:Outotec

Quarry Manager of the Year >10 FTE

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Quarry Operator of the Year

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IQA Conference Exhibitor of the Year

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President’s Medal

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C L O S I N G D AT E All award nominations close 5pm (AEST) Friday 6 August 2021 For more information contact us by email: admin@quarry.com.au or by phone: 02 9484 0577 The Institute of Quarrying of Australia • P PO Box 1779, Milton BC, QLD. 4064 • W quarry.com.au

QUALITY ASSURANCE

FINE AGGREGATES PUT

TO THE TEST: A PROFICIENCY PROGRAM More than 25 laboratories affiliated with quarrying operations have recently participated in the first round of a fine aggregates proficiency testing program to assess the strengths and purities of construction materials.

Proficiency Testing Australia co-ordinated the program and analysed the results.

P

roficiency testing is a means of determining the performance of individual laboratories for specific tests or measurement and an external audit of their quality control procedures. A standard proficiency testing program compares the measuring results of different laboratories on identical samples.

Proficiency Testing Australia (PTA), one of Australia’s largest proficiency testing providers, can service the construction materials industry by offering proficiency testing programs for aggregate, soils, concrete, rocks, cement, asphalt and bitumen.

PTA recently announced the completion of its first Fine Aggregates Proficiency Testing Program. The program was approved by International Accreditation New Zealand and organised with the technical assistance of Boral Resources’ Materials Technical Services Laboratory in Sydney, New South Wales and Soil Engineering Services, in Townsville, Queensland.

Twenty-eight participating laboratories were provided ~5kg of fine aggregate (sand) for Round 1 of the program in September 2020. All but two of the laboratories were in Australia, with the overseas participants in New Zealand and Malaysia. Only one of the laboratories did not submit its results by the due date. Each laboratory was allocated a unique code number for the program to ensure confidentiality of results.

The program was designed to cover the

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Quarry July 2021

methods outlined in: • Australian Standard (AS) 1141.5 Particle density and water absorption of fine aggregate.

• AS 1141.24 Aggregate soundness test by exposure to sodium sulphate.

• AS 1141.25.3 Degradation factor – Fine aggregate.

• A S 1141.33 Clay and fine silt – settling method.

• AS 1141.34 Organic impurities other than sugar.

Laboratories were requested to perform the tests as per PTA instructions and record their findings on a PTA-supplied results sheet. Before sample distribution, ten

TEST

NO. OF RESULTS

MEDIAN

NORMALISED IQR

Particle Density and Water Absorption of Fine Aggregate Apparent particle density (nearest 0.01 t/m3)

24

2.620

0.041

Particle density on a dry basis (nearest 0.01 t/m3)

25

2.560

0.044

Particle density on a saturated surface dry basis (nearest 0.01 t/m3)

25

2.580

0.044

Water absorption (nearest 0.1%)

25

1.30

0.59

Aggregate Soundness Test by Exposure to Sodium Sulphate Solution Total weighted loss (nearest 0.1%)

16

0.85

0.41

Fraction 4.75mm to 2.36mm (nearest 0.1%)

3

N/A

N/A

Fraction 2.36mm to 1.18mm (nearest 0.1%)

16

0.55

0.56

Fraction 1.18mm to 0.600mm (nearest 0.1%)

16

0.40

0.35

Fraction 0.600mm to 0.300mm (nearest 0.1%)

16

0.55

0.28

Degradation factor (nearest 0.1%)

6

94.0

2.8

Clay and fine silt – C ratio ((nearest 1% or ‘indeterminate’)

19

3.0

1.1

Organic impurities other than sugar (lighter or darker than standard)

17

N/A

N/A

Table A: Summary statistics. Note: N/A = ‘not applicable’.

randomly selected samples were analysed for homogeneity, which was established for the tests.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF PARTICIPANTS’ RESULTS PTA used a robust statistical approach to assess the laboratories’ testing performance.

A list of summary statistics appears at the bottom of each of the tables of results and consists of: - The number of results for that test/sample (No. of Results).

- The median of these results, ie the middle value (Median).

- The uncertainty of the median; a robust estimate of the standard deviation of the Median.

- The normalised interquartile range of the results (Normalised IQR).

- The robust co-efficient of variation, expressed as a percentage (Robust CV), ie 100 x Normalised IQR / Median.

- The minimum and maximum laboratory results.

- The range (Maximum - Minimum).

Z-scores measure how far a result is from the median consensus value and create a “score” for each result relative to the others in the group.

A z-score close to zero indicates the result is in agreeance with those from other laboratories. A z-score with an absolute value greater than or equal to 3.0 is considered an outlier and is marked by the symbol §.

On the Ordered Z-Score Charts, each laboratory’s robust z-score was shown in order of magnitude and marked with its code number. From these charts, each laboratory can compare its performance relative to its peers.

Table A (left) summarises the results submitted by the program participants.

LABORATORY PERFORMANCE AND TECHNICAL COMMENTS There were 15 outliers (or 7.32 per cent) from the 205 results analysed across the 28 laboratories. All laboratories with outliers or an absolute z-score between 2.0 and 3.0 have been encouraged to review their procedures.

The results for Particle Density and Water Absorption of Fine Aggregate, Degradation Factor and Clay and Fine Silt results showed a good agreement between participating laboratories, with only seven outliers identified.

The results by lab of the Particle Density and Water Absorption of Fine Aggregate Test, as per AS 1141.5.

The Aggregate Soundness Test was conducted by exposure to sodium sulphate, as per AS 1141.24.

Homogeneity testing for Organic Impurities Other Than Sugar showed two results that appeared to be the same colour as the colour reference with the remainder lighter.

Results equal to the reference colour are reported as “Lighter than Standard” as per AS 1141.34:2018.

Of the 17 participants that performed the Organic Impurities Other Than Sugar testing, 12 produced a result of “Lighter than Standard” and the remainder “Darker than Standard”. Being a visual assessment process, some variation can be expected, especially when the resultant solution colour is borderline.

The homogeneity results for the Aggregate Soundness Test by Exposure to Sodium Sulphate Solution displayed higher variations. Two of the three fractions had significant outliers which resulted in higher CVs (between 31.9 per cent and 40 per cent), possibly due to non-representative portions. When disregarding these outliers, it was ruled the overall results indicated a homogenous material.

There was a wide range of results in the Aggregates Soundness Test between participants with notable outliers, implying numerous participants did not follow the

test method procedure and calculations as specified. However, most laboratories performed the testing to the indicated standards.

ADVICE TO PARTICIPANTS As this was the first round of the Fine Aggregates Proficiency Testing Program, the infrequent test results may serve as an indicator to participants on their performance and provide areas for improvement. PTA urges all participants (not just those with outliers) to review their procedures and precisely follow the test methods. All samples need to be split and quartered accordingly to provide a representative sample portion and equipment needs to be maintained and calibrated as per requirements. All test and reference solutions should be prepared regularly as per the method and stored appropriately.• The final program report for Round 1 of the Pilot Fines Aggregates Program (Aggregates 23) can be found on the PTA website: pta.asn.au Registration for participation in Round 2 (Aggregates 26) of the Fine Aggregates Proficiency Testing Program will open in August 2021. For more information about the program, contact the PTA via email: ptaenquiry@pta.asn.au

Quarry July 2021 31

ENVIRONMENT, SUSTAINABILITY The 24ha Black Clay Pit, part of the Penrith Lakes Scheme, was popularly nicknamed ‘the sinkhole’.

BLACK CLAY PIT:

FROM SINKHOLE TO COMMUNITY ASSET Once an integral foundation of the Sydney construction market, the Penrith Lakes area – and in particular a 24ha clay pit within it – has been transformed into a centre for recreation, commerce, education and conservation in the past two decades.

I

t was once considered the largest sand and gravel quarry in the Southern Hemisphere, at one point supplying about 90 per cent of the local Sydney market’s needs.

After quarrying commenced at the Penrith Lakes in the 1880s, more than 160 million tonnes of construction materials were excavated from the site. That is enough to fill the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australia’s largest sports stadium, 52 times.

As quarrying at Penrith Lakes neared the end of its life before ceasing in 2015, the site underwent one of the world’s largest and most innovative quarry rehabilitation projects.

First conceptualised by the Penrith Lakes Development Corporation (PLDC) in the 1980s, the vision was to transform the 2000-hectare area on the banks of Sydney’s Nepean River into a system of interconnected lakes, wetlands, native wildlife havens and parks.

The first stage of Penrith Lakes to be rehabilitated was the Regatta Lakes area. It was showcased to the world when it hosted the rowing, canoeing and kayaking events for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.

With the restoration program nearing completion, Penrith Lakes is set to become one of Sydney’s most popular recreation, education and conservation destinations.

Featuring native flora and fauna unique to

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Quarry July 2021

the area at the foot of the Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, Penrith Lakes includes parks, bushwalking trails, and areas for fishing, boating and swimming. The waterfront along Penrith Lakes also features Western Sydney’s largest recreational sandy beach, about the same size as the city’s iconic Bondi Beach.

Some remediated areas at Penrith Lakes have also been prepared for future commercial and tourism use.

The lengthy rehabilitation process included some significant engineering challenges along the way. Overcoming these hurdles resulted in the project setting new worldclass benchmarks in quarry rehabilitation and end use.

One of the major obstacles encountered during the project was remediating the 24-hectare area known as the Black Clay Pit to an urban land standard. Nicknamed “the sinkhole”, the Black Clay Pit posed numerous challenges for the Penrith Lakes rehabilitation team to solve.

DRAINING AND CAPPING Roger Moona, who has been working as an operation manager on-site since 1983, recalled that the clay was mostly used as “the plug (clay core) for Penrith Lakes between the

Nepean River and the major lakes systems bordering the river on the west”.

“As the clay was removed, not much else happened in the pit, so sediment and of course water also started to find its way in there,” he said. “This wasn’t such a bad thing until the time came for rehabilitation.”

The first issue was that 75 per cent of the Black Clay Pit was inaccessible before the rehabilitation and preparatory works commenced. It was also full of sediment and about 20 per cent water. This was the first challenge: how to drain it and then access the pit to fill it up.

Will Myles, also an operations manager for Penrith Lakes, said the drainage was one of “the most difficult and technical parts of the operations because it had a lot of different types of material in the bottom of it”.

Preparation works commenced in March 2015 and included draining and pumping the water out of the pit and placing a 1.25-metre thick sandstone capping across 3.5ha of untraffickable silt material (placed in two lifts of 0.75m and 0.5m). It also included cut/fill works and relocation of the historical quarry stockpiles and unsuitable material within the pit.

“Once we were able to drain it, we used sandstone to build a platform, allowing

machinery in there to commence its consolidation and fill,” Moona said.

Although the sandstone platform was a success, it didn’t stop the tidal waves of clay and mud that came across while working on it. Oversized material was used in particularly difficult areas to ensure the capping layer and platform was achieved.

“It really was a bit of creative skill and patching rock together to build the platform while we still had water in there,” Moona said.

“Once we’d set up a permanent pump and the platform finalised, it was all systems go.”

The key to success was sealing off the floor and draining the water before starting the fill. Lots of little holes created issues. In the end the team had to excavate down about seven metres to retrofit any issues that had happened in the mining phase. This was a solid foundation to work from.

“Once all the foundation work of capping, building the platform and draining the water from the pit had happened, the filling process

has been fairly smooth sailing, but still no small feat,” Moona said.

FILLING AND COMPACTING The pit then required four million tonnes of virgin extracted natural material (VENM) - also known as “clean fill” - to be filled to its final landform levels. The depth of fill to complete the landform was up to 15m in some areas.

Fortunately, during this time the New South Wales Government was rolling out several major infrastructure projects, including the WestConnex motorway, which had the exact amount of fill needed for Penrith Lakes. So, it was the tunnel VENM from the WestConnex project that provided most of the fill for the Black Clay Pit. Once the fill supply was secured, every delivery required an additional environmental control before it was placed. As it was being delivered into the pit it was compacted into 300 millimetre layers, in accordance with the earthworks specification.

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“Obviously it was paramount to get the geotechnical engineering design and specification just right because we eventually want to be able to build on it, and the extraction process that was originally undertaken was substantial,” Arthur Ashburn, project manager for Penrith Lakes rehabilitation, said.

Geotechnical data has been gathered, including material specifications, density testing every 500 cubic metres of fill, recording/surveying of test co-ordinates and reduced level (RL), as well as daily and monthly reporting.

The VENM import project for the whole lakes scheme commenced in 2014 at a rate of three million tonnes per year. A substantial amount went to the Black Clay Pit remediation, which was completed in 2019. The Penrith Lakes engineering team included the geotechnical consultants Pells Sullivan Meynink (PSM) and was specifically developed to ensure the rehabilitation program was completed on time, to budget

ENVIRONMENT, SUSTAINABILITY

and more importantly with no safety or environmental issues.

“We are proud to say that we had no safety or environmental issues to rehabilitate the Black Clay Pit,” Ashburn said. “It was a project that demanded a lot of planning and resources even just to enable access, but we’ve managed to get it right and the outcome speaks for itself.”

FEEDBACK FROM THE MAJORS Boral, Hanson and Holcim (and their forebears) historically managed quarries in the Penrith Lakes region. The CEOs of the three companies have been complimentary of the PLDC’s work in the past three decades to return the land as a community asset to the Western Sydney region.

“The completion of the rehabilitation fulfills the four-decade vision by the owners of the Penrith Lakes Development Corporation to transform the site into Western Sydney’s premier parkland, conservation and waterfront precinct,” Boral Australia president and CEO Wayne Manners said.

“The Penrith Lakes Scheme is one of the most ambitious and innovative quarry rehabilitation projects ever undertaken in the world,” Holcim Australia & New Zealand’s CEO George Agriogiannis said. “It is destined to become Western Sydney’s landmark recreational and lifestyle destination.”

“The Penrith Lakes Scheme is one Australia’s iconic engineering projects,”

An excavator digs deep to remove clay and mud.

Where there was once sand, clay and mud, some parts of Black Clay Pit today are lush, level grassland.

Hanson Australia’s CEO Phil Schacht declared. “After being Sydney’s main source for sand and gravel for more than a century, it is now playing the important role as a major

flood mitigation zone and habitat for native animals and plants.” • Source: Penrith Lakes Development Corporation

FACTBOX – THE PENRITH LAKES SCHEME • Black Clay Pit initially required two million cubic metres of fill to complete the area to the PLDC’s Two Year Plan landform levels.

• There was 24ha of urban land at the completion of filling.

• About 75 per cent of the Black Clay Pit area was not accessible prior to the undertaking of rehabilitation/preparatory works.

• VENM import commenced in July 2015 to accessible areas of the pit. At the completion of the rehabilitation/preparatory works, the VENM filling operation was expanded to the rest of the pit.

• Rehabilitation/preparatory works commenced in March 2015 to allow access for VENM import and completion of the urban landform and were completed in October 2015, the works included: • Drainage and pumping works to dewater the pit.

• A 1.25m thick sandstone capping was placed across 3.5ha of untraffickable silt material (placed in two lifts – 0.75m and 0.5m).

• Cut/fill works and relocation of historical quarry stockpiles and unsuitable material within the pit.

• The completion of VENM import to the Black Clay Pit was the fourth quarter of 2019.

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Quarry July 2021

About 75 per cent of the Black Clay Pit area was not accessible before rehabilitation.

WE BUILT THIS CITY – GREATER SYDNEY REGION UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT As part of CDE Global’s Engineering Insights virtual event from 18 to 20 May, several specialists in the area of construction materials supply and demand convened for a presentation on the growth of global cities.

The presentation – titled We Built This City – was headlined

by CDE’s regional manager for Australasia Daniel Webber, RW Corkery & Co managing director Mitchell Bland and Ecoroc principal Dugald Gray.

Quarry editor Damian Christie also conducted a panel Q&A to conclude the presentation.

Using the Greater Sydney Region (GSR) as a relevant example, Bland and Gray opened proceedings with a discussion about the region’s growth, revealing that the area is one of the top 10 fastest-growing regions in the western world.

By 2036, the GSR is expected to house an additional 1.7 million people, providing significant demands for construction materials.

Gray said that Sydney demands about 40 million tonnes per year of construction materials and of this volume, 42 per cent

Keep it steady

is from substitute construction materials such as VENM and sandstone.

“These materials essentially replace road-based, sub-based, hard sand materials and any materials that might be used to fill voids,” Gray said.

“They’re used in large quantities, they’re low value, they’re generated within the city, and from a sustainability perspective they’re fantastic – what a great thing for Sydney. Other cities which may be built on mud or clay don’t have that option.

“As a consequence, what that allows for is hard rock quarries to maximise the yield of aggregates they produce for concrete or asphalt.”

Further discussion centred around the sand resources available to New South Wales and the quality of these resources.

Bland indicated that there are, however, multiple obstacles to accessing and distributing such resources which need to be overcome for Sydney to realise its full growth potential.

To watch the presentation, visit youtu.be/yZEdIKPcKRE or quarrymagazine.com/2021/06/04/we-built-this-city/

Hummingbird Electronics’ range of Elite Inclinometers provide a dual axis pitch and roll readout aimed at reducing instances of machinery rollovers.

Gain a visual, live display of the machine’s current

• Choice of graphical displays

angle of operation, with customisable triggers, and pitch and roll alerts and warnings. The Elite range includes data logging of the time, date, GPS location

including truck, dozer or loader

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HEALTH & SAFETY

LEARNING FROM

DISASTERS: RECOGNISING THE SIGNS Injuries and fatalities in the extractive industry often occur – and reoccur – because of systemic failures. Tony Ferrazza explains how a course being run by the IQA on behalf of the NSW Resources Regulator is educating quarry professionals to recognise the underlying causes of past safety incidents in their own operations.

H

istory shows we work in a dangerous industry. The 1966 Aberfan waste dump failure in Wales killed 144 people, including 116 children in their school classrooms. Australia has had its share of mining disasters over recent years including the 1999 North Parkes mine collapse that claimed four lives. More recently in New Zealand, the 2010 Pike River disaster killed 29 mine workers. Disastrous events such as these have been responsible for widereaching reform to the workplace health and safety legislative environment, yet fatalities and serious injuries in our industry continue.

The quarry industry is not immune from tragedy either, with a steady string of fatalities over the years.

Winston Churchill once wrote: “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” The Learning from Disaster program, developed by the New South Wales Resources Regulator, provides an opportunity for participants to reflect on some of these past devastating events. If we can learn the underlying causes of past mining disasters, we may be able to prevent similar recurrences and improve the health and safety of all those working in the sector.

The Learning from Disaster program encourages participants to recognise the

recurring patterns that have underpinned previous disasters, fatalities and near fatalities. Historic NSW mining disasters are presented, and investigation findings are discussed which identify the systemic failures and learnings which subsequently lead to changes in mining legislation. The program aims to ensure that those in leadership positions understand the link between current legislative obligations and how that legislation has been shaped by a history of mine safety incidents, disasters and fatalities.

The Institute of Quarrying Australia (IQA) has been running the Learning from Disaster program on behalf of the NSW Resources Regulator as a one-day, online workshop for the quarrying and associated industries.

This delivery mode provides an opportunity for participation of regional and interstate workers with minimum disruption to work commitments. Workers from a range of backgrounds and organisations participate, including quarry operations managers, supervisors, leading hands and maintenance personnel from across large established companies to medium and small quarrying operations. For NSW participants, the program contributes to the maintenance of competence requirements for practising certificate holders.

Tony Ferrazza (top left) facilitates the first Learning from Disaster workshop in March 2020.

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Quarry July 2021

THE PATTERN CAUSES The program is based around research by Professor Michael Quinlan who analysed 24 mine disasters and fatal incidents occurring in five countries. His research concluded that there were 10 pattern causes (refer to Figure 1) that repeatedly recurred in these incidents.

He found the vast majority of major safety incidents in mines involved at least three of the 10 pathways and many exhibited five or more.

Participants in the program are introduced to Quinlan’s book Ten Pathways to Death and Disaster, and asked to identify principal hazards present at their own operations. A series of case studies of mining disasters are then presented to the class through videos and investigation findings and linked to the principal hazards. At the end of selected case studies, the class breaks up into small groups to discuss the case study, identify the pattern causes and then present their findings back to the class.

This approach involves a lot of discussion between individual participants about the pattern causes and results in the sharing of experiences and information relating to controlling principal hazards at their own operations. These discussions often lead to “aha” moments for individuals with a sudden realisation that it is not “all up to me” and that consultation is an essential element in reducing risks to workers’ health and safety.

The case studies not only identify the systemic failures but also present the impact these disasters have on the victims’ families and communities and strongly bring out the totality of the human tragedy related to these disasters and the importance of preventing them from happening in the future. The program ends with the participants listening to the family members of the Pike River disaster describe the impact of the event on their lives and an acknowledgement of

the people who have died in work-related incidents in the resources sector.

At the conclusion of the workshop, participants are encouraged to look beyond the specific factors in the case studies and reflect on their own workplace to identify three of Professor Quinlan’s pathways that they believe present the greatest risk to a safety failure in their own workplace. All participants present three actions they propose to implement when they return to their workplace. Examples of actions from previous workshops include: evaluating the effectiveness of the risk management process; reviewing and revising the traffic management plan; reviewing the emergency management plan; strengthening the communication and worker consultation process; reviewing the change management process; ensuring contractor competency and participation; maintaining the consultation process; and leading by example.

Figure 1: Professor Michael Quinlan’s Ten Pathways to Death and Disaster.

The risk of fatality and serious injury occurs in all parts of the resources sector, including quarries. The Learning from Disaster workshop exposes the fragility of workplace safety under the influence of complacency.

It reinforces the legislative requirement of workplace leaders as duty holders to provide a workplace that is safe and free from harm by implementing safe systems of work. The workshop motivates everyone to

remain vigilant and proactive in meeting their health and safety responsibilities in what is a dangerous environment. • Tony Ferrazza is a quarrying safety and training consultant for Quarry Wise, and the facilitator of the Learning from Disasters workshop on behalf of the IQA and the NSW Resources Regulator.

For more information about participating in the workshop, contact the IQA for further information, tel 02 9484 0577, email admin@quarry.com.au or visit quarry.com.au

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SMART BUSINESS

INDUSTRY DOYEN

WARNS OF POST-COVID CHALLENGES After more than 50 years of involvement with an OEM and supplier to the mining and aggregates industries in Australia, Dale Elphinstone is no stranger to the twists and turns of fickle economic conditions – but he remains ever the optimist.

O

n 24 March, the Victorian branch of the IQA hosted its first face to face meeting since Australians first went into lockdown 12 months earlier: a breakfast meeting at William Adams’ headquarters in Clayton, in Melbourne’s southeast.

The drawcard was Dale Elphinstone, executive chairman of the Elphinstone Group of companies, which includes Elphinstone Pty Ltd, an authorised Caterpillar original equipment manufacturer and an advanced products manufacturer in the surface mining, underground mining and rail industries. He is also executive chairman of William Adams, the Victorian and Tasmanian distributor of Caterpillar earthmoving plant and equipment.

William Adams itself has been a Caterpillar dealer for 95 years and became part of the Elphinstone Group of companies in 1987.

Elphinstone, 70, has been involved in this family group of companies for almost 50 years but his passion is undiminished. In 1966, aged 15, he began his career as an apprentice with William Adams before going to work as a field mechanic in mine sites in Tasmania and King Island. He worked as a field mechanic for Finning in British Columbia in 1973-74. In 1975, he started the Elphinstone business out of his father’s farm shed in Burnie, Tasmania, where he modified Caterpillar surface mining equipment for underground applications. By 1983 Elphinstone had designed and manufactured his first underground mining product – a 13-tonne articulated dump truck based on a 518/528 Caterpillar skidder power train.

In 1986 he developed the first U/G loader (Load Haul Dump - LHD). After this machine was widely accepted in the Australian market as a significant leap forward in productive capacity, Elphinstone exported his first machine to the USA in 1987.

Dale Elphinstone admits it is difficult to pinpoint when the Elphinstone name moved

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Quarry July 2021

from a “him” to an “it” – somewhere in those years of growth from the 1970s to the 1990s.

Perhaps it was the first employee in 1976 or first major sale in 1983, or when he formed a joint venture with Caterpillar to advance the U/G equipment business in 1995.

Fast forward through more than 45 years of world-renowned manufacturing in Burnie, and Elphinstone and Caterpillar has built thousands of Elphinstone- and Caterpillaraffiliated mining machines.

INDUSTRY RESILIENCE At the IQA meeting, Dale Elphinstone acknowledged the construction materials industry’s ability to adapt to the waves of inconvenience attributed to COVID-19.

“As a business, we’re grateful to the mining, quarrying, civil construction and forestry industries, all of those bodies that took the time to think about how to keep their businesses functioning, how to set up the proper safety protocols that allowed their businesses to continue to function,” he told Quarry.

“Australia has fared much better out of this than most countries. When you see countries whose GDP has dropped by minus 10 per cent, and Australia has had growth of 1.1 per cent, then I think that speaks volumes for our governments and our industries, in the way they’ve handled the pandemic.”

Elphinstone explained how his own businesses managed the “ins” and “outs” of COVID-19 restrictions. Despite the expected challenges from within his companies with changes to rosters, etc and within the broader Australian community, Elphinstone said the level of willing employee support and conformity shown by the masses had gone a long way to ensuring the success of certain restrictions and “reasonable continuity in the support of our customers”.

“As we started this journey, I don’t think

Dale Elphinstone has been involved in his family group of companies for almost 50 years.

any of us knew – government or industry, employers or employees – what to do,” he said. “We’ve learnt as we’ve gone along and then developed guidelines, with guidance from the government, the medical and scientific fraternities.”

Elphinstone acknowledged the perseverance and commitment of his employees in troubled times. Such is the pride and determination of his workforce, they helped to keep all nine of the Group’s businesses in full operation while dealing with family challenges in lockdown over prolonged periods,.

“Back in April 2020, when this became very difficult, we asked people in each of our businesses to work split shifts, so we had three separate workforces. This approach was in case we experienced an infection within our facilities. We could ask that group to go home, clean our facilities and have the next group come in. The co-operation of our employees was fantastic. When we needed to do it the second time, patience had perhaps worn a little thinner, but people were still cooperative, and we are so very grateful.”

Elphinstone revealed that observing safety has been the cornerstone of the success of his businesses in the past 12 months.

“Our measure of success is that we have kept our people safe,” he said. “I can put my hand on my heart and say we kept our people safe. We had some really difficult

situations, especially in Burnie, where the hospital was locked down, and we had about 20 of our employees with partners who worked at the hospital, a number of whom contracted the virus.

“On one occasion we had to shut our facilities until we had control, because we didn’t know who was or wasn’t infected. We managed to keep our people safe, and apart from those one or two areas that we had to shut for short periods, we’ve kept everybody gainfully employed. That to us is the measure of whether we’ve handled this life-changing experience successfully.”

The health of the workforce was one concern to be dealt with by businesses the world over. The other was the health of the business itself – the bottom line, but more importantly going the distance.

Elphinstone wasn’t too concerned – a luxury afforded by decades of professional business management – because he took the holistic view that big business is a “rollercoaster”.

“From a profitability point of view, we had a period of uncertainty, probably more in the April to May 2020 timeframe. Our businesses for a large part finished the last financial year pretty well. It was certainly dampened by the last quarter of the year, but we’d had a good year up to then. So that left us in good shape.

“It always evens out. I always have a concern, however, that if we have two really big industry years, then there will be a year that is down a bit.”

Elphinstone anticipated for 2020 that new equipment orders and sales might drop by 15 per cent on 2019. However, possibly due to government stimulus measures, sales increased by nearly 20 per cent.

ADAPTING TO A CHANGING WORLD Elphinstone, the man and the business, showed great optimism through the trials of 2020. He said the way in which people adapt to great change, as has occurred in recent times, will affect the world in ways they may not even realise yet.

“I think the year has really taught us and our customers to do business differently,” Elphinstone said. “We’ve improvised on all sorts of things to continue functioning and do what we do. I don’t think that’s just been us, it’s been our customers, our hospitals, our schools, our governments.

“We’ve improvised and learnt how to do things differently – and I think it will change our world forever. You could say the advent of the smart phone changed our world forever.

“COVID-19 will change our world again, for a raft of different reasons. However, technology has moved to a new level, and things we stopped doing – because we have had to use a different technology-based approach – may never start again. It will be a balance, but life will go on and it will be good and the sun will always come up tomorrow,” he said optimistically.

Examples of such technological changes flowed within the Elphinstone Group of companies, such as Teams and Zoom meetings, online training and working from home. While these evolutions have their benefits and efficiencies, their use is all about balance. Drawing on the companies’ love and respect for its people, Dale Elphinstone said it was inevitable that such a close knit team wouldn’t stay apart for too long and “would want to spend the majority of their time working out of our facilities”.

“If our people can work from home for a couple of days, where this is possible, it may help their work/life balance. We think, though, it’s also good for people to come to work for their own well-being, so they get to mix with other people. You shouldn’t just work in isolation. Some industries might be able to work that way but we’d miss the personal contact of being able to sit with our people,” he said. “It is also important for the development and advancement of our people that our teams have the opportunity for direct engagements with their leadership and their peer group. Knowing your colleagues is a very important part of our work/life balance.”

With technological adaptation and advancement, the extractive industries have the chance to grow once more. Governments are allocating record amounts to major infrastructure projects and this has flowed down into job creation and growth. While Elphinstone said these industries would flourish on the other side of COVID-19, the next challenge – barring another pandemic – will be environmental issues.

“I think the biggest challenge the quarry industry faces is one we all face – that’s a social licence to operate. We all have challenges of recruiting and retaining good people, training young people and making sure we can keep the industry attractive,” he said. “We need to bring the broader community on the journey of our important industries and this is not easy in the era of enviromental change.

“In developing Australia and the world, and in taking advantage of recent government

stimulus to develop our economy, it will be important to find a balance between digging everything up and leaving it all in the ground,” he added. “My old dad used to say, ‘everything in moderation’. That will be the key to our future growth and success.”

CHANGING OF THE FAMILY GUARD As the time nears for Elphinstone to pass the reins to his two children Kelly, 41, and Adam, 40, the business has done all it can to prepare everyone involved for the changing of the guard. It will soon be time for Dale to begin a new chapter as the Group’s non-executive chairman, with much less involvement in day to day operations.

“We’ve published updates regularly to keep our employees informed of where we are at and what the plan is,” he said. “We set up a 10-year plan. The aim was to have Kelly and Adam in key positions in the business by the time I was 70 and that has been achieved.

“I’ve had a great relationship with our team for the entire journey. While transitioning to Kelly and Adam is very rewarding, it can also be a challenge – it’s about getting people comfortable working with Kelly and Adam’s leadership style, and vice versa.

“As the leader of a large group of companies, nine in total, working across 10 countries, with some 2900 employees, you have to take more of a back seat, and watch and observe, and answer questions, and try not to interfere with the management team you have entrusted to run the various operations. This is not easy when you are a hands-on guy.

“While it’s a challenging transition for Kelly and Adam to make, as they have both been hands-on senior operational managers running individual businesses, they have made excellent progress. I have enormous respect for families that can successfully pass businesses from one generation to another and many through multiple generations.”

Dale Elphinstone understands the importance of continuity of leadership – whether he is directly involved in the business or otherwise.

“I think it is extremely important for our customers to understand that we have a detailed transition plan in place,” he said.

“We have a lot of customers who rely on our businesses to support them and they need to know that regardless of what happens to me the business is going to continue unaffected – to serve and support their businesses today and into the future.” •

Quarry July 2021 39

EDUCATION

CHASING THE BAGEL:

DEFINING YOUR VISION AND VALUES In this fourth chapter of a seven-part series on the characteristics of effective leadership, experienced infrastructure executive Domenic de Fazio outlines the importance of setting the right vision and values for your organisation, as told to Mike Cameron.

I

n April, I introduced concepts from my book The Emerging Leader – based on the seven core characteristics of effective leadership – with the promise that people from diverse demographics across several industries would write interesting pieces each month.

To recap: • Organisations require predictable results and performance.

• Workplace engagement is achieved through: - Trust.

- Purpose.

- Alignment.

- Conversations.

• The Emerging Leader Model (Figure 1).

• The Seven Core Characteristics of Effective Leadership are: 1. Know yourself. Confident leaders apply their strengths judiciously and work on personal growth and development. They appreciate the value of life-long learning and self-discovery.

2. Emotional resilience. Resilient leaders are aware and in control, of their emotions and can adapt to stressful situations or crises. They overcome adversity without lasting issues.

3. Empathetic relationships. Empathetic leaders can recognise, understand and share the thoughts and feelings of another person. They acknowledge the story without judgement.

4. Vision and values. Visionary leaders appreciate that, while values make a contribution, vision is future-focused and about developing clarity and purpose around goals.

5. Effective communication. Effective leaders understand the power of words and their ability to inspire, support, reassure and direct people.

They communicate with clarity of purpose.

6. Motivation and teamwork. Motivational leaders create a working environment where

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Quarry July 2021

empowerment and active encouragement build teamwork. They show trust and courage while walking the talk.

7. Trust in your leadership. Trustworthy leaders work with their people to establish believability, dependability and reliability through open and transparent behaviour that lacks self-interest.

As I’ve reviewed and discussed these interesting stories with each author, it has become evident there are four attributes (values) underpinning the effectiveness of leadership. I intend to identify and further explain these attributes through a second companion book (planned for publication later this year), namely: 1. Respect: Diversity/Gender Equality and Inclusion/Culture.

2. Courage: Internal and External.

3. Integrity: Accountability and Transparency/ Authenticity.

4. Agility: Alignment and Agility – Emotional, Management and Leadership.

VISION AND VALUES: DOMENIC DE FAZIO’S STORY I sat there, watching and taking in the moment, full of noise, conversation, laughter. Although not totally rare, it was not often that we as a team got together face to face. The leaders of our business, from Perth to Auckland and the many cities in between.

The room was full of laughter and chatter, but we understood the importance of getting together for the task at hand. It was strategy time, and we were embarking on defining the next five years.

It was with some hesitation that I called for attention, to formally open our meeting.

As I did, and the noise started to wind down, my focus drew to the document we all had sitting in front of us: a somewhat impressive, suitably substantial (thick) and beautifully

Domenic De Fazio: It’s important to set a purpose, ie a ‘flag on the hill’.

presented document. Although it was only a draft, at this stage it represented the work each business unit owner had prepared with their teams over many weeks.

The document was a collective of market research, analysis, past performance, financial projections, strategic priorities and the path over the next five years, framed with just the right mix of graphs, tables and photos.

I dare say that there was a buzz in the room, a sense of accomplishment and perhaps relief that we were nearly there and had met our target date for a document in draft.

After an initial opening to the session and an hour or so for the business unit managers to present an overview of where they had landed, I found myself reaching another point of hesitation.

Knowing I would perhaps put the mood of the room at risk, I threw it out there.

“Who is inspired by this document? Does anybody find it more than vanilla? Is it visionary?”

As I expected, there was silence, maybe not a good move on my behalf.

Slowly the chatter re-entered the room. In

reality, it was a defence or just a bunch of excuses, disguised as chatter, as to why the document was what it was.

It didn’t take long for us all to establish that not only was it “safe”, but we already knew how we were going to get there. We couldn’t even pretend that it was a stretch.

We agreed that we needed something a little more inspirational.

Without thought, I found myself sharing a Simon Sinek story. It was about a bagel and about how he defined two types of people: 1. Those who decide what they want and then work out how to achieve it.

2. And those that make sure they can achieve what they want.

“Who do we want to be?” I asked, knowing that as proud executives, we wanted to be the former.

I asked the team to explore what they really wanted to achieve, what they would be inspired by and what they would be proud to set as a “flag on the hill”.

We shared ambitions, with each manager sharing their vision of what “great” might look like. I gave them my version of what this would feel and look like and asked who was up for the uncertainty, who could put themselves up for a desired future without a clear path.

I very quickly was able to sense that the team all knew what “great” looked like. Were they brave enough to put it forward, put in the hard work and be accountable to it? Be somewhat vulnerable?

“Bang!” went a set of fists on the table, followed by a very enthusiastic “I’m in!” Moments later we were all in.

Again, the noise levels increased, ideas and ambitions were being thrown about the room.

Over the course of the next 90 minutes, we set our vision – our purpose, our “flag on the hill”.

Code name: Bagel We left the meeting, somewhat buoyant – we knew exactly where we were going, all on board and full steam forward.

Now all we had to do was work out how to get there.

The journey over the next 12 months was not without its challenges.

To have any chance of reaching our ambitious targets, we needed to nail a significant contract, and with “Project Bagel” in full flight, we had our eyes set on a 10-year program of works, with a target value of $2 billion. It would involve a 12-month procurement process, multiple stages and some key partners. Having committed ourselves, we assembled the best team from across the organisation, and with a hell of a lot of work, 12 days before Christmas, we received the great news of success – success that complemented many others. A clean slate of commercial disputes, many more contract extensions and our largest construction project win.

In short, it was our best performing year in more than five years.

It was all possible because we very clearly knew our path, our vision.

We were after the “bagel”. •

Figure 1. The Emerging Leader Coaching Model.

We’re reaching new heights in engineering.

The sky’s the limit.

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Domenic De Fazio is a former CEO of Broadspectrum – Urban Infrastructure Australia & New Zealand.

Quarry July 2021 41

EDUCATION & TRAINING

Steve Butcher (right) receives his Quarry Manager of the Year Award from Metso Outotec’s Asia-Pacific vice president Shaun Fanning.

NO OBVIOUS SECRET TO SUCCESS

FOR IQA AWARD WINNER People person first, quarry manager second is how Steve Butcher sees himself. Even after winning the IQA’s Quarry Manager of the Year Award, Hanson’s Bass Point head of operations says there’s never a dull moment on the job when working with a diverse range of people and tasks.

T

he Bass Point Quarry, 100 kilometres south of Sydney, produces basalt aggregates – more than 2.2 million tonnes of it in the year Butcher won his award (2018), to be exact.

While exact results haven’t been released for 2020, the site enjoyed a seven per cent increase on the previous year’s production in 2019. Butcher says a whole site redevelopment has allowed the quarry to really ramp up its throughput.

“We did new crushing plant, new workshops, new offices, the whole site was redeveloped,” Butcher said. “The crushing plant was upgraded to double in capacity – that plant is working to that criteria today and has met the criteria it was designed for.

42

Quarry July 2021

“It was a bespoke design but operating a lot of Metso crushers and screens. Our primary plant is capable of 1000 tonnes per hour (tph) and our secondary, tertiary plant is capable of 650 tph.

“We did get an expansion of the site approved – we got approval to quarry deeper, 40km below sea level. We’re also expanding our footprint to a small extent, but deeper over a large part of the site to get our reserves.”

Butcher has been the quarry manager at Bass Point since 1 May, 2006. Fifteen years later, the quarry still has plenty of room to grow, as the approved production limit currently sits at four million tonnes per year, compared to 2019’s 2.3 million-tonne

production results.

While positive production figures are great, Butcher said he most enjoys interacting with customers, staff and communities. He does this all while managing about 50 employees and three supervisors, as well as hundreds of daily truck movements at the 24/7 site.

“For me, our public relations and industrial relations is a large part of the role. We’re a fairly high profile site down here on the south coast, and the community is very invested in what we do. I take five to six phone calls a week from members of the community,” he added.

“I’ve always enjoyed the diversity in the workload. I’m doing blasting operations one minute, consulting with the public the next

minute. We do a lot of financial type of work in our role, human relations. The key is the diversity of the role, it’s certainly not in one box.”

COMMUNICATION CHANNELS Having interacted with so many individuals, organisations and industries over his 21 years at Bass Point – including 15 years as the quarry manager – one can assume he has survived and thrived over two decades of development and change, not only in a technological sense, but in how businesses operate holistically.

“My strongest memory – from when I began – was the industrial relations atmosphere was very combative,” Butcher recalled.

“The thing that stands out to me now is the professionalism of the operation compared to when I first started.

“Technology has driven the biggest changes in our industry – the way we communicate, the control systems for our processing plants, etc. Technology has been the single biggest change in my time. We have changed our communications in response to COVID-19.

Production-wise, we kept going but certainly our communications have changed – Teams and Zoom became the order of the day. A lot of it will likely stay now.”

Butcher believes communication is key in becoming a quarry manager. Not that there’s any tried and tested method to leadership but there are definite standards and habits that can go a long way to enabling a productive quarry operation.

“It’s about visible leadership – listening to employees’ concerns and acting on those concerns,” Butcher said.

“We obviously meet with the guys every shift, and we live and breathe safety, we try to engage in safety conversations with our employees on a daily basis. It’s about getting the workers to buy into it through avenues such as a safety committee.”

Luckily, Butcher is backed by a strong organisation in Hanson that recognises the importance of supporting its workforce. As he said, technology is the biggest driver of change in the industry, so the ability to understand it and take advantage of its capabilities should be a high priority for any business, big or small. In Hanson’s methods, the best way to learn about technology is through using it.

“Hanson have some really good in-house training facilities available for our managers down to workers through an ‘e-campus’

program,” Butcher said.

“We certainly encourage our employees to better their knowledge through formal training such as Cert III and IV in extractive industries, and the like. Hanson’s ‘e-campus’ program has been running for about eight years – the content is really good in terms of the training systems and accessibility.”

SHARING BEST PRACTICE Considering the amount of talent and experience surrounding him in the nominations and throughout the industry, Butcher said he was very humbled to receive the IQA Quarry Manager of the Year Award for operations with greater than 10 equivalent full time staff in 2018. The respect the award showed him was just as important as the industry recognition, according to Butcher.

“Some of my colleagues nominated me.

I was probably a little embarrassed about it – but when I thought about the quality of the other quarry managers in the industry, there are so many good people in this industry, it was an honour to receive the award and respect of my peers,” he said.

To his credit and his character, Butcher said that while his travel plans – as awarded and organised by the IQA for the award winner – were halted by COVID restrictions, there are plenty of great reasons to apply for the award, including the prize.

“The award is a good opportunity for people to further their learning or experience in the industry. It’s a really good avenue to let the industry know what your operations are doing and share those ideas as best practice,” Butcher said.

Another important reason to nominate, he added, is because a technique, an application or a perspective shared is an industry made better. The outcome to withhold an industry secret might just be that the next business wastes time or money, or remains less safe. Nominating oneself is also beneficial through simply considering where a business has come from and where it plans to go.

“There is always the aspect of putting one of those applications down in writing, which helps to put some perspective on your own career and where you want to go from here,” Butcher said.

TRANSPORT BY SEA Although Hanson previously decommissioned a bulk carrier to ship some of its aggregates from Bass Point to Sydney a decade ago,

the company is again exploring the merits of transporting aggregates by sea. To that end, and as part of the professional development opportunities presented by the award, Steve has been interested in visiting Norway to share and learn about the most effective strategies of aggregate shipping.

“Unfortunately, my travel plans were stymied by COVID-19. I was booked to travel to Scandinavia – and my interest was the shipping of aggregates. I was going to visit the large production quarries in Norway that ship their aggregates by sea. I was also going to visit some of Metso’s manufacturing facilities.”

With any luck, a trip to Norway will one day be viable for Steve, and a lesson in the efficiencies of aggregates shipping will be passed on.

One might think after so long in quarrying, Butcher might consider calling time. But ever the people’s manager, he simply can’t get enough of giving back.

“I’ve really been in this industry – 34 years – for my whole career, so it might be nice to finish out in the industry,” Butcher said. “We never know how things will pan out, but I like to give back to the industry.” •

2021 IQA AWARDS The IQA is now taking nominations for its 2021 Awards, which highlight the industry’s merits in education, innovation, community engagement, environmental management, safety and creativity.

The IQA Awards will be presented as part of the national conference from 5-7 October, 2021.

All current IQA members are permitted for award nominations, while a nonmember is permitted to be the nominator.

Historically IQA Award winners have benefited from substantial prizes that have supported professional development and travel to international quarry events and overseas study tours. Through generous sponsorship this year’s IQA Awards will again offer great prizes.

Nominations close on Friday 6 August, 2021 at 5.00pm AEST, with the winners to be finalised in September.

For more information about the awards, turn to page 29 or visit quarry.com.au

Quarry July 2021 43

IQA NEWS

(L-R) Luke Brammy (SafeWork SA), Andrew Wilson (IQA SA branch chairman), Shelley Rowett (SafeWork SA) and Mark Stewart (DEM) at the SA breakfast meeting.

New IQA members Mark O’Brien (left) and Stuart Chapman (centre) with Andrew Wilson.

SOUTH AUSTRALIAN BRANCH NEWS

SA branch dinner, 28 May

South Australia has recently hosted two successful events. More than 60 members and guests ventured to the Atura Hotel at the Adelaide Airport for the branch’s second breakfast meeting. The SA Department for Energy & Mining (DEM) provided an overview on changes to the mining regulations and SafeWork SA presented on respirable crystalline silica monitoring and regulatory expectations and standards.

A last-minute reshuffle saw a change of venue for the May dinner meeting to the Adelaide Oval. Sadly, the sudden border closure with Victoria meant that some of the sponsors and guests couldn’t attend. Nonetheless, the evening was a huge success with more 90 members, partners, guests and sponsors enjoying an inspirational talk from Clare Lindop. Clare provided an insightful glimpse of her over two-decade long riding career and journey as a multi-record-breaking female jockey.

his family to Queensland. Jarrod will be the quarry manager at Hanson’s Nerang Quarry on the Gold Coast. Most importantly, he was presented with his recently attained QMCS certificate.

The IQA welcomed two new Associate Members and certificates were presented to: • Mark O’Brien (Adelaide Brighton).

• Stuart Chapman (Hitachi Construction Machinery Australia).

Branch chairman Andrew Wilson also took the opportunity to farewell Jarrod Leech, the quarry manager at Hanson’s Golden Grove Sand Quarry, who is relocating with

WESTERN AUSTRALIAN BRANCH NEWS Respirable Crystalline Silica Workshop hits the west In 2020, Safe Work Australia published new workplace exposure standards for respirable crystalline silica (RCS) to 0.05 mg/m3. In response to the new standards the IQA is continuing to deliver workshops on RCS. The workshop was delivered face to

UPCOMING BRANCH AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT EVENTS • 30 July

Central Queensland Annual Golf Day (Rockhampton)

• 23 July

Far North Queensland (Cairns) Annual Golf Day

• 27 July

Supervising for Safety (Brisbane)

• 31 Aug

Learning From Disasters

• 2 Sept

Queensland Women in Quarrying Fifth Annual Conference

• 7 Sept

Tasmanian AGM, Site Tour & Dinner (Launceston)

• 5-7 Oct

IQA 63rd National IQA Conference (Newcastle)

• 13 Oct

Central Queensland Technical Dinner Meeting

• 26 - 28 Nov Tasmanian Technical Weekend (Bruny Island) • 19 Nov

Western Australian Annual Golf Day

For more information, visit quarry.com.au Corporate training is available on a broad range of areas. To find out more and/or to organise corporate training, email admin@quarry.com.au

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Quarry Juy 2021

The first face to face RCS workshop was held in Perth on 4 May.

The Institute of Quarrying Australia

MEMBERSHIP GRADES TO REFLECT CURRENT ROLES

The IQA Board and Membership Review Committee recently made changes to the requirements for membership grades in the Institute. These changes reflect the current roles in our industry. By aligning the grades more closely to roles the IQA will achieve greater consistency in its membership grades. For example, any quarry manager with the statutory right to practise in their state meets the requirement of the membership grade of Member.

There are a number of current members who meet the requirements of a higher grade.

As part of the 2021-22 membership renewal cycle the IQA team will ensure all members are aligned to the correct grade and will be upgraded accordingly.

For the 2022 Financial Year membership cycle fees for all grades below Fellow are now uniform so this upgrade will not disadvantage any member financially. This work builds on the recent changes to the IQA’s constitution to give more value to members, give all members the right to use postnominals, to vote at the AGM and to nominate for the board.

Once you renew your 2021-22 IQA membership you will be issued with an

electronic member badge and able to use the postnominal aligned to your grade, eg: • Honorary Fellow (HFIQ) • Fellow (FIQ) • Member (MIQ) • Technical Member (TMIQ) • Associate (AIQ) • Operator (OMIQ) • Student (SIQ) Engagement with the peak body for the industry you work in adds value to career development and networking.

Therefore, the IQA is working on new strategies to engage younger people and more women in events, education and membership.

For the next six months, the IQA is offering the following: • Any new young member (under 35) who is introduced by a member will receive 25 per cent off the young member’s membership for 2021-22.

• Any new female member who is introduced by a member will receive 25 per cent off the new WIQ member’s membership for 2021-22.

face for the first time since the start of COVID-19 on 4 May. The WA branch hosted the workshop which was was delivered

by Dr Elaine Lindars, who has a PhD in geochemistry, a postgraduate qualification in industrial hygiene, an honours degree in environmental chemistry and 27 years’ experience in occupational, environmental and analytical chemistry.

The IQA is grateful for the support of Phil Harris, Dr Elaine Lindars and sponsors Bradley Colvin from 3M and Lana Darbyshire from the

The IQA workshop provided a comprehensive understanding of silica and current compliance requirements, specifically covering workplace exposure standards, legislation, risk management, exposure monitoring, monitoring programs and results, health monitoring, dust controls, respiratory protection, training, documentation, and principal hazard management plans.

IQA NEW MEMBERS GRADE NAME ASSOC ASSOC ASSOC ASSOC ASSOC ASSOC ASSOC ASSOC ASSOC ASSOC

Dave Van Lent Belinda Virgo Hooray Wray Kylie Fahey Ian McKenzie Lisa Stromborg Phillipa Doyle Teresa Everett Emma Craven Troy Flynn

BRANCH NSW NSW NSW QLD QLD QLD VIC VIC WA WA

The IQA has a long, proud history and many members have been connected to the Institute for more than 20 years. This year will see the introduction of formal member recognition at five, 10, 15, 20, 30 and 40 years, as well as further recognition for our Fellows.

I look forward to implementing new ways to recognise our members.

If you have any questions regarding membership, contact the IQA’s national office, tel 02 9484 0577 or email admin@quarry.com.au KYLIE FAHEY Chief Executive Officer Institute of Quarrying Australia

Perth Radiological Clinic.

To book corporate training, contact education@quarry.com.au • MIQ MIQ MIQ MIQ MIQ MIQ MIQ MIQ MIQ MIQ OP TMIQ TMIQ

Tony Fagan NSW Elliott Scott NSW Ash Weier QLD Christian Willmett QLD Shae Woodley QLD Deb Zarb QLD Matthew Briton-Jones SA Mark O’Brien SA David Kraima WA Sam Russell WA Thomas Laucke SA Spencer Voss QLD Lily Della-Vedova QLD

Quarry July 2021 45

IQA NEWS

The Institute of Quarrying Australia

NSW QUARRIES AND CONCRETE HEALTH AND SAFETY SEMINAR TALKS ZERO HARM The New South Wales divisions of the IQA and Cement Concrete Aggregates Australia held the recent Quarries & Concrete Health and Safety Seminar, headlined by the NSW Resources Regulator’s Garvin Burns and HeidelbergCement’s Klaus Hormann.

Burns is the chief inspector of mines for the Regulator and gave an industry update to the hundreds of live viewers at the virtual seminar, held over Zoom.

Burns discussed a spike in incident reports through June and July 2020, which he said was a reactionary response to COVID-19 sentiment.

“We attributed it to people becoming more cautious because of fear of the unknown and fear of the future to try and protect their jobs,” Burns said.

This spike in incident reports then died off before returning strongly in late 2020 as more businesses were allowed to increase their workforces once more.

Burns also discussed the trend in respirable crystalline silica data, after July 2020 saw a modification to the exposure standard, limiting the acceptable level of silica dust in the air to 0.05mg per cubic metre.

An expected jump in exceedances by quarries was seen after the reduction took hold, but not by as much as expected.

“There was quite a low number of notifications from the sector prior to 1 July [2020], typically we would have seen one or two a month. There has been a substantial increase since,” Burns said.

Burns emphasised, however, that the free sampling program offered by the Resources Regulator through October, November and December has skewed the number of exceedances to appear higher than was true.

“If we were to normalise that data and take away that free sampling, I would offer to the industry that there has only been a very minor change in the number of exceedances as a consequence of the reduction in standard,” Burns said.

Klaus Hormann’s contribution to the seminar centred on HeidelbergCement’s continuous path towards a zero harm workplace.

Hormann is the manager for group health and safety with the German building materials 46

Quarry July 2021

Brett McIntosh, Boral’s national general manager for health, safety and environment.

Garvin Burns, the chief inspector of mines for the NSW Resources Regulator.

company. HeidelbergCement is the parent company of Hanson Australia.

“It’s a journey and HeidelbergCement is a data-driven company. For years, productionfirst was a big topic, so to change the culture and the mindset is a journey,” Hormann said.

HeidelbergCement has implemented a range of safety measures over the years, from ensuring guards and railings are in place, to more systematic changes such as a ‘key transfer system’. The latter ensures only one worker can turn the key on a piece of equipment at any one time, removing the dangers of a miscommunication.

As in any business, changing the nature of operations takes hard work and commitment from all levels of the workforce.

“It’s starts from convincing the top management, down to plant managers and frontline supervisors who get the complaints from their workers to maintain appropriate risk management and it is something we’re still working on,” Hormann said.

“But I think with all these safety actions and conversations, this helps us to move forward in this cultural change.”

The multinational organisation has operations in every continent except South America, so a range of culture-appropriate approaches was required to achieve company-wide success.

The seminar also featured a presentation from Brett McIntosh, Boral’s national general manager for health, safety and environment (HSE) .

Klaus Hormann, the manager for group health and safety at HeidelbergCement.

McIntosh has a wealth of experience in improving the well-being of those working beneath him. In his presentation, McIntosh explained that lag indicators – metrics such as lost time injuries (LTI), the recordable injury frequency rate (RIFR) and fatalities – were important to maintaining health and safety in extractive operations but operations relied upon them too heavily.

“The lag indictors that we use in the industry are, by their nature, reactive,” he said. “You can certainly learn from them but they can’t be the focus.”

McIntosh recounted the events of BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010. The offshore drill rig burst and sunk after a string of seven incident-free years, killing 11 people. He said incidents like Deepwater showed the lack of correlation between lag indicators and an operation’s level of safety.

McIntosh said teams – comprising maintainers, engineers, HSE experts and others on the floor – should implement critical control management systems. Such systems outline how lives can be best protected and monitored in the workplace, and enable checks and double-checks to ensure a business can apply effective critical controls.

Registered delegates to the seminar can continue to view recordings of the online content to 31 August, 2021 using the unique username and password previously assigned to them. Visit https://portalapp.iqa.eventsair. com/VirtualAttendeePortal/quarries-andconcrete-safety-seminar/qcss2021 •

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