Industry Focus » Macraes Mine
Bernie - looking back with pride OceanaGold’s new Waihi manager Bernie O’Leary has fond memories of his time at the helm of the company’s Macraes Mine. He talks to Jo Bailey.
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fter six years as general manager of OceanaGold’s Macraes operation, Bernie O’Leary has moved north to take over the reins at the firm’s newly acquired Waihi mine. “It was sad to leave Macraes as I’ve spent about half of my working life at the mine. But it’s also invigorating to be working in a different area, with different people, in a mine with different issues.” Bernie joined the Waihi team in late October and says it probably won’t sink in that he has left Macraes until he heads south to attend the mine’s 25th anniversary celebrations later this month. His involvement with the Otago mine goes back to 1990 when it was first constructed and commissioned. “It was special to have been there at the start. The virgin site had very steep gullies and quite challenging land to work in for construction purposes. “We had to build the processing plant, start the ore mining, construct four dams and realign a public road running through the middle of the site.” The construction team only had six months to complete the works before commissioning but managed to “wade through it and meet the targets”, says Bernie. “The first open pit we mined at the site was Round Hill. It was an exciting project with plenty of challenges but rewarding at the same time.” By the time Bernie left the mine in 1999 to pursue opportunities overseas, he had progressed to the role of mining manager looking after open pit mining at the site. A decade later he returned to take up the general manager’s position and says he has witnessed some big changes at the operation over the years. “The difference in the size and scale of the mine from the early days is pretty staggering. “There has also been lots of changes in personnel within the company and we’ve seen the next generation of farmers take over from their parents on the land neighbouring the mine.” New technologies are now the biggest drivers of change at the operation, he says. “Technology has advanced in so many areas. We now use GPS for equipment tracking, remote controlled loaders in the underground mine, and so much capacity and complexity has been added to the processing plant, which enabled us to recover more gold.
“The difference in the size and scale of the mine from the early days is pretty staggering.” “Attitudes and practices when it comes to health and safety have also moved on in leaps and bounds over the last 25 years.” Bernie says one of the most heartening aspects of his long career at Macraes was watching people develop. “I remember mining manager Mike Dodd starting as a sampler on a drill rig 24 years ago. “To see others like Mike grow and to help them progress along the way has been special. “It’s people who have made the business a success and have turned the mine into the long project it has become.” One thing that hasn’t changed at Macraes in 25 years is the challenging nature of the mine, with its reasonably low-grade gold deposit making extraction more difficult, he says. “The mine tends to challenge the team every year with something different. However this makes for a dynamic workplace that breeds a culture of innovation. The old axiom about necessity being the mother of invention is definitely true for Macraes.” He says the mine’s management and staff have learned to get the best out of the mine over the years through good teamwork. “It is so much easier when everybody is dialed into overcoming challenges and looking for improvements.” Encouraging a similar team culture at Waihi is one of Bernie’s goals as the operation’s new general manager. “I only knew a handful of people at Waihi when I moved here so I’m excited to get to know the rest of the team and lead the mine into the next stage of its development.” On October 30, OceanaGold announced it had completed the acquisition of the Waihi mine. This has led to further reshuffling within the company’s management ranks. Dale Oram the current general manager at OceanaGold’s Globe Progress mine at Reefton is taking over as the new general manager at Macraes.
Bernie O’Leary: “It’s people who have made the business a success and have turned the mine into the long project it has become.”
He will continue to oversee the Reefton operation’s transition into care and maintenance, and is expected to take over from Macraes acting general manager Quenton Johnston in December. David Bickerton, who led the professional team that carried out the preparatory work ensuring the smooth transition of the Waihi mine
Difficult terrain; the virgin Macraes site had steep gullies and “quite challenging land” to work in for construction purposes.
14 Mining NZ » Spring 2015
into OceanaGold ownership has taken up the position of vice president project executive at the company’s Haile Project Development in South Carolina, US. An anniversary dinner is being held on 28 November to celebrate 25 years of operation at the Macraes Mine.