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COMMENT

www.miningaustralia.com.au AustralianMining February 2013 3

These last few months haven’t been the best time to be a mining

CEO.Cynthia Carroll, Tom

Albanese, Doug Ritchie, Roger Agnelli, Diego Hern-andez, Vladimir Strzhalko-vsky, Richard O’Brien, Aar-on Regent – all mining heads that have rolled over the past year or so. Even BHP’s Mar-ius Kloppers is apparently in the firing line. Obviously the most high profile change in the lineup of late has been Albanese and his virtual overnight replacement with Australian Sam Walsh.

It was actually years in the making, starting with Rio’s movement into alumin-ium with its ill-advised acqui-sition of Alcan – which wrote $10 billion off the company, and finishing with the recent

$3.5 billion takeover of Riv-ersdale, the Mozambican coal mine. So what has caused this massive shake up at the top, and not just at Rio?

A lot of these CEOs and managing directors came in before the boom really took hold, when the mining indus-try was suffering through the global economic trough or at the ramp up in boom 1.0.

They then had the good fortune to experience possi-bly one of the greatest uplifts in mining’s history, when the commodity stars aligned and prices skyrocketed.

Iron ore reached heights of nearly $200 per tonne, goldsoared and coal went from strength to strength. With commodity prices like this, every move seemed to be a winner. And this is where they made their mistakes.Thinking the good times are likely to last they made a lot of rash decisions, some poor investments and gener-ally some horrible decisions. These have now come back to bite all of them.

So where to now?Australians appear to be

making their way into the

top ranks globally, as Anglo American snapped up Mark Cutifani and Rio Tinto has decided to put the company into the capable hands of Sam Walsh.

The Walsh decision was one of the least surprising out-comes of the Albanese affair.

For years he had been touted as the next leader of the miner, with his steward-ship demonstrating how ca-pable he is. This shake up at the top may be indicative of a greater mood change across mining. A move away from risk takers to more stable leaders, who are less willing to roll the dice for greater re-turns, but to work slowly to gradually build capital and revenue. The industry has changed and its leaders, will-ingly or not, have been forced to change with it.

CEO heads are rolling as mining sees a management shake up.

Tough ride at the top

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FRONT COVERIn this edition of Australian Mining we’ve focused on the threats facing the coal mining industry in Australia. For years it has been the target of environmentalists hoping to shut down mining in the country. One such activist, Jonathon Moylan, perpetrated a hoax which directly attacked Whitehaven Coal, devastating its stock price and managing to wipe out millions from the company in hours. While the company recovered, it highlighted how easily coal miners can be attacked, and the apparent lack of legal protection they can expect if the situation were to reoccur.Australian Mining also discusses the future of junior miners and exploration, and how a lack of government support, coupled with high levels of duplication and bureaucracy is putting the continued existence of many smaller miners at risk.This edition also launches the Prospect Awards. nominations are now open, so get in fast.

Comment Cole [email protected]

MiningAustralian

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www.miningaustralia.com.au4 February 2013 AustralianMining

February 2013 issue

Contents

FeaturesTOP TRENDSTop Trends for 2013What are the issues affecting you this year ....................................... p8-10

COAL MININGModelling measurementAsset management on site ................................................................... p14Coal’s risky businessNew coal safety programs ..............................................................p16-19The hoax heard round the nationThe Whitehaven hoax saga ............................................................p20-21Simple solutions on siteCoal transfer ....................................................................................... p22ICAC: The story so farCorruption in the coalfields ............................................................p24-26

GASNo reservationsAustralia’s energy future ................................................................p28-29

MINING AND EXPLORATIONJuniors in jeopardyIs our mining future under threat ........................................................ p32

INFRASTRUCTURELoaded questionsTrain unloaders in the Pilbara ............................................................. p34

QUARRYING, CRUSHING & SCREENINGIt’s all about the sizersThe development of sizing technology ............................................p36-38

Combination crushingEliminating double handling in crushing and grinding ........................ p40

MINERALS PROCESSINGUnder pressureHeavy duty slurry valves ..................................................................... p42Wearing the costsWear resistance in processing equipment ............................................. p44

MINESITE VEHICLESTipping pointSafer truck bodies ................................................................................ p46Keeping miners in suspenseStronger mining vehicle suspension ..................................................... p48Simplifying your siteVehicle asset management ................................................................... p49

MOTORS & DRIVESBehind the MVSD Vs. VFD debateWhat is right for your site ..............................................................p50-52What’s driving draglinesAC or DC power ............................................................................p54-55

MINING EQUIPMENTFrom start to finishMining consumables ......................................................................p58-59

RegularsNEWS .................................................................................................. p6PROSPECT AWARDS LAUNCH .................................................... p56JOBS .................................................................................................. p60EVENTS ............................................................................................. p62

Coal to lead the way

Coal is slated to become the world’s number one energy source....p12

No reservations

Australia’s energy future....p28-29

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Albanese steps down as head of Rio TintoRio Tinto’s head of iron ore Sam Walsh is the new CEO of Rio Tinto following Tom Albanese’s shock exit.According to the miner “Tom Albanese stepped down as chief executive by mutual agreement with the Rio Tinto Board, and Iron Ore chief executive Sam Walsh has been appointed as his successor [immediately]”.Rio Tinto’s energy chief Doug Ritchie was also been caught in the management cull, stepping down today by “mutual agreement”.Many believe it is the miner’s expectation of a non-cash impairment of around US$14 billion for its 2012 full year results that was the impetus behind the corporate reshuffle.“These impairments include an amount of approximately US$3 billion relating to Rio Tinto Coal Mozambique (RTCM), as well as reductions in the carrying values of Rio Tinto’s aluminium assets (mostly Rio Tinto Alcan (RTA) but also Pacific Aluminium) in the range of US$10-11 billion,” it said in a statement.“The group also expects to report a number of smaller asset write-downs in the order of US$500 million.

Caterpillar uncovers internal fraudCaterpillar is carrying out an internal investigation after claims of misconduct at one of its recently acquired companies. The mining

machinery manufacturer stated that it “has uncovered deliberate, multi-year, coordinated accounting misconduct concealed” at the recently acquired ERA Mining Machinery company’s subsidiary Zhengzhou Siwei Mechanical & Electrical Manufacturing, in China.“Caterpillar’s investigation determined several Siwei senior managers engaged in deliberate misconduct beginning several years prior to Caterpillar’s acquisition of Siwei,” it said.It went on to stress that “the misconduct at issue commenced at Siwei well in advance of Caterpillar’s acquisition. Due to the fraud at Siwei, Caterpillar expects to suffer a “non-cash goodwill impairment charge of approximately $580 million, or $0.87 per share, in the fourth quarter of 2012”.Following the investigation Cat removed several senior managers at the company, installing its own new leadership team.

Miner’s arm crushedA mine worker has had his arm crushed at BMA’s Broadmeadow underground coal mine near Moranbah in central Queensland.The man’s colleagues raised the alarm on Sunday night after noticing he had not returned underground following a trip to collect equipment.A search for the employee discovered he was trapped, his left arm was crushed between a

cable reel and the cable reeler.The man had been stuck there for over an hour, CFMEU district president Steven Smyth told Australian Mining.“He’s very lucky; he was stuck for over an hour. As bad as it is he is fortunate to not have far worse injuries,” Smyth said.

Military to protect mining assetsThe Australian military is already working to ramp up protection of oil, gas, and mining assets in Australia

due to the rising risk of attack from terrorists or resource-hungry nations.According to a draft white paper leaked to the Australian Financial Review Australia’s lucrative resources may be seen as vulnerable and poorly-protected due to their isolation.“Work is already under way to enhance the ADF’s preparedness for operations in the north-west,” the white paper said.“The government recognises the economic importance of northern Australia and our offshore resources has increased.”Measures to ramp us security follow a recent attack on a gas plant in Algeria, which Australia’s Defence Force Chief David Hurley said would be studied to help prevent similar attacks in Australia.

Xstrata to create 150 new coal jobsRamping up production at Xstrata’s Mangoola coal mine by almost 30 per cent to 13.5 million tonnes of coal a year will create an estimated 150 new jobs.The company said they are seeking permission to expand the mine located between Denman and Muswellbrook which will take total employment at the facility from 300 to 450 people.But greens groups say the increased production will have an unsustainable environmental

impact. In its application to the NSW Department of Planning, the coal miner has requested approval to lift run-of-mine production from 10.5 million tonnes to 13.5 million tonnes per annum. Xstrata announced in a local newsletter that it is seeking increased ‘‘flexibility’’ in its blasting frequencies but will not seek to modify blasting limits in the community.

Macmahon wins its largest ever contractFortescue Metals Group has awarded a $1.8 billion mining contract to Macmahon.The contractor stated that this is the largest ever mining award it has won, adding that it further underpins its strategy to become a full service mining contractor.Macmahon will now provide open cut mining services as part of the Christmas Creek mine expansion for Fortescue. it will named as the preferred contractor for the site in October last year.Ross Carroll, Macmahon’s CEO, said the new five year Pilbara contract is extremely significant, adding that it brings the company’s order book up to $3.6 billion – the highest in its history.Fortescue added that the contractor will provide “all aspects of mine operations including drill and blast, overburden removal, ore harvesting, maintenance of equipment for the Christmas Creek expansion”.

HEADLINES

Australian Mining gets the latest news every day, providing mining professionals with the up to the minute information on safety, news and technology for the Australian mining and resources industry.

The latest mining news and safetyAustralian Mining presents the latest news and safety affecting you from the boardroom to the mine and everywhere in between. Visit www.miningaustralia.com.au to keep up to date with what is happening.

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The mining game is tough at the best of times; cur-rently mining companies are

operat ing amidst a volatile climate of rising operation costs, unstable commodity prices and a strong Aus-tralian dollar.

With this in mind, Deloitte has released its annual ‘Tracking the Trends’ report which examines the challenges expected to affect the in-dustry in 2013.

“As commodity prices decline and global economic uncertainty persists, it’s harder for mining com-panies to predict future demand pat-terns,” Deloitte’s Australian global mining leader, Philip Hopwood, said in a statement.

“Companies are deferring their expansion projects in the face of waning Chinese demand, yet world demand promises to increase dramati-cally in the coming years,” he added.

It’s one thing to predict this year’s trends, it’s another to put them in some sort of historical con-text, simply because how do you

know where you’re going if you don’t know where you’ve been?

In the words of English poet Col-eridge: “If men could learn from his-tory, what lessons it might teach us.”

So here they are the top 10 for 2013 according to Deloitte…

1. The increasing costs of doing business

Mining in Australia is only getting more expensive, costs are being driv-en up by the high cost of labour and compliance, and the introduction of the carbon and mining taxes as well as Queensland’s royalty hikes.

The difference this year however is that commodity prices are not ex-pected to support such high operat-ing costs as they have in the past.

While commodity prices remain well above their 2008 lows, they have shown a pattern of decline in the last year.

Add to this the rise of natural gas in the US which has resulted in a drop in the demand for coal, and an increase in the amount of US coal that is being exported from the states to Europe and Asia, putting American coal in direct competition with Australian coal.

Late last year American coal con-glomerate Alpha Natural Resources even credited Australia’s rising costs for the US’s boost on the global cok-ing coal market.

“The fact is that their cost in-flation has been so rapid that it is actually improving the US’s relative position in the global seaborne met-allurgical market,” the group’s vice-president of investor relations, Todd Allen, said at the time.

Allen said that recent cost infla-

tions have far outstripped that of the US and Canada and attributed the rising costs to changes in federal and state government regulations and the inflated cost of labour.

Until recently Australia was the world’s cheapest place to produce coal, yet in five years, we’ve become the highest cost producer in the world at $176 a tonne compared to the rest of the world at $106.

Discussing cost pressures, Hop-wood said mining companies must look at a more intricate series of in-vestment options in order to remain competitive.

“With cost pressure mounting and talent shortages ongoing, com-panies must assess the viability of a more complex series of options. Investments will be necessary to en-able companies to weather more se-vere volatility,” Hopwood said.

2. Demand uncertainty There is much debate over commod-ity demand predictions, while in the short term demand for resources like iron ore may be tapering, min-ing companies need to continue to look ahead to avoid long term sup-ply constraints, Deloitte’s Americas mining leader Glenn Ives said.

“”This danger will grow as com-panies halt production in the face of capital cost increases and growing shareholder demands for more im-mediate returns,” Ives said.

A D _ A M L A N J U N _ 1 2 . p d f P a g e 1 1 5 / 0 5 / 1 2 , 3 : 4 8 P M

Continued on page 10

TOP TRENDS

TOP 10 mining trends for 2013As 2013 kicks off we

give you an insight into what will be

affecting the mining game

this year. Alex Heber

reports.

AM.FEB13.PG008.pdf 29/01/13, 3:18 PM

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According to the Economic In-telligence Unit, real annual GDP growth in China is forecast to fall to an average of 8.1 per cent between 2013 and 2016.

Indications that China’s eco-nomic growth is slowing is having a ripple effect on mining companies, particularly those who have pinned their fortunes on China’s continued appetite for resources.

3. Quality of projects over quantity of projects

Overrun costs and schedule slippage in mining projects not only worries lenders; they aggravate shareholders and attract media attention.

Thus this year Deloitte believes we’ll see a growing number of min-ers being forced to determine what projects should be delivered rather than financing “speculative long-term projects”.

According to Deloitte Access Eco nomics, the value of resources as a share of all projects in Australia’s planning pipeline fell from more than 56 per cent in June 2011 to 40 per cent in June 2012.

4. Fighting for funds: Asian investment and M&A

The battle for funding is predicted to remain competitive in 2013 as debt financing remains tight across global financial markets and in-stitutional investors continue to turn away from the mining sector, Deloitte said.

Such a turn of events has forced mining companies to look elsewhere in the search for capital, leading many companies down a road of joint ventures, mergers and acquisi-tions and consolidations in an effort to get projects off the ground.

Asian based investors are still playing an active role in the resourc-es market as the Chinese govern-ment continues to encourage them to provide development capital and acquire resources abroad.

5. Resource nationalism will remain

While Australia doesn’t have the same unpredictable level of sover-eign risk other mining nations around the world do, Australia does have its own level of resource na-tionalism in the form of the mineral resources rent tax (MRRT) and the carbon tax.

Both have the potential to re-duce company profits and interfere with project feasibility assessments. “Whether it’s through resource na-

tionalism, special mining taxes or the gradual creep in taxation, gov-ernments are looking for a larger share of mining company profits,” Deloitte’s Queensland mining lead-er, Reuben Saayman, said.

6. Combating corruption – Holding miners to higher standards

ICAC’s investigation into questiona-ble mining deals done in New South Wales’ Bylong Valley is set to con-tinue until the end of March. (See story on page 24)

And although Australia prides itself on having a relatively low rate of corruption, coming in at number 7 on Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index be-hind the likes of Denmark, Sweden, and Switzerland, it is worth noting that to maintain such a standard the country’s prime industries like

mining must continue to be held to world class standards.

Corruption poses a significant risk to business’ bottom line and corporate reputation, and around the world particularly in tougher geopolitical environments combat-ing corruption remains a challenge for the mining sector in 2013.

Deloitte’s mining leader for as-surance, Tony Zoghby explains that as the comfortable countries are mined out, mining companies will need to find new, riskier locations.

7. Socially responsible behaviour

Corporate social responsibility to-day extends beyond what is legally required; instead it involves under-standing shifting community, gov-ernment and NGO expectations, and committing to a higher level of

transparency and operational sus-tainability.

This means mining companies must provide local employment op-portunities, infrastructure, training, education and healthcare in order to avoid vocal opposition to their pre-sence.

8. Skills shortages here to stayThe skills shortages in Australia’s mining industry remain at unrelent-ing levels, which is where they’re ex-pected to stay for a while yet.

The Minerals Council of Aus-tralia predicts the need for an addi-tional 86,000 mining professionals and skilled mine workers by 2020.

While the remote location of mines poses a challenge when at-tempting to attract talent, it can be overcome with wage hikes.

However, this can prove to be unsustainable solution for majors

who cannot continue to increase sal-aries year on year, and for juniors, who cannot afford to fork out such exorbitant salaries in the first place.

Training local talent, sponsoring university programs and cross train-ing existing workers are all ways of recruiting whilst behaving in a so-cially responsible manner, Deloitte says.

9. Improving safety culture Building a culture of safety is one of the most important tasks, if not the most important task, mine manage-ment can undertake.

Mining is a dangerous industry, although it has come a long way from the days when mercury was mined by hand and children could be found underground.

This doesn’t mean it’s anywhere near reaching safety perfection, in-

vestment in education and training needs to continue for improvement to continue.

One way onsite safety can be improved is through the adoption of new technologies and ways of think-ing.

“Significant advances in data an-alytics and increasingly affordable sophisticated software capabilities can help organisations gain insight into causal factors and improve their safety outcomes,” Deloitte said.

10. Implementing new technology

More mining companies are choos-ing to reduce operational costs and increase efficiency through signifi-cant technology investments.

Taking advantage of powerful data analysis enables mining com-panies to become highly predictive instead of reactive in their decision making processes.

“New data analytic capabilities enable mining companies to take hundreds – or even thousands- of contributing factors into account when allocating their portfolios, as-sessing their cost drivers, predict-ing project success rates, identifying third-party relationships, mitigating risk and uncovering the causal fac-tors of safety incidents,” Deloitte said.

Implementing remote monitoring and control capabilities through pro-grammable logic controllers (PLCs) enable miners to automate industrial processes like blasting, drilling, and transportation and inturn can im-prove mine site safety and accelerate production rates.

Collaboration is the key Although these are the top ten trends for 2013, mining companies are re-nowned for taking a long term view of the market and long-term indus-try fundamentals remain positive.

“As global demand for resources grows over time, mining compa-nies that lay the groundwork today will be well positioned to seize to-morrow’s opportunities,” Deloitte stated.

At present the mining industry faces a number of systemic issues that cannot be resolved without col-laboration between players.

From aging infrastructure, talent shortages and growing social expec-tations, to heightened demand for both energy and water and the need to implement new technology to stay ahead of the curve and improve safety records, these issues will not be resolved whilst mining companies act alone.

TOP TRENDS

Miners are facing increasing challenges as the year progresses.

Continued from page 8

AM.FEB13.PG010.pdf 22/01/13, 10:58 AM

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More than 8,000 jobs have been stripped from

Australia’s coal sector in the past six months and heading into 2013 the industry con-tinues to feel the pressure.

Australian coal compa-nies are struggling to com-pete on the global stage, facing increasing competi-tion from the United States, a drop in coal prices, a high Aussie dollar and rising op-eration costs.

However, some are hop-ing that India’s crippling en-ergy problems and hunger for coal will bring Australia’s coal industry out of these dark days.

This sentiment is being backed by Wollongong’s coal mine NRE No. 1 Colliery.

The mine’s Indian owner Arun Jagatramka has already taken steps to assure his em-ployees that their premium coking coal will always be snapped up by the subcon-tinent.

According to the Inter-national Energy Agency’s annual Medium-Term Coal Market Report (MCMR) coal’s share in the global en-ergy mix is expected to con-tinue to increase, predicted to close in on oil as the world’s top energy source by 2017.

Such growth is reliant on Indian and Chinese demand to continue and according to the IEA both countries are expected to lead the growth of coal consumption over the next five years.

China has already sur-passed the likes of Japan to become the largest importer of coal in the world, and on the flip side of this, Indone-sia has grown to become the world’s largest exporter of coal, surpassing Australia on a tonnage basis.

It must however be noted that Australia’s current slip in the ranks can be in part blamed on the major Queens-land floods in 2010-2011 which severely hampered ex-ports.

“Thanks to abundant supplies and insatiable de-mand for power from emerg-ing markets, coal met nearly half of the rise in global en-ergy demand during the first decade of the 21st Century,” IEA executive director Maria van der Hoeven said.

“This report sees that trend continuing. In fact, the world will burn around 1.2 billion more tonnes of coal per year by 2017 compared to today – equivalent to the current coal consumption of Russia and the United States combined.

“Coal’s share of the glo-bal energy mix continues to grow each year, and if no changes are made to current policies, coal will catch oil within a decade,” she said.

The rise of natural gas in the US has in turn seen a drop in the demand for coal and such an increase in the amount of coal that is be-ing exported from the states to Europe and Asia, putting American coal in direct com-petition with Australian coal.

Late last year American coal conglomerate Alpha Nat ur al Resources credited Australia’s rising costs, driv-en by the carbon and mining taxes and Queensland’s roy-

alty hikes, for the US’s boost on the global coking coal market.

“The fact is that their cost inflation has been so rapid that it is actually im-proving the US’s relative po-sition in the global seaborne metallurgical market,” the group’s vice-president of in-vestor relations, Todd Allen, said at the time.

Allen said that Austral-ia’s recent cost inflations have far outstripped that of the US and Canada and at-tributed the rising costs to changes in federal and state government regulations and the inflated cost of labour.

“Queensland has just lev-ied a new royalty on metal-

lurgical coal that can increase the cost of production by sev-eral dollars per tonne.

“You’ve got the carbon tax and mineral resources rent tax,” he said.

However, the IEA predicts the coal renaissance in Europe is only temporary, saying that oversupply from the US coupl-ed with low CO2 costs and high gas prices has made coal a more competitive energy source, for the time being.

Nikki Williams, CEO of the Australian Coal Associa-tion, recently told SBS that the Australian coal sector is at “a terrible junction where not only has the internation-al market come off in terms of prices, but our costs and

productivity have gone to a terrible place.”

Williams added that un-til recently Australia was the world’s cheapest place to produce coal.

“And in just five years, we’re now the highest cost producer in the world at $176 a tonne compared to the rest of the world at $106,” she said.

According to the IEA thou shouldn’t worry about this for too long as the MCMR expects Australia will take back its crown as the worlds biggest coal exporter from In-donesia, despite rising labour costs and strong Australian currency rate which currently give Indonesia a competitive advantage.

The IEA predicts Austra-lia will export 356 mtce by 2017, surpassing Indonesia’s total exports of 309 mtce.

The agency added that for Australia to achieve these numbers they will need to focus on infrastructure and mine expansion investments.

The low price of coal and market uncertainty sur-rounding economic growth, especially when related to China, will delay and stop some investments, the IEA concluded.

COAL

Despite the slump coal still has a bright future in Australia.

Coal to New studies have pointed to coal becoming the world’s number one energy source by 2017. Alex Heber reports.

LEAD THE WAY

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New software has hit the coal mine. Micromine’s latest coal mining software solu

tion ‘Coal Measure’ is a dynamic and integrated software solution for coal data management and processing.

Coal Measure allows for advanced 3D seam modelling, resource categorisation, resource reporting, pit optimisation, pit design and scheduling.

This application has been built for both coal exploration and mining purposes, designed to deliver cost reductions through improved planning and increased operation efficiency.

Coal Measure has combined elements from the company’s data management software Geobank and exploration and mine solution software, Micromine.

As part of the software’s development, Mircomine carried out rigorous, reallife testing to ensure the end product met the demands of the coal mining market.

“With coal becoming an increasingly critical energy source, our clients

have been demanding a more sophisticated solution that takes into account the complexities of coal and the ways in which it is mined,” Micromine’s CEO Kevin Fitzpatrick explained.

“It has become very clear to us that we needed to develop a worldclass solution that was both sophisticated enough to take into account these complexities, whilst also ensuring it

remained both userfriendly and was easily transferable,” Fitzpatrick said.

Coal Measure approaches coal deposits in a new manner, differing from metalliferous and irregular deposits software, replacing interpretation and wireframing with modelling seam morphology using griddling based on stratigraphic sequence. This process is quickly fol

lowed by direct conversion into a seam block model.

Micromine participates in the Coal Industry Standards Committee, whose charter is to design and implement standards for coal mining and production.

Ibo Mango, Micromine’s Geo bank data management specialist, is a member of the panel and was responsible for the release of ‘CoalLog’ Version 1, a Borehole Data Logging Standard for the Australian Coal Industry designed to improve the accuracy of borehole data.

“The best thing about the Coal Standard is the benefits it will provide Micromine’s clients. A universally consistent system will be more transferable within the industry and will allow operations to record and manage higher quality and more accurate borehole data,” Mango said.

“Micromine is excited to be driving this data standardisation improvement and being in a position to introduce the new standard within clients’ operations,” he said.

COAL

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Last year saw Queensland suffer one of its worst years for safety

on record, with a spike in the number of injuries.

The state’s coal mining industry was particularly hazardous with the Queensland commissioner for mine safety, Stewart bell stating “we have seen a disturbing rise in dangerous behaviour in underground coal mines”.

With this in mind the industry has launched a new program in an effort to halt this worrying trend.

RISKGATE is the biggest health and safety project ever funded by the Australian Coal Association Research Program (ACARP).

The online knowledge database has been specifically developed to capture and share information across and between different coal mining companies about how to manage, treat, and control the risks associated with open cut and underground coal mining operations.

“The reason why RISKGATE was developed was that there was no coal industry body of knowledge available to assist individual mine

sites in their aim of achieving best practice. RISKGATE is filling that knowledge void,” Centennial Coal spokesman and RISKGATE health and

safety task group chair John Hempenstall said.

The first version of RISKGATE was officially released in December after “two years of solid work” project manager Philipp Kirsch told Aus-tralian Mining.

“The database we have developed is the most comprehensive in Australia. There has been input from Australia’s six largest coal companies and I am confident it will lead to fewer incidents,” Kirsch said.

The program aims to better equip personnel to handle risk within the sector.

“Australian coal companies focus significant resources in managing risk. With RISKGATE, you will have the ability to bring the industries current knowledge into the room when you do a risk assessment,” Tony Egan from Xstrata Coal said on behalf of ACARP.

Developing RISKGATEAlthough still in its early phases RISKGATE is already showing great promise for improving mine site safety.

“We’re about two thirds of the way through and that has taken two very solid years of work to do the first eleven topics. Next year we will do another six topics and we will start on a seventh topic,” Kirsch said.

“At the start of this pro ject, the coal industry identified 12 key target areas. Through our work, the project has expanded to target at least 17 areas of major risk to the industry.”

Currently the program documents eleven high risk areas including tyres and rims, isolation, collisions, strata control, ground control, fires, explosives (underground), explosives (open cut), explosions, manual tasks, and slips, trips and falls.

Researchers are looking to expand the functionality with $1.3 million in funding supplied by ACARP, which takes ACARP’s total RISKGATE investment to $3.5 million.

Six more areas, including outbursts, inrush, coal bursts and bumps, interface controls and displays, hazardous chemicals and tailings dams, will also be investigated.

When the project is completed it is expected there will be between sixteen and twenty topics covered including collisions, chemicals, inrush and explosions.

To date it is estimated the companies involved, which include Anglo American and Centennial Coal, have contributed over four hundred days of individual expert time.

“The companies nominate people to be on the different topic panels and so far we’ve had over four hundred days of company time donated to the project, so that’s a massive investment on the part of the companies,” Kirsch said.

Using bowtie analysis each topic is comprehensive

COAL

An online database has been developed to capture and share coal mining safety knowledge.

Coal’s risky businessA spike in coal mining injruies has driven development of new health and safey projects. Alex Heber reports.

Underground mining has been focused on as one of the most risky sectors of the industry. Continued on page 18

AM.FEB13.PG016.pdf 22/01/13, 11:10 AM

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ly researched and analysed, breaking them down into different parts in order to figure out what the causes, consequences and controls of each risk would be, a process which has proven to be quite lengthy at times.

“To do a topic takes about eight days total and that’s just workshop time, not all the work we do behind the scenes which is way more than eight days.

“It’s essentially four two day workshops spread over six months,” he said.

Kirsch said the process of developing the web based application has been a very rewarding one involving extensive workshops where industry experts debate, discuss, and pool their on the job knowledge in order to make the operation of coal mines in safer.

Coal collaborationThe beauty of this project is that it has been developed, funded, and driven by the coal industry and there has

been an abundance of information shared between all involved, Kirsch said.

“The system was something that the [coal] companies proposed at the very

beginning as something they wanted to do,” he said.

“The companies have an approach that there really is no competitive advantage and that there are no secrets

around safety. It’s not like sharing how much you paid for a truck or how much you sell a tonne of coal for, which would be more guarded information.

“But sharing how you prevent a risk from happening is something that the companies think should be shared openly, so there really has been no resistance from the companies in sharing that information. They talk very openly, learn from each other in the workshops and contribute the knowledge which we then capture and put together on the website,” Kirsch said.

Hempenstall said that Australia’s coal industry stands out from any other because of the way health and safety information is shared amongst competitors without restraint.

“The Australian coal industry is different compared to overseas countries in the way we freely exchange health and safety information and experiences,” he said.

The real benefit of creating RISKGATE that project organisers didn’t realise in the beginning but certainly discovered early on in the process was that the individual company experts benefited considerably from

COAL

The exchange of information allows miners to spend more time on site and less in workshops.

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interaction with their peers from other companies.

“They don’t get that op-portunity very much, so in the workshop process there was the ability to talk with each other about how they deal with these different risks and there was on the spot learning; I think that was very energising for the par-ticipants,” Kirsch said.

ImplementationThe information captured in RISKGATE is designed to assist companies with what they already do to manage risk both on and off site.

“Companies already do comprehensive risk assess-ments; they do things like audit the systems and proc-esses they have in place; they do incident investigations and then they of course do a lot of training,” Kirsch said.

The way RISKGATE has been formulated is very practical, for example if a manager was to do a risk as-sessment about a particular question they can easily ac-cess a checklist the research-ers have developed for that particular question. “Wheth-er it’s a collision or some kind of an electrical fault or a tyre exploding, they could go to the online resource, find what they want, print it out,” Kir-sch explains.

He went on to em-phasised that through

capturing this vital industry knowledge you bring the whole industry into the room when an in-dividual wants to manage their site risks.

“So it’s like having that whole group thinking, or the whole set of Australian coal companies with you in the room when you tackle the risk that you’re trying to man-age and that’s what makes this system quite unique and quite innovative,” Kirsch told Australian Mining.

Hempenstall agreed, stat-ing that that RISKGATE overcomes the current limi-tations of conducting risk assessments with just the per-sonnel available within the company on site at a given time.

Instead the “the RISK-GATE body of knowledge extends the information available beyond the mine site and company to a direc-tory developed by the coal industry for the coal indus-try,” he said.

Keeping RISKGATE relevant With such a huge body of information contained in RISKGATE and with new technologies and best prac-tices being developed for the coal industry the world over one of the biggest challenges for a web based application like RISKGATE is going to be staying relevant and up-to-date. In order for this to occur Kirsch said the organ-isation is going to rely on user feedback and engage-ment. “In terms of keeping the ma-terials current, we do have an email icon in the system which allows the user to make a comment or revision which comes back to us,” he said.

Kirsch added that in the future, if industry support is still strong, they would consider running specifically targeted workshops once a year “depending on how rapidly things are changing to just update and revise the information that is in the system”.

“We do recognise that we have to do the maintenance around the knowledge,” he said.

Further expansions are scheduled for completion in June 2015; however Hemp-enstall acknowledges the

project will never be ‘fin-ished’ per se.

“If your knowledge stands still then you are go-ing backwards and MISHC is already planning a mainten-ance and update regime for RISKGATE beyond 2015.The aim is for it to always be a current body of knowl-edge,” Hempenstall said.

Strong industry support in uncertain timesIt is no secret Australia’s coal industry has had a rough year; battling increas-ing operation and labour costs, strong international competition and a high Aus-sie dollar.

Nikki Williams, CEO of the Australian Coal Associa-tion, recently told SBS that the Australian coal sector is at “a terrible junction where not only has the internation-al market come off in terms of prices, but our costs and productivity have gone to a terrible place”.

It was only five years ago that Australia was con-sidered one of the most eco-nomical places to produce coal in the world: now we’re the highest cost producer at $176 a tonne. The rest of the world is sitting at around $106 a tonne.

At times like this it is easy for extra curricula ac-tivities like RISKGATE to get put on the back burner.

“As the industry has tightened its budgets it may be more difficult to get in-dustry to attend the work-shops because of internal funding constraints, we’ll find out what happens next year,” Kirsch said.

However, Hempenstall is confident the RISKGATE program is an essential com-ponent for the progression of Australia’s coal industry and the continued develop-ment of best practice.

“What I am now start-ing to see is a recognition by the coal industry of the para-digm shift that we have to undertake in order to achieve the next step change in safety improvement.

“I think RISKGATE is providing the catalyst for the industry to make that leap forward,” he said.

COAL

RISKGATE is designed to assist companies with managing risk both on and off site.

The online resource safety pools knowledge, and promotes feedback and engagement in the industry.

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Almost twelve months ago Australian Min-ing asked a number

of analysts and commu-nity leaders whether they thought the coal industry was under threat from rising anti-mining sentiment.

The overwhelming re-sponse was that while there were certainly community members opposed to the industry, their impact on a company’s well-being was minimal.

Rather than posing a true threat to a miner’s opera-tions, conservationists were seen as part of the wider group of stakeholders, whose concerns had to be worked through in order to maintain a social licence.

Fast forward to 2013 and for Whitehaven Coal, if not many others, that at-titude has changed.

More than just another stakeholder, anti-mining activists have proved their ability to swing a company’s

market position, threaten investors, and fool journal-ists and traders alike.

In the words of White-haven boss Tony Haggarty such protesters now have the power to strike “the heart of the market’s integrity” and di-rectly impact a miner’s value.

But the story of this change in attitude is not a long one, and centres almost wholly on the actions of one man: anti-coal activist Jonathan Moylan.

Trouble brewingMonths before launching the now infamous White-haven hoax, Moylan and a handful of coal activists set up camp in the Leard State Forest.

After settling into the camp he warned the group had “plenty of tricks” in store to help fight Whitehaven’s Maules Creek project, which is set to expand in the sen-sitive state forest. A vocal member of Front Line Ac-

tion on Coal, Moylan had previously taken part in a number of daring protests, including disruptions at coal and aluminium sites across NSW.

But his most publicised action was to come in early January, when a fake press release he distributed fooled major news outlets and quickly wiped over $300 mil-lion off the value of White-haven Coal stock.

The hoax takes holdDrawn up on Moylan’s so-lar-powered laptop, the fake release purported to be from ANZ and claimed the bank had withdrawn a recent $1.2 billion loan to help develop the Maules Creek project.

The release said the bank had withdrawn the loan because of “volatility in the global coal market, expected cost blow-outs and ANZ’s corporate responsi-bility policy”.

ANZ policy dictates funds are not to be lent to projects that will have a negative social or environ-mental impact.

“We want our custom-ers to be assured that we will not be investing in coal projects that cause signifi-cant dislocation of farmers, unacceptable damage to the environment, or social con-flict,” the false statement said.

Posing as an official from ANZ, Moylan even fielded questions from journalists who attempted to fact-check the statement’s claims.

After being published nation-wide the reports prompted a sharp sell off on Whitehaven stock, with shares down almost ten per cent over several hours.

As news of the hoax circulated the stock slowly gained ground again, before it was forced into a trading halt by Whitehaven man-agement.

In a statement White-haven said there was “no substance” to the hoax and ANZ had confirmed Moy-lan’s release was fake.

In its own statement ANZ said it remained “fully supportive of Whitehaven Coal”.

But by then the damage had already been done.

Investigations beginWhitehaven stocks eventu-ally recovered from Moy-lan’s hoax, and some pun-dits estimated shareholders lost just over $450,000, well short of the $300 million crash that immediately fol-lowed the hoax.

Indeed some investors made money out of the hoax after buying up Whitehaven stock at discounted prices.

Nevertheless the Aus-tralian Securities and Invest-ment Commission (ASIC) did not take kindly to the stunt, and an investigation is still underway to determine

Environmentalists are fighting against miners to ensure the viability of agricultural land and the welfare of forests in the region. Image Courtesy of Lock The Gate Alliance.

The hoax heard round the nationThe Whitehaven hoax has shaken the industry and created heated debate. Andrew Duffy investigates the causes and the outcomes of the event.

COAL

AM.FEB13.PG020.pdf 31/01/13, 2:27 PM


whether Moylan breached the Corporations Act by carrying out the prank.

Such a breach is no small crime, with a maximum penalty of ten years in jail and fines over $400,000, though Moylan is unlikely to receive such a sentence even if he is found guilty.

As well as the ASIC probe Whitehaven is carrying out its own investigation to de-termine if there are grounds to take Moylan to court.

But despite the rising pressure, the activist remains unrepentant about the at-tack, and has drawn support from the Greens and the wid-er anti-coal community.

A wider blightWhile Moylan’s stunt was a boost for the anti-coal move-ment in Australia, his action also gained the attention of international media, and was eventually picked up by a global activist group.

Based in New York, pro-test group SumOfUs piggy-backed off Moylan’s success and sent out an e-mail to its members asking them to

join in action against ANZ and Whitehaven.

“With all of the renewed attention on the mine after the clever stunt, we have a chance right now to kill this mine project once and for all,” they said.

But Whitehaven haven’t been the only company to

suffer from a bogus release.At almost the same time

as Moylan targetted the NSW miner, prospective seabed miner Nautilus Min-erals was also hit with a mis-leading press release.

Nautilus, a company based in Brisbane but listed on the Toronto Stock Ex-

change, is still wrestling with rebel shareholder Michael Bailey, who appears to have published a false media statement to pursue his own financial agenda.

Both stunts have under-lined the fragility of the fi-nancial system and resourc-es industry, and proved just

how easy an anti-mining play can be.

Uncertain futureFor the short term at least, the risk profile of activists like Moylan has been raised, and protestors have proved their power to turn a com-pany’s fortunes.

But the fact remains that while this group may have grown in influence, its mem-bership remains low compared to the wider community.

The coal industry both at home and abroad contin-ues to receive the backing of government and financial institutions, and despite a levelling off over the last few months, global demand for resources remains strong.

Where there is a market for Australian resources, and companies willing to develop resources and create jobs, there will always be an active industry.

But whether they are a credible threat, a minor an-noyance, or something in between, the environmental movement has proved it is a force to be reckoned with.

COAL

The anti-coal hoax email sent Whitehaven’s share plumetting. Image Courtesy of Kate Ausburn.

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The robust construction and time saving design of new coal transfer chutes are pro-

viding smoother flowing, low-height transfer when in operation.

These chutes are built to over-come space, spillage and conveyor bulking problems common in coal handling facilities and have been commissioned in underground coal mines in the Hunter Valley.

“The chute’s major advantages are its simplicity, ease of installation and robust design,” manufacturer T. W. Woods Group said.

Discussing the simple installa-tion process, a company spokesman said it takes about four hours to in-stall a chute.

“We put in one new chute and a couple of refurbished chutes recent-ly and it was very straightforward. It takes one shift about four hours to perform the complete installation,” he said.

Plant manufacturer T. W. Woods’ services the mining, energy, construction and materials handling

industries throughout Australia and has used its extensive experience across multiple platforms to devise this coal chute.

“The design more than covers what we do. It’s a robust simple de-sign that’s pretty wear resistant and easy to adjust for our operations, which involve about 1200 tons and hour with throughput containing lumps up to 300-400mm,” a team leader who recently had the chute installed on his site said.

“We use it on left and right hand 90-degree turns, where it is easy to adjust for throughput flow. The chute hangs off the jib frame, sitting on bearing blocks, taking discharge from the upper belt.

“It’s straightforward to adjust back and forward for throughput as you require.”

The low-height transfer chute features a conical head developed especially for mining applications, enabling high volume rates, of up to 2000 tonnes an hour, to be main-tained when conveyors change di-

rection either underground or on the surface.

“Frequently in underground mines you get 90-degree turns as coal conveyors emerge from one shaft and have to transfer into another within very tight spaces,” T. W. Woods director Tom Woods said.

“It is usually very difficult to get coal to turn that quickly without spillage and bulking up on the con-veyor belts as coal is dropped from the belt above onto the one below while changing direction.”

The company’s transfer chutes are manufactured to overcome this issue through the compact design which allows the chutes to be fitted into lower overall heights than con-ventional designs, operating with a separation distance between belts of 1200-1500mm.

The chutes’ conical head is also configured to provide a smooth transition through the turn for coal moving at typically three metres a

second and dropping up to 1500mm onto a belt below.

“Drawing on our designer’s highly respected problem-solving expertise and our own hands-on ex-perience over scores of mines, we set out to eliminate the spills, splatters and bulking that can disrupt pro-duction in mines where time truly is money.

“Eliminating frustration, delay and cost is vital in today’s economic climate,” Woods said.

“The design has already been proven service with some of Aus-tralia’s leading coal producers.

“A bonus of the design also is that it has been quality engineered in our own extensive metal working facilities to easily outlast conven-tional designs and far exceed typical warranties.”

T. W. Woods also manufacture products for mineshaft development including shaft liners, drilling tool-ing and wear plate materials, as well as custom-fabricated wear plate kits.

COAL

The transfer chutes overcome the issue of compact spaces in underground coal mines.

Simple solutions on siteNew coal transfer chutes are making the movement of coal easier.

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An inquiry by the Independent Commission Against Cor-ruption has heard that lucra-

tive coal leases awarded by NSW former mineral resources minister is an example of one of the states most ‘shocking’ corruption cases.

To date the commission has examined whether decisions made in 2008 by the former minister for minerals resources, Ian Macdonad, to allow coal exploration in the By-long Valley were influenced by La-bor power broker Eddie Obeid.

It is alleged that Obeid stood to profit around $100 million as a result of mining licences granted on his family’s property.

ICAC heard the deal ensured coal assets were being “given away to friends, political supporters and business associates of the minister”.

“The decisions involved the allo-cation of lucrative coal mining rights, the conditions upon which those rights would be granted, and the price which would be paid by inves-tors to acquire those rights,” coun-

sel assisting the inquiry, Geoffrey Watson, told the inquiry at the time.

“Mr Macdonald’s decision

greatly enhanced the value” of Mr Obeid’s property and of Cascade Coal, Watson said.

It has been alleged that Macdon-ald’s decision to open the Bylong Valley to coal mining, rig the tender process and pass inside information to the Obeid family, was part of an elaborate scheme to net massive profits.

Cascade Coal was awarded the Mount Penny coal exploration li-cence in 2009 which was located on land owned by the family and asso-ciates of Eddie Obeid, who bought three plots prior to the tender for an exploration licence was called.

Cascade later paid the Obeids $30 million for the land holdings and the Obeid’s are currently de-manding that Cascade pay a second $30 million.

After holding the $1 million Mount Penny exploration licence for 12 months Cascade attempted to on sell it to White Energy for $500 million.

Cascade Coal posed a vested interest in White Energy, with sev-

COAL

Corruption is alleged to have occured at the top tiers of the state government.

ICAC: The story so farThe story of coal mining and alleged corruption in government.

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eral of its investors, including Brian Flannery and Travers Duncan, also directors in White Energy.

Following this revelation the in-quiry was told that other directors of White Energy were suspect of the company’s recent deal.

Graham Cubbin, a non-execu-tive director of White Energy said the possible involvement of Labor powerbroker Eddie Obeid and his family in Cascade Coal troubled him.

Cubbin told the commission he was assured by Cascade the Obeids had no involvement what-so-ever in the company, when in fact the fam-ily held a 25 per cent share and had negotiated a $60 million payout.

According to the Obeid family’s former lawyer Sevag Chalabian, in-vestment banker and Cascade direc-tor Richard Poole had gone to an enormous amount of trouble to hide the Obeid’s interest in the company.

Chalabian agreed Poole was concerned about the ‘’whiff of cor-ruption’’ if the Obeid’s involvement was discovered.

Poole, who appeared in front of the commission late last year, agreed he would never deliberately mislead the ASX.

He was then asked to listen to a secretly recorded telephone call made in March last year.

In the call Poole is heard dis-cussing the sale of Cascade Coal to White Energy for $500 million with

Eastern Suburbs man Greg Jones.On the phone recording Poole

is heard talking about writing to the ASX, using a “broad brush re-sponse” to stop any further enquir-ies.

‘’If he saw the whole picture he’d vomit – Travers, I think he’d die be-cause he doesn’t get to be known as Mr. Coal then,’’ said Jones, referring to mining magnate Travers Duncan, also an investor in Cascade.

Jones also said to Poole ‘’Yeah, I had a talk with [Ian] Kortlang yesterday and there’s like – there’s no drama. It’s like they’re only af-ter ‘Macca’ [Macdonald] … and at the end of the day it’s like, you know, Macdonald’s rorted his travel voucher you know like that’s about it.’’

Poole then replied: ‘’Yeah, yeah, and really once the election’s over it should all be just dead and buried anyway.’’

In December last year New South Wales Labor minister Luke Foley vented anger towards former colleagues saying “cowboys were in control” and the NSW Labor government declared itself “open for business” after the departure of former Premier Bob Carr.

“They were shameless in their approach to questions of planning and natural resources manage-ment,” Foley said at the time.

Foley said that Ian Macdonald had a “sneering contempt” for com-munity concern over mining deve-lopment.

Powerbrokers reportedly flouted the law to grant coal exploration tenements.

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Anyone with a little curiosity in the oil and gas industry would’ve noticed an argu-

ment grow between explorers and users over the last year.

The low price per MMBtu paid by users and the corresponding “manufacturing renaissance” in the US, while Australia’s manufactur-ing industry declined, saw a series of industrial energy users line up and takes shot at explorers, who, they charge, should be keeping their product cheap for domestic use. We want cheap gas – by legislation, if that’s what it takes – and we’ll pay you back many times over, their ar-gument sometimes went.

The energy white paper ruled out a gas reservation scheme and neither side of federal politics sup-ports a national version of WA’s policy of setting aside 15 per cent of new offshore gas projects for do-mestic use.

Gas developers – who had roughly $200 billion worth of LNG projects in development at the end

of 2012 – are understandably unen-thusiastic about the idea. Michael Chaney, Woodside’s chairman, said last November that Australia has un-dertaken “70 per cent of the world’s liquefied natural gas capacity build-ing in the past few years.”

The preparation for the boom in LNG exports has been expensive, and any interference in the gas mar-kets available would be a threat to huge amounts of investment.

“Interventionist policies that ar-tificially create a separate domestic market will have a significant impact on Australia’s ability to attract the billions of dollars of international capital required to develop the next wave of unconventional natural gas resources,” a Santos spokesman told Australian Mining.

Here we’ll take a look at some of the key points in an argument that looks set to continue through 2013.

Give us cheap gas and we’ll make Australia stronger

Below are a few quotes from one side of the argument.

• “Cheap energy has fuelled the Australian economy for the 20th century and, with a smart gas reservation policy, could do so again.” – Paul Howes, AWU, Sun-day Telegraph, October 21

• [Australia] has naively allowed the unfettered export of this resource without regard to the immense op-portunity lost in not retaining gas onshore for value adding.” – James Fazzino, Incitec Pivot, speech to American Chamber of Commerce, July 26

• “Aside from anything else, the fact that the price of natural gas sup-plied to industrial users in Australia is about to double should of itself instigate urgent review.” Craig Ar-nold, September 4, The Australian

Both sides of the debate acknow-ledge the benefits of Australia’s rich supply of gas. This country has, on some estimates, reserves that on pro-jected demand could last another 50 years. And that’s not including its shale gas reserves, the world’s sixth-largest.

Without action on the amount of LNG Australia can sell into ener-gy-hungry Asian markets such as Ja-pan, industrial users and others say domestic prices will rise, and start to look more and more like the prices paid by Japanese users. Further than that, that gas might be better used here.

According to a report released by the Plastics and Chemical Indus-tries Association and the Australian Industry Group last October, Large scale export of East Coast Australia natural gas: unintended consequenc-es, the coming export boom in LNG might forfeit more wealth than it could earn if the gas was used by industry.

One of the most unsettling sug-gestions by the report – which was not an explicit plea for a reserva-tion policy – was that each petajoule of gas exported surrendered over a quarter of a billion dollars’ worth of industrial output.

“That is, for every dollar gained $21 is lost – a worrying figure,”

GAS

NO RESERVATIONSAustralia’s energy future may be in jeopardy. Brent Balinski reports.

AM.FEB13.PG028.pdf 24/01/13, 12:57 PM


wrote the Ai Group’s CEO Innes Willox in Manufacturers’ Monthly in November.

Figures like these are often greeted with scepticism by those opposed to limiting exports.

“If in fact there’s that much more profit to be gained by using gas here, then it will be used domestically,” Alan Moran explained to Australian Mining. Moran is an economist and the director of the deregulation unit at the Institute of Public Affairs, a free market think tank.

“One hears this all the way through. We’ve had a debate, a long debate in Australia, where all these sorts of numbers are being floated around: we produce a lot of wool, why don’t we actually stop exporting wool and make sure the exported wool is for domestic use in woollen mills here and there’ll be all these jobs and all this value added etcetera etcetera.

If there’s a bonanza to be enjoyed, he reasoned, then it wouldn’t need a subsidy to be brought about and investment would be lured because that’s where money could be made.

“You hear it in every area. Everybody just goes cap in hand to Canberra or to state capitals and basically makes the same point. None of them are right.”

A gas reservation policy. Why not?The argument that the country should put aside a portion of its gas has its fans, of course, and some will argue that it’s a national resource so it should be used in a way that serves the national interest.

“Let’s decide what’s best for Australia,” offered Misha Zelinsky, the Australian Workers Union’s national policy and economics adviser. The AWU has been calling for a reservation policy, which it believes would be of huge benefit to the troubled steel and aluminium industries.

“Every other nation uses its natural resources to promote its economic interest, yet Australia decides that we’re going to let the market decide for us, and that as a result we’re paying higher gas prices in Australia than we should be when you look at other models that exist,” Zelinsky told Australian Mining.

But there’s another side to the argument, of course. In trying to secure cheap gas, you might actually achieve the opposite.

“For developments to be economically viable, operators need economies of scale complemented by advanced technology and pro

cesses,” said Santos’ spokesman.“These economies of scale would

do more to keep down domestic gas prices than any form of reservation policy, which would create market distortions and inefficiencies and render gas more costly than it would otherwise be.”

The Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association agrees. Exploration is expensive and difficult, and if you make it less profitable, you make it less likely to be attempted. Less exploration, less gas, higher prices for the smaller amount of gas available.

“Gas reservation policies actually impair local gas supply and affordability – not improve it,” said APPEA’s CEO, David Byers.

“Having laws dictate where and how gas can be sold invariably de

ters the very investment needed to source Australia’s abundant gas reserves.”

The Americans have cheap gas. Why not us?

As mentioned above, the cheap gas prices in the US have given a tremendous boost to the country’s manufacturers. The boom in shale gas has been a huge boost for those who run energyintensive operations to make products such as chemicals, fertilisers and plastics.

Those who want to legislate for cheaper gas point to restrictions on LNG exports in the US.

Zelinsky said, “Every other nation uses its natural resources to promote its economic interest, yet Australia decides that we’re going to let the market decide for us, and that as a result we’re paying higher gas

prices in Australia than we should be.”

The DomGas Alliance, the peak energy users’ group in WA, and others have said that “Australia is the only country that allows gas exports without prioritising local supply.”

Restrictions on LNG export in the US exist for all of the 48 “lower states” besides Alaska.

The gas industry dismisses the argument that export bans have led to cheaper gas, and attributes the low prices in the US to the massive in investment in shale gas extraction technologies and an effective network of pipelines.

“Santos today has the largest number of onshore drilling rigs in

Australia and we have 11 operating,” the company’s CEO, David Knox, told an Australian Institute of Energy Conference last November.

“At its peak in the US, around 1,500 drilling rigs were exploring for shale gas, with both local and International Oil Companies, together with an experienced and mobile drilling service sector – bringing new technology to play, along with a ruthless focus on low cost operations and an appetite for risk.”

Protectionism? Rent-seeking?In the eyes of those wanting a free market, regulated cheap energy for some is merely an example of one company’s shareholders subsiding the shareholders of another. If you force a company to sell gas cheaply to Dow Chemical, for example, why not force Dow to sell their products to farmers and other chemical users cheaply?

Moran highlights the danger that this attitude might pose to an explorer.

“What you’re actually saying to the developer is ‘we want you to set aside gas for sale domestically,’” he said.

“Now the implication is that the reason you’d say that is that you want to sell it cheaper, otherwise you wouldn’t bother saying it at all. And one of the real problems is that if you sell gas, say at 20 per cent gas at 10 per cent below the level, the export level price…”

“The problem is that the way industry operates is that it doesn’t operate by saying a two per cent reduction. It operates with profit as a driver. And so if you’re earning 15 per cent of your revenue goes to profit, that 10 per cent reduction in profit goes straight off the bottom line, which then becomes quite a significant motivator in terms of whether the project will be viable…So it can cruel a budget.”

GAS

Exploration is expensive and difficult, and if you make it less profitable, you make it less likely to be attempted, APPEA said.

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AD_AMKINFEB_13_1.pdf Page 1 14/01/13, 11:22 AM

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We have witnessed what may be the last great com-

modity boom for decades; the implementation of mul-tiple mining taxes at federal and state levels; and a mas-sive culling of mining CEOs over the last two years which have now seen Aus-tralians installed at the helm of two of the largest mining houses in the world.

The mining industry is now under siege from all an-gles: the government, inves-tors and environmentalists, and all eyes have been on the trials and tribulations of the majors.

But all these hardships have never really threatened the future of mining giants.

Those truly affected, the mining juniors, have been forgotten in the turmoil of these past two years.

But if the industry and the government continues to ignore the issues facing jun-ior miners they do so at their own peril, and put the future of Australia’s mining indus-try in jeopardy.

Speaking to the Associa-tion of Mining and Explora-tion Companies head, Simon Bennison, he told Australian Mining that junior miners are operating without a net and if support for smaller companies disappears then the future of the industry is under a cloud.

The high cost of explora-tion, a lack of governmental

support and increasing lev-els of bureaucracy is already putting the future of Western Australia’s gold sector at risk.

Bennison explained that many of the state’s operat-ing gold mines have declin-ing reserves and lower ore quality as they dig deeper.

He added that many min-ers are struggling to explore in greenfields areas because of the high costs of exploration.

While some of the cost is offset by continuing rounds of exploration and drilling funding from the WA govern-ment, Bennison said the Fed-eral Government must lend its support.

He went on to say that unless an exploration incen-tive scheme is implemented, the mining industry may not exist in Australia in the com-ing decades.

“The Government has to

look at its policies,” Benni-son stated.

“But if they do it will en-hance the appetite for explo-ration, encouraging compa-nies to access equity and debt finance, and bring confidence back.”

He explained that in 2012 there were only 32 successful IPO – “one of the lowest on record, highlighting that it will be difficult this year”.

It is not just gold and Western Australia’s juniors that are facing an uncertain future.

Coal in New South Wales, Queensland, and Victoria is also being fought against from the state of early drilling through to actual mining.

Support from the topHowever there are some who are actively fighting against the odds that juniors face.

Queensland’s member for Mt Isa, Robbie Katter, has ta-bled the Environment Protec-tion (Greentape Reduction) and other Legislation Amend-ment Bill 2012 bill to cut the green and red tape strangling much exploration and jun-ior mining in the state by “streamlining and clarifying information requirements”.

The bill also aims “to en-sure that projects are assessed as a whole, rather than sepa-rate environmental authori-ties being applied for and as-sessed at different times”.

Bennison added that it is encouraging to see support as the approvals process is in dire need of streamlining and “cutting of duplication”.

“We need to get approv-als processed quicker, but we can’t compromise on them, it just needs to move more efficiently, but in saying that juniors need to do their homework before applying,” he added.

The Northern Territory is also standing out amongst the states for actively en-couraging mining, with min-ing minister Willem Westra van Holthe even stating that the Northern Territory is ‘open for business’.

Different country, same storyCurrently a similar cry is being heard from Canada’s junior miners.

Kirk McKinnon, the head of MacDonald Mines

recently took his government and the financing industry to task over its current stance on the industry.

In a letter to his com-pany’s shareholders and the government McKinnon stat-ed that “financings are be-coming increasingly difficult to arrange, the stocks are at much lower prices versus his-torical levels; mostly because credible information and ex-ploration success is not reso-nating and consequently the junior resource stocks have little or no resulting upward movement”.

He adds that there is an environment of super dilu-tion and a growing lack of investment in this sector, a situation that mirrors that in Australia.

“There are dire predic-tions that over half of the junior mining companies will disappear within the next few years.”

Our mining futureAs the number of historical-ly known deposits are mined and ore body grades decline we need explorers willing to take the risks and enter un-known regions to possibly uncover new deposits.

Australia’s mining future is being shackled by poor governmental decisions and unless support is provided – both in terms of approvals as well as to a degree monetar-ily, then our mining future is at risk.

MINING & EXPLORATION

Exploration is often the first to go when belts are tightened.

Juniors in Mining is in flux, and unless explorers and juniors are given the support they need our mining future is at risk. Cole Latimer reports.

JEOPARDY

AM.FEB13.PG032.pdf 25/01/13, 10:11 AM

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Australia’s iron ore industry is all about moving as much

material as quickly and ef-ficiently as possible.

Unlike gold or uranium, miners are truly dealing with a bulk resource, more akin to coal in its handling than many other base metals.

To move this amount of material heavy infrastruc-ture is needed, not just at the mine site and along the rail lines, but also at port.

Because the longer it takes from material to be unloaded

and transferred, the more it costs.

Every day is costing thou-sands of dollars.

Metso’s train unloader is providing that support for Fortescue Metals Group at its Herb Elliot Port.

The company initially installed the first twin cell, tandem train unloaders in 2008 during the midst of the first mining downturn.

When the nation’s for-tunes turned around, as did the market and global de-mand for iron ore, the un-

loaders allowed Fortescue to take advantage of the boom-ing market which saw the commodity’s price skyrock-et up to close to $200 per tonne. To take advantage of this the miner needed to export more iron ore, using what is currently the world’s heaviest haul line, which has a 40 tonne axle load capaci-ty. Despite the iron ore price falling dramatically at the end of last year before sta-bilising again, Fortescue has ordered additional train un-loaders to boost its export

capacity along this line.According to Fortescue,

at the time the new equip-ment represented a signifi-cant part of the company’s plan to expand its Herb El-liot Port facility.

The first of the two new machines, dubbed TUL2, was commissioned late last year.

Fortescue’s Peter Meurs explained that it was a ma-jor milestone for the miner.

“The second train unload-er takes our unloading capac-ity to 120 million tonnes per annum, which gives us the

capacity to reach a run rate of 115 million tonnes per an-num by the end of the March 2013 quarter, comprised of 95 million tonnes from the Chichester mines [which in-corporate its Cloudbreak and Christmas Creek mines] and 20 million tonnes from Fire-tail,” Meurs said.

“The third train unload-er [which was handed over in November last year] has given us the capacity, when market conditions allow, to complete further expan-sions.”

INFRASTRUCTURE

Metso has installed new train unloaders at Fortescue’s Herb Elliot Port.

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Fortescue is planning to expand its iron ore throughput at the port.

questionsThe delivery of additional train loaders is helping to open up the Pilbara to export.

LOADED

AM.FEB13.PG034.pdf 29/01/13, 1:32 PM

Established in 1978 to design and manufacture equipment for the

UK underground coal mining industry, MMD patented the Twin

Shaft Mineral Sizer. Since 1978, the company has refined and

improved the Sizer design and today MMD size over 70

different minerals, in over 50 countries worldwide.

However, coal remains at the core of the company’s

business, with a wide range of machines available

for this industry. From the original pick and scroll

machines; usually positioned close to the coal

face, that accept high tonnages and reduce

ROM to a conveyable size, whilst eliminating

“surf-boards”, to maximise the efficiency

of outboard conveyor systems, to

segmented tooth machines designed

for a specific product size in the coal

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complete sizing solution.

breaking coalMMD Sizers

THE MMD GROUP OF COMPANIESW W W . M M D S I Z E R S . C O M

MMD Australia Pty. Ltd.Brisbane Mackay [email protected]

Aus Mining Advert 2 (297x235+5mm) v2.indd 1 1/23/2013 2:37:09 PM

AD_AMMMDFEB_13.pdf Page 1 24/01/13, 4:08 PM


Initially designed for use in underground mining, where free space is a

valuable commodity, Min-ing Machinery Develop-ment’s mineral sizers have since expanded far beyond their original design.

Intended to break up ore into a well-shaped product, sizers reduce rock by feeding it through rotating cylinders that contain large teeth.

Once the rock is torn apart, it can be transferred to other areas of the plant for processing, or sold on to other companies and pushed further down the supply chain.

A key player in the in-dustry since the early days,

MMD has provided sizers to mining companies around the globe for decades.

Proud historyIn 1978 MMD created the original compact sizer, and since then the company’s products have expanded to find a wide range of appli-cations. The technology has brought considerable suc-cess for most miners, and in 2009 independent consult-ants David Tutton and Willi-bald Streck said the com-pany’s sizer had been one of the “biggest breakthroughs” in mobile crushing for open pit mines.

Marking the equipment as a game changer for the global

industry, the consultants said MMD sizers “showed that fully mobile units could achieve high throughputs in certain types of material and pit configuration”. In Aus-tralia MMD supplies units working from 700 tonnes per hour to around 2500tph, with mobile and fixed equipment breaking down coal, iron ore, and overburden on local sites.

Internationally the company has branched out to service industries in Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas.

No matter where in the world they are operating, a popular and almost univer-sal application for the equip-ment has been breaking down ore in the coal sector. But the range of applications for the machinery is almost

as varied as industry itself, with the company’s models being used on uranium, clay, and gypsum in Europe and desert sand and kimberlite in Africa. On the other side of the world MMD sizers have been used on bauxite, cop-per, and oilsands throughout the Americas.

QUARRYING, CRUSHING & SCREENING

Sizers have demonstrated an ability to acheive high throughputs in certain materials, MMD says.

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A D _ A M C E M F E B _ 1 3 . p d f P a g e 1 9 / 0 1 / 1 3 , 1 0 : 0 6 A MContinued on page 38

It’s all about After developing the original mineral sizer almost 34 years ago, equipment manufacturer MMD has gone from strength to strength.

THE SIZERS

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MT244a Australian Mining Full Page Performance Solutions Advertisement February 2012.indd 1 21/02/12 3:04 PM

AD_AMMETFEB_13.pdf Page 1 11/01/13, 10:22 AM


Big rewardsIn a statement MMD said its wide range of specialist teeth had opened up sizer technol-ogy to the wide range of ap-plications it now carries out. It said the range of custom designed gearboxes also meant equipment could be adapted to suit different ap-plications. MMD marked their custom gearboxes as a key point of difference for their business, claiming the initiative originally made up a significant shortfall in the industry.

“Shortly after having designed the mineral sizer, MMD realised that ‘off the shelf’ reducers were rarely if ever suited to the varying requirements and arduous conditions of the mining and processing industry,” the company said.

“MMD therefore started to design and manufacture their own range of ‘designed for purpose’ reduction gear-boxes and have now been doing so for more than 30 years,” the company said.

MMD said the ability to cus-tomise machinery was vital to making sure the equip-ment could fit any applica-tion. And whilst each indus-try and each company has its own requirements, MMD said the ability to customise equipment was especially im-

portant for companies in the coal sector.

“This facility has par-ticular importance for coal preparation applications, where the call for a defined size, cubic shape and minimal number of undersized mate-rial is essential,” it said. In a

statement to AustralianMin-ing MMD laid out some of the key technology its sizers used to deliver value to the end user. Reaching back to the product’s initial develop-ment, the company said its equipment featured low pro-file and compact dimensions,

which allowed customers to retro fit the machinery, even in confined spaces. The company also said its sizers could handle a high capacity of hard rock and oversized lumps, which meant there was no need to pre-screen ore beforehand.

Its low rotation speed, critical for creating a cubical product, and ability to spread feed along the length of the shaft, were also flagged as key benefits.

Finally the equipment features the ability to au-tomate production, and no fly wheel is required, which means a saving can be made on power use.

But more than any sin-gle feature, the real suc-cess of MMD sizers can be measured by the length and breadth of the equipment’s application. With machinery still operating on some sites ten years after the initial in-stallation, and a customer base on the international scale, MMD has cemented itself as a key player in the mining industry and looks certain to keep expanding.


A wide range of specialist teeth have opened up sizer technology to more applications.

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AD_AMMINFEB_13.pdf Page 1 25/01/13, 11:53 AM


Comminution has often been an onerous process. It re-quired different machines

and technology to carry out the whole initial crushing phase, which was then followed by the grinding and milling course.

Yet as mines now face the prob-lem of rising costs and less invest-ment, the initial outlay for additional machinery is a heavy cost burden that many can not afford, especially if it may now be an unnecessary cost.

Sandvik Mining has released a new Vibrocone crusher concept, which it says combines both crushing and grinding capabilities into a single machine – not only cutting the need for additional machinery but also “of-fers up to 30 per cent energy savings compared with traditional crushing and grinding systems”.

According to the company the new Vibrocone produces a much finer mill feed, allowing the machine to handle the first stage of grinding in a dry pro cess.

It not only crushes particles be-

tween the liner surfaces in the crushing chamber, but these particles in turn also crush each other in a high pressure inter-particle crushing action, giving the machine the ability to then produce a P50=3 millimetre mill feed.

“Crushers are typically ten times more energy efficient than mills,” Mar-cus Benn, Sandvik Mining Australia’s regional product line manager for min-ing crushers and screens explained.

“The Vibrocone’s ability to offload work from the downstream milling process offers energy savings of up to 30 per cent,” Benn said.

“It is the next generation of crush-ing technology, as it works by com-bining the best of conventional crush-ing and grinding principles to produce an unprecedented amount of finely crushed product,” Benn said, adding that “product from the Vibrocone crusher opens the possibility for new eco-efficient comminution alterna-tives”.

“For example,” he explained, “compared to existing comminution circuits with rod and/or ball milling

stages, the Vibrocone crushers can now replace the rod mills or act as pre-grinding units for the ball mills.

“Using a Vibrocone as part of the comminution process will consider-ably improve the efficiency and cost of downstream grinding,” he added.

Before its official release late last year the crusher and grinder went through a series of trials where it carried out more than 10 000 hours of commercial operations on cop-per, gold, and iron ore mine sites to

demonstrate its capability.“A greenfield case study of a ten

million tonne per annum copper op-eration in South America carried out by Ausenco, has shown that the Vibro-cone solution is the lowest cost option, with energy savings in the range of 20 per cent relative to the SAG mill alter-native,” Benn said.

The first Vibrocone to hit Aus-tralian shores is the 400 kW CO865, which has a capacity of 200-300 tonnes/hour.


The machine provides 30% energy savings compared to traditional crushing and grinding systems.

Combination crushingA new crusher concept is bringing together crushing and grinding systems.

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AD_AMDYNFEB_12.pdf Page 1 5/01/12, 11:06 AM


Minerals processors are constantly working in a demanding environ-

ment.Dealing with high pressure liq-

uids, slurries, and abrasive materi-als is just an everyday part of their role.

While the workers are up to the task, they have to ensure that their equipment is too.

Stafsjo has released its new product range of high pressures slurry valves – the SLH and SLX – to ensure miners’ equipment is up to the job.

According to Maria Persson, Stafsjo’s sales and marketing direc-tor, “since the introduction of the company’s first slurry valve, the SLV, in 2009, it has come across more applications that require per-formance at really high pressures, requiring it to add these new valves to the range”.

Stafsjo’s SLH is designed to

cope with pressures of up to 20 bar, while the SLX can cope with pres-sures as high as 50 bar.

The valves are built to give a tight shut-off independent pressure direction.

“The flow capacity is maxim-ised with a full bore and minimal

seat cavity, and at the same time stresses and wear on the equip-ment are minimised resulting in a longer service life of the valve and related process equipment,” Pers-son added.

The SLH and SLX have epoxy coated fully lugged valve bodies in

nodular iron with integrated purge ports.

Their reinforced seats are flex-ible in an axial way and seals to-wards each other in the bore when the valve is in the open position, protecting the internal parts and the gate from abrasive high pressure media.

When closed the seats are dis-placed axially, which forms a seal with the gate until forms a complete closure of the bore, giving a bi-directional tight shut-off, the valve manufacturer explained.

The seats also form a sealing face on the valve flanges, eliminat-ing the need for gaskets.

The gate is supplied in high strength stainless steel, coated to provide a high wear and corro-sion resistant surface.

Perrson went on to state that both the valves have solid top works to give increased stability during operation.

MINERALS PROCESSING

Stafsjo’s SLH is designed to cope with pressures of up to 20 bar, while the SLX can cope with pressures as high as 50 bar.

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AM.FEB13.PG042.pdf 29/01/13, 1:38 PM

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AD_AMNAGFEB_13.pdf Page 1 18/01/13, 4:24 PM


Mining is a cost intensive business. It is an unavoidable fact. And this is

exacerbated by the nature of mining, where abrasive and corrosive materials are used daily in minerals processing, wearing equipment and machinery down at faster rates, requiring more costly maintenance.

A reduction in costly maintenance and downtime – these are things every business in the minerals processing and materials handling industry wants to achieve.

“Customers who transport products including iron ore, bauxite, coal, agricultural grains, crushed glass and cement all face the same issue,” Peter Carseldine, FLSmidth Ludowici’s product specialist wear surfaces explained.

“If that product slides over a surface or is dropped onto a surface it will eventually wear that surface and present a problem.”

“We have a range of materials

available to apply to those surfaces to reduce wear.”

“Wear linings have not changed all that much in the last decade as far as new material development,” Carseldine explained.

“However, the wear material has become more readily available making it more affordable. We have also been actively seeking new applications for WearResist, with success.”

The company’s research and development team is working to improve its current wear product range.

Right now they are actively researching and making improvements to pipe linings with alumina cylinders, reaction bonded silicon carbide and basalt. Two recent applications have seen wear resistant coatings used in lining codisposal tailing pipe and backfill lines.

These are in addition to the application of WearResist lined piping in coal handling preparation plants. In the codisposal application, the

12mm lining of Wear Resist was still operating after 600,000 tons whereas the 12mm well pipe wore at a rate of 0.5mm per week.

FLSmidth Ludowici also has trowelon wear products that have proven their success in different settings, reducing wear where both light and moderate impact as well as sliding abrasion is present.

“We are very good at understanding the unique issues our customers face and producing costeffective wear solutions that will bring about lasting performance and reduce maintenance and downtime,” he added. “If we are not too sure the solution we are offering will be successful, we consider it ‘research and development’.”

MINERALS PROCESSING

Wear resistant coatings have been used for tailings dam pipes.

Wearing the costsAbrasive and corrosive materials are increasing the costs of minerals processing.

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It is not rare to see over-balanced haul trucks on site. The sudden weight

of the load leaving the tray has been known to tip it backwards, making the truck stand up on its rear wheels. While it may seem like a funny occurrence, it causes serious damage; both to the truck, the driver, and the miner’s bottom line.

And as long as truck bodies remained the same, the issue remains a problem.

With this issue in mind, Australian company Austin Engineering created a new haul truck body designed to give miners back control over their material flows.

Speaking to Austin En-gineering’s Joe Kelly, he ex-plained that “it started when Peabody Energy came to us, as they found that when discharging their loads their trucks’ front wheels would

come off the ground and damage suspension when coming down and putting an operators’ safety at risk”.

The solution to this weighty issue was relatively simple: “[Austin Engineer-ing’s subsidiary] Westech solved the problem by cre-ating a new flow control

body design,” Kelly said, adding that “the body goes up at an angle, and has mul-ti-level kicks which work to create a pocket of material in the tray, so it stops all of the material flowing out in a single heavy load that slides out from the bottom”. He went on to say that “instead

it now has a continual flow that starts from the material on the top, unloading it at the same speed as before, this not only negates the tipping risk the truck faced as it removes the overbalance issue but also the problem of damaging bins it is being unloaded into; cre-ating less wear on both the

bins and the truck’s tray.” The kicks in the tray are at angles of 12°, 22°, and 8°, he added.

In addition to reducing wear “the continual flow instead of a single material dump also reduces dust on site, increasing the mine’s green footprint,” he said.

VEHICLES

Overbalanced haul trucks present a risk to the operator, and damage suspension.

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The TIPPING pointThe issue of overbalanced trucks has been solved.

AM.FEB13.PG046.pdf 29/01/13, 2:35 PM

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AD_AMHITAUG_12.pdf Page 1 5/07/12, 3:25 PM


As the mining boom slows and costs bite, vehicles on site are

asked to do more and more, tow more, haul more, and do it faster and safer.

The increased towing and load carrying capacity of the new Ford Ranger and Mazda BT-50 has inspired All Air Suspension’s new Air Suspension Rear Leaf Spring Helper Kit in helping miners do more, better, and safer.

These supplementary suspension kits allow the driver to maintain the cor-rect vehicle height, with no spring sag, even under a heavy load.

“It is a bit of a trap for drivers new to towing, or carrying bigger loads, be-cause a vehicle suspension that is perfectly good for normal lighter service can change markedly when it is more heavily loaded,” All

Air Suspension’s general manager James Maslin said.

The company claims the kits will also decrease tyre wear and more evenly dis-tribute natural brake wear.

Although the suspension kit doesn’t increase a vehi-cle’s load capacity it does

improve both steering and handling of a vehicle which is typically compromised under a heavy load.

“Heavily or unevenly loaded vehicles can be sub-ject to increased sway be-cause of lateral forces, while trailer-imposed ball weight

will cause headlights to shine up into the trees or blind oth-er drivers,” Maslin said.

Manufactured by Air-bag Man using reinforced Firestone air springs which fit between the chassis and axle, these kits improve the ride, safety and durability

of work vehicles carrying heavy and uneven loads or towing trailers.

The adjustable airbags are used for front-to-rear and side-to-side levelling control of a vehicle.

“A perfectly good fa-miliar vehicle can become a safety nightmare if its sus-pension is not properly set up to tow or cope with vary-ing loads,” he said.

The importance of mine site vehicle safety has again been brought into the fore-front of the industry’s mind as BHP joins the list of re-source companies stipulat-ing that entire vehicle fleets must have a minimum 5 star NCAP safety rating.

Widely used in the min-ing industry, these suspen-sion kits have been specifi-cally customised to fit the new Ford Ranger and Maz-da BT 50 utilities.

VEHICLES

Vehicle suspension kits are allowing drivers to carry heavier loads without impacting handling.

Keeping miners in suspenseAs the need for mining equipment to do more grows, site transport’s duties are increasing.

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A new simplified asset manage-ment offering from Mainpac and SYSPRO will provide a

reduction of maintenance costs and improved plant reliability.

The pre-integrated solution incor-porates enterprise resource planning (ERP) software provider SYSPRO and enterprise asset management (EAM) software provider Mainpac.

SYSPRO general manager Asia Pacific Shaun Butler said the joint of-fering will give customers control over key assets and business processes.

Mainpac’s executive chairman James Kirk said the combined offer-ing s unique in the mining industry.

“As well as being asset intensive, mining is also a heavily regulated indus-try. Equipment is frequently audited to make sure the correct parts are in place and the equipment is well maintained. For example, it’s essential to manage AFFF or FFFP fire suppression systems and on board fire suppression systems to prevent sparks or flames that could lead to fires or explosions.

“Maintenance managers must be able to provide accurate records for com-pliance and auditing purposes. This proc-ess becomes much faster and less labour intensive with the use of an effective, best-of-breed EAM system,” he said.

A recent Aberdeen Group report suggested that a mine’s performance is directly affected by the management of its assets. The report highlighted that performance can be characterised by overall equipment effectiveness, un-

scheduled asset downtime, mainten-ance costs and return on assets.

“Many ERP providers offer a so-lution that includes asset management capabilities, but the asset management component is usually an afterthought and is often inadequate to meet the requirements of asset intensive busi-nesses.

“The initial outlay and ongoing costs of these ‘all-in-one’ solutions can be very high, especially when the purchased solution is inadequate, and the company must return to market to find an asset management solution that meets their needs,” Kirk said.

Pre-integration also makes imple-mentation of the system both easier and more efficient, it also allows for scaling so companies can start small and expand use of the system across multiple sites or divisions as needed.

According to Kirk the ability to track and manage asset availability and performance and apply mainten-ance strategies according to an asset’s criticality to the business delivers sub-stantial cost savings and operational efficiencies.

“The integrated system lets you see everything down to the finest de-tail so you can make smarter decisions about maintenance, faster,” he said.

“You can balance maintenance costs against replacement costs and you can identify warranty opportuni-ties, reduce unplanned downtime and the number of spare parts and con-sumables held across multiple sites.”

VEHICLES

The program is an integrated asset management system.

Simplifying your mine siteNew asset management tools are making mining maintenance tasks easier.

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The mechanical vari-able-speed drives (MVSD), particularly

the hydrodynamic torque converters, could dampen pulsations generated by the connected machines (such as the synchronous motor pro-duced pulsation torques).

It is particularly true for large dynamic torques in transient situations such as start-up or the short-circuit transient excitations. This mechanical “soft” start and

the dampening effects could provide a positive impact on a rotating machine train.

Sometimes, an MVSD could be a cost effective and compact alternative to an electric VFD (variable-fre-quency drive) system.

However, the behaviour of an MVSD system is very difficult to properly model or predict. The MVSD sys-tem is obviously one of the biggest unknowns in the ro-tating machine industry.

The examples of avail-able mechanical drive options are: • The MVSD speed-control

and speed-increase for high output speeds. This is use-ful in relatively high power applications, say up to 18 MW.

• The geared variable-speed coupling. This is cheaper

than the option above, however delivers lower ef-ficiency at part-loads, usu-ally less than 10 MW.

• The variable-speed coupl-ing. This offers speed con-trol, no speed increase, is relatively cheap and rela-tively less efficient.

For example, in a case study for a middle size com-

pressor train, dynamic torques are reduced by a MVSD from around 210 percent of the nominal torque (at the electric motor driven shaft) down to around 95 percent of the nom-inal torque at the compressor-to-MVSD coupling. A short-circuit (transient) torque is

MOTORS & DRIVES

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Behind the

debate The decision whether to use mechanical variable-speed drives or variable frequency drives should always be based on the optimisation of the total purchase-operation costs, writes Amin Almasi.

MVSD vs. VFD

AM.FEB13.PG050.pdf 30/01/13, 9:46 AM

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AD_AMSEWFEB_13.pdf Page 1 10/01/13, 2:51 PM


also dampened through the MVSD from an excitation above 380 percent down to around 155 percent of the nominal torque (on the com-pressor shaft).

Because of the design of the MVSD packages there are some special (and unique) features in the alignment pro-cedures for this equipment that should be understood prior to the order placement. An MVSD could also need some special requirements in the commissioning works. The MVSD systems (par-ticularly the hydrodynamic torque converters) require a large amount of oil for the operation. The special oil skid provided by the MVSD manufacturer is usually an in-tegral part of MVSD system base-plate/package. The main oil pump is most often a shaft driven pump.

This pump should be sized properly to handle all differ-ent opera tional situations (an ample margin and a proper match with the oil require-ment cases).

There should also be a full-sized, second start-up (and stand-by) oil pump. ometimes, a rundown tank or a (third) emergency DC electric motor driven backup oil pump system could be re-quired.

A combined oil system with other equipment in the train is a compact option, which requires an excellent coordination between the MVSD manufacturer and the rotating machine vendor(s).

It may not be a popular option for some operators (since usually a manufac-turer-standard combined oil skid is offered), but if imple-mented properly it could re-sult in a considerable saving.

Complex gear system Another feature is the plan-etary gear of a MVSD (which is usually a very complex gear system). The gear system it-self is a compact unit and the drive and driven shafts are usually on the same planes (horizontally and vertically).

However, the planetary gear unit (that is usually used) can offer some complex be-

haviour. An MVSD, because of its complex nature, is a nonlinear system and should be linearised for the model-ling (such as the torsional vibration study, and other studies).

The efficiency at a part-load is relatively low. MVSD options are manufactured by a few vendors. Sometimes, very limited options for some components (such as the instruments, bearings, or mechanical parts) are used by the MVSD manufacturer, which means some devia-tions on the project specifi-cations.

Usually, a relatively long list of deviations should be accepted for an MVSD sys-tem. MVSD systems are very special and complex me-chanical systems (with many manufacturer standard components), which need a large amount of oil and spe-

cial oil system accessories. There could be some design, commercial and operational advantages for an MVSD compared to other options. Less space is required for an MVSD compared to a VFD system.

An MVSD does not gen-erate harmonic pulsations (a problem of some VFD systems) and it offers some vital mechanical dampening effects to some disturbances.

However, for an MVSD, some unknowns are expect-ed, special commissioning (and alignment) procedures are required, and there are very limited options avail-able to the user. Considering all these factors, the reliabil-ity of an MVSD cannot be higher than a certain level.

Planetary gear MVSD The most common type of MVSD is a combination of a

torque converter and revolv-ing planetary gears.

This MVSD comprises a torque converter and two sets of planetary gears: • A superposing planetary

gear for the speed variation. • A fixed planetary gear for

the reduction of the super-posing speed.

The planetary gear is usually of the helical design for smooth operation and superior running properties. The hydrodynamic torque converter is a combination of the hydraulic pump impeller, the hydraulic turbine wheel and adjustable guide vanes.

The hydraulic pump im-peller is connected to the in-put shaft and the hydraulic turbine wheel to the output shaft. The fluid (oil) is ac-celerated in the hydraulic pump impeller and trans-mits the energy to the hy-draulic turbine wheel.

The fluid flows through the adjustable guide vanes, where the flow and the flow angle are adjusted. Based on the position of the guide vanes (ranging from the ful-ly-closed to the fully-open), the torque and the speed of the turbine wheel can be ad-justed.

The MVSD is based on the principle of power splitting. The majority of the power is directly driven through the in-put shaft to the revolving plan-etary gear (driving the annulus gear with a fixed speed). The output shaft is connected to the driven equipment. A small part of the power is driven through the torque converter, where the speed is adjusted and then superimposed in the planetary gear.

All three components of the planetary gear (the annu-lus gear, the planet carrier and the sun gear) are moving in a superposing planetary gear system.

Making the right choice For low voltage electric mo-tors almost always a VFD is preferred, as it is cheaper than an MVSD. MVSDs, such as hydraulic torque converters, are not recom-mended for large rotating machines (above 18 MW). MVSDs are special variable speed systems which should only be used in a right ap-plication, where there are technical, commercial or foot-print benefits.

Successful examples of MVSD systems usually in-clude special revamp/renova-tion projects.

Giving an indication of the cost difference is not easy and this can change with every application (depend-ing also on the VFD details/ manufacturer). For the right application, an MVSD could probably be 5 to 20 percent cheaper than a VFD.

It is difficult to give a general comparison between a VFD and an MVSD, as it depends very much on the application (speed, power, operating characteristics and foot-print).

The decision should al-ways be based on the optimi-sation of the total purchase-operation costs.

The choice boils down to whether it is low or high voltage motors in use.

MOTORS & DRIVES


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It is a statement that has echoed throughout min-ing since the 1970s.DC motors are dead.The advancement of AC

drives in the mining industry is well documented and in-cludes various applications in the surface mining arena. These include such surface mining equipment as electric mining shovels, electric haul trucks, and most recently electric walking draglines.

Bucyrus, utilising Siemens drives, applied AC drive mo-tion control on electric shov-els decades ago when AC drive technology was quite a bit more complex than it is today due to having to utilise SCRs (silicon controlled recti-fiers) and forced commutat-ing circuitry which added to the parts count and complex-ity of such systems.

P&H also experimented with an ABB AC drive system in the mid-80s for their shov-els, but did not aggressively market this technology im-mediately, offering DC digital drives as the preferred solu-tion, until recently.

Both OEMs went through two evolutions since that time regarding AC drive technol-ogy for electric shovels. This involved the migration from

SCRs to GTOs (gate turn off devices), which simplified the commutation and gating circuitry dramatically and re-quired only a current driven gate signal to turn the power switch on or off.

Approximately ten years later the GTO was replaced

with the IGBT (insulated gate bi-polar transistor). This ad-vancement changed the gating control from a current signal, to a voltage signal, thus al-lowing switching speeds to in-crease. This, in turn, provided the ability to better replicate a true AC sine wave with less

harmonic disturbance reflect-ed on the supply line.

Another advantage of the IGBT was that it was a sin-gle side cooled device, versus an SCR or GTO which was hermetically sealed and of-ten times was referred to as a “hockey puck”. This type

of device required clamping and heat sinks applied to both sides of the device for effective cooling.

Today, single sided liq-uid-cooled IGBTs appear to be the standard for many AC drive applications in the mining industry including; Draglines, Shovels and Die-sel Electric Haul trucks.

Flanders had recognised the advantages and increas-ing popularity of AC drive motion control systems in the mining industry many years ago and began the process of developing an AC drive specifically designed for the surface mining industry and mobile mining equipment.

Flanders remains a unique company in that it primarily consists of a large group of electrical and me-chanical engineers which has the capacity to design and manufacture complete motors and drive systems for surface mining applica-tions. Flanders traditionally has best been known for its motor manufacturing, de-sign and repair services. To-gether with its sister compa-ny DCS (Drives and Control Systems), there have been motor and drive upgrades performed on many elec-

While DC has been more prevalent in draglines on site, AC motors are making inroads.

What’s driving draglines?The development of new ways to power draglines is increasing efficiency.

MOTORS & DRIVES

Specialists in:

❍ AC/DC Motor & Generator Rewinds (High & Low Voltage)

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Servicing the rail and mining industry for over 30 years

❍ Repairs to All Types of Welding Machines Including Diesel Welders

❍ Suppliers and Service Agents for Weg Electric Motors and Grundfos Pumps

64 Miguel Road, Bibra Lake WA 6163 [email protected] www.globalrewinds.com.au Ph: (08) 9434 6655 Fax: (08) 9434 9955 ECL No. EC003345

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tric shovels and draglines in Australia and around the world.

However, most recently, Flanders finalised the development of their mining duty AC drive system and completely converted a Bucyrus 770B dragline to this modern technology.

This system replaced the existing MG sets and DC motors that once powered the machine. The unique attribute of this drive system is that it was designed from ground up, using the input from many service personnel who have had many years of experience with electrical maintenance on surface mining equipment. It is not a rebranded industrial drive from GE, ABB, or Siemens but a design targeted for the mining application which capitalises on attributes such as modularity, simplicity, safety, ease of mainten ance, and scalability.

Due in part to the success of the first upgrade installation on the 770B and after extensive due diligence, research and ROI cal

culations, the next two mining companies seeking AC dragline upgrades also chose Flanders. The models to be upgraded include a Page 757 and a Marion 8200. Both of these upgrades will be taking place in the USA and are

scheduled for completion and installation during the 4th quarter 2013. Flanders is responsible for the design, manufacture, and commissioning of the motors and AC drive controls for both of these machines. The

drives are liquid cooled and use AFE (active front end) technology to offer the latest in power factor control and harmonic reduction for the industry.

However, with the recent success of deployment

of Flanders’ first complete AC dragline upgrade, comparisons are being made and benefits are being noted.

Gary Free states the following, after visiting the corporate headquarters for Flanders in Evansville, Indiana, regarding the change in technology he sees coming around the bend in the future for dragline upgrades: “The simplicity and design attributes that have been addressed from the factory that cater to the maintenance requirements on a large drag line are impressive. From the simplicity of the core phase module, to the liquid cooling of the devices, including the robust design of the MAC 1024 AC motor, are all going to be compared to the rotating MG sets and DC motion motors. I believe this system will be given serious consideration for future upgrades based on reduced maintenance costs, safety, enhanced performance, and overall improved electrical efficiencies of the machine which will also reduce costs further.”

MOTORS & DRIVES

While DC motors provide power, AC motors and drive control are more efficient.

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It’s that time of year again, where we launch the country’s largest national mining awards

– The Australian Mining Prospect Awards.

This year we celebrate a decade of recgonising and rewarding excel-lence in the mining industry.

The awards themselves saw around 300 people in attendance last year to celebrate those in the mining industry who are making a real difference.

Anglo American dominated the awards last year, with its Capcoal surface operations winning both Mine of the Year and Coal mine of the Year, while the Newmont edged out the competition to take out Hard Rock mine of the Year for its Boddington gold operations.

Xstrata also surged ahead of the competition, after devising a new safety system for coal handling amnd transfer at its CHPPs, which saw it take out Minerals Processing Plant of the Year.

An Australian who demon-strated the nation’s skill, motiva-tion, and innovation – Caris House – won the Young Acheiver Award, possibly being one of the youngest to take out the award – at only 23 years old.

The 9th Prospect Awards also saw the strengthening of two relatively new categories, Min-ing’s Woman of the Year and the Community Interaction award, which were again the most hotly contested.

Now in 2013, in this issue, we are opening the awards once more, and it’s set to be a special event as

we celebrate our tenth year putting the spotlight on innovation in min-ing; so get in now to showcase the latest technological advances in the industry, or to highlight someone you know who is making a differ-ence to the industry.

So be a part of it, and nomi-nate today.

Spotlight on the sponsorSEW-EURODRIVE – Sponsor: Coal Mine of the Year 2013SEW-EURODRIVE is proud to be sponsoring the coal mine of the year award at the 2013 Australian Min-ing Prospect Awards.

As a key supplier to the coal mining industry, we believe in qual-ity and efficiency when it comes to drive technology.

Supplying a range of industrial gear units, motors and drives for es-pecially large movements, we deliver more than just products to heavy in-dustry.

A team of talented engineers develop effective and timely solu-tions based on customers’ motion requirements, which are backed by after-sales commissioning and product support that is second to none.

We also understand that time is money, so units are delivered within a matter of weeks from our local as-sembly plants, rather than waiting months for items to be shipped from overseas.

The coal mining industry is one of Australia’s strongest assets – as

the world’s greatest exporter of coal, we can be thankful for an in-dustry that has given us global rec-ognition.

SEW-EURODRIVE takes great pride in sponsoring the coal mine of the year award, which we hope in turn encourages the organisa-tions in an industry which has greatly supported our company over time.

We hope that this award goes to a fitting recipient to provide them with the acknowledgment they deserve for making such a strong contribution to Australian industry.

SEW-EURODRIVE looks for-ward to further ongoing partner-ships with all forms of mining, now and into the future.

BOOM Logistics – Sponsor: Excellence in OH&SSafety Always is a core value at BOOM; caring for the health and safety of our customers, people, en-vironment and community drives all of our activities and decisions.

BOOM recognises the Austral-

ian Mining Prospect Awards as a prestigious event in the mining in-dustry, and we are proud to spon-sor the Excellence in Mine OH&S Award again in 2013, and to sup-port businesses in this sector that re-flect the same safety values held by BOOM.

Who is BOOM?As Australia’s leading provider

of innovative lifting solutions, BOOM combines expertise and experience with the largest fleet of cranes, including travel towers, ac-cess equipment and specialty engin-eering resources, to help solve your lifting challenges.

BOOM serves a diverse custom-er base, including the mining and re-sources sector, and is relied upon by some of Australia’s largest blue-chip companies.

We help our customers to de-velop and execute the right lifting solution with a focus on safety, pro-ductivity, efficiency and customer service.

BOOM seeks to be recognised as the safest and leading lifting solu-tions company in Australia.

10TH ANNUAL AUSTRALIAN MINING PROSPECT AWARDS

The 10th Annual Australian Mining Prospect Awards Launch

CENTRAL QUEENSLAND TRANSPORTTRADES AND MINING EXPO

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EVENT PARTNERSGOLD SPONSOR

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CATEGORIES• Mine of the Year

• Hardrock Mine of the Year

• Coal Mine of the Year

• Explorer of the Year

• Mine Manager of the Year

• Contract Miner of the Year

• Minerals Processing Plant of the Year

• Contribution to Mining

• Employer of Choice

• Mining’s Woman of the Year

• Young Achiever

• Community Interaction

• Innovative Mining Solutions

• Excellence in Mine OH&S

• Excellence in Environmental

Management

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Some would say it’s better to be selling picks and shovels than to be in the mining business.

However most would say you need to be in the mining business to understand how to build mining products and services that really provide innovation to miners them-selves.

One Australian company is in that unique position.

Arrium has a number of mines in South Australia and steel manufac-turing plants both in Australia and overseas.

According to the company this gives the business the unique ability to combine the knowledge of a min-er and an extensive history in steel products manufacturing to produce mining consumables that actually deliver what miners want.

Arrium Mining Consumables explained that one of its strategies is to partner with mining customers to reduce the impact of mining, opti-mise and maximise the useful life of mining consumables, and ensure the

business is focused on the continual improvement of its products.

Reducing landfill on mine sites Being able to reduce the environmental

impact of mining is a mounting con-cern for many miners and the ability to reduce waste and improve environ-mental performance is a key element to delivering a successful project.

It currently has a number of projects aimed at reducing waste on mine sites through taking greater responsibility for their product and a whole of life approach to product management. Mine sites, generally being in remote locations, discard mining consumable products such as tyres, ropes and reels at the end of their useful lives – delivering these products directly to landfill on site, but this may all be about to change.

In the case of mining ropes Ar-rium Mining Consumables, through its Moly-Cop Ropes business, has developed an ability to reuse and re-cycle the reels that the mining ropes use, by substituting wooden reels with steel reels. Making this seeming simple change has extended the use-ful life of the reels from 18 months to 15 years at which point they can be recycled and aren’t placed in landfill – cutting a miner’s waste footprint.

Moly-Cop Ropes business has also been working closely with an-other Arrium businesses to deliver value in recycling.

OneSteel Recycling is using spe-cialised equipment to enable the re-cycling of mining rope through its Gladstone, Mackay and Newcastle facilities, recycling a potential 8,000 tonnes per annum of mining rope –

a substantial reduction in landfill on a number of mine sites.

Mining tyres are essentially made up of steel and rubber and are also one of the major contributors to land-fill on most mine sites. In an effort to further reduce mine landfills Arrium, in conjunction with the University of New South Wales (UNSW), has de-velop Polymer Injection Technology (PIT) in its steel making Electric Arc Furnaces (EAF).

The work with UNSW has dem-onstrated that rubber from tyres can replace some of the coke within the EAF steelmaking process and in-crease the volume of foamy slag.

Polymer injection technology re-duces electrical energy consumption per steel billet tonne from 424 kWh to 412 kWh, reducing the amount of carbon injectant required from 464 kg/heat to 406 kg/heat.

This technology reduce the amount of tyres ending up in landfill on mine sites, reduces energy intensi-ty of EAF steelmaking which in turn enables a reduction in greenhouse gas emission. Arrium also takes the steel from these tyres and recycles it through OneSteel Recycling.

However it is not just about the end of life measures.

Arrium Mining Consumables busi-ness, Moly-Cop Ropes, has a number of programs aimed at both reduc-ing the cost per BCM of over burden moved and improving safety on a mine site.

Its Total Rope Management

MINING EQUIPMENT

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FromFromFrom STARTSTARTSTART tototo FINISHFINISHFINISHSupporting miners from digging to rehabilitation.

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(TRM) philosophy helps miners by working with them to analyse their operation conditions and predict the life of the rope, to ensure ropes are changed under planned conditions. This achieves a lower cost per BCM of over burden moved and improved safety performance supported by innovative product development. Moly-Cop Ropes also offers training for mine operational and maintenance personnel to ensure an understanding of rope preventative maintenance ex-ists broadly on a mine site.

Optimising minerals processingOptimising ball mill performance is not an art it is a science. Moly-Cop Grinding Media have invested sub-stantially in research and deve lopment to gain a greater understanding of how to increase the life of grinding media and mill performance.

This investment has led to the development of Moly-Cop Tools which are designed to help Grinding Process Engineers characterise and evaluate the operating efficiency of any given grinding circuit. Moly-Cop Tools incorporates a full set of digital simulators for conventional and sem-iautogenous grinding appli cations with the corresponding mass balance and parameter estimation routines; plus complementary spreadsheets to

facilitate Bond’s Law calculations, grinding media ‘algebra’ and other useful utility functions.

Improved wheel design produces high performance rail wheels Longevity of rail wheels is critical to maintaining rail infrastructure and ensuring the long life of wheels im-proves costs and reduces the down time of key rail assets. Arrium Mining Consumables business, Comsteel Rail Wheels has historically worked with

business partners such as BHP Billiton and Monash University, to look at how heavy haul wheel performance can be improved. After extensive re-search it was found wheels in heavy haul service are subjected to a com-bination of mechanical and thermal loads, which together can severely curtail wheel life compared to typical freight and passenger wheel wear.

In developing Comsteel wheels work was done in conjunction with business partners to research and

improve (low stress) plate design, and the development of a micro-al-loyed wheel grade with rim hardness levels approaching 400HB, offering excellent through-hardness charac-teristics in a 970mm diameter, mul-ti-wear wheel.

Wheel performance improve-ments were achieved through a com-bination of improved wheel design, specifically using plate designs which offer enhanced resistance to the ef-fects of severe thermal loads during drag braking. Material grades with high resistance to wear, rolling con-tact fatigue and thermo-mechanical fatigue, as well as improved steel quality helped reduce the probability of shattered rims and similar cata-strophic failure modes.

Further refinement of manufac-turing procedures for these wheels has included the implementation of “state-of-the art” non-destructive equipment for ultrasonic testing and measurement of residual stresses within the wheel rim.

The work in this area has deve-loped high hardness microalloy wheels which significantly increase wheel performance and dramatically decrease critical wheel failures. This work has improved the uptime of rail assets and helps to ensure that miners deliver materials on time as planned.

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Bulk bags can be raised, lowered, and rotated for completeconditioning of the bag on all sidesat all heights, using automatedturntables and scissor lifts, orelectric hoist and trolley assemblies.

Materials typically loosened by BLOCK-BUSTER Bulk BagConditioners include ammoniumnitrate, lime, thiourea and otherproducts that solidify in bulk bags.

• Heavy-duty construction• Mobile or stationary • Diesel or electric• Gentle on bag fabric• Safety interlocked• Interior or weatherproof• Factory or on-site testing

Also offered: Heavy-duty Bulk BagFillers and Bulk Bag Dischargers forlow- to high-volume applications.

BB-0402 LoosenMaterial_Layout 1 1/18/13 2:52 PM Page 1

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The company recycles dragline and shovel ropes.

MINING EQUIPMENT

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MINING JOBS

ExpEriEncEd ShotfirErS – QLdOrica is currently looking for a number of experienced Shotfirers to work even time rosters at different sites within Queensland.the criteria:Minimum 1 years’ experience as a ShotfirerCurrent QLD Shotfirer’s licenceGood knowledge of the explosives industry and a strong mechanical backgroundHR Licence is advantageousTo ensure that we attract and retain the best people we offer:The opportunities, facilities and environment associated with working in an international organisationCareer paths that are totally flexible allowing you to specialise or become a generalistA diverse workplace where your unique abilities and talents will be recognised and encouragedTraining programs, opportunities and initiatives to ensure your continued growthCompetitive salary packagesto apply contact Elizabeth ng on (03) 9665 7235 or 1300 4 oricA (1300 467 422) with any queries.

LogiSticS coordinAtor – YArwunYour key purpose will be to organise the scheduling and despatch of Watercare products from the Yarwun site and various QLD stock points as well as to provide back up support to the Cyanide Logistics Officer (Domestic). You will identify and implement best practice to improve on service levels and ensure compliance to Quality System requirements. A very customer focused role, your duties and responsibilities will include but not be limited to:Coordinating transportation of chemicalsLiaising with customers including service, transport and internal customers from Melbourne and BrisbaneScheduling of customer orders and liaising with service providers to ensure they are satisfied with despatch schedules.Solving/troubleshooting customer requests and/or supply issues as requiredMonitoring stock levelsMonitor outstanding orders and delivery due datesProcessing of water care production in SAP dailyPayment of transport accountsAccounts payable dutiesPeriodic vehicle auditsProviding support to other states as requiredthe criteria:Bringing with you a strong background in logistics or heavy transport, you will require a good understanding of processes and procedures for these industries. An understanding of inventory management and the paperwork required for national and international documentation for land and sea will also be critical. Experience in freight forwarding, purchasing, importing or exporting environments is preferable and previous knowledge of the chemical industry desirable. As the successful candidate will be able to demonstrate your ability to prioritise & meet deadlines; be customer focused, have a highly adaptive and results-orientated mindset as well as first class written and verbal communication skills.to apply contact Kylie williams on 1300 467 422.

SchEduLing EnginEErThe Rosebery Operation is an underground mine located in the township of Rosebery on Tasmania’s picturesque West Coast. The mine has operated continuously since 1936 and comprises an underground base metal mine and surface processing operation with the capacity to produce approximately 800,000 tonnes of ore a year.We are currently seeking a Scheduling Engineer to join our busy and successful Mining team.Reporting to the Senior Operations Engineer, you will prepare short to medium term mine schedules that factor in major constraints and possible solutions. You will regularly liaise with stakeholders to gain accurate input data and stakeholder views, allowing you to produce comprehensive integrated operations schedules. Other key components of your role include:Updating the mine schedules as new design data comes available and revising production and development schedules and the associated mine performance forecasts.Ensuring the business is aware of buffers and stockpile status and escalating potential risks in a timely manner to allow mitigating actions to be implemented.Monitoring performance against operations schedules and identifying areas of improvement.Producing KPIs to indicate the level of development, production and technical activities required to maintain/improve mine performanceMaintaining a detailed working knowledge of all areas of the mine from a planning and operational point of view.You hold a tertiary qualification in Mining Engineering and you have a couple of years experience in hard rock underground mines including some time working on crew. You have solid skills in long-hole drill and blast, short-medium term scheduling and are familiar with long hole stoping. You have an advanced understanding of operations scheduling principles and EPS scheduling software. It is a requirement that you also hold a manual drivers licence. This is a great career opportunity and challenging role for a motivated Scheduling Engineer who is looking to expand their capabilities within a supportive team environment. This is a permanent position with a 5 days on/2 days off residential roster. The successful candidate will be offered a remuneration package commensurate with their experience and the current market. Domestic or international relocation assistance is also on offer.to register your interest in this opportunity, go to www.miningaustralia.com.au/jobs

fiELd ASSiStAntMMG’s Century operation, located in North-west Queensland, is Australia’s largest open pit zinc mine. In production since 2000, Century comprises an open pit mine and concentrator at Lawn Hill, connected by a pipeline to the Karumba dewatering and shipping facilities. A number of projects are currently underway to extend the life of the Century assets beyond the current completion of large open pit production in 2016.A number of projects are currently underway to extend the life of the Century assets beyond the current completion of large open pit production in 2016, as such we are now recruiting a Field Assistant to support the exploration team at site for a 9-month limited tenure.

In this role, you’ll provide practical assistance in drilling operations, drill and geochemical sampling, and geophysical surveys.To be considered, you’ll hold qualifications in Geoscience or related field, a current manual driver’s license and have some basic experience in surveying, mapping and sampling techniques.This role will operate on a 8/6 roster, FIFO either Cairns, Townsville or Mount Isa.to start your career journey with MMg, submit your application online in either word (.doc) or Adobe (.pdf) format. to register your interest in this opportunity, go to www.miningaustralia.com.au/jobs

pLAnt MEtALLurgiStThe Golden Grove base and precious metals mine in Western Australia produces concentrates of zinc, copper and other base and precious metals. Currently we are operating two underground mines (Gossan Hill and Scuddles) and have recently created an open pit copper-oxide mine.Reporting to the Senior Metallurgist you will be responsible for the provision of technical assistance to metallurgical operations in monitoring and recording of plant performance and improvements through project development and control. In addition to ensuring the smooth operation of the concentrator, on a day to day basis you will be responsible for:Monitoring metallurgy production targets and providing technical input to optimise plant throughput, recovery and concentrate grade performance to achieve or exceed these goals.Forecasting and budgetingRigorous analysis and review reporting of costs Identification, formulation, evaluation and initiation of effective cost reduction programmesMentoring Graduates and junior team members Continually improving production performance through the identification formulation, evaluation and initiation of production improvement programmes.As an experienced Plant Metallurgist, you will have both well developed technical skills and personal attributes including the following:An unwavering commitment to workplace safetyA passion for continually improving mineral processing systemsThe desire to achieve within a team of high calibre professionalsA tertiary qualification in Metallurgy or related scienceConcentrator experience including crushing, grinding, flotation and dewateringGood metallurgical accounting knowledge, and budgeting/forecasting skillsSolid Excel, PI and AMPLA software skillsManual ‘C’ class drivers licenceThis is a great opportunity for someone who is keen to work on a multi-commodity site and gain exposure to different processing methods.This permanent position will commute on a 8 days on/6 days off FIFO roster from either Perth or Geraldton. Accommodation and meals are provided in a comfortable modern camp with wireless internet connection, swimming pool, fully equipped gym, Foxtel, beach volleyball, outdoor cricket pitch and tennis courts. The successful candidate will be offered a remuneration package commensurate with their experience and the current market. Relocation assistance is also available.to register your interest in this opportunity, go to www.miningaustralia.com.au/jobs

To see the latest jobs available visit www.miningaustralia.com.au, which is updated daily.

To advertise a new job contact Hussein Azzan at

02 9422 2851

“ EFIC dId morE than provIdE FInanCIal support. thEy hElpEd us EstablIsh a traCk rECord.”Cory stevens, CEo, lean Field developments

read our story at efic.gov.au/amp

overcoming financial barriers for exporters

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62 February 2013 AustralianMining www.miningaustralia.com.au

EVENTS

Environmental Culture and Compliance 6-8 February Sydney Compliance and culture might seem an unlikely coupling: the culture of an organisation and the compliance of different projects to relevant legislations aren’t an immediately obvious pair. However, any major environmental initiative invariably comes from a company whose culture is a green one and who have their own drivers to become more sustainable. And these projects must all comply with very strict policy. In this light, it’s not so hard to see the link. Make sure you attend Tonkin’s Environmental Culture and Compliance Conference to hear 10 unique case studies from leading environmental management specialists from around the country. • Tonkin 02 9224 6013 [email protected] www.tonkincorporation.com

Resources Roadshow 14-15 February The Establishment, Sydney The Symposium Resources Roadshow

is specifically designed to promote the Australian resources industry to a wide variety of investors: from professional brokers, analysts and private investors who are current shareholders, to others who are keen to understand the investment opportunities within this sector.

• Symposium Events 02 9299 4350 [email protected] www.symposium.net.au

Australian Mining Safety Conference 1 May Brisbane Hot on the heels of its successful conference in Perth, Australian Mining will be holding its second mining safety conference in Brisbane. The event aims to bring together mine safety professional who focus not only on site OH&S nut also general work health and well being. It covers the gamut from safety in underground

mining, automation safety, safe practices and technology in drilling and blasting, and issues affecting worker mental health. To find out more about the event and how you can be a part of it, contact us today. • Australian Mining 02 9422 2352 [email protected] www.miningaustralia.com.au

AIMEX 20-23 August Sydney Showground, Sydney Now held once every two years and firmly established on the international mining calendar, AIMEX is the flagship event within the portfolio of established industrial trade fairs staged by Reed Exhibitions. AIMEX is where Australian and international suppliers of mining technology, equipment and services come together with mining industry buyers and specifiers from throughout the Asia-Pacific region to network and explore business opportunities, and exchange technical information. • Reed Exhibitions Peter Thompson 02 9422 2472 [email protected] www.aimex.com.au

Conferences, seminars & workshopsEvent submissions can be emailed to [email protected]

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www.crkennedy.com.au/survey

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At BOC, we understand the knowledge, expertise and process needed to succeed in the mining industry, and we’re proud to play an important role.

Whether you’re talking about Oxygen, Nitrogen, specialist gases or LPG and LNG in bulk, onsite or compressed supply; our patented gas processes designed to enhance extraction, production as well as reduce the use of reagents; or welding and safety equipment and training programs — we’re there.

You can count on our reputation and commitment to service and safety because your business is important to both of us.

o nd out more, visit your local Gas GearTM, www.boc.com.au, or call 131 262.

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Resourcefulness. Just one of the attributes BOC provides to the Australian mining industry

BOC LimitedRiverside Corporate Park, 10 Julius Avenue, North Ryde, NSW 2113 Australia [email protected] BOC is a trading name of BOC Limited, a Member of The Linde Group. © BOC Limited 2013

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australian mining february 2013 issue

Documents

n g t h e

n d u s t r y s i n

n g t e chno logy

downhole data management

mining ceo

ts e r v

transport modeling

lease maps land grid