Resourcing SA - Spring 2015

FRIENDS IN NEED

Mining & agriculture

$9.95 (incl. GST)Issue 1 Spring 2015

TRAILBLAZERS Winning SA women

INVENTORS & INNOVATORS

THE ENVIRONMENTAL MINER

resourcingSA

The people, projects and happenings in SA minerals and energy

Iron Road Limited | ASX Code: IRD | GPO Box 1164, Adelaide 5001, South Australiawww.ironroadlimited.com.au | @IronRoadLimited | [email protected]

Definitive feasibility study demonstratesa highly competitive project with potential for strong economic returns

21.5 million tonnes per annum of high grade (67% iron), low impurity iron concentrate

Current mine life of 25+ years, with growth expected to beyond 30 years

Rail and port infrastructure able to accommodate Capesize vessels

Project has the support of the Australian State and Federal Governments Mining and

infrastructure project

with low

operating costs

KEY PROJECT FACTS

IRON ROAD IS BUILDING A FULLY INTEGRATED, LONG LIFE, MAGNETITE IRON PROJECT IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Tumby Bay

Cape Hardy

Elliston Cowell

Port Augusta

Port Pirie

Moonta

Port Wakefield

Ceduna

Streaky Bay

Adelaide

Kimba

MinnipaWudinna

Central EyreIron Project

Central EyreIron Project

Tenement Outline

Main Road

Railway

Infrastructure Corridor

Proposed Cape Hardy port

Warramboo

Lock

Cummins

Port Lincoln

Infrastructure Corridor

Whyalla

ISSUE 01 RESOURCING SA Spring 2015

04 From the editor

from the EditorWelcome to our first issue!

This magazine was created for the South Australian community, to open up discussion and provide the news and stories surrounding one of the State’s more mysterious industries - mineral and energy resources.

It’s an industry that’s out of sight and unknown to so many people. The mines, the exploration and the oil & gas acreage are often located deep in the outback, with offshore petroleum exploration hundreds of kilometres out from our coast.

To some people, mining invokes images of environmental desecration or greedy men in suits.

Resources, like all industries, has grown and evolved over the years. It shaped South Australia’s early economic development and it continues to build and maintain our standard of living today. Minerals remain the State’s largest export, millions of dollars of royalties each year support our public services, and thousands of jobs and business opportunities are facilitated through this enormous industry.

It’s an industry of diversity in every sense of the word, with so many stories to tell and so many inspiring people to meet.

I’ve been fortunate enough to hear first-hand some of their stories… on environmental leadership, like Hillgrove’s pioneering rehabilitation on page 30 (who would have thought a mine at Callington is home to the largest grove of untouched native woodland in the Adelaide Hills?)… on innovation, like our passionate inventors and researchers developing cutting edge technology (pages 36 - 38)… on

small business, like the enterprising individuals serving the industry on page 32 and 33.

Our cover photographer for this issue is Chris Warrior, Community Relations Officer at OZ Minerals. Chris, a proud Kokatha man, has a five year history in the mining industry. He’s also a talented photographer with a gift for capturing the true essence of the land and people who surround him.

Other people are shaping a new industry demographic. Or leading better outcomes for remote communities, trailblazing regional renewal, or overcoming obstacles to work with the rocks, minerals or land they love.

We will share these stories with you and more. There will be career paths and changing science. Some of our younger readers may be surprised to learn how mined materials are used to make just about everything.

While we aim to publish stories we think will interest our South Australian readers, we also want your opinions. Please send in your feedback, opinions, questions, criticisms – we’ll try to print them all – [email protected]

I hope you enjoy our launch issue of Resourcing SA.

Megan Andrews Editor

Diamond Gold

SACOME Black Gold sponsors

Platinum

SACOME Silver sponsors

Copper Zircon

Your opinion and feedback is important and we always appreciate hearing form readers. Love or loathe something you’ve read, or simply want to get something off your chest then please feel free to drop us a line.

[email protected]

Editor Megan Andrews

Deputy editor Stephen Batten

Publisher South Australian Chamber of Mines and Energy (SACOME)

Production editor Lindy McNamara

Editorial committee John Roberts, Tino Guglielmo, Anya Hart, Dayne Eckermann, Sylvia Rapo, Yasmin Chrisohoou, Lachlan Wallace, Jacqui Dealtry

Designer Raymond Capozzi

Printing Lane Print

Cover Sabrina McKenzie (page 12) Photo by Chris Warrior

Advertising & SACOME Membership Stephen Batten (08) 8202 9999 [email protected]

Online magazine www.sacome.org.au/sacome-media/magazine

Frequency Quarterly

Subscribe [email protected] $9.95 per issue; $20 for four issues

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Resourcing SA is published by the South Australian Chamber of Mines and Energy (SACOME), our partners include:


Contents 05

12 | FEATURE

14 | WORKFORCE

18 | OPINIONSometimes the link isn’t obvious, but communities across South Australia are benefiting in many ways from having mining in their backyard.

The Eyre Peninsula’s Tim Scholz, mining and agriculture, friends in need

Celebrating South Australia’s trailblazing women in the male-dominated resources sector

6 NEWS

10 OPINIONJason Kuchel; Mining’s not dead

16 WORKFORCEA young Port Augusta fitter & turner celebrates the end of training winning Apprentice of the Year

20 ENVIRONMENTSA Nature Foundation forging strong partnerships with another nature lover – the resources sector

22 PROFILEAndrew Cole, OZ Minerals

24 SWINGS & ROUNDABOUTS Redundancies and falling commodity prices – where is SA’s resources industry heading?

27 INNOVATION Update on OZ Minerals’ game changing hydromet studies

28 EDUCATIONScience Alive! inspiring a new generation of scientists

30 ENVIRONMENTAn Adelaide Hills mine’s environmental initiatives are reaping rewards

32 SERVICESA film maker and ergonomic equipment specialist are among SA’s diverse resource sector small businesses

34 CAREERSBorn in the outback & distance educated, geology is a natural fit for a young nature lover

36 INNOVATIONSA – a centre of excellence and innovation hub

38 INNOVATIONTonsley – the dream is coming to fruition

39 COMMUNITYA West Coast miner’s long term commitment is making roads safe

40 WORKFORCESantos’ pioneering diversity initiatives are getting results

41 WORKFORCENew management at OZ Minerals’ Adelaide head office

42 COMMUNITYA lifesaving 24/7 helicopter service is proving its value in the State’s remote north

43 BUSINESSMiners are fighting hard

44 BUSINESSWorking capital on the decline

45 OPINIONJamie Love, Aboriginal Business Industry Chamber of SA

46 EVENTS

48 SERVICES IN THE NEWS

50 COMMUNITYMiner takes time out for charity & to see the outback

51 OPINIONTerry Burgess – perception is everything


06 News

Three times lucky

Support milling for Iron Road

Santos CEO...

Stop press

After seven years in the role, Santos’ Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer David Knox has announced he will step down once a successor has been appointed.

His resignation coincides with the Santos Board’s decision to conduct a full strategic review to examine all options to ‘restore and maximise shareholder value’.

Santos Chairman, Peter Coates, will assume the role of Executive Chairman.

Beach Energy’s Managing Director and CEO has also stepped down. Citing family reasons, Rob Cole will remain with the company until 14 October. COO Neil Gibbins is Acting Chief Executive.

Archer Exploration has confirmed the capability of a third deposit that will extend the life of its Campoona graphite project on the Eyre Peninsula.

In August Archer released results that ultra-high grade graphite of 98.6 percent contained graphite from tests of the Lacroma project. This followed similar results from the Central Campoona and Campoona Shaft deposits.

Archer said all three projects areas could use the same processing circuit planned on site at Sugarloaf near the proposed mining pits, without any need to amend the circuit set-up for individual deposits.

The company said the three sources of graphite would provide production flexibility, by either increasing the greater project operational life or the opportunity to greatly increase production from the currently planned 10,000tpa Sugarloaf processing plant.

Meanwhile, samples from the Campoona project have been sent to the CSIRO for a new round of testing to determine their suitability to meet the emerging global market for lithium-ion batteries.

In May, Archer announced that testing of its ultra-pure graphite found it compared favourably against commercially available high purity synthetic graphite, which is currently used in 32 percent of all lithium-ion batteries.

With that market tipped to increase, the CSIRO suggested further improvements in charge capacity could result if Campoona graphite was more finely and uniformly sized.

A sample of Campoona concentrate was subsequently sent to Germany for micronising and classification, with the returned sample then purified and sent to CSIRO for further testing. The new results are expected in October.

The development of Iron Road’s Central Eyre Iron Project (CEIP) is gaining momentum following the signing of non-binding agreements with five Chinese steel companies in September.

The Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) will see Iron Road and the companies working together to evaluate both the commercial and technical benefits of using high quality CEIP product in Chinese steel mills.

One of the MoU parties, Shandong Iron & Steel Group (ShanSteel), has signed a further agreement, progressing its intention to enter into a Letter of Intent to cover the supply

of premium iron products from the CEIP. ShanSteel is the seventh largest producer of steel in China and under the agreement it is proposing to work with Iron Road to seek a project funding solution which would enable the start of construction during 2017.

At the same time, an agreement to investigate infrastructure funding was signed with AIXI Investments. This would support construction of a deep sea port at Cape Hardy suited for capesize vessels, as well as an infrastructure corridor for rail, water and power.

Iron Road also signed an Indigenous Land

Use Agreement, the result of successful negotiations with the Barngarla Aboriginal Corporation, SA Native Title Services and the Attorney General of SA. The agreement sets out all commitments in relation to native title and Aboriginal heritage during construction, operation and closure of tenements.

In a milestone week the company also signed MoUs with the Wudinna District Council, District Council of Cleve and four Eyre Peninsula peak bodies .

Iron Road’s share price has shown strong gains since the signing.

Iron Road’s Andrew Stocks signing the infrastructure funding MoU at a SACOME lunch on 11 September.

Terry Burgess (SACOME), Paul Heithersay (DSD) and the Hon Tom Koutsantonis MP also present


News 07

Eyes on Top 50

Copper centre stage

A strategic review of its operations will see Beach Energy selling off its international assets, to focus on oil and gas reserves closer to home.

In June, Beach announced its exit from Romania and in August it said it had entered an agreement with Rockhopper Exploration for the sale of its Egyptian assets. The company is also in the early stages of farming down its Tanzanian permit.

The strategic review includes a target of 15 percent corporate cost savings in the next

financial year and outlines Beach’s aim to become an ASX top 50 company.

Chris Jamieson from Beach said it was unlikely there would be any job losses as a result of the review.

While some consultants and contractors could go, most savings would be made through discretionary items. In the long term, the expansion would likely mean more jobs, he said.

“We want to become an ASX top 50 company, so in order to get there we have to grow and that growth is going to require more people and more jobs, so if anything I see the potential expansion of Beach in that regard.”

The company said it plans to focus on its oil gas reserves in South Australia’s Cooper Basin, along with expanding into complementary businesses on the east coast.

South Australians are being asked for their input into a long-term strategy to unlock the vast potential of the State’s copper belt.

South Australia hosts 68 percent of Australia’s copper resources, one of the key elements required for a more energy efficient world.

Being developed by the State Government, the Copper Strategy aims to position Australia as the world’s third largest copper producer by 2030, with South Australia leading the way to achieve the ambitious target by tripling its own production.

Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy Tom

Koutsantonis launched a Directions Paper in September that will guide the development of a long-term strategy.

“There is widespread agreement that South Australia’s geology and geography does put us in the box seat to supply copper to the world’s fast growing economies,” the Minister said.

Having created significant historical benefit, SA’s copper industry continues to generate value and offers vast, untapped potential – with resource companies, service providers, skilled workers and the broader community all set to benefit.

Prospective rocks in SA are generally buried deep and one of the challenges for industry and research partners is to locate these and find ways to economically develop both known and yet to be discovered deposits.

Demand projections are predicting a future copper deficit combined with reductions in supply.

The Directions Paper is available at the Department of State Development’s website and through the Government’s YourSAy website. Submissions are due 23 October.

Happy birthday BHP

BHP Billiton had much to celebrate on 13 August – its 130-year anniversary of the incorporation of BHP and its contribution to Australia for more than a century.

BHP was formed in 1885 after a rich silver and lead deposit was discovered by Charles Rasp

on a rocky outcrop known as the ‘Broken Hill’ in western New South Wales two years earlier.

BHP Billiton CEO Andrew Mackenzie said the milestone was an opportunity to reflect on the company’s long history and events that shaped its culture.

“It’s not often that we get the opportunity to stop and take a look at where we have come from, but history has a lot to teach us,” he said.

“From humble beginnings mining silver and lead at Broken Hill and tin at Billiton island, Indonesia, in the mid-1800s, it has been a long journey.

“We have been part of iconic events that have shaped the nation, such as providing steel for the Sydney Harbour Bridge and being part of

the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation which produced the first military aircraft in Australia.

The anniversary was also an opportunity to highlight the contribution that the company continues to make in Australia.

Last financial year BHP Billiton contributed around $27 billion to the Australian economy in payments to suppliers, wages and employee benefits, dividends, taxes and royalties.

In addition, BHP Billiton contributed US$59.5 million through voluntary community investment to support social and environmental programs and the BHP Billiton Foundation committed $55 million to support science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education across Australia.

Andrew Cole (OZ Minerals) with the copper strategy directions paper, thanking Minister Koutsantonis for his lunch speech (left), Jason Kuchel (SACOME), right


08 News

Air clearing on nuclear

Tunnelling 170kmBHP Billiton announced at the SACOME/GMUSG resources conference in August that it expects to spend hundreds of millions investigating an underground expansion of Olympic Dam over the coming years.

Jacqui McGill, Asset President Olympic Dam, addressed the conference in what was her first public presentation since taking over in June as new head of the mine.

In her update, which included details of the company’s heap leaching trials currently underway at Wingfield, she said the company was hoping that through the trials a business case would be made to expand the underground mine into its unmined southern areas.

Expanding into the southern section of the massive copper, gold and uranium deposit would involve building 170km of tunnels over five years.

“That’s equivalent to tunnelling from Adelaide to Clare,” Jacqui said.

The plan would also include an upgrade of the above-ground plant.

Together with the heap leaching trials, Jacqui said the mine was currently focusing on reducing operational costs.

“Although this process has resulted in the loss of 520 jobs, it’s important to remember that Olympic Dam still employs 3500 people,” she said.

“It’s been a particularly challenging year and we have had to make some really difficult decisions.

“We recognise the importance that SA places on Olympic Dam and we remain committed to SA and will continue to support those communities who rely on us.”

The heap leach trials will take several years to complete.

“We must be patient and very thorough in testing this technology, which may prove to be the key in unlocking the Olympic Dam resource for the future,” Jacqui said.

She said it was important to understand Olympic Dam’s current contributions to SA.

Over the past financial year these include $580 million spent with SA service providers, $70 million in taxes and royalties, $8 million on Aboriginal enterprises, $1.6 million on community initiatives such as the Royal Flying Doctor Service plus extensive support for university, health and cultural bodies.

The Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission has entered a four-month public information-gathering phase with sessions being held to gain information around key topics that are critical to the inquiry and will help the commission answer its four terms of reference.

The sessions, which are open to the public and will be streamed live on the commission’s website, will continue until mid-December. They are designed to add to the commission’s own analysis and research, including lessons learned from overseas visits and information received via written submissions.

Witnesses are being called from within Australia and overseas and the commission will also invite authors of written submissions to provide additional evidence to clarify points raised in submissions.

Topics to be covered during the public sessions include the National Electricity Market; the geology and hydrogeology in South Australia and; low carbon energy options, including nuclear power.

The Commission has received almost 250 submissions from interested stakeholders, including individuals, community groups,

businesses and government representatives.

SACOME made a consolidated submission to the commission on the four issues papers. This submission responded to the first issues paper ‘Exploration, Extraction and Milling’, four questions in issues paper two ‘Further processing and manufacture’, and briefly on issues paper four ‘Management, Storage and Disposal of Waste’.

Recommendations include targeting funding

into initiatives to identify and develop uranium and exemption of uranium mining and milling from the Environment Protection and Diversity Conservation Act – as measures to protect the environment and manage harm exist under State laws and regulations.

SACOME also recommends key infrastructure components to enable further development of the industry, the development of additional skills and an overhaul of land access matters.

Jacqui McGill

Ian Hore-Lacy, Dr Tim Stone and Ben Heard at a SACOME nuclear information seminar in March


News 09

Rushing north for gold

Havilah Resources will fast track feasibility studies into its North Portia copper-gold deposit in the hopes of bringing the project on line as soon as mining operations at the current Portia mine wind down at the end of 2016.

The North Portia deposit lies about 500m from the Portia operation, which is located near Broken Hill. No mining study has been carried out on North Portia because Havilah had planned to develop the Kalkaroo copper-gold mine first and then utilise this processing plant for North Portia ore.

However, given the new synergies provided by the adjacent Portia gold mining operation,

a preliminary scoping mining plan has been completed for North Portia, based on an updated resource block model.

This work has indicated that there was some 3.7 million tonnes of mainly oxidised material at an average grade of 0.68 percent copper and 0.49 g/t gold, containing some 25 000 t of copper and 58 000 oz of gold, which could be accessed by the removal of 25-million tonnes of overburden.

“With all mining infrastructure and plant and equipment now in place at Portia, it makes sense for us to look at the viability of mining North Portia as a sequential follow-on operation,” said Havilah Managing Director Chris Giles.

Meanwhile, Havilah reports that operations at the Portia gold mine are progressing according to plan.

During August, 580,113 cubic metres of overburden material was moved, and in July a third operating crew employed. This means that 30% overburden has now been removed and both mining fleets are now operating 12 hours a day, seven days a week.

First gold from Portia is expected in July 2016.

Rex looks to 2016

Rex Minerals has been granted a 12-month extension for the submission of two major reports relating to its Hillside copper-gold project on the Yorke Peninsula.

After undertaking an extensive review of the project due to the downturn in global commodity prices of copper, gold and iron ore, Rex announced the results of its Extended Feasibility Study to the ASX on 25 May.

Following this announcement, the company sought – and was granted – an extension from the Department of State Development (DSD) for the submission of its Program for Environment Protection and Rehabilitation (PEPR) and Social Management Plan (SMP). Rex will utilise this extension period to engage further with the DSD, regional community and other stakeholders on details relating to Hillside.

As a result of the approval of the extension, Rex is now required to submit a PEPR to the DSD by 16 September 2016.

Exclusive events

South Australian Museum

From 25 September 2015 the South Australian Museum’s blockbuster exhibition Opals comes to life. Opals is a story of discovery, human ingenuity, and translucent beauty, all against a backdrop of profoundly isolated geography. It features the finest opal ever unearthed, an underground mine recreation, exceptional opalised fossils of ancient marine reptiles and an exquisite jewellery-like display of beautifully cut gemstones gathered from around the world.

Book an exclusive breakfast or evening visit to the Opals exhibition for your team or organisation by contacting [email protected]


10 Opinion

The average follower of the news – and even those who have not been in the mining or energy sector for long – could be forgiven for thinking the industry is dead or dying; with commodity prices falling and the Chinese economy not growing at double digit figures.

While it would be wrong of me to suggest that everything is rosy, some context is needed.

The metals and petroleum commodity indexes (an indication of their value) are better today than they were in 2005 and certainly much better than they were for the preceding 30 years. Ten years ago, everybody in the industry was excited, many projects were moving forward and governments were talking up the possibilities and all with good reason.

So what’s different today? During the peak in the commodity price cycle companies chased higher production – ‘making hay while the sun shines’ – which increased competition for skills, contractors and supplies, so costs were driven up.

Now, with demand falling, efficiencies have needed to be found and cost cutting undertaken as the industry goes through the pain of having to re-adjust. However, once all companies get their houses in order and investors get used to commodity prices where they are today, investment will ramp up once again. Of course, every commodity is different and some will need to see an increase in price to drive growth.

So where are we now?

In SA, mining exports have risen from around 13 percent to more than 35 percent of the State’s exports making it the biggest contributor in terms of bringing dollars into our economy. The State’s two biggest companies alone continue to spend more than a billion dollars in South Australia each year.

South Australia’s offshore oil & gas explorers are spending several billion over the next few years in exploration.

Companies like Arrium and Nyrstar are the backbone of Whyalla and Port Pirie respectively

and both have invested very heavily within their communities over recent years.

As demand from China continues to grow, albeit a little slower than some economists might like, and as India and much of Asia continues to have a growing middle class, the industry will no doubt continue to grow. Of course the big question is will it grow fast enough to help with jobs growth in South Australia?

The development of mining and energy projects always take years, not months, to come to fruition.

We are always hopeful that the mining and energy sectors and governments can work together to accelerate investment. One way is to invest in some key pieces of infrastructure.

Did you know that the Pilbara region in WA was opened up to iron ore mining only as a result of the WA Government’s foresight in investing in a port? Of course, the WA Government has been repaid many times over and its economy has taken off in the past 15 to 20 years. The Brazilian Government did something similar which enabled Vale to become one of the world’s largest suppliers of iron ore.

Of course, it’s easy to focus on the economic contribution and job creation, but the industry does and can do so much more. For example, as declining populations slowly destroy the social fabric of some rural communities, there are country towns looking forward to mining investment to shore up their communities.

Farming communities have looked to the mining industry to provide income to survive during times of drought. Cheaper energy has helped to enable other industries (as occurred in the South East when gas was produced there for the better part of two decades).

The mining and energy sector has provided young people with many and varied job opportunities so that they don’t have to move away too far from their homes to get a job. The sector supports local sporting groups, assists indigenous businesses and individuals, particularly in remote locations and much more.

So while you may not be reading about all the outcomes of the industry or seeing them on the evening news, rest assured the industry is not dead but adapting, producing, planning for the long term and paying its taxes and royalties as it continues to uphold the economy through another turn of the business cycle.

Mining not deadSouth Australia’s resources industry is undergoing change as it continues to adapt to the global resources cycle.

By Jason Kuchel

Jason Kuchel is the Chief Executive of the South Australian Chamber of Mines & Energy, a role he has held since April 2007.

Jason currently represents the resources sector on the Mining & Energy Advisory Council, the Mining Industry Participation Office and Local Government’s Eyre Peninsula Mining and Oil & Gas Community Development Taskforce. He also holds or has previously held board level responsibilities in the fields of engineering, environment, health and education including a period as an Elected member with the District Council of Mount Barker.

Born and raised in country South Australia, Jason is a passionate South Australian who understands the importance of growing the economy across the whole State for the benefit of families and future generations.

Jason is regularly interviewed on television, radio and print media. He speaks often about industry matters and the opportunities in the South Australian resources sector, in Australia and as far away as China, Canada, Europe and South America.

Jason Kuchel

If there is such a thing as utopia for mineral explorers, it must be South Australia.David Upton, 20 April 2015, Greenfieldexplorer.com

The Mineral Systems Drilling Program a collaboration set to revolutionise exploration

minerals.statedevelopment.sa.gov.au/msdp

PACEFRONTIERS


12 Feature

Sweet taste of mining

Small and large communities across the State are benefiting from having mining in their backyard.

By Lindy McNamara

Next time you’ re heading down the South Eastern freeway, make time to call into the little cafe at Callington. Order the marinated chicken burger, sit back and enjoy!

And if burgers aren’t your thing, try a slice of the New York baked cheesecake or one of the triple fudge brownies – they’re delicious and made by a true New Yorker, owner Nancy Bradbury.

From the outside, the Bremer River Cottage Cafe may seem just like any other eatery you might come across on a long distance journey. While its great food certainly sets it apart from many of its competitors, the small family-run business has another secret to its success… the mining industry.

Located a short distance from Hillgrove’s Kanmantoo copper mine, the cafe has leapt ahead in leaps and bounds over the past three years since it began servicing the catering requirements of staff at the site.

Nancy and her daughter Amanda are on hand to prepare the morning tea and lunch orders emailed by the mine office each day, with two deliveries to the site at 10am and noon. They also cater for meetings and the two major contractors on site, Andy’s Earthmovers and Roc-Drill.

Then there are the tradies, truck drivers and sub contractors who stop off at the cafe for something to eat before they make the five-minute drive to Kanmantoo, as well as the cake orders from mine workers who are celebrating an event at home.

“The mine has played a good role in growing the business,” Nancy says.

“Orders can vary from one to 30 items, but Fridays are usually really busy because I offer pizzas then as well.”

With the mine operating 365 days a year, Nancy knows she is lucky to have a steady flow of income coming in from the venture and as a

way of thanking Hillgrove, she has worked the past two Christmases to cater for the workers.

“I did platters to feed two shifts, 120 people on one day. I gave up my Christmas Day because I thought it would be nice for the people working there to have a decent meal on the holiday.

“I really appreciate the mine, not just for my business but what it does for the local area.”

It is this flow-on impact – known as the multiplier effect – that is often forgotten when people talk about the benefits of mining in South Australia. While the State receives the royalties, many businesses small and large are reaping the rewards of nearby mines.

Putting an actual figure on the multiplier effect for mining is not an easy task and interpreting the numbers can be as difficult as calculating them, especially when the economy is experiencing rapid change.

In February 2013 the Reserve Bank of Australia released a working paper that estimated the size of the Australian ‘resource economy’ at “around 18 percent of gross value added in 2011/12”.

Researchers at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology compiled data using Australian Bureau of Statistics figures and formulas a few years ago, to calculate multipliers across various sectors within the mining industry. (Costing of the Greens’ economic policies, 2011). They found that the mining sector generates significantly more jobs than Australia’s other major industries.

For example, for each full time person employed in the oil & gas sector an additional 7.6 jobs were created across the broader economy. For mining, multipliers ranged from 5-7 jobs depending on the commodity mined. In comparison, the retail sector created an additional 1.9 jobs and the finance industry an additional 3.2.

Together with the needs of minerals developers and producers, the discretionary spend

of workers in the sector has an enormous cumulative impact, which is once again more pronounced in the mining industry, due to the higher paid nature of many roles. The study found that a $1 increase in the salaries of mining industry workers translated to an additional $3.60 to $5.70 (depending again on commodity mined) earned by workers in all other industries of the economy.

A more recent report by consultancy firm Port Jackson Partners earlier this year focused on the impact of the iron ore industry. It found that by capitalising on the opportunities of the past decade, the industry had created a market position even stronger than before the commodities boom. As a result, they concluded – subject to any detrimental policy decisions – that the industry will contribute more than $600 billion to the national economy over the next decade. This is even higher than over the decade to 2014.

Socio-economic assessments are often undertaken in the feasibility stage for new mines, to demonstrate the benefits they will bring to the local and wider communities.

As outlined in a report undertaken by Gillespie Economics for the Cadia East gold mine in NSW, sectors that receive the flow-on impacts of mining include wholesale trade; electricity supply; retail trade; hotels, cafes and restaurants; scientific and technical services; law, accounting and marketing; banking; ownership of homes; health services; personal services and road transport.

Ernst and Young compiled an Economic Contribution Study for Iluka Resources in 2013, looking at the economic impact of its operations in Australia and the United States.

It found that its Jacinth-Ambrosia mineral sands project 290 km from Ceduna had a significant positive impact on not only the West Coast community, but SA in general.


Feature 13

In 2013 the company directly provided 147 jobs and $48.6 million in value add in the Ceduna West Coast region. This economic activity caused flow-on impacts to the region of a further 145 jobs and $17.5 million in value add.

Overall economic activity for South Australia also included 50 direct and 646 additional (indirect) jobs in Adelaide. These jobs, in conjunction with the Ceduna West Coast direct jobs, created an

overall impact (including flow-on impacts) of 843 jobs and $153.9 million in value add.

Iluka, like its mining counterparts in South Australia, has made a conscious effort to assist the local community.

Iluka leases equipment from local Far West Coast Mining and Civil, assists local activities through direct sponsorship or in-kind

donations and provides assistance that can make a huge difference to rural communities and local businesses.

So, the next time you are in Callington and enjoying a chicken burger or slice of cheesecake, don’t just think about Nancy Bradbury’s fantastic culinary skills. Spare a thought for the myriad of businesses that are also ‘winners’, thanks to the mining industry.

“I really appreciate the mine, not just for my business but what it does for the local area”

Nancy and Amanda preparing for the midday Kanmantoo delivery with some of their home baked goodsImage: Megan Andrews


14 Workforce

Trailblazing women in South Australia’s male-dominated resources sector together with gender diversity advocates were celebrated at a landmark awards event in July.

By Bridget Fardon

FRONTIER WOMEN

Sabrina McKenzie, a young plant operator employed by Thiess at OZ Minerals’ Prominent Hill mine, started her working life in hospitality before being attracted to mining. She came in as a trainee and progressed to a CAT D10 Operator, breaking new ground as an Aboriginal woman in a male dominated industry.

Sabrina’s achievements, and those of other women instrumental to the South Australian resources sector, were celebrated at the inaugural Women in Resources SA Awards, presented on 31 July this year.

Sabrina received the Outstanding SA tradeswomen, operator or technician award.

The awards aim to recognise the important role women play in the resources sector and celebrate their contributions and achievements, together with the achievements of those playing a leading role supporting women in the sector.

Terry Burgess, SACOME President and member of the awards judging panel, commented that the judges were very impressed with the high quality of candidates.

“With close to 40 nominations in the first year of these awards, it is a credit to the calibre of women we have in the South Australian resource sector,” Terry said.

The awards are an initiative of the Women in Resources South Australia committee (WinRSA), which coordinates a number of project, including events and a newly established mentoring program in collaboration with WIMnet (the AusIMM committee focused on gender diversity).

Jason Kuchel, Chief Executive of SACOME said the work of SACOME’s WinRSA committee “is crucial to growing the numbers of women in the South Australian resource sector, in particular those in senior positions”.

In making a difficult decision from an impressive collection of nominations, the judges commented on Sabrina’s community involvement. She chooses to remain within her Kalparrin community where she assists with various programs including a children’s care program, is a member of the Ngarrindi Women’s Organisation and is also continuing her studies through TAFE.

“Sabrina is an excellent role model for the resources sector,” Terry said.

“She has excelled in her roles as a plant operator, Indigenous mentor and active community contributor.”

Sabrina attended the awards with her grandparents, who are Elders in the Kalparrin community. On accepting her award Sabrina acknowledged her family and the “Dingo Crew” back at Prominent Hill for their patience and the skills they had passed onto her.

Jo Barron-Perry, Senior Mining Engineer-Mine Growth at BHP Billiton, has built a successful career working in traditionally male-dominated roles at BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and other mining companies over more than two decades.

Jo won two of the five award categories – Exceptional Woman in SA Resources Award and Gender Diversity Champion– in recognition of her impressive career accomplishments while balancing family life (including through challenging periods of industry downturns and fly in/fly out work) and her support for other women, including serving on a variety of groups and helping to shape policy.

Sabrina McKenzie on site at Prominent Hill (also cover)

Image: Chris Warrior


Workforce 15

Accepting her awards, Jo said women were still under-represented in the minerals industry “particularly in management and on-site roles”.

“It is proven that gender diversity and inclusivity makes good business sense as it improves a company’s productivity performance,” she added.

Jo also commented that the gender pay gap in the minerals industry, at 27 percent, had a long way to go, particularly when compared to the national average of 18 percent.

Erin Woolford, Principal Consultant at Ninti Kata, formerly Superintendent Indigenous Programs at BHP Billiton, joined Jo as joint winner for the Exceptional Woman in SA Resources Award.

An Arrente/Kuyani woman, Erin was also recently with BHP Billiton as superintendent of Indigenous programs at Olympic Dam. In this role she implemented the Aboriginal Participation Program that resulted in the employment of more than 130 Aboriginal people across the mine.

The judges commented that Erin is a great role model for Aboriginal women and had also greatly benefited the broader community.

“I have been extremely fortunate in my life to have strong female role models in my grandmother, nanna, mother and older sister who have been very inspirational to me and shaped who I am today, and a father who has always taught me that anything is possible,” Erin said in her acceptance speech.

The winner of the Exceptional Young Woman in SA Resources Award category was Helena Wu, Senior Reserve Engineer at Santos.

Helena and her sister came to Australia from China at the age of four. Her parents made a difficult decision to move to a foreign country where they did not speak the language following the 1989 Tiananmen Square incident.

This inspired Helena to work hard, being the first in the family to complete school and going on to win the Queensland University of Technology Medal upon graduating with a Bachelor’s degree and Masters in Mechanical Engineering.

Helena joined Santos as a graduate and progressed into an engineer role, followed by planning analyst and senior engineer. In 2014, she was awarded the Society of Petroleum Engineers Outstanding Service Award and Young Energy Professional Award for Southern Asia Pacific.

On accepting her award Helena said “I truly have my parents to thank for my strong desire to make a difference”.

“My strong belief is that everyone can make a difference… regardless of their ethnic background, family income status, gender or

industry they choose to contribute in.”

Santos won the Excellence in Diversity Programs and Performance Award category, for delivering significant benefits through its Gender Equality Program introduced in 2011. The program is part of the company’s broader diversity strategy and covers aspects such as flexible working, leadership development, gender-balanced graduate intakes, pay equality and gender attraction strategies.

The landmark awards event also featured an inspiring keynote speech from Dr Vanessa Guthrie, the highly accomplished Managing Director and CEO of Toro Energy.

“The inaugural South Australian Women in Resources Awards have highlighted the valuable contribution that members of the sector are making in this state. They have been a fantastic vehicle to promote gender diversity and increasing the participation of women in the industry,” said Aimee Chadwick, Chair of WinRSA.

The awards process ensures all category winners feed into the National Women in Resources Awards nominations, to be held in Perth in late September this year.

Award Gender Diversity Champion in SA resources sponsored by Thiess Global Mining Winner Jo Barron-Perry (Senior Mining Engineer - Mine Growth, BHP Billiton) Highly commended Kate Hobbs (Senior Consultant First Principles Consulting)

Award Excellence in Diversity Programs and Performance sponsored by OZ Minerals Winner Santos Limited

Award Outstanding South Australian tradeswoman, operator or technician sponsored by Australian Training Alliance Winner Sabrina McKenzie (Plant Operator - Thiess at OZ Minerals Prominent Hill mine site)

Award Exceptional young woman in South Australian resources sponsored by the Department of State Development Winner Helena Wu (Senior Reserve Engineer at Santos)

Award: Exceptional woman in South Australian resources sponsored by Finlaysons Lawyers Joint winners Jo Barron-Perry (Senior Mining Engineer Mine Growth at BHP Billiton) and Erin Woolford (Principal Consultant at Ninti Kata, formerly Superintendent Indigenous Programs at BHP Billiton Olympic Dam)

The winners

Helena Wu accepts her award from Minister Gail Gago Image: Andy Steven

The winners: Sabrina McKenzie, Helena Wu, Jo Barron-Perry, Erin Woolford, Kate Hobbs (highly commended) and Petrina Coventry representing Santos Image: Andy Steven


16 Workforce

July was a big month for Kingsley Coulthard. The talented young man was recognised in the 2015 NAIDOC Awards, being named as Apprentice of the Year (Port Augusta region) and he also completed his four-year apprenticeship.

Kingsley’s graduation with a Certificate 3 in engineering and mechanical trade, marked the end of a four-year balance comprising trips to Regency TAFE in Adelaide and flights to Heathgate’s Beverley mine, located near the base of the Northern Flinders Ranges.

With the Adelaide trips now behind him, Kingsley’s week on/week off work at Beverley centres on welding, fixing pumps and day to day maintenance on the in situ recovery uranium mine and its satellite plants.

Initially contracted through an agency, Kingsley is now employed directly by Heathgate, and is appreciative of the support he received from both companies throughout his apprenticeship.

“I was employed on a three month casual contract to start with, to see if I would enjoy the work and also fit in with the remote location and fly in/fly out lifestyle,” he says.

Luckily, he never found it a challenge, enjoying the remoteness and the occasional time to himself.

“I’m a quieter type rather than a partyer,” he laughs.

“The balance of work and personal time works well for me. When you’re young and single it can be good to get away for a bit.”

Kingsley CoulthardImage: Ben Hunt

fitWinning A 2015 NAIDOC award winner acknowledges family and employer support in his success.

By Megan Andrews

Kingsley, an Adnyamathanha man, also appreciates the opportunity through his Beverley role to work out in his own country.

“That means a lot to me and also to my family.”

Family was instrumental in Kingsley completing his apprenticeship, initially suggesting he look into a trade while he was finishing Year 12. This led to a TAFE pre-vocational course in basic welding, fitting and diesel mechanics prior to the Certificate 3.

“I’d never been to Adelaide by myself and my first week at trade school was a little daunting,” he admits.

“My mother said to take it just one step at a time and that was good advice. It was a big change for me, but I quickly got used to it.”

The agency was also very supportive, mentoring him and organising boots or whatever equipment he needed.

“The people at the mine have been great too,” Kingsley adds.

“At one point I was the youngest person working up here. It’s a small close knit community and we all get along and help each other out.”

This is a good thing, as FIFO work can mean celebrating personal milestones with colleagues rather than friends or family – as was the case on Kingsley’s 21st.

“I had to work back that day too, but we did have cake!”

Craig Bartels, President of Heathgate Resources, says the company has a continual commitment to the local Adnyamathanha community.

“Our many programs and initiatives to support these communities have been recently recognised by the Government of South Australia, with Heathgate receiving the Premier’s Award for Excellence in Social Inclusion.”

Mr Bartels says he is proud of Kingsley and of the company’s other Aboriginal employees.

“Having supported Kingsley through his apprenticeship, we are very proud of his achievements and his dedication to become a fully qualified tradesman and look forward to being part of Kingsley’s further career development,” Mr Bartels says.

Now looking to buy his first home, Kingsley says he’s appreciative of the opportunity his career choice provides to continue living in Port Augusta.

“I was born in Port Augusta, most of my family and friends are here. It’s where I feel comfortable,” he says.

The first male in his family to complete Year 12 and the first on both his mother and father’s side to obtain a trade, Kingsley is happy in his work at Heathgate, but can also look to future supervisory roles, or expand his options with additional certificates. He’s also keen to inspire others to consider a trade, including his younger cousin.

“He’s seen how good it’s been for me and I’m encouraging him in that direction.”

Terry Kallis is Principal of Kallis & Co Pty Ltd, a privately owned consultancy company that provides expert advice on a wide range of power industry matters to clients in the mining, resources and energy industries that are developing power projects and/or seeking power supply solutions.

Terry’s private power development projects include equity interests in the 600 MW CERES Wind Farm on the Yorke Peninsula, an allied 20 MW biomass project and a large wind / compressed air energy storage project adjacent to the Galilee Basin in central Queensland.

Services offered• Strategic advice on power supply options, conventional

and renewable sources including gas, wind, solar and biomass

• Strategic advice on NEM regulatory and market matters• Strategic advice on mergers and acquisitions• Project development management in areas covering:

o Development approvals – federal and stateo Connection agreementso Off-take agreementso Community consultationo Stakeholder management

Key areas• Transmission and distribution connection agreements• Conventional energy – gas fired power generation• Renewable energy – wind, solar and biomass• Electricity network infrastructure and markets• NEM institutions liaison (AEMO, AER, AEMC)• Planning and environmental authorities liaison• Government liaison – federal, state and local

Terry’s clients have included national and international utilities with whom he has successfully concluded a number of major assignments, including SA’s first wind farm, SA’s first underground HVDC interconnector and acquisitions of electricity network and gas businesses.

Kallis & Co Pty Ltd Ι ABN 42 149 113 664 Ι www.kallisco.com.au

Terry Kallis is Principal of Kallis & Co Pty Ltd, a privately owned consultancy company that provides expert advice on a wide range of power industry matters to clients in the mining, resources and energy industries that are developing power projects and/or seeking power supply solutions.

Terry’s private power development

projects include equity interests in the

600 MW CERES Wind Farm on the

Yorke Peninsula, an allied 20 MW

biomass project and a large wind /

compressed air energy storage project

adjacent to the Galilee Basin in central

Queensland.

Contact:

Terry Kallis (FAICD) Principal Kallis & Co Email: [email protected] Phone: 0419 810 153 Address: C/-‐ Clarke & Brownrigg 8 Angas Street Kent Town SA 5067

Services offered to clients include:

• Strategic advice on power supply options, conventional and renewable sources including gas, wind, solar and biomass

• Strategic advice on NEM regulatory and market matters

• Strategic advice on mergers and acquisitions

• Project development management in areas covering:

o Development approvals – federal and state

o Connection agreements

o Off-‐take agreements

o Community consultation

o Stakeholder management

Key areas include:

• Transmission and distribution connection agreements

• Conventional energy – gas fired power generation

• Renewable energy – wind, solar and biomass

• Electricity network infrastructure and markets

• NEM institutions liaison (AEMO, AER, AEMC)

• Planning and environmental authorities liaison

• Government liaison – federal, state and local

Terry’s clients have included, national and international utilities with whom he has successfully concluded a number of major assignments, including SA’s first wind farm, SA’s first underground HVDC interconnector and acquisitions of electricity network and gas businesses.

Terry Kallis (FAICD) Principal Kallis & Co

Email: [email protected]: 0419 810 153Address: 8 Angas Street, Kent Town SA 5067

“I was employed on a three month casual contract to start with, to see if I would enjoy the work and also fit in with the remote location and fly in/fly out lifestyle”


18 Opinion

October 1987 and I am standing in a thin, droughted wheat crop at Condobolin NSW, being interviewed by a reporter about my new job assisting farmers at risk. At risk of losing their farms because of drought and interest rates of more than 20 percent, farmers whose unserviced debt is doubling every 3.1 years.

Fast forward 28 years and I am again having conversations with farmers. This time with families facing intrusion from an industry they haven’t experienced and for the most part, don’t understand… mining.

The late 1980s saw an exodus from agriculture that has continued to this day. As time moved on and better times returned, those family farm businesses whose children sought a wider world than rural life were able to take the opportunity and sell. Small communities downsized and are still shrinking today, along with local services, sporting teams, churches and other social networks that characterise rural Australia.

It is no wonder communities Australia wide, already reeling from population loss and facing a future of increasing technology (such as driverless tractors) that will continue this pattern, fear change.

When that change is in the form of new industries – particularly mining, that seems to attack the remaining fabric of rural community – distrust, unease and uncertainty become powerful drivers of community response.

There is something innately basic and fundamental to the soul around the production of the food that keeps us all alive. Certainly, there are plenty of people who feel mining is pure exploitation while food production is somehow sacred. The philosophically opposed groups in our society

know the emotional hook of farmers being pressured by ‘all powerful conglomerates’ makes for powerful and potentially policy changing headlines.

At the same time, it is very convenient to forget that everything we do and have outside of the food and fibres we grow, comes from the unfashionable process of mining parts of our planet and converting them into the heat, power, plastics, steels and liquids that make our lives comfortable and enjoyable.

Can mining industries ever really understand the psyche of agricultural communities and vice versa?

Can trust replace distrust or at least reach an uneasy but workable equilibrium?

It is part of being human to forget what we choose to and turn a blind eye to what we do not want to see. So when unavoidable issues confront us and closing our eyes does not remove the problem, we react.

‘Not in my backyard’ is the basic human condition that if we are honest, we all subscribe to. When it becomes ‘our patch’, trust, certainty, loyalty and credibility give way to the opposites very quickly.

History, both past and present, is littered with examples of mining companies so often using the same tools to both dig a hole and engage a community – bulldozers and blasting. Companies that promise much, but leave without a second glance. Companies that talk up the opportunity, but shy away from the downtimes. Companies that don’t communicate their own long term and sometimes short term strategies, leaving in many cases individual and family dreams shattered by commitments made to a false or flawed promise.

The lessons of my past hold true today. Information, openness and transparency were the tools people needed to provide the balance that led to better choices and renewed hope for the future. When people become empowered, they can stop feeling and acting like victims.

Today the mining/agriculture space is fertile ground for distortion and misinformation. Any mining company that wants to become an integral part of the community it operates in must do what it says and say what it does!

That means not over promising. That means explaining the inherent risks of commodity cycles and unforeseen stock market and financial crisis that change priority and process. That means being open about the vagaries of company ownership, management changes and the sometimes brutal nature of an industry that survives only by the profit and promise it produces.

After all, it is not so different to agriculture.

Sure, agricultural communities may be lulled by the generally slower pace of change, but history reveals the true nature of its industry. Withering drought, disastrous floods, commodity slumps and disease are just some of the challenges, while the onslaught of technology and changes in world trade flow through to regional job and population losses.

Both agriculture and mining produce the food, fibre and tools we all use. Both need to provide a living to the people and companies that do the work. Both provide significant benefits to the wider community. And in some cases, both occupy the same space and need to complement each other where they can.

Friends in needLand shared by mining and agriculture interests is fertile for distortion and misinformation, yet the two industries can complement each other to a large extent – if the trust and transparency is there.

By Tim Scholz


Opinion 19

Tim Scholz is a third generation Wudinna farmer and Principal Advisor Stakeholder Engagement with Iron Road Limited. He has a string of accomplishments as a trail blazer for his community, including 13 years on the Wudinna District Council (10 of these as Chairman). Tim has a passion for rural Australia and seeing regional communities thrive. He has been involved with the leadership of a number of organisations important to regional development including President of the South Australian Farmers’ Federation, board member of Ports Corporation SA and Chairman of the Spencer Region Economic Development Authority.

A man with a passion…

Tim in an experimental oil seed crop on the family property at Wudinna Eyre Peninsula


20 Environment

Some may consider a partnership between resources companies and a nature charity an unlikely alliance, but it is one that is proving successful for nature conservation in the State.

As Bob Lott, President of the Nature Foundation SA (NFSA) explains, “We are both land owners and managers, so we have some clear synergies and shared goals including a concern for nature conservation in South Australia”.

“We both want good relationships with our neighbours and the local community, and to have meaningful relationships with traditional owners,” he says. “There are so many opportunities for information sharing and collaboration.”

NFSA began working with mining and petroleum companies in 2009 as a third party provider of Significant Environmental Benefit offsets, a legislative requirement under South Australia’s Native Vegetation Act 1991. The Act requires that if native vegetation is cleared, then the environment must be compensated by an ‘offset’, that is an action that results in a Significant Environmental Benefit (SEB). The aim of an SEB is to produce an overall environmental gain.

“These early partnerships with companies such as Santos and Beach Energy ultimately led to the purchase of Witchelina Nature Reserve (which covers 420,000 Km2), our flagship property near Lyndhurst,” says Mr Lott.

Tim Flowers from Beach Energy adds, as a third party provider of SEB offsets NFSA provides “an alternative to paying our SEB obligation into the Native Vegetation Fund, or undertaking an offset project ourselves”.

It’s a constant challenge for NFSA to fund its ambitious conservation objectives and money secured through the SEB offsets program is helping to achieve landscape scale conservation outcomes at Witchelina and demonstrable environmental gains. It has also facilitated additional funding, which has been directed to further conservation research opportunities and involvement of the wider community in conservation activities at NFSA properties.

In April 2012, the Nature Foundation SA purchased Hiltaba Station, a pastoral lease in the Gawler Ranges on the Eyre Peninsula. Hiltaba Nature Reserve, as it is now known, comprises 77,000 hectares of rolling Rhyolite hills with plains of mallee, western myall, and chenopods. It has high conservation value due

to the number of threatened species and six species endemic to the Gawler Ranges.

“We have been working hard to set Hiltaba up for SEB offsets,” explains Alex Nankivell, NFSA Conservation Programs Manager.

“A Management Plan has been adopted by the foundation to direct on-ground conservation work that includes a monitoring program that can be used to evaluate environmental gains against a baseline of previous land use. Demonstrable environmental benefits have

Natural partnershipSouth Australian nature charity, Nature Foundation SA, has found that combining forces with the resources sector is having a positive impact on nature conservation in South Australia.

By Caroline Nefiodovas

NFSA Conservation Programs Manager Alex Nankivell with volunteers inspecting the rare and endemic Toondulya Wattle at Hiltaba Nature Reserve


Environment 21

been accruing since purchase.

“Much of the on-ground work completed to date has been achieved by partnering with the Gawler Ranges First Peoples to deliver seed collection, direct seeding and rockhole restoration projects. The Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources are assisting with feral animal control under the Bounceback Program.

“We want to strengthen our partnerships with the resources industry and begin to attract SEB offsets to Hiltaba Nature Reserve, to

consolidate the excellent environmental gains already made.”

In order to introduce this exciting new property and showcase the work it has been doing with the resources industry, NFS is holding its annual SEB Restoration Ecology Forum at Hiltaba in October this year.

NFSA CEO Ian Atkinson says the forum is a fantastic opportunity for the resources sector to get together and learn more about Hiltaba, the foundation’s SEB program and share ideas.

“Last year the forum was held at Witchelina Nature Reserve and was a great success. We are extremely excited about showing our existing and new partners this beautiful property” he says.

The value of partnerships is intrinsic to the success of the NFSA. It relies heavily on key stakeholders to broaden its conservation gains and looks forward to continuing its work with the resources sector and creating a positive environmental legacy in South Australia.

“We have some clear synergies and shared goals

for nature conservation”


22 Profile

Andrew Cole, OZ Minerals Image: Nat Rogers


Profile 23

ROLLING OUT CHANGEAndrew Cole’s first job out of university was flying heli-borne magnetic surveys over Arkaroola. Now 23 years later he’s back in South Australia, taking the lead at OZ Minerals and not wasting any time applying the knowledge gained along the way.

By Megan Andrews

Change and unpredictability is a constant for any modern business and nothing new to the mining industry, but in recent years the uncertainty has upped a notch amidst volatile economics, shifting markets and changing customer and regulatory demands.

Traditional business models are increasingly being put to pasture, with agile enterprises interrogating their structures and processes and broadening their approaches to risk.

Taking the helm at OZ Minerals in December last year, Andrew Cole could well be the epitome of the new mining philosophy. His modern views on workforce may sit more typically on a Gen Y, but over 20 years working in exploration and mine management around the globe with Rio Tinto have resourced him with a robust working knowledge - and the practical experience to understand with confidence where mining companies need to adapt.

This year has seen some big changes roll out for OZ Minerals – a new strategy with an emphasis on customer and lean business, moving the head office to Adelaide, an organisational restructure and completing the overhaul of processes at Prominent Hill, not to mention the current review of the Carrapateena Pre-Feasibility Study.

So will 2015 define an era of transformation in the history of this modern mining company?

Andrew doesn’t see it that way at all.

“When is steady state?” he asks.

“There is no such thing. You have to keep changing.

“Perhaps in the past you could review, adapt and settle. But not today. You need to constantly review and change to keep your business fundamentals sound.”

Central to this is a firm view that running a mining company, or any business, is about

resourcing for today, then scaling as required.

“The optimisation of practices and processes that we’re working on at Prominent Hill are about ensuring the business fundamentals are right for now,” he says.

“It’s about getting clear accountabilities, clearer and simpler organisational structures, fit-for-purpose maintenance practices, and fit-for-purpose operating practices.”

In addition to driving continuous improvement, Andrew is passionate about improving safety outcomes and developing people; leadership skills he says you need to learn on the job.

“I’ve been to London Business School, Duke University, and they teach you the theory. But theory needs to be enacted for it to be effective, and it takes practice.”

He says it’s difficult to overstate the importance of organisational culture, particularly in today’s rapidly changing environments where innovation is key.

“Ideally a company needs a culture where people are confident to experiment, but that’s hard to get because you need to allow mistakes. If you jump on people when something doesn’t work out then you kill the desire to try.”

Reflection goes hand in hand with innovation and Andrew wants to prioritise this in OZ Minerals. He says businesses must be reflective about how they operate and can easily get stale if they don’t do that – and it gets harder the longer leaders stay in a role.

“A healthy level of change can be good, it brings ideas, energy… new ways of thinking and working.”

OZ Minerals’ focus on people, including workforce diversity, Indigenous opportunities and local communities, was one of the attractions for him and is something he is keen to progress.

“OZ Minerals has built a strong reputation in South Australia and we want this to stay. Being able to give something back is an important part of the job.”

Moving forward, Andrew is excited about the prospects for Carrapateena, with the current review including an analysis of rail to Prominent Hill, investigating alternative mining methods and progressing innovative hydromet studies.

“Hydromet uses existing technology in a re-worked flow sheet to upgrade the copper content,” he explains.

“Our concentrate would be the highest copper content concentrate in the world with the lowest deleterious elements. It halves the amount of concentrate you end up shipping and the environmental impact is also halved.” (See page 27 for more on hydromet.)

With several countries including parts of China only taking super clean concentrate, the technology opens up a whole new market.

Andrew’s understanding of Chinese investors and customers derived from senior management roles, including two years living in Beijing establishing a Chinalco/Rio Tinto Joint Venture, will no doubt be an asset to OZ as the company moves ahead.

The Cole family, which includes three sons aged 12, 17 and 21, has enjoyed a variety of cultures, with several years in Canada and exploring Alaska among the favourite experiences.

For now, the outdoors oriented bunch are more than happy to immerse themselves in South Australia, getting out and about most weekends.

“We’ve been to Innes National Park, the Coorong, crabbing at Pt Wakefield. We go camping a lot, catching food, making fires, hiking, mountain biking – the boys love it!”


SWINGS AND ROUNDABOUTS

24 Feature

It’s been an unpredictable couple of years in the resources sector as falling commodity prices and the slowdown in China have taken hold. But despite the downturn, there are many positives for an industry that continues to make a strong contribution to the South Australian economy.

By Lindy McNamara


Feature 25

Ask any seasoned mining professional who has been involved in the resources sector for several decades and they will be more than happy to share their personal experiences about the ups and downs of the industry.

Geologists, for example, readily recall the story of when they used to drive a taxi back in the early 1990s because there just wasn’t any work around, or when they lost their job in the early 2000s and filled in their time in doing some landscaping for a mate. Others will talk about the boom times, when they were raking in the big dollars and it really didn’t matter what skills you had, because you knew there was a job for you in mining.

Whatever their tale, one thing is for sure, the resources sector has always been and always will be a cyclical industry. When things are tough – just as they are now for many companies – it is only a matter of time before things turn around.

A downturn in commodity prices over the past 24-36 months – particularly for oil, iron ore, coal and copper – together with a slowdown in growth in China have contributed to the latest industry slump.

Companies have reacted quickly and are tightening their belts by cutting capital expenditure wherever possible, increasing productivity, restructuring activities and ultimately, in what hurts most, shedding jobs.

While the latter has been making the headlines, the resources sector is by no means completely in the doldrums. Figures from the Department of State Development (DSD) confirm that the sector has held its own – clocking a respectable production value of $7.1.billion for the 2014 calendar year. This key metric comprises $5.2 billion added from the mineral sector and $1.9 billion from petroleum, collectively making a significant contribution to the South Australian economy. While below the record of $7.5 billion attained in 2013/2014, it still ranks among the best yearly production results in the State’s history.

Meanwhile the State continued to benefit from a significant stream of royalties from the resources industry, totalling $237.5 million through 2014-15. While below the $291.3 million peak of 2013-14, the result easily surpasses royalties received in years prior.

Exploration metrics have been more sobering and mixed through the year – the combined tally for mineral and petroleum exploration expenditure in the most recent ABS exploration release for 2014-2015 was $468 million. This was propped up mainly by petroleum expenditure of $400.1m, which dwarfed the

$86.m minerals exploration expenditure – which was in fact the lowest annual mineral expenditure recorded in a decade (2004-05).

On review, petroleum exploration rose to a record high of $595.1 million in the 12 months to March 2015.

Meanwhile ABS figures show mineral and petroleum exports for 2014-15 reached $3.7 billion, representing 32 percent of the

State’s total exports – a fall from 39 percent which reflected the current subdued commodity prices.

Dr Paul Heithersay has been involved with the resources sector for more than three decades in the private and public sector. As DSD’s Deputy Chief Executive he is well aware of how some companies are hurting at the moment, but knows from experience things will eventually turn around.

“Mines by their nature are there for the long haul. Investment is made up front to get the mine going, so everybody is incentivised to keep the project going – which is in complete contrast to other industries where if it’s cheaper to do it in China, you can pack up and go to China.

“We’re lucky in SA that the resources we have are relatively long life. For example, if you were mining Olympic Dam at the current rate it would take you 900 years to mine it out. That’s

an extraordinary asset in our own state; it will be a flywheel that will keep on chugging away, generating jobs and cash for a long time and we have a number of projects like that,” he says.

While the current downturn is similar to that of the early 2000s, he says there are still some exciting projects putting SA on the map.

“Look what’s happening in graphite. Out of nowhere we have one mine selling graphite to the world and another two that are down that path. And it turns out we have some of the best graphite deposits in the world – who knew?”

High-grade flake graphite is currently being exported by Valence Industries from its Uley mine on the Eyre Peninsula, with the mineral being sold to diversified markets in the Asia Pacific, Europe and North America. Graphite has a variety of high technology applications, including in the aerospace, defence, nuclear and medical industries.

Even though China’s growth has slowed to 7 percent, the DSD remains confident there are still many opportunities to service that market. It is currently working with iron ore companies to develop SA’s magnetite reserves in order to fulfil the future needs of China’s smelters. In addition, there is great potential to export to India, which is looking to build 100 super cities and has huge infrastructure needs.

While the petroleum sector is also weathering the storm of lower commodity prices, Executive Director of the DSD’s Energy Division, Barry Goldstein, says lifting costs for oil in the western flank of the Cooper Basin still have those projects “in the money”, even at the current oil prices and foreign exchange rates.

And large companies are still committed to finding new reserves.

“We had our biggest year ever in 2014 – we had more rigs and more wells drilled in the Cooper Eromanga Basin than ever before and things only began to slow in the fourth quarter. So we’re coming off record drilling, record enthusiasm and record investment.

“When you’ve gone through cycles of commodity prices being up and down, companies still have to plan for staying in business. That means three things – cost control, increased productivity and picking the right places to invest. These are the same three things companies have to consider in good times and bad.

“Most pundits are saying it will be 2017 before we see a recovery, but some services companies might not make it to then.

Meanwhile the State continued to benefit from a significant stream of royalties from the resources industry, totalling $237.5 million through 2014-15

26 Feature

Corporate Sponsor

South Australian Museum scientist Ben McHenry admires the Virgin Rainbow, considered to be the finest crystal opal specimen ever unearthed.

Exhibition at the South Australian Museum

25 September 2015 – 14 February 2016www.samuseum.sa.gov.au

Fascinating finds

“A lot of service companies are hurting because they basically can’t go much lower before letting people go and then having to resurrect themselves.”

Adelaide-based Santos is one exploration and production company that has responded swiftly to the current climate, taking steps to encourage innovation and reduce costs and efficiencies across its business. The company says that “tightly managing costs” will continue to be a key focus as the business works through the changing landscape.

Already capital expenditure is down 55 percent and production costs have reduced by 11 percent per barrel.

“The commodities business is a cyclical one and the recent downturn in the oil price has posed a great challenge to exploration and production companies worldwide. However, companies are rising to the challenge and will come out the other side fitter and leaner,” the company says.

“Looking ahead, we remain bullish about the medium to long-term fundamentals of the energy sector. Commodity conditions will stabilise and ultimately improve and Australia has a critical part to play in the global energy mix.”

Similarly, BHP Billiton is also looking to the future. At the recent GMUSG/SACOME annual conference held in Port Augusta, head of BHP’s operations in SA, Jacqui McGill said the company could look to spend hundreds of millions of dollars expanding its Olympic Dam underground mine in the next few years, should its current studies stack up. BHP is continuing its heap-leach trials that could lead to a more cost-effective processing method at the mine.

An underground expansion could potentially involve building 170km of tunnels into the southern section of the mine, combined with above-ground plant upgrades.

New technology is the way of the future, according to OZ Minerals CEO and Managing Director, Andrew Cole.

Recently, OZ Minerals signed an innovative partnership with the University of Adelaide to look at research opportunities to address challenges facing the mining industry.

“Working in partnership and working in collaboration with as many groups as you can is definitely the way of the future,” Andrew says.

“Gone are the days where you try to have all the expertise and people in-house. You

just can’t do that anymore, the world moves too quickly.”

Despite the current climate, OZ is pushing ahead with the development of its copper-gold deposit at Carrapateena and hopes to make a decision on the future model of the project by the end of the first quarter next year.

It is also investigating the addition of a second access point to its Prominent Hill mine and drilling some of the resource around the open pit – ultimately increasing the amount of ore mined each year and extending the mine life.

So while belt tightening continues, there are still many reasons for the industry to remain positive.

As industry analyst Andrew Forman from PwC suggests, good news may be just over the horizon.

“At times like these companies do slim down and get fit and they prepare themselves well, so when there is an uptake in commodity prices they can take advantage quite quickly.”

Now, it’s just a matter of waiting to see when the bounce will begin – and of course, how seasoned miners and explorers will recall the events of 2015.


Innovation 27

RAISING THE BAR In an ongoing quest to add value and open up new markets, invention may not always be the best solution. Building on existing technology may be the way forward, and OZ Minerals’ Hydromet studies are hoping to do just that.

By Megan Andrews

Earlier this year, the South Australian government provided $10 million to fund a joint Adelaide University / OZ Minerals study focusing on adding further value to copper concentrates produced in South Australia’s Gawler Craton.

Copper concentrates produced here are already of very high quality, with product from OZ Minerals’ Prominent Hill mine containing one of the highest concentrations of copper currently on the world market at around 50% copper.

But OZ Minerals, as part of its whole of operations review and a renewed focus on its customers, wanted to aim higher.

The company set its sights on a significantly purer product containing up to 65% copper, achieved through the use of existing technology combined with some newly developed chemistry.

The process, called Hydromet, has potential implications not only for all of the company’s deposits in South Australia, but across the entire Gawler Craton. This is a massive and highly prospective region in South Australia which encompasses the Olympic Dam mine and numerous other mines and known copper resources.

The study will cost a total of $18 million, with OZ contributing the additional $8 million.

Brett Triffett, Head of Project Services at OZ Minerals, explains; “What we’re looking to do is take concentrate containing chalcopyrite and bornite and convert these two minerals into chalcocite by leaching out the iron. In the process, other impurities are also removed. The final product is a concentrate with significantly lower mass and a much higher copper content.”

The outcome will be a concentrate containing the highest copper content of any traded

throughout the world.

Brett says the impact on export costs will be significant.

“It virtually halves the amount of concentrate you end up shipping for the same copper metal production.

“The environmental impact is substantially reduced, both through the shipping impact and the dramatically cleaner processing required at the customer’s end.

“Several countries will now only take super clean concentrate, including Korea and Japan, so this new technology will open up a whole new market for concentrates produced in South Australia,” says Brett.

OZ Minerals needed to find an established plant to quickly and efficiently start demonstration scale testing, and found the answer in a mothballed plant in Canada.

“A Canadian company developed some new technology 10 years ago similar to what we are doing,” Brett explains.

“The facility had the right equipment but we had to tailor the flow sheet so that it matched our process.”

This process took around six months, including refurbishing the equipment and making sure the plant was operationally ready and able to run at capacity.

“We had already successfully completed pilot testing, and the demonstration plant now scales up the capacity by a factor of thirty,” Brett says.

“We’ve started putting a sample of our Prominent Hill concentrate through the plant and the results are looking promising.”

Brett says the Hydromet study is on schedule and on budget, but remains several years away from commercial application. Both the financial and technical viability of the process still needs to be proven and the next steps will likely involve additional engineering, costing and testing to establish a business case.

“The process is equally applicable to concentrates produced from Carrapateena and Prominent Hill and there’s potential for other copper projects of a similar IOCG (iron, copper, gold) mineralogy to benefit also.”

Australia is rich in copper, hosting 13% of global resources, and South Australia dominates with 60% of the nation’s known copper resources. Most of these are IOCG deposits and many in the industry expect there are many more yet to be discovered here.

OZ Minerals is a founding member of the ARC Australian Copper-Uranium Transformation Hub, an initiative being led by the Institute of Minerals and Energy Resources at the University of Adelaide (IMER). Within this project, OZ Minerals is seeking to answer a number of fundamental questions related to the Hydromet process and develop supporting technologies.

“We’re looking to understand how impurities report to the concentrate in the first place, how they are removed in our new process and also developing sensors that can be used for process control,” Brett says.

The project is providing opportunities for students, with several PhDs being established around the research and is expected to increase South Australia’s knowledge of its copper resources – and help the State maximise the value of these in years to come.

OZ Minerals’ Prominent Hill mineImage: Peter McFarlane


28 Education

APPETITE FOR SCIENCE Adelaide’s annual Science Alive event just keeps getting better, with even more enthralling, eye-opening and amazing exhibits and activities.

By Yelena Koerner-Heinjus

A highlight of many youngsters’ year, Science Alive 2015 attracted the largest attendance in its 10-year history, with more than 20,000 people exploring the myriad of exhibits in the quest of all things scientific.

The biggest science expo in the southern hemisphere, Science Alive is coordinated as a part of National Science Week, an Australian Government initiative aimed at increasing engagement and interest in the sciences.

Held at the Adelaide showgrounds from 7-9 August, the expo boasts a “hands on” focus, with more than 50 science related organisations, peak bodies and special interest groups organising more than 100 interactive experiences for children and adults alike.

outlined the various jobs available in the industry and how to attain the relevant qualifications required to work in particular roles, either at a university level or through registered training organisations.

Organised chaos was the theme for Saturday and Sunday, as the SACOME booth was filled with children who were fascinated by the uses of commodities mined in South Australia, such as mineral sands, copper, petroleum, iron and graphite.

SACOME’s display showed how mineral sands are used in everyday items such as make-up, shoes, sunscreen, candles, cleaning products, computers and even foods – and many children were surprised to learn that Minties contain titanium dioxide, which gives the lollies their white appearance.

An array of rock and mineral samples were on show, an interactive sandstone porosity display to demonstrate how oil & gas is trapped subsurface, as well as an interactive mineral exploration gravity and electromagnetic survey, allowing children to discover ‘underground mineral deposits’ using a metal detector and a stud finder.

Members of the South Australian resources community chipped in, with sponsorship from BHP Billiton, OZ Minerals, Santos, Valence Industries and Iluka funding SACOME’s booth and Atlas Copco providing an exploration drill bit, Iron Road a magnetite (iron ore) activity and Iluka a spiral vortex separation machine.

The spiral vortex was a hit with the young audience as it demonstrated how heavy mineral concentrate is separated from the lighter sand.

The expo was also a fantastic opportunity for SACOME to promote its high school student competition, Dirt TV, where students submit a short film depicting what the resources sector means to them.

The annual Science Alive expo provides the resources sector with an excellent opportunity to create awareness amongst children, in particular of the extensive use of mined materials. Many attendees seemed surprised to learn that everything not organic is sourced from mining.

Rose, 9, said she found the SACOME booth a great learning experience.

“There were lots of things that I could relate back to my science classes at school,” she said.

“I really liked the vortex, it reminded me of a chocolate fountain. I found it very interesting. It showed how different materials have different weights and how this can be used to separate them.

“I also liked to watch the water being absorbed into the porous rock and not the denser ones.”

The resources sector was well represented, with SACOME’s display complemented by displays from Beach Energy, the Department of State Development, Condor Energy and the Society of Petroleum Engineers.

Friday was dedicated ‘careers day’ for high school students, with more than 5000 students from 67 schools taking the opportunity to learn about the various pathways into a STEM (science, technology, engineering & mathematics) career. Many children approached the SACOME booth to interact with the displays and seek advice on career and study pathways for a career in South Australia’s dynamic resources industry.

SACOME’s A Career in Resources publication

Connor, Rose and Daniel enthused by

Iluka’s spiral vortex at Science Alive!

Leading growth and prosperity for South Australiansthrough a strong resources industry

PLUMBING& TAPScopperzinciron nickel chrome petroleum

FOUNDATIONlimestone clay shale gypsum

CARPETpetroleum limestone

ROOFironzincaluminiumclaymineral sandsmanganesegraphite

WINDOWsilicafeldspartrona

CLOTHES / SHOESpetroleum natural gas

GARAGE DOORironaluminiummineral sands

APPLIANCEScopper aluminium iron zircon & othermineral sandspetroleum manganesesilica

COMPUTERaluminium copper petroleum mica silicon silverberylliumchromiumzinc goldmercurynickeltitaniumpalladiumgraphitelithium

COUCHiron aluminium petroleum natural gas

CARiron aluminium carbon copper silicon leadzinc manganese chromium nickel magnesiumgraphitepetroleum

MOBILE PHONEcopper gold indium magnesium palladium platinum silver tin tungstenterbiumgadoliniumdysprosiumgraphitelithium

INSULATIONsilica feldspar trona vermiculite

AIRCONDITIONERaluminiumcarboncopperironmanganesephosphoroussiliconpetroleumgraphite

PENCILgraphite mineralsands

ROLLER BLINDpetroleumgas

TOILET& BATHclaymineral sandsiron petroleum

PAVERSlimestonesandclay petroleum

BENCH TOPnatural stonepetroleummineral sandssand

INTERNALWALLgypsumclaymineral sandssand

DOOR KNOBcopper zinc ironmetal alloystin

Mining & energy build everything just some of the mined materials in a house...

ELECTRICALcopper aluminiummolybdenumzincnickeltungstensilicagasmercury

SMOKEALARMpetroleumironamericiumlithiumgraphite

CROCKERYclay mineral sandssilica

CUTLERYiron chromesilvernickelcopper

TILESclay feldsparmineral sandssand

FRYING PANfluorine aluminium ironcopper


30 Environment

Self sufficient A mining history spanning 150 years has helped to spare significant areas within an Adelaide Hills mine from land clearance. Now a strategic program is building on this with a highly successful formula of seed collection, propagation, weed and feral animal control.

A long mining history together with an abundance of rocky outcrops has ensured large areas of native woodland and grassland remain on Hillgrove Resource’s 440 hectare Kanmantoo copper mine including the largest grove of untouched native Woodland in the Adelaide Hills.

The vegetation of the mine spans two rainfall zones, providing an unusually broad range of high quality plant species.

Current mining activities are set to disturb around 29 ha of remnant vegetation, however Hillgrove is offsetting this by establishing 200 ha of new native vegetation within the mining lease and surrounding properties. This ensures the mine provides the community with a locally-delivered Significant Environmental Benefit (SEB), protected by a Heritage Agreement for future generations to enjoy well beyond the time of mine closure.

Existing native vegetation within the mining lease is being improved and extended through a program of weed and feral animal control and new plantings and this is also increasing the environments available for native animals.

Several years ago, Hillgrove established an ambitious program of seed collection and propagation. The aim was to achieve the mine’s SEB target and ensure it had adequate, locally-sourced seed to supply tube stock propagation and feed the mine’s large-scale direct seeding programs on cropping land and rehabilitated mine landforms.

“An annual wild-seed collection program within and near the mine provides species diversity for our ‘Foundation Seed Mixtures’, while seed grown within the mine’s seed production area, and its five hectare seed multiplication area, provides most or our seed to establish new native vegetation dominant stands,” explains Catherine Davis, Environmental Manager at Hillgrove.

So far this year the company has direct-seeded 20 ha using more than 350kg of native seed – all farmed at Kanmantoo or collected during wild-seed collection programs.

Steve McClare, CEO and Managing Director of Hillgrove Resources says “it was essential that we engaged our local community in the planning of our re-vegetation program,” Catherine adds.

“This provided us with a clear understanding of the local community’s expectations of us as custodian of the natural environment both in and around the mine.”

Several members of the local community have also been actively involved in the program, with local Landcare volunteers helping to recover areas earmarked for disturbance.

“Some of the rescued species were planted in our seed production area to provide future seed sources, with others transplanted to woodland areas,” says Catherine.

Plant rescue days also recovered 95 rare Diuris behrii Donkey Orchids, now being propagated by the Native Orchid Society of SA. As a result, nearly 100 propagated orchids were returned to the mine during the winter of 2014 and a further 100 this year.

Catherine says the conversion of cropping land to native vegetation and the rehabilitation of mine landforms with native species, demands effective and efficient planting techniques based on broad-acre equipment and know-how.

“Cropping land has a notoriously large weed-seed bank and contains fertiliser residues that will challenge and swamp unwary native seeds without a little help.

“Cropping land has a notoriously large weed-seed bank and contains fertiliser residues that will challenge and swamp unwary native seeds without a little help”

“Over 2013 we trialled a topsoil-removal/ direct seeding process to rehabilitate a former haul-road within the mine and an area we owned adjacent the mine. In both cases, dense stands of relatively weed-free native vegetation established over the following 18-months.”

Nearly 350kg of native seed was harvested from the seed multiplication area in its first-year, providing valuable seed stocks for the mine’s 2015 direct-seeding program.

Hillgrove says the haul-road’s understorey is now vigorous and last year it supplemented this with tube-stock plantings of mid and upper-canopy species.

Studies conducted by Hillgrove in collaboration with the Adelaide Botanic Gardens Seed Conservation Centre revealed that the bulk of weed seeds in the area originated from the top 80-120mm of soil. Therefore removing 100-150mm of topsoil left a seed bed relatively free of both weeds and agricultural fertilisers.

“This year we removed and direct seeded a further 13ha of top soil using graders and scrapers, which efficiently remove at least 100mm of topsoil from alternating strips though ex-cropping paddocks,” Catherine explains.

Scarifying using a grader’s tines, followed by soil conditioning with a tractor-towed ‘power rake’ provides a good seed bed for direct seeding.

“We then hand broadcast the native seed mix. This provides a natural looking sward of native plants and avoids the linear ‘mechanical’ appearance of conventionally direct-seeded patches.”

This year, the northern slopes of Kanmantoo’s tailings dam became available for planting, providing an opportunity for the mine to trial a high efficiency, direct seeding/land stabilisation technique which combines hydroseeding with an acrylic co-polymer binding agent.

Steve explains “approximately eight hectares of the final landform was prepared and divided into 21 plots, with seven of these randomly selected and finished with either topsoil, subsoil or mine waste.

“These areas will be monitored over the coming years to measure seed establishment and weed competition,” he says.

“If the plots containing mine waste only with no top soil prove successful, then hydroseeding could provide an effective way for us to establish large areas of native vegetation over the mine’s waste landforms.”

While justifiably proud of its achievements, Steve says Hillgrove will remain innovative and always on the lookout for better ways to nurture and grow its natural environment.

Environment 31

Steve McClare, CEO and Managing Director of Hillgrove Resources in front of a tailings slope under rehabilitation at Kanmantoo


32 Services

Mines on FilmA Port Pirie filmmaker may seem an unlikely service provider to the resources industry, but Kim Mavromatis is equally at home creating an award winning Aboriginal history documentary as he is producing a training video for a local mining operation.

By Megan Andrews

Kim has just finished filming the annual SACOME /GMUSG regional resources conference, a gig he’s been tasked with the last four years.

A Port Pirie local, he’s relatively well known among the local resources industry, having filmed at many nearby mine sites including BHP Billiton, Iluka Resources and Arrium and commissioned by the SA Mining and Quarrying Occupational Health and Safety Committee to produce a series of safety films for the industry.

Kim (or Mav as he’s affectionately known) has also produced a range of documentaries. One of his most widely acclaimed films, a documentary about white settlement of South Australia filmed for TV (King’s Seal, co-produced with Quenten Agius) was recently selected for a Toronto film festival. His free to download video, Aboriginal Heritage Training

and Safety, also co-produced with Quenten, has 18,000 views and downloads.

Clearly passionate about remote South Australia, Kim’s affinity with Aboriginal history and culture is also obvious in his range of work, which has often necessitated partnerships with local Aboriginal communities and elders, whose trust he has earnt.

Contracting to BHP Billiton for 11 years producing safety and training videos helped him get a foothold in the industry.

“I would say 30-40% of my work is from within the resources industry now,” Kim says. “Some of the mining companies prefer someone who is local; they all want someone they can trust.”

Kim understands the importance of keeping up with the newest global trends and technology, and is looking forward to using

drones with some of his future work. He recently applied for a federal government skills training grant to qualify as a licensed aerial drone controller and operator. The application was successful and Kim completed his drone controller training in Victoria. Two days after drone training, the short documentary he submitted to Sydney’s Footprints Eco Film Festival - “Bobby Brown Homelands” (about living with the legacy of British nuclear testing) - won the award for best film. The major prize a $2,000 voucher for video equipment.

“The first thing I saw when I looked at the prize supplier’s website was a drone on sale - $2,000 exactly” he laughs.

A veteran of the industry and recipient of 60 awards to date, Kim received a solid grounding in video production through the local Pirie TV station, starting in graphic design when he finished school and working up to camera operator, editor, director and producer.

“In those days you had to do everything,” he explains.

Eventually he moved on, making the bold decision to sell his house and use the entire $100,000 proceeds to fund his video equipment and set up his own business.

“That was 23 years ago” Kim muses “You’d get it all for $15,000 now!”

But you couldn’t buy the 40 years of experience - and you certainly couldn’t buy the trust.

Kim shooting his fourth SACOME/GMUSG regional resources conference in August

Services 33

Lonsdale-based Sigma Cranes’ technology is nothing new, originally invented when an American cameraman needed an apparatus to keep his camera steady during the filming of a Rocky movie.

However, the small South Australian company comprising Colin Sander and his wife Gail, has found a niche in the market and recently celebrated the installation of six of their customised units to BHP Billiton’s Pilbara mines in Western Australia.

The company applies the Equipois zeroG arm, patented technology that allows tools and parts to be manoeuvred with a full range of motion, as

if weightless. Benefits include fewer operator breaks due to fatigue and lower risk of injuries caused by over exertion or repetitive stress, as operators guide rather than lift the tools. By making heavy tools weightless it also enables greater precision resulting in higher quality work.

“It took me six months to get the solution right for what BHP Billiton needed and in May this year they ordered six units,” says Colin.

Colin says a big advantage of the technology is it enables women of any size or strength to do a job they were previously excluded from simply because the equipment was too heavy to move.

“Some of the 20-30 people I trained at each mine site were women.”

The Sanders have limited resources to market their product, but word travels quickly and Colin is now handling enquiries from other large mining companies.

“On the way back from the Pilbara I was wondering how I was going to get into the other mines,” Colin muses. “Then I got a call from Rio Tinto.”

With application for such a wide variety of maintenance and plant operations, it won’t be surprising if he receives many other calls.

From Hollywood to the Pilbara Sigma cranes originally specialised in hoists and overhead cranes, but quickly found an opportunity in providing ergonomically designed materials handling systems to the resources industry.

GRAPHITE

One of Sigma Cranes’ ergonomic units at the recent SACOME/GMUSG conference


34 Careers

For the love of rocks

A childhood in the remote Australian outback combined with extraordinary initiative and self-motivation has provided

a young University of Adelaide student with the skills to succeed in mining.

By Arielle Markou

It is not often you come across a young individual with the maturity, humility and list of achievements of Ava Stephens.

In her eyes, Ava is a just a geology student – a country girl with a desire to see the world and lucky enough to be a 2015 AusIMM Education Endowment Fund Scholarship recipient. But when you get talking to her, Ava is passionate, insightful and keen to learn from everyone around her.

She will no doubt succeed in achieving her dream of becoming an exploration geologist and, after speaking with a number of people who know her, she is likely to achieve much more.

Ava spent her childhood on a remote property near Ebor, on the New South Wales northern tablelands. She moved to Tibooburra, 336 kilometres north of Broken Hill, just before starting high school, where she studied at home via distance education. Ava studied maths, physics and biology, as well as earth science and English – and was Dux of her school when she graduated in 2012.

Even without the support that usually comes with undertaking school on campus, during high school she won the Australian Geographic Geography Competition and took second place on two occasions.

Ava’s interest in rocks and landscape formations was inspired by extensive travel through arid Australia as a young person, her love of the natural world and a fascination with petrified wood.

Ava commenced a degree in Mineral Geoscience at the University of Adelaide in 2013.

She explains that her first day at university started after having driven from home by herself, a trip that took 12 hours. This was no problem for the aspiring geologist because the

previous November after her final high school exam she drove to Perth via the back way past Uluru, “just to have a look at Curtin University”.

Ava will fit in well to the exploration lifestyle as on this trip, as well as many others, she spent her nights camped out along the track.

The independent study routine of distance education at high school proved an advantage in adjusting to university and Ava hasn’t looked back. With a new world opened up via further study, her passion for geology is now cemented.

“It’s what I want to do,” says Ava.

“I’ve always wanted it and learning more about geology at university makes me even more excited about being a geologist.”

After joining the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) as a student member and participating in student events and industry nights, Ava heard about the Education Endowment Fund (EEF) Scholarship and was quick to apply.

Recognising Ava’s potential and her need for financial support, AusIMM selected her as a recipient. Since being awarded the scholarship, Ava has attended the New Leaders Conference in Kalgoorlie, AusIMM Uranium Conference in Adelaide and the Broken Hill Resources Investment Symposium; opportunities she may not have had without the scholarship.

Ava has appreciated interacting with other scholarship recipients on field trips and has been overwhelmed by the positive encouragement and support she has received through the scholarship.

“I am especially pleased to have gained a mentor, someone who is able to provide me with professional advice and knowledge as well as important industry contacts.”

Ava’s interest in rocks and landscape formations was inspired by extensive travel through arid Australia as a young person and her love of the natural world.

Ava Stephens Image: AusIMM


Careers 35

The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) offers support to tertiary students undertaking study or research in relation to minerals relevant disciplines through various scholarships and initiatives.

Those scholarships provided via the AusIMM Education Endowment Fund (EEF) are considered particularly valuable. These include a number of scholarships awarded to individuals, with applicants considered worthy of greater recognition given additional support in the form of the Sir Frank Espie/Rio Tinto Leadership Award and the AusIMM EEF Postgraduate Award.

Each of the scholarships include access to mentoring with an industry professional, participation in a one-week field trip to a mineral-rich region of Australia, career-building networking opportunities, development of personal and professional skills and importantly, significant financial support during their studies.

The scholarships provide recipients with the experiences to lay a strong foundation for their career, while the financial support enables them to spend more time concentrating on their studies. Scholarships range in value from $11,000 to $25,000 a year.

Supporting the next generation of resources professionals

Recently Ava undertook vacation work with the South Australian Geological Survey, including a field trip to Arkaroola and Tibooburra, and will soon co-publish the results of this project.

Perhaps most exciting of all, just last month Ava commenced a year exchange to the United States, where she is attending the Colorado School of Mines.

Ava says the EEF Scholarship has made all the difference to her dream of becoming a geologist not only as a means of financial support, but also as a source of professional encouragement.

Ava intends to complete her honours in 2017 and is looking forward to being a part of and contributing to the mining industry.

Adapted from the AusIMM Bulletin, July 2015 www.ausimmbulletin.com/ava


36 Innovation

A centre of excellenceSouth Australia is known for many great things. Fruchocs, Farmers Union iced coffee and Coopers to name a few. It’s also becoming known as a national hub for resources industry innovation, training and research.

By Stephen Batten

Led by the State Government, the Mining and Petroleum Services Centre of Excellence (CoE), the Tonsley redevelopment and various Cooperative Research Centres (CRC), including the national Deep Exploration Technologies (DET CRC) are a few examples of the intensifying focus on innovation excellence in South Australia.

At a seminar held by the South Australian Chamber of Mines and Energy in August, guests heard from a variety of innovators who are currently testing or trialling their products to add value to the global mining or petroleum sectors and sustain the industry through productivity and efficiency improvements.

In his presentation, Lachlan Crowe, Manager of the CoE, highlighted that productivity

Frank Lucks (TAFE SA, far left) showing SACOME staff around TAFE’s new facilities at the Tonsley development, including the onshore petroleum training facililty Image: Stephen Batten


Innovation 37

is currently the number one priority in the minerals and energy sector.

“The focus is quite heavily on innovation, productivity and collaboration and in South Australia that is certainly the case, with most of our deposits quite deep and hard to mine,” he said.

The CoE’s aim is to bring together resource companies, research institutions and service providers to drive sector growth in South Australia.

With an emphasis on supporting innovative ideas with seed funding and linking resource companies with applied research institutions and innovative service companies, the CoE fosters an environment for the minerals and

energy sector to increase competitiveness, reduce costs and help find solutions to a range of issues.

Other speakers at the seminar presented on their own innovations. These included the IPACS Remote Asset Management Centre, which remotely monitors the real-time asset performance of mining equipment including vehicles, smelters, fixed plant and more – detecting irregularities before they become issues and enabling maintenance based on actual rather than predicted operation, resulting in productivity gains.

Chris Kelsey discussed his company’s superfine crushing technology, which eliminates the need for grinding. The IMPtec innovative crusher was developed in Chris’ workshop in the Adelaide Hills with the support of industry partners and the CoE; pilot machinery has been successfully trialled with commercial testing currently under way.

Local entrepreneur Rudy Gomez spoke about his inventions including the Intense Vortex Grinder and the electrochemical process to extract precious and base metals.

“With the CoE in place, projects like this are taken from concept to reality and service providers can begin to work with resource companies to bring enhanced equipment into production,” Lachlan said.

Another centre in South Australia rapidly becoming a world class innovation precinct is the Tonsley re-development.

The former Mitsubishi site is successfully following its plan to transform into a collaborative and high-value industry and education hub where companies in industries including mining, energy, construction and clean energy can come together, providing opportunities for collaboration and access to other skills and capabilities.

The redevelopment at Tonsley reflects South Australia’s long term investment in economic capacity, skills and innovation and will help to leverage the State’s existing capabilities and experience.

Terry Burgess, Chair of the Tonsley Project Steering Committee, says the key is to ensure the momentum already established is maintained and additional investors and tenants continue to be attracted locally, nationally and internationally.

“The concept for Tonsley is to establish an innovation centre where new ideas can be incubated and, if warranted, accelerated into development. Already at Tonsley there are a number of examples of businesses working closely with others and developing new ideas which may be destined for high value manufacturing outcomes,” he said.

The DET CRC is one of 40 CRCs across Australia and aims to deliver research into cheaper and safer ways to drill by analysing and targeting deep mineral deposits, of which South Australia boasts a significant number.

Hoping to cut mineral exploration drilling costs by 85 percent, Professor Richard Hillis, CEO of DET CRC recently spoke at a SACOME seminar, stating the benefits to doing this research and finding new technologies is paramount to the industry moving forward in challenging economic conditions.

“The aim is to deliver significant economic, environmental and social benefits to Australia by supporting end-user driven research partnerships between publicly funded researchers and end users to address clearly articulated, major challenges that require medium to long term collaborative efforts,” he said.

With the number one State Government priority to unlock the full potential of South Australia’s mineral, energy and renewable resources, innovation is rightly at the forefront.

“With the CoE in place, projects are taken from concept to reality and service providers can begin to work with resource companies to bring enhanced equipment into production”


Investment International Innovation

Tonsley, Australia’s first innovation district, is ticking all the boxes and poised for international growth and investment attraction.

It began with a far sighted economic vision to create a high value industry base supported by research, education, innovation and collaboration. Now the Tonsley precinct in Adelaide’s southern suburbs is playing its intended role and helping businesses move up the value chain and into global markets.

The South Australian Government has invested substantially in Tonsley, contributing $253 million in a long term commitment. It’s an investment that is expected to pay off with more than $1 billion in private investment anticipated over the coming years.

The redevelopment of Tonsley began in 2012 as a 20-year project, but just over three years on its already raking in design awards and is home to more than 30 companies and 8500 students.

So what exactly is Tonsley? It’s an innovation district, created to encourage and facilitate collaboration between businesses and attract and retain highly skilled employees. Tonsley helps industry, researchers and entrepreneurs work together and apply new ideas and innovation. It combines training, tertiary education, research and development, professional development, business mentoring and acceleration programs.

In June 2015, the precinct was awarded the prestigious 6 Star Green Star – Communities certification by the Green Building Council of Australia. But aside from its environmental credentials, Tonsley is home to global players as well as innovative start-ups. A case management approach is applied, tailoring offerings to investors from set-up right through to business development.

The precinct focuses on sectors where South Australia is economically strong and expected to outpace average global growth.

One of these is mining and resource services and

Tonsley has already proven to be an ideal home for companies in remote mining technology, deep exploration, precision engineering and simulation. Relevant education facilities are on site, and the new State Drill Core Library, to be completed in 2016, will provide easy access to the State’s inventory of drill cores.

Clean technologies and renewable energy is another targeted sector, with TAFE SA’s Sustainable Industries Education Centre (SIEC) the anchor investor in this space, and international partnerships such as Prospect Silicon Valley in the United States under development.

Tonsley is also a natural fit for health and medical devices and assistive technologies, with Flinders Medical Centre close by and the university’s Medical Device Research Institute on-site. An exciting cluster of industry activity is fast developing at the precinct under the banner of MedDev SA.

Adelaide is recognised as a cost competitive city for software development and Flinders University’s School of Computer Science, Engineering and Mathematics, together with Simulation Australasia (the national peak body for the simulation industry) have both found an appropriate home at Tonsley.

One of the world’s largest engineering and advanced technology firms, Siemens, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the South Australian Government in 2012. Siemens’ turbine maintenance and repair facility commenced operation at the precinct earlier this year. Large equipment for the oil & gas industries is overhauled onsite – work that was previously sent offshore. Siemens Executive Vice President - Energy, David Pryke claims Tonsley is the best example in Australia for such a technology precinct.

Flinders University’s $120 million Computer Science, Engineering and Mathematics School also opened at Tonsley this year. Two thousand students and 150 staff already use the new campus.

The building also houses the Centre for Nanoscale Science and Technology (NanoCentre), Hills Innovation Centre and Flinders University’s New Ventures Institute, which provides pathways to company formation and links to the Flinders Business School.

TAFE SA’s $119 million Sustainable Industries Education Centre opened last year to 6500 students and has already won several national and international design awards.

Others at Tonsley include Signostics – a designer, manufacturer and exporter of hand-held ultrasound devices; ZEN Energy Systems – the largest solar energy provider in South Australia and currently in discussions with Origin Energy to deliver a large scale solar array (up to 3MW generation capacity) on the roof of the precinct’s Main Assembly Building; and the Onshore Petroleum Centre of Excellence training facility – a collaboration between Santos, Beach Energy, Senex, the South Australian Government and TAFE SA to develop a skilled workforce for the expanding onshore petroleum industry.

The precinct boasts ample room for more innovative, collaborative residents and Tonsley is on the lookout for investment from companies aligned to its target sectors interested in becoming a part of Australia’s first innovation district. An investment mission is scheduled for the UK and Europe in December to launch the development to international markets. To find out more about this or about Tonsley, visit www.tonsley.com

38 Feature

Recreational area at Tonsley

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Community 39

School of the Eyre Heavy vehicles from all industries make up nearly half of the road traffic on the Eyre Highway. As a key user of the highway, Iluka Resources and their transport provider identified the risks and initiated a proactive road safety program, which has proven highly successful in making the highway safer for all road users.

Prior to the commencement of mining at Iluka Resources’ Jacinth-Ambrosia mine in 2009, both the miner and their principal transport contractor Kalari identified road safety as a key operational risk.

Jacinth-Ambrosia is located on SA’s West Coast near Ceduna. Kalari’s triple road trains transport heavy mineral concentrate from the mine to the Port of Thevenard, travelling a total of 270km through the townships of Penong and Ceduna and past several Aboriginal communities.

The Eyre Highway is the principal East-West link between South and Western Australia via the Nullarbor Plain and is frequently used by residents, travellers and freight vehicles. Kalari operates approximately 11 road trains per day, just one of many operators regularly travelling the highway - heavy vehicles constitute 44 percent of the average daily two-way traffic along this route.

Heavy vehicle safety is therefore not just a risk to Iluka and Kalari, but to all operators of heavy vehicles - and to all road users.

Over the last six years, Iluka and Kalari have worked with a number of organisations and community representatives to address the road safety concerns for all highway users and mitigate these risks, commencing with their

first road train safety program in 2009.

Iluka has partnered with Kalari and also SAPOL, the District Council and educational institutions to visit every school and Aboriginal community across the region with a Kalari triple road train and driver simulator to raise awareness of heavy vehicle safety on rural roads and in towns.

The program expanded to the broader community in 2011, with the inclusion of the driver simulator in the joint Iluka and Kalari display tent at the region’s premier community event, Oysterfest.

The opportunity to “drive” a triple road train and speak with the actual truck drivers engages both children and adults, and provides a broader understanding of stopping times, turning circles and the considerations required when sharing the road with heavy vehicles.

Rather than simply presenting to schools and communities, Iluka believed a more interactive format would enable far better engagement, absorption and retention than simply reading or hearing the important information.

Despite this extensive community information program, Kalari noted several incidents of near misses between their vehicles and pedestrians, with pedestrian safety along the 270km

transport route identified as a continuing safety issue.

In response, Iluka and Kalari extended their road safety program from its broad stakeholder engagement and community education role to incorporate several new initiatives. These included upgrading the driving lights on several Kalari road trains, Kalari road train simulator visits to remote communities and development of a road train safety awareness video (due for release in Q4 2015).

By late December 2014, the expanded program had resulted in a 45 percent fall in pedestrian interactions, and a noticeable change in public behaviour.

This year, Iluka and Kalari were awarded the South Australian Premier’s Award for Excellence in Supporting Communities, recognising the proactive initiative of both companies to a growing safety issue across their local communities and their combined efforts in addressing these road safety issues along the Eyre Highway.

Dan said “The program has proven to be extremely successful in tackling a growing safety issue. It reflects the importance Iluka and Kalari place on our social responsibility”.

The Kalari simulator visits Yalata community A Kalari triple road train


40 Workforce

Real diversity Joanne Fox, Chief Human Resource Officer at Santos, gets real about diversity in the workplace and how it can be done well.

Diversity has come a long way from being just a business buzz word. There continues to be room for improvement, but the resources sector is firmly focused on the attraction and retention of women in typically male dominated roles and is starting to see real change.

Companies across the industry are celebrating their successes and sharing their experiences, and energy company Santos is leading the charge. It was recently acknowledged for its progressive work in the diversity space taking out the Women in Resources South Australia Award for Excellence in Diversity Programs and Performance.

The company’s Gender Equality Program was recognised for its forward thinking and inclusive approach to encouraging equality in the workplace.

“At the very core of our business is a culture of collaboration and we fundamentally believe that greater diversity in the workplace leads to enhanced organisational performance,” says Chief Human Resources Officer at Santos, Joanne Fox.

gap for its employees by introducing the ‘Superannuation Top Up’ scheme.

The initiative was implemented in March this year, providing employees with employer paid superannuation while on unpaid parental leave.

“The Superannuation Top Up initiative provides women and men the ability to grow their superannuation balance while on unpaid parental leave,” explains Joanne.

“The numbers demonstrate that females in Australia will live longer and retire with less; often missing out on employer-based superannuation contributions while they take on the role of primary caretaker on the home front and return from parental leave on a part-time basis.”

Santos worked closely with its superannuation provider and developed female-focused superannuation information sessions combined with personal financial planning.

The initiative was backed by all levels of leadership as part of a broader commitment to gender equality.

“Leaders recognised that superannuation is an important part of the gender pay mix and the return on investment in terms of workforce engagement and retention is invaluable.”

The initiative is also helping new fathers at Santos.

“Our experience tells us that many men want to be more involved in contributing to the care of young children and providing this initiative to both males and females supports this.

“Encouraging management to celebrate and embrace the balanced worker, to lead by example on how to achieve a work/life balance, and to engage females about their career goals can bring powerful results,” says Joanne.

“The Santos Gender Equality Program is all about increasing female participation across our business and advocating for greater opportunities for women in oil & gas and the industry more broadly.

“We achieve this by encouraging flexible working hours, customising training programs to remove unconscious bias, tailoring leadership development, greater gender-balanced graduate intakes, pay equality and gender attraction strategies.”

The program has quickly gained traction, resulting so far in the company increasing its female representation to 25 percent across both technical and non-technical roles.

Santos also recently implemented an initiative to increase women’s participation in superannuation.

According to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency, Australian women have on average a superannuation balance close to 50 percent lower than males. This prompted Santos to seek an opportunity to close the superannuation

A Women in Resources SA (WinRSA) board room lunch event was held at Finlaysons Lawyers’ offices in Adelaide in July this year, attended by more than 60 senior staff and leaders within the resources sector.

Santos gave a presentation on how to manage an executive leadership role under flexible working conditions. A key theme was flexibility as a two-way process, requiring ‘give and take’ from all parties to achieve the desired outcomes.

Santos is one of several South Australian resources companies that support the WinRSA committee and its initiatives in the quest to increase the participation and promotion of women in the State’s mining and energy industry.

Joanne with Santos’ trophy for its recent award


Workforce 41

There has been plenty of change at OZ Minerals in recent months – and with a new head office in Adelaide, there’s a whole new face to the management team.

By Lindy McNamara

CALLING SA HOME

Shorter commutes to work, a relaxed lifestyle, being closer to friends and family and most importantly, being able to watch the Crows live, are just some of the reasons high flying executives have made the move to Adelaide to be part of OZ Minerals’ new management team.

Personal reasons aside however, they all agree that joining the copper miner at such an exciting time in the company’s growth and development has been the main drawcard.

OZ Minerals has had a strong presence in South Australia for some time and while it has maintained an office in Adelaide, it wasn’t until earlier this year when a deal was struck with the State Government that the company made the commitment to move its corporate headquarters from Melbourne to Adelaide.

With about 100 employees located at the Greenhill Road office and a further 1400 working on a fly-in-fly-out basis at Prominent Hill, OZ has a significant stake in the State.

Newly appointed Chief Financial Officer Luke Anderson is delighted by OZ’s commitment to South Australia as it has given his family the opportunity to move back home.

An accountancy graduate from the University of South Australia, Luke started his career in the mining industry at Normandy Mining, before heading for the bright lights of Sydney and then overseas.

For the past eight years he has been in the USA, initially as CFO and then CEO of industrial minerals mining company, Unimin North America.

“A planned three year stay turned into eight years,” he explains.

“As much as I loved New Canaan and Unimin, with my daughter turning 13 and entering high school, my wife and I were keen to return to Adelaide.

“It was quite serendipitous that the CFO position at OZ Minerals became available with the office relocation to Adelaide”.

Luke says the family is very excited to be coming back. “It will give us quality time with family and old friends and in addition, I look forward to being part of a new era of growth at OZ and being able to follow my beloved Crows in person after so many years watching every game on the internet!”

New head of Corporate Affairs, Damon Hunt, is also an expat who is enjoying being back in Adelaide. After eight years working in London for BAA, the operator of Heathrow Airport, he returned to SA in 2012 to take up the role of Group Executive Public Affairs at Santos.

“I knew I was always going to come back to Australia and in terms of timing, we had just had our first child and were looking to come back home, but I didn’t think we could come back to Adelaide,” he says, acknowledging that there are few companies with corporate affairs departments based here.

“Why wouldn’t you want to live here? Adelaide has just been named the world’s fifth most liveable city. It’s beautiful, easy to live in and very friendly and the added positive is my wife and I both have our families here.”

While he wasn’t looking to move from Santos, when he heard OZ was setting up in Adelaide he did his due diligence and believed that with a new CEO and management team there would be exciting times ahead.

Mark Rankmore is another of the new faces at OZ, taking charge of Human Resources.

He has worked in the mining services sector for many years, in the areas of transport, logistics, infrastructure, engineering and construction. This is the first time he has worked for a miner and he is enjoying the challenge, especially the weekly trips to the Prominent Hill mine.

Mark has spent a decade working in Sydney as well as time in Perth and loving the South Australian lifestyle so far.

“We live close to the beach and love being outdoors with our two young children, so it’s been great,” he says.

“And the commute to work is so easy. In Sydney I would leave before 6am and be home after 7pm. Here I can leave my house and be sitting behind my desk in less than 30 minutes.”

Rounding off the new-look team is Robert Mancini, who is Company Secretary and head of Legal.

With a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Commerce, Robert is an experienced lawyer and in-house counsel. He relocated from Perth, where most recently he ran his own legal and consultancy firm.

Some of OZ’s new faces: Mark Rankmore, Damon Hunt, Robert Mancini and Emma Schwarz


For the first time, a night-vision equipped helicopter is on call for emergency rescues in the Cooper Basin, one of Australia’s most remote areas and most prolific onshore oil & gas regions.

NIGHT & DAY

The Cooper Medivac 24 helicopter is a vital link that saves time delivering patients to the Royal Flying Doctor Service at the nearest available airstrip.

Senex Energy, in partnership with Drillsearch, launched Cooper Medivac 24 in August 2014, with the objective to make it safer for all the people who live in, work in or visit the region.

The service has proven valuable to the local workforce and community, and has been called out on ten occasions to respond to medical emergencies and rescues.

In an early incident, Cooper Medivac 24 airlifted a victim of a motorbike accident in the Simpson Desert to paramedics in Birdsville within five hours and connected with the Royal Flying Doctor Service. Without the helicopter, the same task would have required a lengthy round-trip in a 4WD ambulance, travelling at night over rough terrain.

Commenting on more recent callouts, local police officer Glenn Lackenby said, “Cooper Medivac 24 has recently been used in treating

and extracting injured people from motor vehicle accidents in our remote corner of the world.”

As the closest police and local emergency management officer to Senex’s operations, Officer Lackenby has expressed his thanks to Senex for the company’s “tremendous assistance with recent incidents.”

Cooper Medivac 24 can fly both day and night, weather permitting, as it’s equipped with night vision goggles.

The service complements and enhances the existing 24/7 emergency response capabilities of the Royal Flying Doctor Service and was developed in consultation with the aeromedical service.

Cooper Medivac 24 is operated by Heliwest and based in Moomba with a permanent paramedic. It is an initiative of Senex and Drillsearch – two of the Cooper Basin’s leading oil & gas explorers and producers.

Senex Managing Director Ian Davies said “Cooper Medivac 24 is simply the right thing to do. By saving time, we can save lives”.

“The service is proving valuable to the local workforce and community, having been called out on 10 occasions in its first year to attend to medical emergencies and rescues”

42 CommunitySenex and Drillsearch’s 24/7

helicopter, with an RFDS plane in SA’s remote Cooper Basin

Business 43

Gloves are offPwC’s annual analysis of the top 40 global mining companies was recently

released, indicating many are fighting hard against sliding commodity prices as challenging conditions continue in the sector.

By Andrew Foreman

The global mining industry’s fight for value and free cash flow has descended into a brawl, with 2014 seeing the world’s 40 largest miners ramp up production, slash capital spending and rein in costs.

The industry heavyweights delivered a mixed scorecard in 2014, with overall market capitalisation falling by 16 percent and net asset values declining for the first time. This was driven by continued pressure on commodity prices, with iron ore, coal, and copper prices falling 50 percent, 26 percent, and 11 percent respectively. Gold remained relatively stable.

Costs were cut and capital spending reduced, with these efforts starting to pay off. Meanwhile, the pace of mergers and acquisitions slowed dramatically, especially compared to 2011 when many commodity prices were at, or near, record highs.

While these strategies have helped to drive improvements, market values continued to decline with the top 40 miners losing $156 billion in 2014. Eight of the top 40 had credit rating downgrades over the year and a further 10 were placed on negative outlook.

How the industry will grow in the months and years ahead will now be heavily impacted by the level of demand for commodities

from China, and how the industry meets the challenges of cost increases due to local taxation, increased environmental regulations and export limitation policies.

While some governments have ramped up resource tax, nationalism and environmental policies, the Australian Government has been more supportive. In 2014 the Federal Government repealed both the Carbon Tax and the Minerals Resource Rent Tax and offered support through the Exploration Development Incentive (EDI) program which will allocate A$100 million over the next three years to allow investors in early stage exploration projects to receive tax breaks.

For the second year, most of the largest mining companies came from BRICS countries (Brazil, Central and Eastern Europe, India, China and Saudi Arabia) rather than OECD markets (those headquartered in Australia, Canada, Japan, Mexico, the UK and the US).

The slowdown in China’s economic growth to around 7 percent is expected to weigh on the industry in the months to come. With few exceptions, the commodity price outlook remains dim, forcing miners to keep up their guard and continue to focus on core operations, cost cutting and capital discipline

in their quest to improve their relative position on the cost curve and remain profitable during this prolonged period of low prices.

In 2014, the top 40 made no significant new investment commitments, but some moved to significantly increase production. At the same time, some chose to curtail production and are considering disposing of non-core assets. Miners will need to stay on the defensive and in lean, fighting form, as they bob and weave through a number of ongoing challenges ranging from slumping commodity prices and volatile markets, to growing pressures from government and shareholders.

These conditions clearly impact miners in South Australia, whether in exploration, development or production.

In general, the response has been to cut expenditure to what is absolutely necessary to run the business. For explorers, this means reducing overheads and exploration spend. For those in production, it’s reducing opex and deferring capital projects. While tough, these steps do position the industry to take advantage of the eventual upside when it comes.

Andrew Forman is PwC’s Adelaide Mining Industry Leader, read the full report at pwc.com.au/mine

Image: Stephen Batten


44 Business

Lower commodity prices have put a sharp focus on cutting costs and improving productivity in the mining sector.

Yet many mining companies appear to be missing out on ‘easy money’ due to poor working capital management, as indicated by a recent EY report Cash in the ground: working capital management in the mining sector.

Despite improving working capital from 2007 to 2011, the report reveals working capital management in the sector has actually declined since 2011.

As a sector, the mining industry performs fairly poorly in managing working capital — essentially leaving ‘cash in the ground’. In a time of declining margins, a lower draw on working capital can be the competitive difference between success and failure.

As boards and CEOs seek to improve return on capital and dividends to deliver greater value to shareholders on a more sustainable basis, working capital management is receiving far more attention. Many initiatives have been implemented with regard to lean processing and supply chain, such as overhaul of management systems, payment terms and processes.

Despite this focus on working capital, the EY analysis of 80 of the largest mining companies paints a contrasting picture.

Overall progress stalled between 2011 and 2013 with cash to cash (C2C; a measure of the cash conversion cycle) up 2 percent in sharp contrast to the improvement seen in the previous four years – of C2C down 24 percent between 2007 and 2011.

Only three out of 10 commodity groups (and 42 percent of companies analysed) reported a lower C2C in 2013 than in 2011, while every commodity group but one – and just over half the companies analysed – posted better results in 2011 than in 2007.

Current working capital performance between commodity groups varies considerably and there are also complex trade-offs between cash, costs, delivery levels and risks that each company must manage. Evidence suggests that management attention to cash and working capital tends to weaken when the profitability of an operation rises.

The companies surveyed in the recent report had aggregate levels of gross working capital exceeding US$200 billion. This indicates that a dedicated focus on working capital could release additional tens of billions in US dollars across these companies alone.

To capitalise on this opportunity, mining companies need to drive continuous operational and structural improvements,

addressing ‘root and branch’ aspects of working capital policies, processes and metrics.

While there is little doubt companies are doing just this with varying degrees of focus and success, the weakening of working capital implies that a broader review of internal processes and practices would be highly beneficial.

These could include focusing on optimising returns rather than increasing production at any cost, improvements in shutdown maintenance planning, revised models for inventory spares purchases, aligning employee compensation with return on capital employed, better supply chain planning and many others.

While operational factors together with differences in the complexity of processes for some commodities consume more working capital, companies would benefit from comparing their own performance to that of peers and other commodities.

Ultimately, improving processes and changing the culture from the CEO down are the two single biggest factors to improve working capital.

Sean Van der Linden is a partner and Mining Industry Leader at EY Adelaide

Mining companies are effectively leaving cash in the ground with declining working capital management.

By Sean van der Linden

EASY MONEY


Opinion 45

It would be fair to say there has been a renewed emphasis on Aboriginal business engagement, largely due to the Federal Government’s recently launched Indigenous Procurement Policy. This has resulted in an equally increased focus within South Australia Government and those companies seeking increased competitive edges and contract opportunities.

As far as track records go, the resources industry has a relatively good history in regards to meaningful Aboriginal engagement. This has had a positive flow-on effect to those many companies providing services and equipment to established mines and other operations, as they equally create some degree of Aboriginal engagement strategy.

Admittedly, there has been a slight downturn in the resources sector of late, largely due to national and international factors, and this is having an obvious impact on the level of meaningful Aboriginal engagement we are seeing.

The Aboriginal Business Industry Chamber of South Australia (ABICSA) was created to promote Aboriginal business inclusion and work in partnership with other stakeholders towards the economic advancement of Indigenous people.

Since ABICSA’s launch in June 2015, the chamber has been busy setting up its policies and operational structure, including planning partnerships with key bodies such as Business SA. A key milestone was the Aboriginal Business Summit SA held in June and special thanks go to our sponsors BP Exploration, Finlaysons Lawyers, PepinNini Minerals, KPMG, PwC, Sustainable Landscapes, Indigenous Business Australia, Print Junction and the University of Adelaide.

There are a number of key areas that need to be considered as threats to Aboriginal business engagement. The first and most common is

a perception that Aboriginal businesses are not well organised, or provide a sub-standard service. This is a problem faced regularly by established Aboriginal businesses.

Another challenge is the concerning trend by some areas in the resources sector (and other sectors) to move the concept of meaningful engagement of Indigenous people into more of a superficial public relations theme. This results in a bare minimum approach where little real engagement is done, however efforts and outcomes are promoted as something great. The longer term result if we regularly celebrate the lowest standard of engagement is that it will become the standard, with Aboriginal enterprise not advancing at all.

I have also seen a growing number of non-Aboriginal people taking up key Aboriginal engagement roles, who appear to have no experience at all in dealing with Aboriginal people. I believe one of the reasons for this is a view that a good understanding of Aboriginal knowledge is something already known.

Hence if people already think they know about Aboriginal people then why ask or employ Aboriginal professionals, as opposed to self-declared non-Aboriginal, Aboriginal experts.

It’s surprising how many people I have come across who claim to have developed a deep national perspective about all things Aboriginal, from spending just a year or two working on the fringes of one particular Aboriginal community or another.

I recall a teleconference not that long ago regarding a project based on cultural awareness computer programs for schools. During the course of the discussion it was mentioned that after the program was conducted, children around the age of six or seven could create some artwork reflective of their learnings, be it a dot painting or whatever. It was then that some interstate (non-Aboriginal) ‘expert’ stated this was culturally wrong and could not be allowed because of a cultural protocol that I personally had never heard off. Over the ensuing days I asked a number of Aboriginal people about this apparent new sensitivity and nobody could figure out what it was all about!

This may appear a digression, however ultimately what I am seeking to point out is that Aboriginal people and Aboriginal knowledge should not be considered something that is common knowledge. Again, I can assure you that it isn’t.

When it comes to Aboriginal economic development, ABICSA is the best place to start as it’s made up of Aboriginal business owners and professionals. These people, like anyone else, want fair opportunity to gain contracts and build wealth, not be part of a short term public relations exercise. ABICSA’s Board and partners are committed to meaningful Aboriginal enterprise inclusion and I would encourage those interested to make contact.

Erratic engagement

Aboriginal business and economic development is an area full of PR spin, inaccurate perceptions… and genuine inclusion.

By Jamie Love

“It’s surprising how many people claim to have developed a deep national perspective about all things Aboriginal from spending a year or two working on the fringes of one Aboriginal community or another”


46 Events

Biggest regional conference Breakfast resourceNearly 400 delegates and a record number of exhibitors contributed to the success of the GMUSG/SACOME annual resources industry conference and trade expo held on 26- 27 August.

The event was staged at the new Central Oval facility at Port Augusta and the impressive building was perfect for the conference set-up of tiered seating in the auditorium and adjacent exhibitors’ hall.

Jacqui McGill, Asset Manager of BHP Billiton Olympic Dam, was a surprise guest speaker at the conference, updating guests on the company’s hopes for underground expansion

to the south of the current underground operations and explaining the heap leaching trials underway at Wingfield.

OZ Minerals’ Managing Director Andrew Cole, together with representatives from Arrium Mining, other resources companies and service providers, contributed to the information rich discussions.

An information session on the opportunities presented by the Nuclear Royal Commission and an oil & gas session dominated by offshore explorers BP, Chevron and Murphy rounded out the two-day conference.

One hundred SACOME members attended the August breakfast series which featured Steve McClare, CEO & Managing Director of Hillgrove Resources; Rebecca Holland-Kennedy, Managing Director of PepinNini Minerals; and Barry Goldstein, Executive Director, Department of State Development - Energy and Petroleum Resources Division.

Steve and Rebecca updated guests on the current activities of their companies, while Barry provided an update on the oil & gas industry in South Australia.

8 October 2015 Australian Nickel Conference Perth, WA www.australiannickelconference.com

7-9 October 2015 MCA Sustainable Development Conference Fremantle, WA www.minerals.org.au/events/mca_events

16 October 2015 SACOME Breakfast (Beach Energy, BP, Iron Road) Adelaide Convention Centre www.sacome.org.au

17 October 2015 Australian Pipelines & Gas Association Annual Convention Gold Coast, Queensland www.apga.org.au

20-22 October 2015 Asia Pacific Oil & Gas Conference & Exhibition Bali, Indonesia www.spe.org/events/apogce/2015

26-28 October 2015 AEMEE - Aboriginal Enterprises in Mining Energy & Exploration conference Glenelg Pier Hotel Adelaide, SA www.aemee.org.au

28-30 October 2015 APPEA Taxation & Commercial Conference Queensland, Australia www.appea.com.au

4-6 November 2015 Future Mining 2015 Sydney, New South Wales www.futuremining2015.ausimm.com.au/

9-13 November 2015 International Mining and Resources Conference - IMARC 2015 Melbourne, Victoria www.imarcmelbourne.com/

17-18 November 2015 NewGenGold Perth, WA www.newgengold.com

20 November 2015 SACOME Lunch (Tim Goldsmith, PwC & Drew Edwards, ANZ) Adelaide Convention Centre www.sacome.org.au

30 November - 3 December 2015 Mines and Money London www.london.minesandmoney.com

11 December 2015 SA Exploration & Mining Conference Adelaide Convention Centre www.saexplorers.com.au

Industry events

Attendees gather for the keynote presentation from The Hon Tony Abbott MP at the May lunch

Tina Law, Iluka Resources and WIMnet committee member, engaged with her peers before lunch

Jeridene Foreman enjoying the festivities


Events 47

Lunch with the (previous) PMWomen in leadership EntrepreneurshipSACOME, in collaboration with the Property Council of Australia, hosted a significant lunch event in May which featured guest speaker, the Prime Minister the Hon. Tony Abbott MP.

‘Building infrastructure of the future, for the future’ was the theme for the event and the Prime Minister addressed the 1100 guests from the resources and property sectors about the state of Australia’s economy.

The lunch was part of the 2015 SACOME lunch series for the resources sector.

SACOME’s lunch on 31 July focused on ‘Women in Leadership’ with guest speaker Dr Vanessa Guthrie, CEO and Managing Director of Toro Energy and the presentation of the inaugural South Australian Women in Resources awards.

Dr Guthrie reflected on how far women have come as leaders in the resources sector and how far they have to go to achieve true diversity. She shared her thoughts on the questions ‘what difference does being a women really make?’, ‘What are the biggest barriers for women in the resources sector?’, ‘Daughter, wife, mother, boss, friend… how do you do it all?’.

SACOME thanks its annual sponsors and event sponsor, Fyfe.

SACOME held a member-only seminar on 7 August in partnership with EY, hearing from some of the innovators and supporters of South Australia’s resources sector.

Chris Kelsey of IMPtec, Dr Vinay Sriram of the Remote Asset Management Centre and Rudy Gomez of Cartwheel Resources showcased their innovative inventions and collaborations, while Lachlan Crowe from the Centre of Excellence (Department for State Development) discussed the opportunities provided by the centre and how the South Australian Government can support innovators.

1. Nikhat Nagin, BHP Billiton, with colleagues before lunch2. Steve McClare, Hillgrove Resources, enjoys a moment before lunch3. Mark Dayman, Fyfe Pty Ltd and Edward Styles, Novafast networking before lunch4. Dr Vanessa Guthrie, Toro Energy Limited, gives her keynote address on women in leadership5. Rob Cole, Beach Energy, Terry Burgess, SACOME, The Hon Tony Abbott MP, Greg Hall, Alligator and Jason Kuchel, SACOME6. O’Loughlin’s Lawyers and colleagues7. Briony Mitchell, National Australia Bank networks during lunch8. Aimee Chadwick, OZ Minerals and Chair of WinRSA, chatting to colleagues before lunch9. Lauren Smoker, Boart Longyear and Anna Porter, DET CRC10. Hui Wang, Champion International Trade and Albert Bensimon, Shiels Jewellers11. Kym Darcy and Carrie Merritt from ANZ12. Rudy Gomez, Cartwheel Resources, meets The Hon Tony Abbott MP

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48 Services in the news

New design blast

Welding a Canadian connection

$24m crane boost for SA Adelaide company Maptek is taking its latest product, a blast design and management system, to the global mining industry.

BlastLogic enables mines to pre-empt risk and productivity issues before they emerge, through instantaneous sharing and visualisation of operational data.

Founded more than 30 years ago, Maptek has become a world leader of innovative software, hardware and services to the global mining community. The company’s solutions are used at more than 1700 sites in 75 countries.

Most recently, Consolidated Mining & Civil acquired a Maptek monitoring system for use at Havilah Resources Limited’s Portia Gold Mine. At Portia the Sentry monitoring system will be applied to track movement and stability of walls in the open pit.

Maptek’s I-Site laser scanner will also be used on the site for routine survey applications throughout the operation. A mount attaching the I-Site laser scanner to the roof of a site vehicle gives greater flexibility for surveying large areas more efficiently.

Founder and Managing Director of Australian Welding Solutions, Neville Cornish, was recently approved as a Canadian Welding Bureau Approved Professional Engineer – the only person in Australia to hold this qualification.

Neville already has a collection of locally and internationally recognised qualifications under his belt, and with his company recently winning work to provide services to a Canadian project, the additional qualification was necessary.

Canada has a rigorous qualification procedure that ensures all welded items in the country (even items manufactured overseas) comply with its high standards.

Ballarat-based service provider Gekko Systems won the major contract to design and build two surface modular Python plants, followed by a concrete treatment plant for TMAC Resources in Canada. The contract will last a few years and create around 40 new jobs in Australia, with South Australian company Australian Welding Solutions one of several businesses to benefit from the opportunity.

SA Premier Jay Weatherill launched two new ship-to-shore container cranes at Flinders Adelaide Container Terminal, Outer Harbor earlier this year.

The new cranes, costing a whopping $24 million, will help the State’s exporters remain globally competitive.

Vincent Tremaine, Chief Executive Officer of Flinders Port Holdings said, “Our aim is to ensure that Flinders Adelaide Container Terminal offers South Australia a world class service now and into the long-term.

We are doing the preliminary work now that will see our capacity lifted to 2.5 million

containers per year – six times the current volume.”

Weighing 950 tonnes each, 65 metres high and capable of reaching heights of 105 metres with the boom raised, the cranes extend one metre higher than Telstra House, Adelaide’s second tallest building.

“We expect to make significant productivity gains because these new cranes are extremely efficient. Vessel turn-around times will be up to 25 percent faster,” Vincent said.

The new ship-to-shore cranes were manufactured by Liebherr Container Cranes in Ireland and then shipped to Port Adelaide.

Neville examines a weld at the company’s Melrose Park specialist welding facility

Premier Weatherill and Vincent Tremaine at the crane launch


Services in the news 49

Kallis named SA Energy Professional of the Year

6000 horses and more

Glowing all the way

Energy industry veteran Terry Kallis was recently named South Australia’s Energy Professional of the Year by the Australian Institute of Energy.

Terry, a co-developer of the CERES wind farm on the York Peninsula, was honoured at the 2015 AIE SA Branch Annual Energy Awards Dinner. The CERES wind farm boasts 197 x 3.2 megawatt turbines and an innovative submarine high-voltage direct current connection to Adelaide, making it the largest permitted project in the southern hemisphere.

Terry says it is humbling to receive such a prestigious industry award and he is keen to continue to play a role in helping to develop South Australia’s renewable energy sector. He has been at the forefront of energy reforms in Australia, helping to lead a variety of innovative energy projects into development, including underground high-voltage interconnection, wind farm developments and geothermal and biomass energy projects.

Heavy equipment supplier Cavpower has officially opened its new $25m Component Rebuild Centre (CRC) in Gepps Cross.

The centre provides world class rebuilding and maintenance services, including Australia’s only dynamometer which is capable of fully testing gas engines up to 6000hp capacity.

Mark Luke, Manager of Cavpower said the CRC will service cat vehicle and equipment, helping owners to lower their operating costs and achieve maximum return on investment at the lowest cost per tonne. The CRC has the capability to also

service and repair non-CAT equipment.

Cavpower Managing Director Alistair Cavill said the CRC was a clear statement of the company’s confidence in the future of the mining and resources industries.

“The downturn in these industries is certainly having an impact on all of us, but this is an expected part of operating in a cyclical industry.

“Cavpower is here for the long term and is very confident of its future in SA and equally confident that the State’s resources will be fully developed in due course,” he said.

Glowtech Australia is an innovative new company formed through a partnership involving South Australian project management consultant InFORRM. The company supplies and installs its new glow in the dark, non-slip surface coating to the Australian market.

The vivid product, ‘Moondeck’, is suggested for use on pathways, such as on mining sites or at remote camps, stairs, wharfs or any public area requiring low maintenance and reliable pathway visibility. It can be installed on any

paintable surface including metal, bitumen or composites where there is a need to make navigating pathways safer.

Moondeck glows through the use of an inert, non-toxic natural mineral called strontium aluminate. It emits a soft glow from between eight to fourteen hours after daylight fades.

Similar products have been used overseas for decorative purposes, but the product developed by Glowtech is intended for long term commercial use and can last up to 25 years with periodic cleaning.

Moondeck’s non-slip surface coating glows in the dark

Alistair Cavill opens the centre with Premier Jay Weatherill Image Tom Roschi

A SA wind farm


50 Community

Kym takes a break from his 3900km ride

Image: The Courier

Reason to rideKym Turner is an everyday Aussie bloke who enjoys the simple things in life. Like many from his local area, he works at Hillgrove Resources’ Kanmantoo copper mine and when he can, tries to

do his bit to help those less fortunate.

By Stephen Batten

Kym Turner wouldn’t consider himself anything but an average sort of bloke. But one day the 61-year-old Mount Barker resident made an extraordinary decision, to ride his bicycle across the country he loves and in doing so, raise money for a cause he cares deeply about.

Call him crazy, but Kym thought riding his trusty bike nearly 4000 kilometres was the least he could do to support children and families suffering from cancer.

“I have had a charmed life really. Others aren’t so lucky,” Kym explains of his motivation for the epic trip.

With a love for cycling and sense of adventure, Kym planned his journey from south to north, from Kangaroo Island, South Australia through to Bathurst Island, Northern Territory, raising funds for Childhood Cancer along the way.

He set off with the goal of riding 33 days straight, averaging 120km per day, passing through towns including Port Augusta,

Woomera, Coober Pedy, Kulgera, Alice Springs, Pine Creek and then to the most northern point of Bathurst Island, Cape Van Diemen.

Kym enjoyed stopping at different places along the way to learn about the towns and local communities.

“That was a real highlight for me. I feel honoured to have met so many wonderful people along the way.”

Kym appreciated the historic sites he passed and also noted the many mining operations and exploration sites on the route. They included Peculiar Knob, Cairn Hill and a manganese mine in the NT, together with many more, leading him to reflect on how these operations benefit the local communities.

“When I think about it, the riding part was easy,” he says.

“The hard part was thinking about the families who have had it tough, with children who have

cancer or the children whose parents aren’t doing so well. It’s heartbreaking.”

Raising more than $5200 to date, Kym is using his journey as a pathway to raise awareness and funds for the charity and he is already looking to his next challenge.

“I want to ride from Vladivostok in Russia to the Atlantic Coast in France. That’s my next adventure.”

Kym is one of the 15,000 people directly employed in South Australia’s resources sector. His inspiring story is one of many that could be told about people working in the industry who are also doing other things to help those less fortunate in the community.

“We just want to help people. Sure we work long hours and do some pretty intense work, but the boys at work are just like me, we want to do more and when we can we don’t hesitate in doing it.”


Opinion 51

Changing views

Perception is everything… and now the resources sector is working harder to ensure the community

understand the benefits of its industry.

By Terry Burgess

In 1981, the President of the Australian Minerals and Mining Association (AusIMM) Russell Madigan, collated talks he had presented into a book titled ‘Of Minerals and Man’.

I recently read this book for the first time and noted that Russell’s concerns expressed in the early 1980s on the resources sector’s negative public image were no different from today despite – both then and now – the importance of the industry in delivering commodities essential to maintaining and improving global standards of living.

In his talks, Russell detailed the history of key metals and minerals such as copper, aluminium, zinc and zircon and the importance of these in the growth of civilisation and the benefits to society.

Interestingly, he wrote in 1981 that he ‘stopped short of predicting the outcome of the energy debate’, he would no doubt still say this today.

Likewise, the challenge continues today for the resources sector to communicate more effectively with the general community.

Take the perception and the reality of safety in mining. A survey of random people would likely lead to an anecdotal conclusion that ‘mining is dangerous’. When talking to anyone in the mining industry, you will often hear that ‘mining industry incident rates are too high and there needs to be improvement’.

The mining industry is neither in the worst eight Australian industries for workers’ compensation claims nor is it on Safe Work Australia’s list of seven Priority Industries, which are defined as industries with ‘high

numbers of deaths and/or injuries or are by their very nature hazardous’.

2012-13 data on serious incidents per 1000 employees of workers compensation claims indicate mining’s safety records was better than many others, with 11.4 incidents per 1000. Agriculture, forestry and fishing recorded 21, transport and logistics 19, manufacturing 18 and construction 17. Even wholesale and administration services fared worse than mining.

As an industry, we do not compare ourselves with other industries just to show that ‘mining has a better safety record’ or accept anything less than everyone in the industry returning home in the same, or better, physical and mental state than when they left for work.

Hence, we do not work to remedy the misconception of the industry being ‘dangerous’.

Maybe our focus on safety in the resources sector should include an aim for leading safety performance, with resultant lower frequency rates for fatalities and lost time incidents than other industries involved in production activities?

In the same manner, our efforts in environmental management should be highlighted as being among the best as determined by relative footprint size and impact, rehabilitation performance and efficiencies, emissions controls and pollutant and inventory controls.

We should be able to argue in the same way about those areas surrounded by ill-founded fears, while ensuring that our responses are appropriately verified for accuracy, so that we

are not labelled as a sector that is ‘careless with the truth’.

The debate on hydraulic fracturing in unconventional gas extraction could serve as an example.

Hydraulic fracturing has been standard practice in the oil & gas industry for decades with more than one million wells activated globally and no evidence it has ever caused a pollution or seismic problem in Australia or the US.

Yet the anti-fracking lobby has developed into a significant force by leveraging emotive aspects. This has largely come about because the industry did not take a strong position with the facts in the early stages.

Recent findings of the Chief Scientist of NSW and the US EPA, from thorough reviews, have indicated that any technical challenges and risks associated with hydraulic fracturing for oil & gas are very low and can be safely managed through good practice and regulation. Despite this, it seems the misleading statements and half-truths get the media headlines and attention of the public.

The Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission in South Australia is rightly focusing on evidence-based information and not accepting unfounded information or exaggeration from any party – either for or against. Perhaps the results will be able to address, as one of its findings, the outcome of the energy debate which Russell Madigan could not predict in 1981!

SACOME is focusing on communication as one of its key areas in its 2015-18 Strategic Plan. This will include delivering accurate articles and encouraging fresh and informed debate in this refurbished magazine, which is now being distributed quarterly to around 11,000 people including schools, councils, government officials and public places such as doctors’ waiting rooms and airline lounges across Adelaide and regional South Australia.

With this effort, we may well begin to see public perceptions shift closer to reality – that the mining and energy industry is a clear winner for Australia.

Terry Burgess is the President of SACOME and serves on the South Australian Economic Development Board, the South Australian Minerals and Petroleum Expert Group and is Chair of the Tonsley Project Steering Committee. He has a Bachelor of Science in Metallurgy and is a qualified management accountant. With more than 25 years’ senior experience in the mining industry internationally (including recently as Managing Director and CEO OZ Minerals), Terry has seen many ups and downs in the sector and is well aware of its contributions, its operations and the highly variable industry knowledge of people outside of the sector.

Terry Burgess

ADELAIDE CONVENTION CENTRE

North Tce, Adelaide

• Sessions in Hall L

• Catering breaks and displays

in Halls M and N

• Registration 7.30 to 8.30 am

• Conference 8.30 am to 5.00 pm

• Drinks to follow 5.00 to 7.00 pm

REGISTRATION – $185

• Earlybird – $160

(before 30 September 2015)

• Students – $15 • (all GST incl.)

• Includes coffee breaks, lunch

and closing drinks

Registration and more information available via website:

www.saexplorers.com.au

20 PRESENTATIONS• New companies • Exploration projects • Feasibility studies • Mining operations

KEYNOTE ADDRESSES• Opening address (TBA) • DSD Review

WRAP UP• Q&A session, chaired by Derek Carter

NETWORKING• Four hours of networking in five sessions

WORKSHOPS• AIG Roger Taylor – 2-day Breccia Workshop, 9–10 Dec

• Geological Survey of SA – Half-day Seismic & MT Workshop, 10 Dec

• AusIMM/AIG – 1-day Monograph 30 Roadshow – Resource and Reserve Estimation, 10 Dec

• AIG – 1-day McLaren Vale Wine Tour, 12 Dec

12thSA Exploration and Mining Conference

Friday 11 December 2015

Principal supporters:

Organised by:

The South Australian branches of AIG, ASEG, AusIMM, GSA, SACOME and principal supporters Department of State Development and Paydirt invite you to the:

Documents

Resourcing SA - Spring 2015