Pajingo Feature
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
ISSUE 12 | SUMMER 2018 $4.95 - where sold Inside: The yellow metal fi nds favour Liquid gold in Flinders Shire Agripower fertiliser project takes root Robots used to detect structural faults Pajingo ramps up The projects, the people, the progress IN THIS ISSUE Cover image: courtesy of Budd Photography Open-cut drilling and explosives preparation, Pajingo gold mine, IT’S LEARNING Charters Towers. IN ACTION IS YOUR SON OR DAUGHTER IN YEAR 10? ARE THEY INTERESTED IN A TRADE? GOLDEN DAYS Tec-NQ is the leader among BOARDING SCHOOLS in establishing work placement 2-3 and apprenticeship opportunities. New for 2019 - Queenland’s only P-TECH Program, a trade pathway to university for electrical and engineering students. 8-9 WHAT NEXT FOR NICKEL ? SENIOR SCHOOL | TRAINING | SHORT COURSES | BOARDING | INTERNATIONAL 26-27 FLINDERS IN FOCUS also recruitment, 3D concrete printing, our mining heritage, industry leaders, and more Contacts: Managing Editor: Robert Dark 0417 623 156 Senior Journalist: Belinda Humphries 0439 7 26 074 Graphics Editor: Jim Thorogood 0418 790 745 Email: [email protected] Post: PO Box 945, Townsville, QLD, 4810 Advertising booking deadline: Autumn 2019 edition - February 13 ‘PAJINGO 2.0’ All material is copyright and cannot be produced in part or in full by any means without written permission of 14 the managing editor. The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher. "Cost Savings By Rationalisation" ENGINEERING | CONSTRUCTION | ELECTRO TECHNOLOGY | AUTOMOTIVE | INFO TECHNOLOGY | CAREER READY | P-TECH MCE we are always looking for ways to reduce costs to our customers business. One area we have identified as a major cost benefit is rationalising your conveyor pulleys. Working with a major mining house in the Bowen Basin we completed a complete pulley audit, reviewed all GA drawings, checking dynamic and static reports for each location. The review process identified a few issues with the most common one being under designed shafts allowing too much deflection at the locking elements. The engineering design calculations worked on a worst-case installation for each pulley size, considering belt wrap angle and the tensions for the location. Shaft designs were designed to AS 1403 and calculations completed to select bearing size, locking assembly styles and shell thickness. ENROL NOW for Year 10 or Year 11 Contact the Industry Team for more What we found was that in most cases the shaft diameter at the locking assembly needed to be increased to limit the deflection. JANUARY 2019 Start information about training programs This was supported by recent failure of the locking assemblies at the site. Some pulleys required an increase in diameter to limit the stress in the shell with others increasing the shell OD was found to be the most viable way to limit the stress in the shell. Yr 10 Tec-PREP students TRY EVERY TRADE 2019 July Start and senior school enrolment. Accredited Boarding School The result of the complete design and engineering review meant we could reduce the end users’ pulleys from 46 designs to 16. TSV Campus 54 Discovery Drive, Engineered into the new pulley designs the SKF Mine spec solution adding additional costs savings by increasing bearing life and reducing grease consumption. VIRTUAL TOURS AVAILABLE ONLINE Douglas, QLD 4814 Townsville Campus: Total initial cost savings that were identified were approx. $600k with future cost savings to come by increasing bearing life and https://www.tecnq.com.au/school#virtual-tour 07 4779 2199 reducing contamination issues with the SKF sealed spherical roller bearings and Kobra sealing arrangement. Tec-NQ House: Want to reduce your maintenance costs if so talk to use today on ways we can help you achieve these same types of outcomes. https://www.tecnq.com.au/accommodation#boarding-house-tour [email protected] FULL TIME APPRENTICES - Start any time - Training www.tecnq.com.au Delivery in Townsville, Mackay and Cairns. RTO #31444 CRICOS #03494D Tec-NQ Ltd www.i-Q.net.au 1 RTO #31444 CRICOS #03494D Tec-NQ Ltd NEWS | Gold Market’s golden ticket for Australian miners “We’re seeing gold Exploration activity at the Golden Mile project in north-west Queensland. producers looking Gold exploration in Queensland underground production stream. to expand their rose 21 per cent last year as Resolute is continuing to progress its $300million-plus Ravenswood Expansion mines” High-grade fi nds excite Cloncurry explorer resource companies looked to Project, which has seen the company cash in on favourable market establish a 13-year mine life for local gold gold. We have 8km of this gold mineralised tonne plus, and copper and cobalt. Ian Macfarlane Ausmex believes it is sitting conditions. operations based on a return to large-scale structure on the surface.” “We started drilling them and they are on ‘an absolute bonanza’ at open pit mining at the Nolans East, Buck Ausmex came to north-west good, high-grade gold mines and there Queensland Resources Council chief its Golden Mile project near Queensland with its purchase of a majority are so many of them and they go for Reef West and Sarsfi eld deposits. Cloncurry. interest in the Mt Freda and Gilded Rose kilometres and kilometres. executive Ian Macfarlane said the amount Among other movements in gold this gold projects and some exploration “It’s like a dream come true for a junior.” spent on gold exploration statewide in year was the start of production at the Managing director Matt Morgan says the tenements. Mr Morgan said Round Oak had already 2017-18 was $61.7 million, compared with Lorena gold project near Cloncurry, while ground is riddled with high-grade workings, Mt Freda included a low-grade ore constructed a haul road in the area for its $51 million in 2016-17, in the face of strong Round Oak Minerals kicked off the Wallace abandoned since the late 1930s. stockpile which Round Oak Minerals operations. demand for the precious metal overseas. South gold development after investing in “There is a string of nine former mines, wanted to feed its newly refurbished Golden Mile gold would be processed “Currently the gold price is around upgrades at its Cloncurry processing plant. plus unmarked ones,” he said. Cloncurry processing plant during at the Round Oak Minerals Cloncurry $US1200 an ounce, which means Fat Prophets resource analyst David “We’re just focusing on a small area and commissioning work. processing facilities, providing an Australian producers would receive an Lennox said Australian gold miners had it is proving to be super high grade. In return, it paid Ausmex $2.5 million and opportunity for quick cash fl ow with extra 30 per cent on the spot price with benefi ted from a weak Australian dollar “This has the potential to be a huge made it an 80 per cent benefi ciary of two minimum start-up costs for Ausmex. the currency difference and this is one against the US. province. EPM sub-blocks containing the Golden Mile Mr Morgan said Ausmex had been of the reasons why we’re seeing gold “That has helped our gold mining “The most exciting part is that project. conducting targeted drilling of nine reefs producers looking to expand their mines,” industry no end,” he said. “What we are underneath the whole area at depth is “We believed there was potential to and planned to carry out resource drilling in he said. seeing is that gold production in Australia a large geophysical anomaly that Exco expand Mt Freda and these sub-blocks 2019 to prove up a JORC estimate. Evolution Mining announced in October has improved and that is primarily because Resources identifi ed in 2012 as an IOCG adjoin the mining lease,” Mr Morgan said. “In the New Year we’ll be gearing up that it had the green light from its board for it is still worthwhile for Australian gold (iron oxide copper-gold) potential source.” “Then we did some exploration work and again. We will need four or fi ve rigs,” he pressures to push gold prices higher in a $60 million underground development, pit producers to mine gold.” The high-grade gold shoots at Golden it’s riddled with old workings and gold. It’s said. 2019. cut-back and relevant plant modifi cations Gold prices in United States dollar terms Mile and nearby Mt Freda appeared to amazing. The push comes amid a bullish “The other thing you need to look at is stem from this large, deep source – which “We got out and walked and every environment for gold and Mr Morgan said at the Mt Carlton gold operation in North have held steady around $1200-$1250 the cost of production and miners have put had the potential to be a world-class ridgeline, every hill, has got historic the sort of success being experienced Queensland. per ounce this year after an early 2018 a lot of effort into getting their costs down. deposit, he said. workings and there are tools that people at Golden Mile could help reinvigorate Meanwhile Minjar Gold is planning to peak of about $US1355, but with the In Australian dollar terms the margin has “We think we are sitting on an absolute have just walked away and left near these exploration investment in the area. develop a new decline at its Pajingo gold Australian dollar sitting around 78 cents probably improved as they have reduced bonanza,” Mr Morgan said. “It will probably shafts. “It’s a big one,” he said. mine near Charters Towers, where it has against the US, that means prices topping costs and have a better Australian dollar take us another 12 months to drill out.