The beginning of March 2018 signalled the official kick-off of the Lady Loretta contract, with approximately 80 people on site for inductions, orientation and training. Redpath Australia has engaged with global miner Glencore to run the mine for its remaining six year lifespan. The mine is situated approximately 150 km by road northwest of Mt Isa in NW Queensland. The high grade
Pb-Zn orebody will be mined at a rate of 1.6 Mt per year which, once crushed and loaded onto road trains by Redpath, will be hauled to Glencore’s processing operations in Mt Isa. The mine was put on care and maintenance in late 2015, and a decision to commence mining was made in October 2017, with Redpath Australia being the contractor selected as mine operator for the site.
“The role of mine operator is a unique scope for a contractor, whereby Redpath will assume full statutory responsibility for the operation, including employing John McKinstry, Senior Site Executive (SSE); Shaun Van der Merwe, Mining Manager; and Rafe Horsington, Electrical Work Controller. When at full capacity, over 200 people will be on the remote site, covering all functions including engineering and environmental management. The initial mobilisation has gone extremely well under the guidance of Rory Burke, General Manager – Metalliferous. The smooth start can be attributed to the extensive preparation work done in Brisbane since notice of the restart was received in December. It is challenging to recruit a workforce of over 200 people in what is proving to be a competitive market. The Brisbane Human Resources team under the leadership of Nita Carthew, Manager and Belinda Harbon, Senior Advisor, have done an excellent job, enabling obligations to be met for commencement.”
“The camp facilities on site are a green oasis, thanks to the need to utilise excess water from the mine. Camp contractors, Spotless, have done an excellent job with preparing the camp and feeding the eager workforce. North Queensland is experiencing a late wet season, the likes of which have not been seen for many years. Much of the new equipment to be trucked to site has been held up by flood waters, and the withdrawal of transport permits while damage is assessed. Despite this, the crew were able to fire the first development round on March 8, which is a significant milestone.
Glencore has set a high standard for Redpath to maintain and improve on. As a contractor, this adds dimension to the skills the company can offer its clients. Our aim is to deliver consistent
results to the client and build a showcase operation.”