Category: Mining Lifestyle

A 793C haul truck rumbling down Hannan Street in Kalgoorlie-Boulder provided a fitting, awe-inspiring finale to the 20th annual St Barbara’s parade. The annual event draws in big crowds each year to honour the patron saint of mining, St Barbara, as well as the mining sector as a whole. The Gold Industry Group (GIG) brought West Coast Fever netball stars to the parade, alongside other GIG members Northern Star Resources, Gold Fields, SMS Mining Services, Saracen Mineral Holdings, Norton Gold Fields and Evolution Mining. KCGM displayed a NAIDOC-themed haul truck, with truck tray artwork commissioned by local indigenous artist Jason Dimer and his family earlier this year. Other entries included a 992K loader, force water cart and a newly-purchased Mining…

AUSTRALIAN company Sodexo has partnered with plant-based meat innovator Beyond Meat to deliver sustainable protein alternatives to miners and corporate workers. Sodexo delivers a unique array of more than 100 integrated services lines including catering, facilities management, concierge services, security, asset maintenance and hospitality services in sectors such as energy and resources, defence, healthcare and seniors, and education. Following demand from mine workers, Sodexo will deliver Beyond Meat’s Beyond Burger, a non-beef patty, to several sites as part of a three-month trial. The Beyond Burger patty requires 99pc less water and 93pc less land than its beef equivalent, according to a recent Beyond Meat-commissioned study by the Center for Sustainable Systems at University of Michigan. The burger also generates 90pc…

A NEW waterproof boot that offers both comfort and safety is gaining popularity at mining sites. The Crawford boot, designed by podiatrist Penny Crawford, offers a footwear solution for Australian miners that answers many of their problems. Her award-winning gumboot has a specially designed insert that ensures the boot fits without any looseness, and is waterproof. After working in regional NSW for almost 30 years, Penny has treated numerous foot and ankle issues as a result of miners, primarily underground workers, wearing unsupportive boots. “A typical gumboot just doesn’t fit. And the Crawford boot addresses that issue with my WedgeTech system, an insert in different sizes, that sits in the pockets at the front of the boot,” Penny said. “The…

JUMANJI: THE NEXT LEVEL Dwayne Johnson, DannyDeVito THIS sequel to the well-received Welcome To The Jungle reunites the cast of young friends Spencer, Martha, Fridge and Bethany, who previously entered the mystical video game world of Jumanji by accident and barely escaped alive. The meek and mild Spencer is unhappy ever since leaving Jumanji the first time, having moved to a dead end job in New York and missing his friends. To make matters worse, he’s broken up with Bethany. So he uses the broken Jumanji console from the previous movie and  finds a way to go back in, hoping to resume the life of the hulkish and heroic Smolder Bravestone (Dwayne Johnson), the avatar he was landed with the…

LEGO has revealed its biggest ever Technic set, and it’s a replica of a Liebherr mining excavator. Developed in partnership with Liebherr, the 4108-piece model of the 800t, 4000HP Liebherr R 9800 mining excavator comes with an array of true-to-life features and functions, introducing Lego builders to advanced elements of engineering, while the Technic Control+ app puts the builder in complete control of the model. The replica is not only the new flagship of Lego Technic models, but also the first smart device connected kit, which allows programming. The feature enables the user to control the model entirely via a smart device, reproducing the operations and applications of its original Liebherr counterpart. Liebherr-Mining Equipment Marketing Manager Grégory Schuh said it…

IN a day and age where the internet is as much a part of our daily lives as food, it`s crucial for every business to have an on-line presence. The mining industry is using digital marketing strategies, including social media, to attract community support, talent and media attention, not only to communicate technical aspects of their projects reactively, but pro-actively as well. Over the past few years, access to information has changed the way the mining business communicates and interacts with their audience. Mining companies in Australia are using stories that connect people and businesses to create a positive agenda for their brand. If you go to Youtube or any other social media platform and browse in any of the…

DECEMBER 4, commemorated in many countries as Saint Barbara’s Day, celebrates Saint Barbara of Nicomedia (Turkey), the patron saint of miners and geosciences in general. It’s commemorated by the British, Australian, and New Zealand armed forces, and by the United States army and marine corps. Several mining institutions also honour it, such as some branches of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, and the WA Mining Club. Accounts place the early Christian Greek martyr in the third century in Heliopolis Phoenicia (present-day Baalbek, Lebanon), where she was regarded as one of the 14 Holy Helpers –  a group of saints venerated together in Roman Catholicism because their intercession was believed to be effective, especially against various diseases. Often portrayed…

TERRESTRIAL Ecosystems was the sole provider of terrestrial fauna management services for the construction of the $35b on and off-shore Wheatstone LNG project. Working between November 2011 and July 2018, the company had to remove or “deconstruct” more than 100 large termite mounds that were scattered across the landscape. In doing so, it recorded 34,646 individual vertebrate fauna – including a diverse range of reptiles, an abundance of frogs and a smaller but important number of feral and pest species – that had made the mounds their own micro-habitat. Terrestrial Ecosystems partner and principal zoologist Scott Thompson said the work had been highly varied, including catching and relocating fauna during the vegetation clearing programs, removing fauna from the village and…

CHARLIE’S ANGELS Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott The newest revival of Charlie’s Angels seems an unnecessary commodity, one no-one really asked for. That being said, the movie pleasantly surprises and entertains, and is notable for being directed by a woman, Elizabeth Banks, who stars as one of the agency’s management team of Bosleys. The plot, unfortunately, is a trite hackneyed, involving once again some eager scientist developing modern technology which will be used against humanity. But we can forgive that for the rollicking romp that follows. Lead scientist of The Calisto project, Elena Houghlin (Scott), has serious concerns about a flaw that could weaponise the self-contained energy source that was aimed at revolutionising clean energy. After being disappointed that her superiors…

ONE of WA’s first female geologists, Dr Erica Smyth, was named the winner of the Business category for this year’s WA Australian of the Year Awards, which honour outstanding Western Australians who have made a positive impact on the lives of others. Dr Smyth – who was made a Companion of the Order of Australia last year – is renowned for her contribution to WA’s resources sector over the past 45 years, and long-standing commitment to the community, which extends from charitable organisations to medical research, high education, science, technology, aged care, women’s interests and the arts. Ray Chan spoke to Dr Forsyth about her brilliant career, and how, as a trail-blazer for gender equality within her field, she has…

ZOMBIELAND: DOUBLE TAP Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Abigail Breslin, Emma Stone IT’S hard to believe that it’s been 10 years since the original Zombieland broke new ground with a hilarious jaunt through the undead apocalypse. Remarkably, the four principal cast members return for the sequel looking hardly worse for wear, but they’re certainly wiser, having accrued either Oscar nominations or, in Stone’s case, winning the coveted award itself in the intervening decade. Thankfully, you don’t need to have seen the first chapter – or if you’ve forgotten what transpired – to understand the basic premise of Eisenberg’s nerdy Columbus, Harrelson’s redneck Tallahasee and Stone (Wichita) and Breslin (Little Rock)’s sister act banding together in a world infected with zombies. The…