Daily Mercury (Mackay), Mackay QLD 09 Apr CQ Industry, page 1-2, cm² Regional - circulation 9,928 (MTWTFS-)

Transcription

1 ID BRIEF WICET, WICETMSO INDEX 1 PAGE 1 of 6 LOCAL MINING AND RESOURCE SECTOR MAGAZINE APRIL 2015 CQIndustry WOMEN IN RESOURCES AWARDS CELEBRATE SUCCESS STUDENTS TURN TO ENGINEERING HANDS-ON APPROACH TO LEARNING LONGEST TRAIN IN QUEENSLAND AURIZON CELEBRATES NETWORK MILESTONE WICET STOCKYARD S FIRST COAL NEW QUEENSLAND TERMINAL ONLINE GLADSTONE BILOELA EMERALD BLACKWATER ROCKHAMPTON MACKAY

2 ID BRIEF WICET, WICETMSO INDEX 1 PAGE 2 of 6 Excitement piling up for coal exports $2.6B PROJECT READY TO GO THE first shipment of product coal is expected to leave Wiggins Island Coal Export Terminal at Golding Point this month. But already the excitement has grown on-site, after the first arrival of bedding coal. It has been 11 years since the $2.6 billion project was first mooted and its owners, who visited WICET last month, were excited to see the first piles of coal quickly growing at the stockyard. All the conveyor belts are working after the first live test, including the 5.6km long overland conveyor from the loading area at the balloon loop that travels under Gladstone Mt Larcom Rd to the stockyard. One of the seven owners of the terminal, Caledon Coal, supplied 80,000 tonnes of bedding down coal, which is spread across the stockyard 300mm high as a base layer for the product coal to sit on. WICET chief executive officer Robert Barnes said it was a great result the first time the belts were run with coal on them. A lot of people are pretty happy to be here and see it running. Even the owners, they were getting excited, he said. A lot of work has gone into making sure it would work correctly. Every train s been going through better and better, and the belts are running beautifully. CONTINUED PG 10 FROM PAGE 9 Mr Barnes said once the bedding coal was down, they would have a ramp-up period. After that, it s business as usual. The loading chute, which takes the coal from the conveyor and loads it onto the ships, was being replaced last month by Walz Construction. If we didn t take it down, we could have been loading, he said. But there was a lot of sensing work to be done. There are up to 650 people still on-site, finishing work in various areas. The first trial shipment was set back from November until this month due to issues with contractors John Holland, which is claiming some $58 million in cost blowouts. But Mr Barnes was adamant the structure had been delivered within the scope, funding and timing. Four years ago, those dates were set and we ve hit those, he said. That rarely happens. This is a long-term project and at some time in the future we could have the authority to continue. The current stage one completion means coal companies can export up to 27 million tonnes a year, but the full project could take it to 120 million tonnes. We re ready for expansion, Mr Barnes said. WICET has all the environmental and operating permits in place to increase the capacity to 84 million tonnes per annum. The project now is going to be ready for the upturn in the price, he said. In five years time, people will be looking back talking about how smart these companies are. When the price is ready, the owners will be ready, and they ll be the ones that want to expand. It s nice to say the first coal s a hit but the shipment is the big one, Mr Barnes said. *Although there were eight owners, Bandanna Energy, which had a 14% stake in WICET, went into administration last year. There were fears that Cockatoo Coal would follow after it went into a trading halt. If that happened, the six remaining owners would need to make extra financial payments or ship additional coal to cover the shortfall.

3 ID BRIEF WICET, WICETMSO INDEX 1 PAGE 3 of 6 STACKING: The fourth load of coal falls into piles at the stockyard after travelling along a conveyer.

4 ID BRIEF WICET, WICETMSO INDEX 1 PAGE 4 of 6 1 KEY DATES First product coal was delivered on March 27 First coal shipment anticipated between April

5 ID BRIEF WICET, WICETMSO INDEX 1 PAGE 5 of 6 4 WICET FIRST CO 5

6 ID BRIEF WICET, WICETMSO INDEX 1 PAGE 6 of :: Dozers piled loads of bedding coal into the trucks, to6be taken to the other end of the stockyard where work had begun on the base. 2 :: Walz Construction took down one of the ship loaders to work on improvements. 3 :: An operator will sit watching the coal being loaded onto ships, ensuring the process moves smoothly. 4 :: Some of the WICET team on site watching the progress. Keith Ziebell, Bel Franco, Greg Sharples and Bernie Muir were pleased to see the stockyard working after construction began in September Coal will travel up the conveyer and onto the stacker (pictured in the background), which can make 12 stockpiles in two rows up to 18m high. 5 :: At the south end of the 1.2km stockyard the bedding coal is dumped and flattened to a 300mm thickness to create a base for the product coal. 6 :: Truck drivers spent several weeks carrying the coal from end to end. 7 :: The coal loading dock sits empty after the longest train had snaked its way around the balloon loop to unload and head off again. 8 :: Coal travels under the stockyard via conveyor to the ship loading area. 7 Photos: Mara Pattison-Sowden