Rio Tinto unit Pilbara Iron has won the Prospect Awards’ Mine of the Year for its iron ore mines in Western Australia.
The awards were presented at a gala dinner held in Fremantle, Western Australia recently in front of a gathering of miners and suppliers to the mining industry.
A measure of the breadth of the awards were the many comments on the night about the mix of large and small operations represented from around the country that won recognition in this most comprehensive of mining awards. This reflects that the judging panel of industry experts adjudicated between entries based on innovation and excellence rather than size or tonnes moved.
In addition to Pilbara Iron, winners of eight other categories were presented with trophies and certificates by sponsoring companies on the evening. Pilbara Iron’s Dale Harris was on hand to accept his company’s award from sponsor MMD Australia.
Matthew Gill of the Beaconsfield gold mine in Tasmania was the judges’ unanimous choice for Mine Manager of the Year for the second year running. Gill received the award from Hella Australia on behalf of the whole management team at Beaconsfield.
In other categories small WA-based AVKO pipped Byrnecut to win Contractor Miner of the Year sponsored by Atlas Copco; Xstrata Copper’s Mount Isa operations won Metalliferous Mine of the Year, again sponsored by Atlas Copco; Rio Tinto’s HIsmelt plant at Kwinana won Minerals Processing Plant of the Year sponsored by ABB Australia; Alcoa nabbed Excellence in Mine OH&S sponsored by Sandvik Mining and Construction; Coal & Allied-run Bengalla coal mine in NSW won Excellence in Environmental Management sponsored by Orica Mining Services; LionOre’s Activox process took out Innovative Mining Solutions sponsored by Degussa Construction Chemicals; while BMA’s Goonyella Riverside coal mine in Queensland carried off Coal Mine of the Year sponsored by Chubb Australasia.
Also announced on the evening was the intention of the Prospect Awards to once again sponsor two $4000 scholarships for first year students attending the WA School of Mines, based in Kalgoorlie, in order to encourage them to stick with the mining industry.
In addition to trophies and certificates, winners were accorded the opportunity to go deep-sea fishing. At 6am the following morning a number of winners and sponsors struggled out for a morning’s fishing off the WA coast.
Was it worth it? Well the pictures speak for themselves! Within seconds of dropping lines into the 100m-deep Indian Ocean all fishers were on to something, keeping the deckhands busy most of the morning.
Finally, Australian Mining congratulates all the winners and those highly commended. We would also like to extend our special thanks to the sponsoring companies who made this year’s awards possible.