It was presented at the recent Bowen Basin Underground Geotechnical Society’s (BBUGS) Supplier’s Day meeting in Capella, Queensland.

The award will be presented by BBUGS each year to a member who is nominated by his or her peers for contributions to geotechnical engineering.

Payne received a number of nominations and was selected by the BBUGS awards committee for his mentorship of coal geotechnical engineers, his involvement in ACARP, his participation with the “strata control task group” and his “continued contribution, dedication and geotechnical support to the coal mining industry”

Payne was presented with an iPad at the award ceremony and will be given a specially designed medal –which is currently being cast – at the next BBUGS meeting.

Other nominees for the award were Jenmar’s Peter Craig for his involvement in ACARP research on resin standards, his PhD work on stress corrosion cracking and his work on developing appropriate testing methods for the “spin to stall” technique of roof bolt installation.

Megabolt’s Joe Hetherington was nominated for his work in the continued development of improved load transfer in long tendons reinforcement.

Geowork Engineering’s Bill Lawrence was also nominated for his work at Anglo American’s Grasstree mine in determining the Coal Mine Roof Rating, in particular the novel technique he developed for extrapolating radial point load values from sonic velocity.

BBUGS was formed in 2009 to satisfy the demand for an interest group catering specifically to those involved with underground geotechnical work, chairman Ismet Canbulat told ILN.

It is a non-profit organisation that aims to provide a forum for mutual technical development, networking, expanding and sharing knowledge, and advancing the knowledge of all factors affecting the design, construction and operation of underground coal mines in the Bowen Basin.

This includes technical aspects, health and safety, and sustainable development.