The workshops will be held on several dates in October at Moranbah in Queensland and Pokolbin and Penrith in New South Wales.

“The opportunity to plan and execute the development of a new mine is a once in a lifetime opportunity, one which could also have significant ramifications on the operation of the mine over its entire life,” the organisers said about Piercey’s presentation which is entitled Developing the Kestrel Mine Extension – A Once in a Lifetime Opportunity.

“The presentation provides a practical insight into the challenges faced establishing the pit bottom and critical life-of-mine infrastructure and ventilation circuit using two continuous miner units off a single drift access, and also shares the learnings realised completing the initial development of the mine and the establishment of four development units.”

The Moranbah workshop will be held on 9 October at the Central Queensland Moranbah community centre, the Pokolbin workshop will be held on 16 October at the Sebel Kirkton Park, and the Penrith workshop on 17 October at Panthers in Mulgoa Rd.

This round of regional workshops primarily focuses on the challenges experienced developing new mines and accessing new mining domains from a variety of aspects including; planning, equipment selection and maintenance, operations, geotechnical, and employee training and development.

It also brings a contractor’s perspective to these operational challenges and case studies a cultural transformation with the introduction of lean thinking.

The workshops also enable participants to be directly involved in the identification and prioritisation of research and development initiatives necessary to progress the objectives of the CM2010 Roadway Development Improvement Strategy – a high capacity roadway development system that also reduces exposure to hazards in the immediate face area.

The workshops are open to all those involved in roadway development including operators, trades, team leaders, controllers/deputies, development coordinators and engineers, superintendents, mine managers, and geotechnical engineers, together with researchers, OEMs and suppliers.

Participants should be prepared to discuss the issues, challenges and opportunities they experience in roadway development and to recommend ways and means of improving performance, according to its co-ordinator Gary Gibson.

Contact Gibson at Gary@yarrowlumla.com.au or ACARP at Nicole@acarp.com.au.