Fall 2008 - Redpath Mining

NEWSLETTER OF THE REDPATH GROUP
No. 15
Fall 2008
Redbore 100 Makes International Debut
From the unveiling ceremonies held in North Bay on
September 5 th, the Redbore 100 - the world's most powerful
raisedrill - made its introduction to the international mining
community at the MINExpo 2008 Mining Show in Las Vegas.
This good looking crew made up our team for setting up the
drill and the booth - and then packing it all up to come home.
From left: Nathalie Bester, Guy Julien (Indonesia) Bryan Maille,
Darrell Bester, Ray Young, Dan Kelly, Deiter von Doeler and
Mike Giesler. Sitting in front is Louise Young.
See inside for more on the Las Vegas Show.
SAFETY
Message from the President ...
Behavioural Safety
Here's a touchy subject. A lot of
people are apt to take offense when
the topic of behavioural safety is
brought forward. Their first reaction is
to think that the system is trying to "fix
the blame" rather than to "fix the
problem". In some rare instances, it
can be true, however, it remains the
exception.
As we approach year end, it is
appropriate that we review what
has happened during 2008 and look
ahead to the challenges we'll face
next year.
Ron Dion
Manager, Safety &
Training
Like it or not, it is a proven fact that human behaviour is
responsible for the majority of all accidents. Would you believe
that 85 to 90% of all accidents are the result of human
behaviour?
Just think of - taking a short cut, ignoring safe working
procedures and practices, not wearing personal protective
equipment, speeding, failing to stop when required, using the
wrong tools, operating defective equipment, ignoring hazards,
etc., etc., - and you start to realize that, yes, our behaviour has
a lot to do with accidents.
In most instances, it is up to us to do a task the right way, safely
and efficiently, and this requires a fair dose of self and/or induced
motivation.
The following story is a pretty good example of human
behaviour:
By any measure, Redpath has had a
very successful year. Our backlog of
work (order book) has increased to
record levels; we've successfully
completed many projects safely and
George Flumerfelt
on schedule for our clients, we
President & CEO
launched several innovative new
products, and we have found time to
expand our services to Australia when we acquired Eroc (Pty)
Ltd. in September. The Company now operates as Redpath
Australia. In addition, we've made significant progress with our
business process improvement initiative which is designed to
help make Redpath more competitive in the years to come.
Ensuring that all Redpath employees return home safely at the
end of each shift is our No. 1 priority and always will be. So, I'm
especially pleased that we've improved our safety performance
again this year. Five years ago, we set ourselves a goal of
cutting our accident frequency in half by 2008 – a very ambitious
goal indeed. Thanks to a superb effort by everyone, we've
actually reduced our accident frequency by 75% while
increasing the volume of hours worked by 250%. A fantastic
achievement! And even more importantly, the severity of the
accidents we do have is decreasing significantly. Redpath
employees are living proof that we can get the job done without
injuries.
cont'd ..News from ...
"The Root Cause - W riting W as on the W all
excerpt from News you can Use
One of the most famous disasters in history, the sinking of
Titanic in 1912, could have been prevented by a root cause
analysis months or even years earlier. The Titanic had been
captained by Edward J. Smith, who was involved in three
separate incidents with one of Titanic's sister ships only months
earlier.
Between June 1911 and February 1912, Smith crashed Olympic
into two other ships and knocked off one of its propellers. He
also ran three other ships aground in earlier years by moving
ships too quickly through narrow passageways and not properly
training his officers.
On April 14, 1912, Smith received at least six iceberg warnings
from other ships. Smith not only ignored those warnings, but
rushed Titanic through the area at 22.5 knots in his desire to
break the transatlantic speed record. Had binoculars been
carried in the crow's nest, there might have been a chance of
someone spotting an iceberg soon enough to avoid a collision.
And 1,500 lives would have been saved.
Smith was the first domino and he should have taken his fall long
before being allowed to captain Titanic."
Safety - First, Last, and Always
Redpath receives the Business of the Year award at the annual
North Bay & District Chamber of Commerce gala on Friday,
November 21st. Dave Hansman, Senior Vice President, accepts
the award on behalf of all Redpath employees who rise to meet
the challenge every day. Congratulations, everyone.
PEOPLE
We take this opportunity to welcome the following employees to
the Redpath family:
 Jenelle Dalton has accepted the position of Estimator &
Project Controls Engineer in Sparks
 Robert Sands has joined as Quantity Surveyor Trainee
working with the Project Controls team.
 Gordon Reed has rejoined Redpath Mongolia in the
position of Project Manager - Uranium projects.
 Eric Viel joins the Project Controls team as Invoicing/
Costing Clerk.
 Dan Blais has joined as Safety Trainer stationed in our
Sudbury office.
 Albert Sandberg has joined Redpath as Safety and Training
Supervisor for the Red Lake area.
 Barry Bradford has joined us as Project Manager for Hoyle
Pond.
 Alice Brooks joins the Project Controls team as Invoicing/
Costing Clerk.
 Derek Naude joins the Engineering & Technical Services
team as Manager, Engineering.
 Trisha Evans has joined as Marketing Graphic Designer.
 Joann Liu is a Finance, Co-op Student.
 Bruce Fraser joins our Safety & Training Team as Safety
Superintendent.
 Jules Beland joins the Engineering & Technical Services
team as Electrical Superintendent.
 Chris Edmunds is our Purchasing – Co-op Student.
 Nicolas Faubert-Smith joins the Engineering & Technical
Services team as Mechanical Engineer in Training.
 Brian Knox also joins the Engineering & Technical Services
team as Senior Designer.
 Patricia (Pat) Spencer takes on the new position of Expeditor/
Administrator, Procurement.
 Brian Eckensviller joins us as Accountant - Indonesia.
 Johnny Leroux joins us as Safety and Training Supervisor.
 Dawn O’Connor has accepted a contract position as
Accounts Payable Clerk
People on the move  Bruce Mennie has taken up residence at the North Bay office
as General Manager, Indonesia.
 Amy Gareau is back from parental leave and will assist the
Vice Presidents in her role as Administrative Assistant.
 Debra Shank has accepted a position in Human Resources.
 Amy Stuart has accepted a position in Human Resources and
will assist with Mongolia mobilizations.
 Sandy Spenceley has returned to North Bay as Area
Manager with our Shaft Projects team.
 Kristina Causton returns from parental leave and has been
appointed Invoicing Supervisor.
 Agus Wanto has assumed a new position of Administration
Superintendent, Indonesia.
 Erdembayer (Ed) Sukhee has transferred to North Bay and
takes on the position of Logistics Superintendent.
 Murat Chakerkhan, has been promoted to Deputy Director
UB Operations in Mongolia.
 Randy Demers, has been promoted to Area Manager and will
be responsibile for projects managed from North Bay office.
 Guy Hubert has transferred to Canadian Operations as
Manager Mining and will be responsible for projects in
Quebec.
 Kyla McKay has accepted the position of Assistant, Safety
and Training.
 Jeff Davis has been promoted to the position of Logistics
Coordinator.
 Pablo Sepulveda has been transferred to our Reno office and
been promoted to the position of Project Controls &
Estimating Engineer for USA, Mexico and Central America.
 Bill Kenik, Structural Engineer based in Reno, will be working
from the North Bay office for a couple of months.
Welcome to Redpath
Congratulations!
Mechanical Raise Climber Training
Redpath is known worldwide for its leadership in safety and mechanical raise
mining. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that we have developed and
implemented a one of a kind MRC training program that is mandatory for all of our
raise miners. The training focuses on safety in the raise, gear box/air motor/brake
operation, quality control and a number of other key issues. This training has also
been given to regulators, safety professionals, project superintendents,
supervisors and estimators so we all have a better understanding of driving raises
safely and efficiently.
Wayne Boucher explains the functions of the
emergency braking system.
Gary Gagain and Wayne Boucher are our two instructors who run this excellent
program out of our Timmins shop. Gary is an experienced raise miner and
Wayne is our mechanical master mind. Between the two of them, the
participants learn a great deal.
Redpath is a mining contractor that continues to raise its standards. Another
example of Redpath's commitment to Safety and Quality and our "Can Do"
employees who execute it.
Our MRC instructors with our elite raise miners from
the Sudbury area.
Bruce Fraser
Safety & Training Superintendent
NEWS
FROM
...
NORTH BAY
CONTRACTING
Red Lake Area
Due to the recent Contractor of Choice structure with Goldcorp,
the Red Lake Camp is starting to boom. The projects include
Red Lake Mine, Campbell Complex and Cochenour Dewatering
and Rick Gagain is spending most of his time in Red Lake
working with Tyrone Dasti, Ray Blanchard and Mark Sloan to
ensure things ramp up smoothly and safely. There are a lot of
challenges when starting multiple projects at the same time but
we feel we have all the right players to “Git er dun”.
M ontcalm
Matt Tarlton, Eric Hickey, John MacRae, Neil MacInnis and Peter
Barber continue to operate safely. As of October 29th, 2008
Montcalm employees had reached a 2 year milestone without
a lost time injury. Great job guys! Redpath is producing at a
rate of 2,700 tonnes of ore per day and we continue to have a
great working relationship with John McDonald and his Xstrata
team. Montcalm is a true Redpath success story.
Caribou
Campbell Complex
Norm St. Laurent, Regis Bergeron and crews have now
completed their scope of work at the Caribou Mine. The work
consisted of ramp and level development as well as shaft rehab.
Norm and Regis have done an excellent job working with their
crews and the Blue Note management team. They achieved the
daily and monthly goals that were required to get this mine
running at 1500 tonnes per day.
Rick Gagain
Andy Matthews
(McWatters) and his
son Odin on the
Gold Mine Tour
in Timmins.
M cW atters
Willie Coombs, Shane Warren and Frank Verville started this
ramp project back in early February of this year. They worked
very hard in some tough conditions and continued to work
through these conditions safely. The project went 263 days
without a lost time injury and at a development rate of 6 plus
metres per day. The team on site never received a Ministry of
Labour order while Redpath was developing this mine. Great Job
Guys!!
Randy Demers
Message from the President, cont'd
In terms of innovation, it's been an outstanding year for Redpath.
We've developed three very significant products that will save
our clients time and money when it comes to raising. Our
mechanized raise team, led by Randy Grenon, developed the
"shuffle nest" and has successfully implemented it at mines in
Sudbury and Red Lake. Our raiseboring team, led by Dan Kelly,
developed the Redbore 50UR, which is a very unique drill
designed to service the world's block cave mines, and the
Redbore 100, the world's most powerful raise drill. The Redbore
50UR has been received very enthusiastically at the El Teniente
Mine in Chile, and the Redbore 100 was a huge hit at MINExpo
in September. Great job by everyone in continuing the Redpath
tradition of innovation.
The outlook for 2009 is much cloudier than in years past. Many
mineral commodity prices have fallen to very low levels very
quickly. The situation is made appreciably more difficult with
world credit markets remaining in an essentially "frozen" state
and many excellent businesses are having difficulty obtaining
credit to fund new projects. This situation has affected Redpath
like everyone else and many of our clients have scaled back
their spending plans. On the positive side, we are in the midst
of starting up new development projects for Codelco in Chile and
at Kirkland Lake Gold and Musselwhite in northern Ontario. We
are also about to start the Rocanville shaft project in
Saskatchewan. At present, the outlook for potash and gold
prices, where we have new projects, looks better than base
metals such as copper, nickel and zinc. So, 2009 will be a
challenge but I'm confident we will be successful – that Redpath
"can do" spirit will prevail again!
L.D.I
Lou Coombs, Bill Lewkoski, Raynald Granmaisson and the rest
of the team have just completed a project which has proven to be
a challenging and rewarding experience over the past 3 years.
The project, however, has closed down indefinitely until such
time as the palladium markets show signs of recovery.
The program started in the fall of 2005 as a services contract
providing lateral development, Alimak raising, construction and
general services. Safety was always at the forefront of the
project; hardships were endured in the beginning however, as
time progressed and the team became one, better safety records
were realized until the recent shut down.
To all those people such as Edward Hickey who hired on in the
fall of 2005 and stuck with it - I tip my hat to you. For all other
employees who have helped enhance the reputation of Redpath,
I thank you and wish you success in the future.
Bill Lewkoski and
Lou Coombs
LDI - Lower
Pit Portal
A.E.C.L.
The A.E.C.L. project continues to enjoy an enviable safety record
within the company. After 20 years of working at the URL, Sam
and his team can finally say that they will have had an
opportunity to take on a project from inception to closure.
In April of 2008, a final closure plan was developed by AECL
management and then communicated to Redpath. A decision to
move forward consisted of engineering, design and fabrication
of a shaft work stage and borehole work stage and a schedule to
provide a complete decommissioning of the URL inclusive of all
underground furnishings, etc. . . .
The decommissioning program started in October 2008, and is
expected to be complete in late 2009. To Sam and crew - good
luck - continue to work safely and keep up with the positive
attitude, it is contagious.
Des Johnson and
Sam Simcoe
months while a complete study is conducted on the bulk sample
as well as a recent diamond drilling program. Comaplex Minerals
has requested Redpath return in 2009 should the program enter
into Phase 2.
The program encountered many difficult situations that would
have taken the sails out of any ship. The program started off on
the right track with a very successful mobilization thanks to the
efforts of those involved in the expediting from North Bay, to the
equipment and construction installations by the on-site team.
The program encountered the usual growing pains; however the
real challenge that came to the forefront was Mother Nature. The
winter of 2007 proved to be one of the most severe on record,
extreme temperatures along with snow storms and arctic winds
accounted for 42 snow days.
One of the great success stories on the project was the ability of
the crews to work as a team thus allowing for one of the best
safety records on any arctic job done to date. The project worked
365 days from the date of mob to demob and had no medical
aids or lost time incidents. This achievement has been
recognized by the client through letters of commendation to each
individual who worked on the project. It also has enhanced the
reputation of Redpath as being the preferred contractor for
Comaplex Minerals.
It is with pride that I mention the following individuals whom I
have known in the past and have had the pleasure of getting to
know and work with on the project.
Com aplex
As the client representatives would say, "this program has
separated the Boys from the Men". The Meliadine West original
contract was completed in August, however, due to contract
extension, the program wrapped up on September 6th , 2008. The
site will be kept under care and maintenance for the winter
Tyrone Dasti
Rick Dithurbid
Al Bordeleau
D. J. Alexander
Gilles Bouchard
Raymond Lavoie
Art Landers
Charlie Walsh
Kevin Mercer
Adam Guillet
Gerry Hynes
Ed George
Tyler Dasti
Ray Blanchard Jr
Pierre Tremblay
Adam Kirk
Sebastian Lavoie
Bruce Reicker
Paul New ham
Jason Jylha
NORTH BAY FAMILY PICNIC - SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13T H
Adrian Hickey
Paul Norton
Robin Forsythe
Mark Renner
Terry Grimes
Randy Antoine
Chris Gagne
Mark Mills
Rick Gagain
It will be interesting to see what lies ahead at the Meliadine
project but I think it is safe to say that those who worked on the
project have made lasting friendships and will have memories
and stories to tell their friends and families for years to come.
It is safe to say the end of 2008 has brought tremendous
challenges to the group, and 2009 promises to be even more
exciting, as most of the new projects go from the drawing board
to the execution stage.
Hang on ....... !
Meliadine Complex
Mobilizing Eleonore Project by Barge
Philip Hickey
Kevin Melong
TECHNICAL SERVICES & SHAFT PROJECTS
RAISEBORING
The last few months have been very hectic for the Tech
Services/Engineering group. As you may or may not be aware,
this group is made up of Engineering, Technical Services and
Shaft Projects.
The world of mechanically cutting rock continues to run at a very
hectic pace.
Up at the hoist shop they have been busy preparing the
hoist/winches and general procurement mobilization for our
Goldcorp Eleonore shaft. The project is located in the
remote James Bay Region of northern Quebec. The pace is fast
as Redpath needs to complete early mobilization for this project
via barge before the lakes freeze up. All materials are barged in
across a series of lakes and rivers to access this site.
Over at another of Goldcorp’s shaft projects, Musselwhite, the
groups have been busy with front-end engineering, budgeting
and scheduling. At Goldcorp’s Cocheneour Mine, the shaft
dewatering project designs are complete with procurement and
preparations for the hoist commissioning in November ongoing.
This will be the same group that just recently completed the
commissioning of the hoisting plant for the decommissioning for
Atomic Energy of Canada’s Underground Research Laboratory
in Lac du Bonet Manitoba.
There are a couple new changes in the Engineering department.
Nicolas Faubert-Smith has joined Engineering as a mechanical
EIT and Brian Knox has joined as Senior Designer. Leandre
Veillette is reporting into PTRI at the Big Gossan Mine. Leandre
will assist in completing the Big Gossan shaft sinking project, and
provide engineering support for the permanent installations. A
familiar face is back in North Bay as Sandy Spenceley has
assumed the position of Area Manager, Shaft Projects.
Proud new father Scott Hayne is working with our joint venture
company AMC, out of Regina Saskatchewan. Scott was relieved
that his new son Charlie was given an assortment of Toronto
Maple Leaf items by the shaft group, to aid in his early
development.
Also, in Saskatchewan, Redpath and Deilmann-Haniel are
supplying designs for the ground freeze, shaft liner and sinking
plant for PCS’s Rocanville project. These designs will be used
by AMC to carry out the shaft sinking program. In an effort to
support the designs for this ground freeze shaft sinking project,
designer Peter Van Schaayk and Area Manager Shaft Projects
Darren Tschanz, travelled to Germany to work with DielmannHaniel in Dortmund. This is an exciting and technically
challenging project for us, and new areas of expertise will be
generated as a result of it.
With recent focus being on the construction and shipping of our
new Redbore 50E UR (upreaming and conventional reaming
machine) and the manufacturing of the Redbore 100 - there's a
need to mention what else has been happening at our raisebore
office and shop on HWY 11N.
While we set a record amount of sales last year, some of them
were actually completed in 2008 and this year we have sold two
more units, a Redbore 40SDR (down ream and conventional)
and a Redbore 50E.
Aside from the new units built for clients, and the Redbore 50
and 100, our shop personnel have overhauled a Redbore 40 and
a Robbins 61R for our Chile operations, and completed an
overhaul of a fleet 82R and the major conversion of our Redbore
70 and Robbins 85R from hydraulic units to AC variable electric
drive rigs.
These are, without a doubt, some of busiest times in our shop
and - to add even a bit more fun to the activity level - we have
had our cold storage building converted to a heated building and
moved the mezzanine from the shop increasing the shop floor
work space by about 30%.
This converted building now has the mezzanine installed in it, a
couple of offices have been added and it will now be dedicated
to inventory control, parts shipping and receiving, and the new
electrical fabrication shop.
A big Congratulations goes out to Rick Pearson and shop
personnel, Mike Giesler, Allan Mills and Dan Kelly for making the
impossible happen and doing it safely.
At our shop facility we would like to welcome Dave McCoy back
and Andy Cameron a new employee who will be assisting Dave
with inventory control, shipping and receiving.
We also welcome Tony Tees, a new Millwright technician and we
are very pleased to have Bob Bouchard back in the raiseboring
fold as our Safety and Training Supervisor.
In the field, all of our projects are proceeding well.
cont'd ...
LONGEST DIRECTIONALLY DRILLED PILOT HOLE
At Iamgold’s Westwood project, located in north eastern
Quebec, we recently completed the world's longest directionally
drilled pilot hole. The final length came in at 836 metres (2,744
ft) with an accuracy of 0.07% off centre. Needless to say
Iamgold is extremely pleased as they will be using the 2.43 m
diameter hole, which we will now ream, to sink their shaft.
A big "Thank You" is extended to everyone in raiseboring for all
the successes so far this year. I’m sure there will be more.
Remember to work safely and be safe at home.
Last minute note —
- We have just sold a
Redbore70 raisedrill to
American coal mining firm
Massey Energy Company of
Virginia.
Rob Bettiol
MRC (Mechanized Raise Climber)
Breakthrough shows the Rotary Vertical
Directional Steering (RVDS) tool
Congratulations to
all involved on this
special project –
Rolly Proulx and Ray
Young, project
superintendents; all
the raisebore crew;
the Westwood
personnel involved;
Genivar for all the
engineering; and
Micon of Germany,
the company that
provided the
operators, steering
tools and pumps for
the project.
"Redpath brought to the
Westwood project their
significant expertise to make
this project a success story.
We are pleased with the
results and we look forward to
working with the Redpath
team again."
~ Francois Girard
Surintendant de Projet
Project Superintendent
Iamgold
MRC training at the Timmins facility is stronger than ever with the
completion of our MRC simulation training room. As a training
team, Wayne Boucher and I focus mainly on safety around the
raise climber; from documentation, to preventative maintenance,
and to storage and transportation. The one day session begins
with a presentation in our conference room, outlining the
expectations of the Redpath MRC Program and the need for
consistency globally. The remainder of the day involves the
group visiting the shop floor to view and discuss various displays
of the MRC equipment, and also involves a hands on look at
various “split” components of the raise climber and a view of a
typical set up. The confident raise miners can even demonstrate
how they “paint their face” on our raise face simulation.
Additionally, we have trained 273 people from around the world,
including miners, first and second line supervision, executives,
clients, and government representatives. Our goal of doubling
the training in 2008 compared to 2007 statistics has been almost
realized with still 2 months remaining in the year. We see no
problem surpassing our goal since Sudbury Operations are
beginning to ramp up their raise climber work.
We recently had representatives from Vale Inco’s Creighton Mine
in Sudbury.
Wayne Boucher
conducts MRC training
at our updated facility.
Francois Girard (Iamgold) at the breakthrough.
Norm Boucher
Francois Girard (Iamgold's Westwood
Project Superintendent) forefront, Rolly
Proulx on the left, Kai Schwartzburg
(Director of Micon) and Rob Bettiol
(Raiseboring).
Kai Schwarzburg of Micon
is pictured here with the
steering tools.
At the Timmins MRC Shop there is never a slow day. With a
fleet of 58 climber units and almost 2 ½ miles of guide rail, there
is a constant turnaround of fleet gear returning from successful
projects in need of refurbishing, only to be sent out to its next
destination with new safety components, fresh paint, and proudly
displaying the Redpath Logo. Norm Boucher keeps the boys on
their toes.
At our Arizona 1 project, in the middle of the Arizona high desert,
the team rehabbed a vent raise from surface and down 1200 feet
using a double drive raise climber with a hanging staging set
up. We took advantage of taking the MRC training session on
the road while on site.
Goldcorp’s Campbell Mine in Red Lake is the site of our next
Side Shift (Shuffle) Nest raise climber set up. It’s currently under
way and we are hoping to do many mechanized raise
development projects for Goldcorp in Red Lake in the future.
Overseas, the raise project in Indonesia seems to continue to be
strong, as usual. Many good, innovative MRC ideas come from
our people in that corner of the globe. We continue to show our
clients how safe and professional Redpath runs a mechanized
raising program.
Gary Gagain
ADMINISTRATION
The Procurement department was officially formed in November
by combining the Purchasing and Logistics groups into one
department. This change was implemented to enable Redpath
to meet its corporate growth objectives and to ensure that we
provide a comprehensive procurement capability designed to
meet the needs of our clients. This group offers a full range of
purchasing, expediting, warehousing, inventory control,
mobilization and logistics services for Redpath operations
worldwide.
Major activities during the month were the completion of phase
one of the Eleonore project mobilization, Raglan Mine 7 project
demobilization (ongoing), shaft steel shipment to Indonesia, and
many shipments of mobile equipment to and from various
projects in North America. A number of initiatives were pursued
regarding equipment on order, and some possible options to
defer delivery based on recent project changes.
Shipment ready for
mobilizing to the
Eleonore Project.
data base with information that will allow us to manage our
current and potential workforce more effectively. PT Redpath
Indonesia is next on the list for implementation.
Kerry Colnar and Nancy Emmerton are at the helm with the
Indonesian activities and work is underway to streamline the
contracts and processes to manage that workforce. Amy Stuart
is responsible for Mongolian mobilization and is rapidly coming
up to speed on the process to get people in place and working.
Linda Malcolm is now dedicated to professional and academic
training, the graduate development program, co-op and
apprentice programs, computer training on Microsoft products,
etc. Redpath has made training and development a key
cornerstone to our success now and into the future.
We have heard that supervisors are also asking for leadership
and HR process training that are currently being developed by
Denise Point and Jenny Mackie to help guide our supervisors on
HR issues in the field. A good rule of thumb is - before you react
to any HR situation you are not comfortable with call your
supervisor or HR – it could make a significant difference.
In closing, let me say that I am extremely proud to be part of the
Redpath team. People make things happen and are the
foundation of our business. Great people inspire others to excel,
promote the team concept and make a difference in the world.
There is no doubt that as our business grows so will our
workforce, we all need to be on the lookout for great new
prospects that will fit well into our group of companies around the
world. My door is always open, come share your thoughts and
be part of the new global Redpath!
Drew Artus
SUDBURY
Although the pace has slowed somewhat, Sudbury continues to
bid a good volume of work. The largest of the potential projects
is the Vale Inco 5-year raise program that is expected to be
awarded to Redpath in the very near future. The program
consists of approximately 45,000 ft of raise excavation and
slashing. This program should keep the boys in Timmins
humming along.
Other current projects include the South Mine Collars, headed up
by Rick Buckmiller with the help of Todd Whitehead and Dan
Halvorsen. Rick has borrowed most of Daryn Greasley's 5-star
construction crew from Creighton to ensure the “site is right” and,
from the clients comments, “the site is setting a new standard in
housekeeping and organization” the project should be a
showpiece.
Shayne Everett
HUMAN RESOURCES
This will be my first venture into the Redpath Scoop as your
Director of Human Resources. This is a new position created to
address the many needs of our growing business and to build
the links with the other Redpath business units that will allow us
to act effectively as a global contract mining company. Everyone
is aware that the Redpath footprint has extended with South
Africa and Australia. These additions present new opportunities
for everyone and will afford us the opportunity to explore new
approaches to human capital management. There should be no
doubt that we want to be the best at what we do - the contractor
that clients want to have at their mine site. To do this, we need
to deliver on our Redpath philosophy statements and Guidelines
for Success for sure, but we also need highly motivated,
dedicated and professional staff and workers that are trained and
ready to do the work and/or lead the team at a moment’s notice.
We, in Human Resources, understand this need and are
addressing the opportunities head on. Under Sarah Fitzgerald’s
tutelage, the new Human Resource software implementation
(HRw@re) is progressing very well and will be launched in
November 2008. Once the system is activated, there will be a
dedicated effort by Debra Shank and Amy Lauay to populate the
Collar construction
at South Mine for
ventilation project.
Collar at South
Mine for the raisebore
ventilation project.
Not far away from the collars, Gerry Clance continues to
complete the ongoing raise and construction work with his well
experienced team - rumour has it that Gerry’s new truck has
more options than Randy’s!
Ongoing work at Creighton has Daryn and his crews busy with
construction and setting up for a 200 ft raise with Mr. Blondeau
on the mend …. Daryn might have to make a deal with the other
Darren at Nickel Rim for some experienced raise miners…..
At the time of writing , Dave Hachey and his well-oiled machine
are only days away from winning the “World Series of Safety”
The Coleman crews will have gone 1 year with a perfect 0,0,0
record, - this milestone in Safety is a tribute to the dedication to
safety that is practised each and every day. All of the employees
who have contributed to this rare achievement in the area of
safety should be very proud and realize they have placed
themselves in a very select group of contractors.….. Well Done
to the Coleman Crews…. Dave I will give you Clance’s truck next
week… keep up the good work.
Don Carriere is waiting anxiously to begin driving the Podolsky
North Zone Ramp, his construction crews continue to safely build
the mines infrastructure as per Rebecca Winters.
Not snow, and sleet nor rain or shine, or bursting ground will stop
Isadore Racett’s raise crews at Fraser from breaking through.
Due to extreme conditions in the current raise, Redpath crews at
Fraser were required to screen the walls and footwall of the raise
with a 1-inch mesh plastic screen. Only being allowed to work a
single shift a day, the crews safely completed the raise. Due to
ground conditions, a decision was made to leave the rail in the
raise and demob the nest……. A hearty "Well Done" to all and
hopefully the next one brings better ground..
The Sudbury Family Picnic was held on Saturday August 16th
at the Richard Lake Park. We had a dunk tank, pony rides,
Bouncing Maryland dream castle, Sno Cones, cotton candy,
BBQ, basketball, golf, and face painting.
A great time was had by all on this fun filled Family Day with
attendance between 150 and 180 people.
Overall the Sudbury area continues to be a hive of activity and
should be for some time to come with a healthy project pipeline
being considered from our clients.
Randy Grenon
Randy in his
"Dunk Suit"
Gerry was second
in line to try” ………
You quickly find out
who your friends are….
At 3 throws for a $1… over $300.00 was raised for the children’s
fund. It's hard to resist when the "Boss" is in the tank!
SUDBURY FAMILY PICNIC - SATURDAY, AUGUST 16TH
U.S. & CENTRAL AMERICA
With the end of the year fast approaching, we would like to take
a moment to remember how important it is for everyone at
Redpath to go home safe and healthy every day. While flying
back to Reno, I was working on this article and was leaning
towards talking up our safety record until after I had landed and
received a very sobering e-mail from Mark.
A major mining company and former Redpath client had, as
recently as June of this year, celebrated 2 million man hours
without a lost time accident. Their TMI was averaging 1.2,
exactly as ours is and then, inside of a nano second, they were
dealing with the worst tragedy possible, a fatal accident involving
one of their employees.
Ed Britt (centre) and Sam Hunter (right) receive their trophies
with team members Peter Villgren and Barry Therrien of
Industrial Fabricators, after winning the CIM North Bay golf
tournament. Sam and Ed were also members of winning teams
for the Hospital for Sick Kids, Redpath and CIM Sudbury golf
tournaments.
“We never know how high we are 'til we are called to rise;
And then, if we are true to plan, our statures touch the skies.”
Emily Dickinson
Ladies and gentlemen, we have been there and we don’t ever
want to go there again. It is great to talk about the records and
statistics but they are all dealing with the past. We have to be up
front and honest with ourselves in asking that key question!
HOW DO WE INSURE THAT EVERY REDPATH EMPLOYEE
GOES HOME SAFELY EVERY DAY? We cannot do this by
looking at the past. We can only achieve this by being proactive
about Safety - First, Last, and Always. Our Supervisors Focus
Day is fast approaching and I can assure you that there will be
an emphasis on being proactive in safety!
Currently, our only operating project in Alaska is Pogo where we
have been steadily in operation since December 2004 with work
currently in hand until the middle of 2011. With the potential of
new mining projects in Alaska being somewhat limited at this
time, we are focussing on hydroelectric projects of which there
are a significant number on the books in both Alaska and British
Columbia. To provide clients with a one-stop shopping scenario,
we have teamed up with Frontier Kemper Constructors Inc. (a
sister company under Deilmann-Haniel) to be able to offer
traditional drill and blast excavation as well as tunnel boring
services.
In the lower 48, work continues at a fast and furious place. Our
West Griffen Project was completed in August and crews moved
to the Storm Project where we are the mine operator for this
satellite ore body located a few miles north of the main Barrick
Goldstrike complex. Our initial contract here is for a three-year
operation with the possibility of extension as new reserves are
verified.
At the Pend Oreille Project, crews are continuing with the
exploration drive which is helping to delineate a potential new ore
zone on the west side of the Pend Oreille River. A small
rehabilitation crew has been active as various ore headings are
being reactivated for production.
The Denison Arizona 1 Project has been placed on hold while
the owner works on some permitting issues. Special thanks to
Carl Graham and crew for an excellent job bolting and screening
the main ventilation raise using the top down mechanized raise
climber technique.
Marcelo Olivares
(electrician) and
Arturo Bravo
(mechanic) from Chile
at Arizona 1.
The girls from the
Reno office make a
site visit to West
Griffen. From left to
right Shawna Stoner,
Yolanda Corral, Melissa
Staunton, Tanya Getz
and Judi Shine.
Great news from Mexico - as we have successfully negotiated a
mechanized raise project with Agnico Eagle Mexico at their
Pinos Altos Project west of Chihuahua, Mexico! Preparations are
underway for this project which will start in January 2009.
Chris Hickey
West Griffen employees
display the Nevada
Mining Association safety
award they received for
achieving the lowest total
safety rate.
From left to right:
Mark Immonen, Dave
Raich, Victor Harrell,
Dan Capparelli and
Ed Silvas accept the
NVMA award for
West Griffen.
Dan Capparelli (project
superintendent) also
received an award for
promoting safety and
health within the company.
A view from the top
of the Dee pit of
the Storm portal
Why we go home safely ...
Abigale Betsill is the reason
Chris Betsill (U.S. Health &
Safety Supervisor) wants to
get home safely ...
Abigale is also the
granddaughter of John
Morrison (Mobile Shops)
SOUTH AMERICA
Redpath continues to ramp up for its project with Codelco at
Andina’s Rio Blanco site with 100 of the initial 120 man crew now
recruited; this includes three key expatriates who have joined the
project: Matt Kendall, Terry Cook and Bob Shelley. The first
group, under the direction of Salomón Cardenas, is on site
establishing surface facilities and, as snow conditions improve in
the coming week, the mobile equipment will begin to be
relocated to the project site. John Morrison has recently visited
Chile to assist the team in establishing maintenance programs
and Ed Silvas will also be passing through to ensure that the
safety systems are initiated to Redpath standards.
Elsewhere, the Redbore 50UR, under the leadership of Mario
Araya, has proved a success with Codelco at El Teniente as it is
developing their slot raises at more than twice the rate of the
existing contractors. Given this, we are currently in negotiation
for a 2009 contract at El Teniente which should conclude shortly.
Redbore 50UR at El Teniente. Left to right: Luis
General, Mario Araya, Eduardo Pizarro, Rodolfo
Quiroz and Exequiel Olivares
Rob Pickoski has recently transferred to Chile to lead the raise
bore group and - with requests coming in from Peru, Argentina
and Chile - is likely to be well occupied in the coming months.
Finally, in other personnel news, Steve Playford has joined
Redpath as the South American Finance Manager as we ramp
up the administration systems to meet the expanding
requirements.
Graham Buttenshaw
In our Core Operations - the boys just keep on driving along.
Guymo and his raisebore crew won the Safety Production
Recognition Scheme for the Month of August.
Redpath/Cartellone booth at Mining Show in Argentina
Shawn’s tunnel boys won the Safety Production
Recognition Scheme for the month of July.
INDONESIA
Well things continue to be busy as usual from the top of the
Mountain in the Jungle in Indonesia.
Congratulations go out to the whole team for putting in a
tremendous effort towards the safety production recognition
scheme. The "Core" may need to take time off so the other
projects can step up into the winners' circle.
We are working to get our safety performance back to our past
glory. This is being accomplished by performing Off Shift
Inspections and getting back to the basics of the 5 Point Safety
System.
Setia Budi was recently recognized at a dinner hosted for the
National Jumbo instructors and trainees. Setia has been
promoted to Senior National Instructor of our program.
Setia Budi (centre) was
presented with an award
by Steve Grinius (left)
and Wayne Grudzinski (right).
From left to right are
Rudy Tambunan, Abdul Kahar
Bala Agan, Zeth Sattu and Syamsu.
Crew just setting up the portable
MRC unit.
In April 2008, Roberta Himsl was seconded to the Indonesia
operations to support training initiatives. All of the safety and
training department attended courses on train the trainer and the
five key elements of the Redpath Safety core program.
Nahemia Kareth
Roberta Himsl (centre) with
the 1st Train the Trainer class.
Roberta Himsl presents her
father, Ed Himsl with his
1 million hour safety award.
From left to right Adi Kaisepo
and Alexander Ondy
MRC (Alimak) set up for
Drawbells
left to right Alexander Ondy and
Nerius Beanal.
From left to right Adi Kaisepo and
Hendrik Yembise
Roberta with the
Safety and Training
department
Alexander Ondy
Engineering, survey, and QA/QC have been working on better
integration of PTRI and PTFI staff and non-staff resources. The
goal is to optimize the planning teams to better support the new
projects coming online.
Our "High Scaling"
Dispatch Ridge Crew
Johanes Maturbongs, Tanto Safari,
Julius Mansumber, Yudi Antoro and
Adi Kaisepo
Steve Grinius
By Thursday evening, we were convinced that we could walk on
fire. As you can see, it was called “Walking the Redpath.
Dispatch Ridge Crew
From left to right Hendrik Yembise, Tanto Safari, Julius Mansumbe,
Johanes Maturbongs, Nerius Beanal, Yustinus J Welerubun,
Nahemia Kareth and Alexander Ondy
MONGOLIA
Chris Snyman
AUSTRALIA
Tunnel boring technology is being used in Papua New Guinea for
the first time as a Tunnel Boring Machine, or TBM as it is
commonly known, excavates the tunnel project at the Ok Tedi
Mine in the North Fly District of Western Province.
Rod Anderton provides us with this photo
of a rainbow in the Gobi desert.
SOUTH AFRICA
The Board Meeting of Redpath Mining South Africa was held on
November 5th followed by the Strategic Planning Meeting on
November 6th and 7th at the Kloofzicht Lodge near Johannesburg.
5.6 m diameter Tunnel Boring Machine
However, before the TBM could start work, the machine was
blessed and the tunnel project dedicated to God.
The dedication ceremony was held on site on Sunday, 27 July,
where local leaders from the Ok Tedi Mine Special Mining Lease
villages and representatives of churches in Tabubil prayed for
God’s blessing upon the people, the machine, the project and the
companies involved.
Baptist Pastor, Jeffrey Moduwa who was one of five pastors and
Tabubil Catholic priest Fr Anthony who were invited for the
dedication ceremony, praised the wisdom of Eroc (PNG) Limited
(the contractor of the tunnel project) and the management of
OTML for allowing and putting God first in such a project of great
significance to Ok Tedi.
Pastor Jeffrey and the other church delegates revealed it was the
first time they had been invited to pray and bless a machine and
project in a mine before work could fully commence.
Even one of them who shared on the Biblical story of Noah, said
God had made peace with men and left his lasting and ongoing
reminder in the form of the Rainbow.
Coincidentally, minutes after the dedication ceremony, a rainbow
appeared right in front of the tunnel project, much to the
satisfaction of all who had witnessed the ceremony.
NEW REDPATH FAMILY MEMBERS
Sheila Queenissa Ridwan
Fadheela Putri Ardhiansyah
Editor's Note: On October 1st, Eroc became 100% owned by
Redpath and operates as Redpath (Australia) Pty Limited. We
are proud to welcome them as a member of The Redpath Group
and look forward to continuing this history making project.
The Ok Tedi Drainage Tunnel Project is one of Ok Tedi Mining's
major projects this year. The TBM will bore a 4.2 kilometer
tunnel to the bottom of Ok Tedi’s open cut pit at Mt Fubilan.
Isla Vivian-Novielli
William Simatupang
Some of the other work required while the TBM is cutting rock
includes:
# Installing ground support (shotcrete, mesh and rockbolts
which support the ground and make the tunnel safe)
# Installing invert segments and rail line
# Installing ventilation into the tunnel
# Installing compressed air and water service pipes
There will also be a Maintenance crew which will maintain the
TBM and other equipment on site.
According to Paul Harris, Technical Services Manager, “The
project has many exciting and different activities associated with
using the TBM which will offer great experience for all the
workforce involved. We are proud to be involved in this project
and in the development of the skills and knowledge of the local
workforce.”
contributed by Gordon Shannon
Grant Coad &
Hana Sri Widayani
Excerpt from the Post Courier November 10th, 2008
"The first tunnel boring machine to be used in a mine in Papua
New Guinea has drilled its first 1000 metres of solid rock. ...
OTML general manager for business development, Ian
Sheppard, commended main contractor EROC and other
partners involved in the project for their commitment and safe
work practices that had so far resulted in 1000 metres of solid
rock being bored. .... "We've been remarkably successful in an
isolated place to be able to put the TBM (tunnel boring machine)
and get it working in the short time that's taken us, which is
probably a record for such an isolated place to get the TBM up
and running and working as efficiently as the EROC guys have
made it work to get our first thousand metres."
Muhammad Rafiuddin &
Nyi Mas Adies Oktariani
Ramdhani & Nuning Rachmawati
Wayne Grudzinski and Cecile
Allan Marmont (Safety
and Training Coordinator,
Cliffs Nickel project in
Western Australia) and
his partner, Tammy,
proudly introduce their
new baby girl, Lilli, born
October 15th . With them
are son Jack and daughter,
Maddison.
See back for
announcements
and proud parents!
Ni Wayan Suwartini &
Joel Donaldson
Safely We Work
Note: In future issues of The Scoop, this space will be reserved
for recognition of special achievements in the area of Safety. It
could be for reaching a significant milestone or an act worthy of
note. ALL Redpath employees are eligible. To nominate
someone for special recognition in The Scoop, send their photo
and a brief description of their accomplishment.
Mike's Corner
Mike Kelly, Sr. Vice President
What a difference a few
months makes in the
mining world and all of our lives.
Rolly Comeau (left) receives his 15 Year safety
award from Randy Demers at our Caribou Project
in New Brunswick.
Now, more than ever, is when the real innovative spirit of Redpath
people can give us a competitive advantage. Our customers will
be looking to us for solutions to help them achieve their production
and cost targets. All of us need to encourage our people to focus
on how we can help, to look past the initial thought of how will this
affect me or us, and spend some time talking to our customers to
see where in their operations we can provide them superior value.
Right now is the time we can prove to our customers that the
extensive training and skills development we have done for all of
our employees does, indeed, provide a superior workforce. For
these reasons Redpath is able to offer the lowest cost product not the cheapest - but the best value for their money.
Congratulations, Rolly!
Congratulations ...
 Muhammad Rafiuddin (Indonesia) and Nyi Mas Adies
Oktariani on their wedding party on March 14th.
 Grant Coad (now Mongolia) and Hana Sri Widayani who
were married on April 23rd in Jakarta.
 Ramdhani ( Indonesia) and Nuning Rachmawati on their
wedding party on June 1st.
 Ni Wayan Suwartini (Indonesia) and Joel Donaldson on
their wedding party on June 4th.
 Sahat Simatupang (Indonesia) and Grace on the birth of
their son William on June 27th.
 Ricky Ferdiansyah (Indonesia) and Mira Ardhiyani on the
birth of daughter Fadheela Putri Ardhiansyah, June 28th.
 Muhammad Ridwan (Indonesia) and Mila on the birth of
daughter Sheila Queenissa Ridwan, June 28th.
 Ted (Estimating) and Jill Vivian on the birth of their first
grandchild, "Isla Vivian Novielli born September 18th. Proud
parents, Jessica and Marco of Toronto are doing well.
 Allan Marmott (Australia) and Tammy on the birth of
daughter, Lilli, on October 15th.
From the Editor
Please send photos, event news, people
news for consideration in an upcoming
issue to The Scoop in North Bay or by
e-mail to
Scoop@ jsrl.com