PDF - 5.5 MB - Leighton Holdings
PDF - 5.5 MB - Leighton Holdings
PDF - 5.5 MB - Leighton Holdings
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<strong>Leighton</strong><br />
<strong>Holdings</strong><br />
Quarterly<br />
Update<br />
2nd<br />
Quarter 20<br />
<strong>Leighton</strong> Contractors up and running<br />
at the Sonoma coal mine<br />
The Sonoma coal mine is located in the Bowen Basin,<br />
200 kilometres north-west of Mackay, Queensland. A contract for<br />
bulk excavation and selective coal mining operations at the new<br />
project was awarded in July last year.<br />
Graham Goodwin, the Project Manager and<br />
Site Senior Executive (SSE) discusses the<br />
new project.<br />
“I’ve been working on the Sonoma project since<br />
December 2006. The Sonoma coal mine started<br />
production last year. The first overburden was<br />
moved on 16 October 2007 and we sent our first<br />
coal to the coal handling and processing plant on<br />
13 December 2007. It’s been a good start for the<br />
project and to see it come through to fruition has<br />
been a very satisfying and rewarding experience<br />
for me.<br />
“I’ve been in the coal mining industry for 25 years.<br />
I commenced my career in the coal fields of NSW<br />
as an operator and I worked my way up through<br />
the ranks to my current role as Project Manager<br />
and SSE.<br />
“Our current contract at Sonoma is for five years<br />
and is valued at around $500m, with the prospect<br />
of a further 10 year extension. The client is a joint<br />
venture between QCoal (a Queensland operator),<br />
Cleveland Cliffs (a US based iron ore miner), and<br />
two other overseas shareholders. The contract<br />
is performance based with key performance<br />
indicators (KPIs) built into it. The KPIs are firstly,<br />
safety and environment, and then production of<br />
overburden and coal.<br />
"The coal seam initially runs at a 20 degree angle.<br />
The equipment moves around 35,000 bank cubic<br />
metres (BCMs) of overburden and 30,000 tonnes<br />
of ROM coal daily. 20 million BCMs of overburden<br />
is expected to be moved each year with 5 million<br />
tonnes of ROM coal. In 2010, coal production will<br />
increase up to 6 million ROM tonnes annually.<br />
"On site <strong>Leighton</strong> Contractors has two Liebherr<br />
9350 Excavators - one on the coal and the other on<br />
overburden. In addition an Hitachi EX5500 will be<br />
mobilised to site in response to our clients request<br />
to substantially increase coal and overburden<br />
production earlier than originally planned. These<br />
excavators will be supported by fourteen 789
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