23 November, 2022
Work starts at New Acland
A small press conference was held last week to mark the opening of the New Hope Acland Stage 3 mine.
Heavy machinery won’t be accessing the site until next year, but the preparation is beginning now.
More than 1200 people have sent through expressions of interest for work, including many former mine employees.
New Acland operations manager Daniel O’Dwyer was on site with workers at Silverleigh, where the tip of the mine will be cut.
“It’s another historic moment for the entire team at New Acland Mine, and the local community who stood by us throughout the entire approvals process”, Mr O’Dwyer said.
“There is a lot of hard work ahead of us and that starts with workers mapping out the areas, surveying the mine site, hammering in key markers and using drones to capture aerials.”
Mr O’Dwyer encouraged locals to apply for work at the mine.
“We need truck drivers, engineers, electricians, operators, administration staff and mechanics,” he said.
“Unlike a lot of other mines in Queensland, New Acland Mine does not engage fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) workers, with more than 90 per cent of our previous workforce living within fifty kilometres of the site.”
Logistics company QUBE Operations Manger Mark Beckman said he was
looking forward to the benefits the mine would bring to the business.
“This is just fabulous, particularly for QUBE and the continuation of contract.
“Twenty years of mining is extremely important to us.
“QUBE bought out a previous contractor and we’ve carried that business on for the last ten years.”
“It’s really exciting for some of those staff that have moved up to Central Queensland and further afield that get to come back.
Opposition to the mine is not widespread in the town itself, however Mr O’Dwyer said he was confident no further challenges, legal or otherwise could stall the project
“Any action that our objectors want to take
now is with the State Government.
We have been through
our processes with them
and we feel that everyone has had a fair say with them.
With regard to environmental concerns, Mr O’Dwyer said the current existing pit will be back-filled, and the top soil put back.
“We will have even tighter environmental restrictions with our approval and we’ll have to be more diligent in the future,” he said.
“We will be taking the
top soil and sub-soil and putting them into discrete parcels.
“We have been looking at the profile of the land, that it holds up to cattle underfoot and we are confident the land will transition back to agricultural use.”
