CONTRACT MINING
Together with Hindustan Zinc , GHH aims to increase the production by 50 % in the next year .
“ GHH can offer the best possible training for their own equipment to employees , which enables them to operate the equipment in the best possible manner to achieve targets and reduce operational damage .”
Could this be the start of something bigger for GHH , with other contract mining agreements in the pipeline ?
“ Yes , it is definitely the strategy , but the focus for now is India ,” Thorley said . “ We plan to first set a good foundation here for further rolling out that model to other countries .”
Competitive advantage
Mastermyne is also currently focused on one country : Australia .
This is despite making its contract mining growth ambitions very clear in September when it proposed a buyout of contractor PYBAR Mining Services in a deal valuing PYBAR equity at A $ 47 million ($ 35 million ).
The deal , which has now completed , sees Mastermyne , up until this point a company focused on the Australian coal sector , expand into the domestic hard-rock space through exposure to PYBAR ’ s gold , copper , zinc and leadrelated revenues . In the process , it would be rebadged as Metarock Group Limited .
The transaction is expected to create a leading Australia-based diversified mining services business with material scale , Mastermyne said , adding that the combined group will have a A $ 1.7 billion-plus order book and an active tender pipeline of A $ 2.7 billion-plus after completion . PYBAR will continue to operate as an independent business unit within the group with the existing management team .
Tony Caruso , Managing Director of Metarock , said the company had identified some time ago the need to diversify into “ adjacent markets ” to ensure its business retained “ resilient and sustained earnings ”.
“ To be clear , we are very supportive of the coal industry , and we will continue to grow our coal business ,” he told IM . “ What we do know from 30 years of experience of operating in this market is it is very cyclic .”
When coal prices are strong , it is a great market to be a contractor , Caruso explained . Yet , when prices come down , contractor workforces or scope reductions often follow as mine owners look to cut their “ flex costs ”.
A diversified Metarock would be able to better cope with such a market dip .
“ The theory ( behind the PYBAR acquisition ) is that when coal is down , other commodities will be up ,” Caruso said .
In addition to increased commodity diversity , there are also a huge number of synergies that
could be realised with the combination of the two companies .
PYBAR offers raiseboring services that can be used in coal , while Mastermyne offers ground support services ( through its recently acquired Wilson Mining business ) that can be used in the hard-rock space .
Both have registered training organisations that could share industry best practice across sectors , too .
What Mastermyne learned in the coal boom when it developed the “ clean skin ” training program , using a simulated underground coal mine with a bespoke program to train people for working in an underground coal mine , may have relevance in the hard-rock sector given the recent ‘ boom ’ perceptions , according to Caruso .
There are also more specific technology synergies that could benefit both hard-rock and soft-rock customers .
PYBAR has embraced automation and digitalisation with , for example , teleremote loading operations at the Dargues gold mine in Western Australia and the use of Digital Terrain ’ s Simbio data entry and processing solution on its mining fleet .
Mastermyne has been running a similar project where real-time data is “ taken off ” machinery and , through proprietary software , converted into real-time dashboards for the operators to track performance against operational targets . Mastermyne used such a system with great success at the Narrabri underground operation , owned by Whitehaven Coal .
NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021 | International Mining 45