Introduction
Australian Raise Drilling (ARD) was formed early in 1988 to undertake a management buyout of WMC Resources (WMC) raise drilling fleet. It is based in Adelaide, South Australia, with offices in Perth in Western Australia. It has expanded from a raise drilling contractor to an organisation which has the ability to undertake both mining and engineering design and fabrication work in addition to the raise drilling capacity. With the acquisition by Macmahon Mining Services Pty Ltd (MMS) of the ARD assets in September 2006, ARD became part of the Macmahon group.
At the time of its original establishment, ARD acquired five raise drills and all of their associated equipment from WMC. ARD has since added seven machines to the original fleet and is now Australia's premier raise drilling contractor, particularly in its proven ability to undertake large diameter deep shafts. The rigs owned by ARD range from the Robbins 121R, one of the largest rigs in the world, capable of drilling holes of up to 6 metres diameter to a depth of 1,000 metres, to the Dresser 480 rigs which are capable of drilling 1.8 metre diameter raises to a depth of 200 metres. ARD also has two Robbins 34R rigs capable of drilling blind up-holes of up to 1 metre in diameter.
ARD has all of the associated equipment, including a mud plant for drilling in adverse ground conditions, reaming heads, forklifts, and air compressors to undertake any raise drilling programme successfully. It has also developed techniques for horizontal raise drilling for use where poor ground conditions or proximity to structures renders conventional drill and blast methods inappropriate.
MMS includes Combined Resource Engineering (CRE), which was originally formed to provide engineering design, manufacturing and maintenance services as well as a project management capability. It now specialises in the design, manufacture and installation of underground mining facilities, including winders, headframes, shaft steelwork, loading stations, conveyances, pump stations and other associated installations.
ARD, in conjunction with CRE, is also able to offer shaft lining and support services. These include the fabrication and installation of steel liners, the installation of ground support and other lining, including full concrete lining.
Key Personnel
The personnel employed by ARD have extensive experience at senior level in the mining industry and are familiar with the demands of contracting. The combination of skills enables the group to provide a wide range of services from complete "turnkey" packages to specific individual requirements.
The Company's key personnel are:
Mr. Russell Wood (National Manager) is a qualified Electrical Engineer and has had over 20 years experience in areas covering maintenance, design, construction and management within the mining and mineral processing areas of the industry. As well as his extensive experience in his own discipline he has held senior management positions of Chief Engineer of the Kambalda Nickel Operations and Project Manager within the industry and leads the engineering section of this group.
Mr. Don Aldridge (National Commercial Manager) is a qualified Economist and was responsible for the preparation of the environmental impact statement for the Olympic Dam Project. He was also overall project controller for that project and for other projects then being undertaken by Western Mining Corporation's eastern operations, responsible for cost reporting and control. Don is responsible for all administrative and financial matters for the group.
Mr. Kim Anderson (Operations Manager) has been responsible for the successful operation of ARD's raise drilling division since 1990. Prior to that, he has had 25 years of practical experience with Western Mining Corporation as a driller, raise drill foreman and, latterly as ARD's Drilling Superintendent and now Operations Manager.
