Cannington Mine visit
Office for Women underground photo diary Cannington Mine – May 2008
Cannington is a fly-in fly-out metalliferous mine (named for the Cannington Cattle Station) located in North West Queensland, 800 kilometres southwest of Townsville and 250 kilometres southeast of Mt Isa. Cannington is the world's largest producer of silver and lead and is also mined for mineral zinc. The site includes an underground mine and metallurgical processing plant and employs approximately 500 people.
Two Office for Women representatives, Alexandra Winter and Bouwke Boerema, accompanied by Caroline Morrissey from the Queensland Resources Council, were fortunate to be able to visit Cannington in May 2008 to experience first hand the day-to-day operations of a fly-in fly-out mine.
This photo diary is aimed at sharing this experience with women and girls interested in working in mining.
4.45 am – Townsville Airport to Cannington
The day begins with a very early start in darkness. We are flying with Alliance to Cannington and when checking in at Townsville Airport we notice a number of other passengers, nursing coffee, waiting for the same flight to the mine - a weekly activity for some. A typical roster for most mine employees is seven days on, sevens day off or eight days on, six days off. With boarding passes in our hands we go in search for some breakfast and wait for the boarding call.
The plane took off just as dawn was breaking. People took the opportunity to catch up on some sleep or read the paper. As the sun rose, the expansive semi-arid landscape of pink brown dirt dotted with shrubs became more visible and from above you really understood the remoteness of the mine.
In just over an hour we began our descent into Cannington and were welcomed with a bright, crisp morning. The mine's airstrip is serviced by mini buses that transfer workers to and from flights every day. By 7.30 am we were on our bus destined for Cannington village, a squat collection of huts (including a mess hall and staff accommodation) about ten minutes drive from the airstrip.
Caroline Morrissey (Queensland Resources Council) and Bouwke Boerema (Office for Women)
The road to the mine
Mini golf course
The bar
Huts at the village
7.40 am – Breakfast
At the centre of the village is the mess hall and recreation area. The mess hall has big windows, and the morning sun was flooding in. There was plenty of food available – hot and cold breakfasts, a salad bar where people were making lunches, tea and coffee. Attached to the mess hall was a recreation space, including a mini golf course, tennis court, and a bar (open mornings and evenings).
8.30 am – To the Mine
Following breakfast we boarded the bus to the mine, a few kilometres up the road.
On arrival at the mine we were met by Ruth Kaurila, the Community Relations Officer. We completed an online safety induction which involved understanding above ground and below ground safety procedures such as what to do in the event of an emergency, how to find the fresh air chambers which are placed through the underground mine, and use of the self-resuscitator.
Following this Ruth took us to the female change rooms to be kitted out in all the appropriate safety gear. The female change rooms were a series of showers, benches and shelves labelled with names. Everyone's clothing was either in, or hung from, a wire basket which could be hoisted up to the ceiling via a pulley system. This system prevents contamination between work clothes and clean clothes.
Permanent staff on site wear orange overalls with their name embroidered on the front. As visitors, we wore bright red overalls, hard hats, gloves, ear plugs and steel-capped gumboots. We also wore a belt, to which was attached a battery pack for the headlamp and device for receiving messages from the surface and a self-resuscitator. All this was particularly heavy.
Boarding the bus to the mine
Caroline Morrissey (Queensland Resources Council) and Alexandra Winter (Office for Women) preparing to go underground
Keeping things neat – clothes hanging from the ceiling
10.30 am - Going underground
Glenn Hartig, a Development Supervisor, met us to take us for an underground tour. Entry underground is via a portal and communication takes place via shortwave radio. As a precaution, Glen broadcast that we were about to enter the portal in case any large trucks were on their way out.
The mine goes to a depth of 620 metres and has a network of 60 KM of dirt roads. Most of these are narrow and care has to be taken to notify other drivers of your whereabouts. When encountering large machinery we sometimes had to reverse to allow them through.
As soon as we were underground we were engulfed with darkness and noticed the warm air close on our skin. The lights on machinery, and in work areas, made the unlit surroundings even darker. If ever we left the vehicle to explore on foot, the ground was muddy and wet. The machinery and trucks made it a busy and noisy place but once in the tunnels away from people and action, it seemed very quiet and still.
Glen has worked in the mining industry for over 20 years as a Jumbo Operator. A jumbo is a large piece of equipment used to drill a predetermined pattern of holes which are then filled with explosives and blasted to uncover the deposit. As a Development Supervisor Glen oversees the underground processes used to reach the material being mined. This includes clearing tunnels and 'heads' (an offshoot off the main tunnel), managing explosions and reinforcing tunnels after the explosions have occurred. Glen's wife also works underground and they have married quarters and are given the same shifts.
Entering the portal
A jumbo in operation. Note the pattern which dictates where holes will be drilled.
As well as the development areas, we visited a number of other areas, including the explosives workshop, workshops for underground vehicle maintenance and a production drill, which is used to access the actual material to be mined. The production drill follows a map, similar to the way in which the jumbo operates. We also visited the crib rooms, or tea rooms, where workers go for breaks while underground. Internet access was also available here.
Production drilling
1 pm – Lunch time
We had lunch in an above-ground crib room and had the opportunity to meet with Sarah Hepworth and Amy Edwards, two female engineers working at Cannington. Sarah has worked at Cannington for three years, and Amy for 15 months. Both had experience working in coal mining prior to Cannington.
Both Sarah and Amy enjoyed the challenges and opportunities associated with working at a fly-in fly-out mining operation and talked about the importance of enjoying practical work and outcomes. Sarah chose mining engineering because she wanted to be out of the city, and received a scholarship to complete her studies. Sarah enjoys both the technical aspects of her work and the contact with people. Amy was exposed to engineering through a National Youth Science Forum and was inspired by a mining engineer she met. Amy also received a scholarship to study mining engineering. Profiles of Amy and Sarah are available at Women in Hard Hats.
Sarah and Amy work long days: 6 am – 6 pm or 7 pm on the day shift and 6 pm – 6 am on a night shift. They spend 14 days working on site then fly out for seven days off. Both spoke about some of the challenges with living part-time in two places, such as participating in team sports.
Amy and Sarah at Cannington
2 pm – Tour of the processing plant
After lunch we were taken on a tour of the processing plant where the raw material is extracted. The processing plant consists of labs where assays are tested and large infrastructure where the lead and zinc is processed.
Material from underground is placed on a large slag heap and fed onto a conveyor belt which sorts raw material according to size. In a huge rotating drum, these pieces are broken down into smaller pieces, and turned into liquid slurry. A flotation tank, where the slurry is mixed with various chemicals, separates the pure lead and zinc from the water. The effect is masses of shiny grey bubbles visible through a metal grid underfoot.
Slag heap
Floatation tank bubbling underfoot
View from the top of the processing plant
The resulting sludge then passes through a further series of vats and filters. The final product is transported by train to a town over 100 kilometres away and then again transported by train to a port for shipping.
The final product ready for transport
5 pm – Flying out
At the conclusion of our fascinating tour, we caught a bus back to the village and had a last coffee in the mess hall before catching our return flight to Townsville. The flight was a buzz of excitement as workers talked about their plans for their next few days off. At 7 pm we arrived, exhausted, in Townsville.
The Office for Women would like to thank Cannington for allowing us to experience what it is like to work at a fly-in fly-out mine, and Caroline Morrissey from Queensland Resources Council for organising the visit. We would also like to pass on our special thanks to Ruth Kaurila for organising such an informative tour.
For more information about the Office for Women’s Women in Hard Hats initiative call 1800 177 577.
Last updated: 3 November 2008
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