MACKELLAR GROUP MINING
FROM THE
GROUND UP At the heart of mining-associated services in Australia, MacKellar Group utilises its historic know-how to keep the industry moving. Duncan MacKellar, Managing Director of the business, takes us through the company from past to present Writer: Marcus Kääpä | Project Manager: Thomas Arnold
2 | APAC Outlook issue 55
A
ustralian industry is synonymous with mining. The nation is one of the globe’s leading producers of lithium, lead, diamonds and many other minerals, most notably iron and gold. Western Australia (WA) alone produces over 50 percent of the country’s gold and in excess of a staggering 90 percent of iron ore. So, it comes as no surprise that there are multiple players in the mining industry dedicated to a proud profession that harkens back to the roots of
Australia’s modern history. One such company is MacKellar Group (MacKellar). “The business was founded by my father, Alastair MacKellar, back in 1966,” begins Duncan MacKellar, Managing Director of the company. “Alastair started as an apprentice diesel fitter back when he was 17, through the South Australian Tractor company, which was the Caterpillar dealer in South Australia at the time. “He worked his way up and later on purchased his own APAC Outlook issue 55 | 3
MACKELLAR GROUP MINING
equipment, starting with trucks for civil projects and later had enough equity to expand into loaders and bulldozers. Over the last 55 years, we have gained valuable experience and grown our internal capability to be the robust and trusted partner to the mining industry that we are today.”
REPUTATION FOR RELIABILITY MacKellar is Australia’s largest privately owned mining equipment and services provider, and was started from the ground up. Hard work, effort, dedication and a solid business foundation ensured an upward
APAC OUTLOOK: HOW HAS COVID19 IMPACTED THE MINING INDUSTRY IN AUSTRALIA? DUNCAN MACKELLAR, MANAGING DIRECTOR: “The industry is extremely buoyant and offers great opportunities for contractors and especially privately owned and flexible businesses such as Mackellar. “Coal prices are at a record high, just as other commodities also show a positive outlook. Of course, the COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact and remains a risk to business that we have had to manage and mitigate. Managing COVID-19 impacts is just part of our business nowadays. “For our Queensland projects, this had its greatest impact around the start of 2021, and we are seeing a reduction in said impacts as the year moves on, and we put various measures in place to manage this. In the meantime, our WA business is just starting to be impacted by COVID-19 and we are using our learnings from the east to best manage the situation.”
4 | APAC Outlook issue 55
trajectory for the company, earning MacKellar an enviable reputation in the industry for performance and reliability. Yet it is not only MacKellar’s history that has cemented its reputation. “Our people are our number one asset, and we like to pride ourselves as being an employer of choice,” Duncan elaborates. “Some of our people have been with the company for well over 25 years, and many over a decade. We genuinely care about our people, treat them like family, and in turn we treat our customers the same. We are in a services business and have many long-term relationships from my father’s era that continue to this day. “We also keep all of our employees safe each day whilst providing an excellent service, from small civil projects to large scale mining projects. Very few other companies are able to provide the diverse services that MacKellar can offer across a national footprint.” Another unique aspect that has solidified MacKellar’s place in the industry is its in-house maintenance capabilities. With the recent acquisition of its Nambour facility and infrastructure upgrades, MacKellar is able to provide a full suite of component rebuilds for its own vehicle fleet as well as supporting its customers’ fleets. “While providing all of this, we manage to remain flexible and nimble, able to react quickly to the needs of our customers,” Duncan adds.
Chrome Engineering Chrome Engineering has been proudly associated with Mackellar Mining as their preferred supplier for the reclamation of critical parts required to sustain their mining fleet since 2013. We are a proudly privately owned family engineering business established over 60 years ago with 40 years experience in component reclamation. We offer expertise in the areas of Hardchrome, Bronze & Sulfamate Nickel Electroplating for the reclamation of parts across all industries in particular open cut mining mobile and fixed plant, underground longwall and mobile equipment, military and industry in general. This is supported by a fully equipped machine shop with both large CNC & manual turning, cylindrical grinding, boring,milling, CAD draing and in house laboratory capabilies. We also offer in house hydraulic cylinder strip down and rebuild with capacity to overhaul hydraulic cylinders off 800 ton class excavators. Being a family managed operation we can offer personal service, flexible scheduling and regularly achieve or surpass turnkey project. We welcome your enquiries should you wish to utilise our services and expertise. Sincerely Yours, Richard Lihou Managing Director
MULTI-FACETED SERVICES MacKellar’s main solutions are in mining services and earthmoving. The company has flexible contract structures from the hiring of large mining equipment, through to fully maintained hire or complete mining and earthmoving services where it manages entire projects. “Our major maintenance facilities are for component rebuilds, based in Blackwater and Nambour in
www.chromeengineering.com.au
YOUR COMPONENT RECLAMATION SPECIALISTS
Talk to the friendly experts at Chrome Engineering for all of your equipment component repair requirements. rrwlhard@bigpond.net.au www.chromeengineering.com.au T: (07) 4123 3113
MACKELLAR GROUP MINING
The Hydraulic Shop Since 1988, The Hydraulic Shop Pty Ltd, Based in Rockhampton has been servicing the need for specialist hydraulic services in Central Queensland and across Australia. With both a 2000m2 workshop providing easy access for large heavy machinery, and mobile facilities, we are able to efficiently respond to the needs of our customers. With an excellent reputation as trouble-shooters We work to limit machinery down-time, which can cost you money, aim to solve the problem in the quickest turnaround and pride ourselves on getting it right the first time, every time..
Queensland. We also have many site-based maintenance facilities,” Duncan continues. “Our services projects currently span throughout Queensland, although we are always keen to expand and explore our service offerings to all parts of Australia and in all commodity spaces. “Our capability and capacity to expand comes from these same values and we continue to be committed to delivering results by ensuring the highest quality equipment and service.” MacKellar partners with large infrastructure companies to deliver civil earthmoving projects, and is proud of its earthworks and ability to provide accurate profiled finishes and meet specifications for road construction and other applications. These applications span the execution of highways, runways and motorways, through to railways and service roads, as well as drilling and blasting operations, loading and haulage of materials, grading, on-site stabilising, and even materials processing MacKellar can do it all. “Our clients choose MacKellar to 6 | APAC Outlook issue 55
carry out the earthmoving in projects because of our careful planning, knowledge and experience in delivering to design specifications,” Duncan says. “We have built this expertise over many years having completed a wide variety of water infrastructure, including but not limited to dams, creek diversions, and levee banks. “Our professional and experienced team is equipped to deliver all types of surface projects, by preparing the foundations for extensive infrastructure works. We have carried out every type of levelling work imaginable, from airports, residential developments, industrial parks, and even solar farms.” On top of this, with many years of experience in haul road and construction maintenance, MacKellar is well placed to offer clients an efficient and cost-effective solution for all road and construction works. The company can provide services to prepare, build and maintain haul roads of all sizes for mining equipment, civil equipment or light vehicles.
Our in-house engineering and technicians’ team are skilled in the design and installation of all types of hydraulic systems. As a result more than 99.5 percent of our work is completed in-house giving us better control over the workmanship you receive and ensuring a timely delivery on your job. Our clients include industries such as drilling, power generation, meat processing, earthmoving, construction, and agriculture. We are leaders in innovative ideas, utilising our combined knowledge, expertise, and technology for the benefit of all our customers, big or small! We provide quality in-house machining, milling, boring and line boring and our well-trained staff are able to test and certify all cranes and lift trucks and provide welding and fabrication works. The Hydraulic Shop Is proud to work alongside the Mackellar group, both companies have a long history of producing quality outcomes and we look forward to building stronger ties and a strong working relationship with them into the future.
sales@thehydraulicshop.com.au
MACKELLAR GROUP MINING
“We cover maintenance services, mechanical rebuilds, and stockpile management that has followed, and continues to follow, impeccable safety and production records throughout our history as a company,” Duncan adds. “Lastly, our earthmoving service for mine sites is a key part of our business. “We have an extensive fleet of plant and equipment available for any project from dry hire to wet hire (with or without personnel). For full contract mining, including pre-strip, drill and blast and mining, MacKellar can deliver.”
PARTNERING ON PROJECTS MacKellar’s many long-term relationships have been key to the consistent operational success of the company. One such long-standing relationship has been with Jellinbah Mine (Jellinbah Group), where Duncan’s father undertook the first box cut (initial mine development)
back in 1989. The box cut operation involved MacKellar providing small civil sized dump trucks, scrapers and excavators, and today it is the exclusive provider of water trucks to the site. MacKellar continues to provide support and operate as part of the integrated Jellinbah team, and Jellinbah has trusted MacKellar to deliver safe and efficient services continually over this time. The company also still manages and operates Jellinbah’s product stockpile at the Boonal JV rail loadout facility. Whilst MacKellar’s services have varied over the years, it has always had a presence at Jellinbah to support operations through peaks and troughs in production requirements depending on market conditions. This particular relationship has spanned 33 years, and MacKellar still has a large presence at the site that continues to provide various mining services.
MACKELLAR GROUP - CSR MacKellar’s current community support and sponsorships include: • Blackwater Netball Association • Compass Institute Inc. • Harri Jones Racing • ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast /Australian Cycling Academy • Sunshine Coast Wanderers Football Club • Maroochydore Junior Cricket Club Moving forward, the company is looking at new opportunities: • Expand its support of Compass Institute with sponsorship of an assistance dog through their Compass Assistance Dog Program in the hope that MacKellar can make a positive impact to someone living with a disability. https://www.compassinc.org.au/assistance-dogs/ “It is a pleasure to be able to give back to the communities in which we are
Mickala Group Mickala Group is the first choice for extra low voltage LED lighting towers and labour hire to all industries. As a privately owned group of companies, Mickala Group operates across various countries and sectors, with multiple company divisions delivering innovative solutions for Australia’s leading businesses. One such division is Mickala Lighting Towers that today stands as Australia’s leading privately owned OEM LED lighting tower manufacturer, and a company that specialises in exceptional service as well as committed, long-standing relationships with external partners. Mikala Lighting Towers employs skilled professionals who are dedicated to providing company clients with the highest levels of collaboration and service while remaining agile in an ever-changing market. The company has supplied over 500 extra low voltage LED lighting towers globally into the market. When it comes to business relationships, Mickala supplies major mining companies including BHP, Yancoal, Glencore, Rio Tinto, Peabody, Thiess, Golding, MacMahon, MACA Mining, and MacKellar Mining. MacKeller stands out as a primary partner to the company. Mickala has a strong and long-term relationship with MacKeller based on the delivery of outstanding service, products, as well as going above and beyond to meet client requirements. Mickala has provided LED low voltage lighting towers on long-term hire with service agreements in place for over 10 years at various contracted sites MacKellar have been awarded. Mickala is proud to work with MacKeller and looks forward to continuing to work alongside the company in the future.
based or perform our work. We have the unique opportunity to be able to provide support in these areas. We enjoy supporting up and coming talent and have selected various teams and individuals over the years through our application process and internal selection.” – Duncan MacKellar, Managing Director, MacKellar Group
8 | APAC Outlook issue 55
www.mickalagroup.com.au
MICKALA LIGHTING TOWERS
Innovation Through Continuous Improvement Queensland -Head Office, Mackay 6 Turbo Drive Drive Paget QLD 4740 T: 1300 642 525 E: management@mickalagroup.com.au
www.mickalagroup.com.au
MACKELLAR GROUP MINING
Filter and Industrial (FAI) Filter and Industrial partners with MacKellar group to provide a world-first onsite inventory management solution. For the last six (6) years, Filter and Industrial (FAI) has been a proud partner of the MacKellar Group, firmly aligning with their robust business approach of maximising availability and minimising disruptions to production schedules. FAI’s company mission is to supply the mining industry with critical parts and consumables onsite to keep valuable equipment going 24/7. In line with this mission, FAI recently launched TRAKKIT - an onsite vending solution that includes VMI and MRO options. Like a portable “warehouse on wheels”, the TRAKKIT vending boxes are delivered to a mining site filled with critical inventory items ready to dispense within minutes of arrival.
“We have established a five-year partnership contract with Bravus Mining & Resources (Bravus) in which our services are being used for their Carmichael Mine (Carmichael) project,” Duncan tells us. “The site is a greenfield thermal coal mine currently under construction in Queensland’s North Galilee Basin and is going to produce 10 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) of high-quality coal that will be used to generate affordable electricity for communities in the APAC region.” With MacKellar currently providing clear and grub, topsoil removal and a mining box cut, the company has grown to provide the majority of services at this new mine. “The Carmichael project for Bravus is an excellent showcase of what we can do,” Duncan continues. “We are providing a full-service spectrum, where we drill and blast, pre-strip approximately 95 million BCM (bank cubic metres) per annum, as well as offer coal mining services. This 10 | APAC Outlook issue 55
includes the provision of nine vehicle fleets plus project management, engineering, mine planning and operations, and full maintenance support for the fleets.” Utilising multiple Cat 796 fleet being loaded by Liebherr 996B and 9800 excavators, coupled with the Cat 789C and related mining fleet, MacKellar is proudly set to deliver on these milestones. At present, MacKellar is constructing workshops, industrial areas, haul roads and ramps to mining pits and commencement of a long-term mining end-to-end service.
INVESTING IN THE FUTURE To further expand its potential and customer offerings, MacKellar has invested in increasing the capabilities of its head office, especially when it comes to the areas of recruitment, ongoing training for operations and maintenance, engineering expertise, mine planning, apprentice
The TRAKKIT team also re-orders and replenishes. A customer never runs out of stock, and they only pay for what they use. It is a world-first portable VMI/MRO solution invented to secure, track and dispense mining inventory onsite from 2.5g washers up to 70kg plus items. As an early adopter of new mining technology, MacKellar Group has secured TRAKKIT for their Carmichael Mine project in the Galilee Basin in 2022. With MacKellar providing many timecritical services at the Carmichael mine site, spare parts and other critical items for their mining fleet will always be onsite, trackable, and instantly available. MacKellar now boasts another competitive advantage by giving their clients cutting edge operational strategies to minimise disruptions to client production schedules.
www.trakkit.com.au
The only shipping container you’ll ever truly love. www.trakkit.com.au
TRAKKIT INDUSTRIAL VENDING MACHINES. All your critical inventory items onsite behind secure shipping container doors. Request an item via PIN or swipe card access at the front operator station and TRAKKIT dispenses within 45 seconds.
Say hello to TRAKKIT - The smarter way to manage mining inventory onsite. VMI + MRO solutions. In partnership with Filter and Industrial - TRAKKIT is the MacKellar Group’s chosen VMI solution for the Carmichael Coal Mine project.
Purpose built for heavy industry, TRAKKIT comprises of secure, robust hardware (shipping containers) with vending machine technology. Instant, automated stock re-ordering. IM data sent live to the cloud. No more killing time and burning cash waiting for that critical part to arrive. Get TRAKKIT onsite today.
REQUEST A DEMO - sales@trakkit.com.au
MACKELLAR GROUP MINING
DMS Fire Services Established in 2013, DMS Fire Services is a family owned and operated business specialising in Fire Suppression across a large range of sectors. We have become an industry leader and a trusted asset repair and maintenance specialist throughout Queensland. We value our clients and understand the demands of industry so working collaboratively and closely ensure the best possible outcome is achieved especially when repairs are time critical. DMS Fire Services looks forward to continuing its longstanding partnership and proactive service to Mackellar Mining well into the future.
www.dmsgoc.com
programmes and capital equipment, to name a few that make up the company’s deliverables. “Our apprenticeship programmes and traineeships are a big part of what MacKellar stands for,” Duncan tells us proudly. “Giving back to our younger generations and investing in the future is part of our DNA. In the past few years, we have had an intake of 20 new apprentices each year for our mechanical trades. More recently we engaged 60 new-to-industry trainee operators allowing many new starters to enter the mining market. It’s been a busy but very rewarding process.” MacKellar’s investment in a new fleet brings the company’s total number of large mining machines to 375, and on top of this, it has also recently invested in a successful plant hire business in WA, called Western Plant Hire (WPH). “With this investment in place we are able to expand into the WA 12 | APAC Outlook issue 55
region and into new commodities in the resource sector, such as iron ore and gold, while also enabling WPH to offer the WA market a larger suite of equipment,” Duncan continues. “WPH comes with an experienced management team and many existing long-term relationships in WA. The team are very like-minded and have built some outstanding partnerships with indigenous communities in which they operate.”
are seeking to add more rehabilitation services to our portfolio to give back to the environment, and are looking at ways to balance our workforce. “Working alongside indigenous landholders is especially important to us, and we are seeking to support them and our local communities whilst striving for the best outcomes for all our stakeholders and for the benefit of everyone associated with MacKellar.”
PEOPLE AT THE CORE Expansion is truly the way forward for MacKellar. In the current Australian mining environment, the company is continually looking at ways to diversify in both commodities and regions around the country. “We are growing in many areas, including seeking ways to reduce our carbon footprint through new machinery technology such as battery and electric,” observes Duncan. “We
MACKELLAR GROUP Tel: 07 5373 4000 mail@mackellargroup.com.au www.mackellargroup.com.au
MACKELLAR GROUP MINING
FIRE SERVICES WWW.DMSGOC.COM
Since 2013, DMS Fire Services have proudly supported a diverse range of clients across Queensland’s mining, oil and gas, construction, farming and transport sectors. As one of Queensland’s leading provider of Vehicle Fire Suppression, we are committed to delivering consistent and reliable services to all our clients. +61 436 194 694 admin@dmsgoc.com www.dmsgoc.com
Outlook Creative Services
Outlook Publishing’s awardwinning in-house team is now utilising its extensive production skills to offer a full and bespoke range of editorial, design and marketing services via its new Outlook Creative Services division.
Local maintenance provider located at 40 Cottonview Rd Emerald. Our modern workshop has a 10t overhead crane, vehicle hoist, council approved wash down bay. We can provide: • In-workshop component and ancillary equipment repairs • On-site labour • Labour for shutdowns David Staines 0427695215
F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N V I S I T: www.outlookpublishing.com/creative-services
APAC Outlook issue 55 | 13
MACKELLAR GROUP 4 National Park Road, Nambour QLD 4560 Tel: 07 5373 4000 mail@mackellargroup.com.au www.mackellargroup.com.au
PRODUCED BY APAC OUTLOOK MAGAZINE