Resources 2022 was a two-day held at Shantytown on the West Coast in October 2022 that brought together industry experts to talk about existing projects and opportunities and an exhibition of goods and services for the mining industry. At a gala dinner, the following awards were presented:

Rising Star – Nathan Perring, Isaac Construction southern quarry manager

Nathan Perring won the first Rising Star award for his work as manager of Isaac Construction’s Saddle Hill operations. He rapidly addressed a number of issues to bring the quarry into line with both Isaac’s international standards and legislative requirement.

New Zealand’s youngest active quarry manager, Perring used the 2020 Covid lockdown as an opportunity to focus on study to gain industry qualifications.

ESG (a new award recognising the strongest demonstration of an environmental, social and governance programme) – Federation Mining for Snow River mine in Reefton

Federation Mining developed a detailed integrated management system to sustainably manage risk, safety, health, environment, community and stakeholder engagement at the Snowy River mine.

Federation expects Snowy River’s emissions per ounce of gold produced will sit in the lowest industry quartile.

Other steps to lower Snowy River’s environmental impact include using low emission machines, prioritising renewable energy, recycling and reusing water, and progressive rehabilitation to return the land to its natural state following mining operations.

Its engagement plan began has included identifying 1,000 stakeholders within a 30-kilometre radius, including Government and non-Government organisations, and communicating with them through meetings, newsletters, social media and sustainability reporting.

Innovation – OceanaGold

OceanaGold won the Innovation award for its adaptive water management and passive treatment system at its Globe Progress restoration project.

The restoration of the former Globe Progress Mine has trialled several innovative measures to ensure the water discharge from the site meets all quality standards.

OceanaGold designed full-scale, passive treatment systems for its pit lake and under drain seepages post closure.

Health and Safety – Bathurst Resources

Bathurst Resources won the Health and Safety award for its managing occupational hygiene programme.

The programme, which began in 2019, seeks to improve health and safety interventions higher up the hierarchy of controls to reduce reliance on PPE and improve worker health.

Bathurst engaged a qualified occupational hygienist with more than 10 years of mining experience to work as company coach.

The capacity of site personnel has significantly improved, with a dramatic increase in occupational health hazards reports. Workers are actively engaged in the monitoring and want to know not only the result but what it means and how controls protect them in their day-to-day activities.