Onesteel whyalla employment

I was going nowhere and theGet Set program gave me the confidence that I neededto gain employment. The Get Set program gave me moreinsight into the trades and gave me a way intoemployment. Now having secured an apprenticeship, Ihave set some future goals for myself, such as buyinga house, car and a boat. EnvironmentOne of the main challenges for OneSteel Whyalla is to minimiseits impact on the surroundingenvironment.

Project Magnet hasalready gone a long way to solvingthe red dust issue, although thereis still some work ahead of us. Despite dust being a significantfocus, we have started looking atother ways to reduce any negativeenvironmental impacts we may have.

The pellet plant is now fed by a wet magnetiteslurry, eliminating the dry, fine material whichwas previously produced and could easilybecome airborne. The ECG has worked closely with OneSteel toset a fair and reasonable target that makes thecompany accountable for its actions. Two other key challenges for usinclude reductions in water usageand improved energy efficiency.

Weare committed to tackling each ofthese challenges and bringing aboutmajor improvements in the process.

This means allactivities with the potential to generate dust inthe area are required to have an environmentalmanagement plan or similar in place beforethe job can start. A speed restriction has alsobeen placed on all roads with a high risk ofdust generation and water carts are used moreregularly for dust suppression. Our efforts to decrease dustProject Magnet on-lineNow Project Magnet has come on-line, there arealready visible improvements in the east endof town.

The most obvious difference is in thepellet plant, which was regularly shrouded in ahaze of red dust pre-Magnet. New targetsThe Community Dust Target has been developedwith the aim of demonstrating year-on-yearimprovements as the benefits of Magnetcome on-line.

These include the remediationof stockpiles and the cleaning and gradualdemolition of redundant equipment. However, now that all drying, grinding, crushingand screening operations have almost entirelybeen removed, the plant has practically nored dust emissions and its impact on thecommunity has been significantly reduced.

The target specifies the number of days peryear the Steelworks is allowed to exceed acertain level of fugitive matter in the air. Thishas started with 10 days in and will workdown to five by and beyond. Environment cont. The Community Dust Target is reported weeklyin the Whyalla News and, for transparency, thedust readings from Schulz Reserve and WallsStreet are published alongside it to show howthe target is calculated. Export material removed from thenorthern stockpilesThe last of the export material was removedfrom the northern stockpiles at the beginningof July This is another step forward toreducing potential dust sources within the areaadjacent to the community, as the stockpileshave been one of the main remaining sources offugitive dust now Magnet is on-line.

The hematite centrix material will be relocatedby the end of and a management plan willbe developed for removing the pellets storedin this area. OneSteel aims to have the northernstockpile area cleared and covered ensuringit can no longer have a negative impact on thecommunity by June Road trainsAnother major milestone was reached onFebruary 1 with the final trucked delivery ofiron ore for export into the northern stockpiles.

This final delivery cut out a major portion ofroad train traffic along Playford Avenue. At thepeak of the road train increase, there were 25vehicles operating 24 hours a day, seven daysa week, resulting in more than road traindeliveries per week.

While road trains still operate along that stretchof road, residents have already witnessed asignificant reduction in road train movements. We will still require a number of road trains tobring material to the Steelworks, such as coolantfor Steelmaking, blast furnace lump materialfor the emergency stockpile area, rock wallarmouring and a small shipment of special gradelump material.

However, this is nowhere near thetraffic experienced in recent years and residentsshould have noticed a cleaner, safer, less activestretch of road. OneSteel has always been aware of the potentialimpact of the increased movements and put anumber of initiatives in place during the extendedcampaign to minimise any negative spin-offs.

Playford Avenue is now noticeably cleaner thanthe same time last year, and we are endeavouringto have a clean-up project take place to see itfurther improved. Removal of redundant structuresand equipmentIn December, work began on the removal ofredundant pellet plant structures. A planwas developed for a three-phase approach,with the first phase focusing on the numberthree screening plant.

Someservices needed to be re-routed before theremoval of the electrical equipment could takeplace. All electrical equipment was removed bythe end of May making the plant inoperable. Themechanical scope of work has been developedand has now gone out to tender. It is anticipatedthat this stage will be completed by the end ofAugust which will then allow the structure itselfto be taken down.

There are a number of structures and equipmentrelated to the pellet plant that are no longerrequired, and over the years they have gatheredlarge quantities of fugitive dust. By removingthese redundant structures, we can ensure theywill never impact on the community again. Closure of number one screening plantThe number one screening plant was thelast of the screening plants to remain inoperation after the cut over of the pellet plantto magnetite feed.

The plant was required toscreen the lump feed for the blast furnace. The screening plant was shut down for the finaltime on the 25th of June, , the materialstored in the reclaim shed was removed and thebase of the shed was cleaned. This is anotherstep towards achieving the benefits associatedwith Project Magnet. Dust control networkplant transition to magnetite feed. Althoughmagnetite is being observed in the samples,the levels were very low up to June Amonth monitoring program will allow a fullunderstanding of dust types.

Water savings OneSteel was using about megalitres ofwater every year to suppress dust on unsealedroads at the peak of the northern stockpiles. This is equivalent to the annual water usage ofnearly South Australian households. Ofthis, about megalitres is fresh water —the equivalent of about householdsor Olympic-sized swimming pools. It is hoped thiswill potentially save between and megalitres per year.

Another project is in placeat the Concentrator to return recovered waterfrom the tailings storage facility TSF to a tank. From there, it will be used to fill the water cartsThe dust control network has continued tobe an excellent aid in identifying potentialoffsite impact sources. Four continuousmonitors allow operators to identify potentialdust sources within designated zones and,where practicable, they can then put additionalcontrols in place to reduce offsite impacts. During this year, a new portable standpipe wasfabricated and a new pump system installedto allow all water carts to access the recycledprocess water dam.

This increased accessto recycled water allowed us to cut back onour Murray usage, which is beneficial for thecompany and the environment. Red dust levels reducedRed dust levels within the community haveshowed a noticeable reduction and feedbackfrom residents has been very positive interms of the visible difference.

Although ourmonitoring is showing that some dusts fromthe Steelworks are having an off-site impact,these are at much reduced levels. Howeverinvestigations are still underway to identifythe potential dust sources. Sampling to dateindicates that the dominant dust is a darkerhematite than the freshly crushed and groundhematite that was present before the pelletThe recycled water is actually wastewater fromthe various processes within the Steelworks.

Wewere also able to identify an additional watersource to feed into the caster dam to assist inincreasing the available recycled water supply. With the reduction in vehicle movements andactivity within the northern stockpile area,we have been able to reduce the total waterusage on roads to around megalitres, allof which is being sourced from recycled water.

In addition to the standpipe, trials have beencarried out using dust-binding agents on roadsand material handling areas.

The results showA new portable standpipe and pumpsystem has allowed all water carts toaccess recycled water from the caster dam. Rare plant species atthe mine siteYellow Swainson PeaThe Yellow Swainson Pea Swainsona pyrophila was thought likely to exist near Iron Duke becausehabitat, climate and location suited this plant.

However, flora surveys conducted in the areaprior to mining failed to locate a specimen. Anunrelated survey of likely locations on EyrePeninsula located one plant in the MiddlebackRanges just north of Iron Knight.

A furtherproject at the ore beneficiation plant will seeupgrade work carried out at the thickener,capable of saving about megalitres per year. Thishas already paid dividends with several ideasset to be implemented throughout the currentfinancial year. Other initiatives introduced across the siteincluded gradually replacing lawn areas withbark and gravel to reduce the requirementfor watering irrigation; a water awarenesscampaign which saw a water-saving leafletdistributed to all employees and contractorshighlighting ways to conserve water both atwork and at home; and the introduction ofdual-flush toilets, AAA-rated showerheads, flowrestrictors and waterless urinals across morethan 60 percent of the site.

Environment awardsFor the first time, OneSteel recognised itsemployees and contractors for outstandingenvironmental efforts. While safety excellencehad been recognised for some time, we decidedto host our inaugural Safety and EnvironmentalExcellence Awards.

Four new environment categories wereintroduced, and the initiative was well supportedby OneSteel employees and contractors, withthe calibre of entrants extremely high. Bustard sightingsA number of rare Bustards were sighted atthe Steelworks this year. An environment briefwas issued to warn people of their presenceand to remind personnel that these are anendangered species.

Above: Plans are in place to improve the efficiencyof the magnetite thickener at the Concentrator,potentially saving up to megalitres per year. Swainsona pyrophila is listed under theCommonwealth Environment Protection andBiodiversity Conservation Act as vulnerable,and under our State National Parks and WildlifeAct as rare, and is therefore a protectedplant. Ironically, during a subsequent florasurvey conducted this year, a very healthyplant — covered in flowers and seedpods — wasdiscovered in a disturbed area cleared for theMagnet TSF decant pond.

This is good newsas it shows that this plant, although rare, is acoloniser of disturbed soils. Subsequently the Mines and Export environmentadvisor will conduct some germination trialswith a view to populating the Magnet TSF topsoilstockpiles with this plant. This will effectivelycreate a seed source ensuring survival andpossible increase in plant numbers for theSouthern Middleback Ranges area.

OneSteel will conductgermination trials in the hope of increasing numbers. UniSA is establishing a regional sustainabilityresearch centre based at its Whyalla campusand will undertake a variety of programs thatfocus on the future of regional and rural centresin Australia. OneSteel is particularly interested in the solarenergy storage opportunities that may allowcontinuous power generation, as is required byindustries that operate 24 hours a day. Environmental awareness trainingWe have developed a training program toimprove the environmental awareness of ouremployees and contractors.

The aim is toensure they plan proactively to prevent theiroperations having a negative environmentalimpact. OneSteel is working on decreasing its energyusage through improving efficiency, particularlythrough better use of our waste gases.

We havebeen seeking assistance from our workforceby introducing the Opportunities for Whyallascheme, which encourages employees to suggestideas to save the company money and help makeit more efficient and environmentally responsiblein any way possible. This has received somegreat responses and we will continue to push thisinitiative in the coming year.

OneSteel has one remaining significant marinedischarge — the effluent from the coke makingprocess. The reed bed treatment systemtreats a percentage of this effluent, then thewastewater from this process is returned to thequenching tower to quench coke. The remaining phenol will be treatedby a combination of the reed bed treatmentsystem and the coke ovens pond system.

Case Study: Jeff AndersenInaugural EnvironmentLeader of the YearAs an employee of Onesteel in the coke ovens,I have seen practices change and have beeninvolved in engineering solutions to minimiseeffects on the environment.

This involves notonly keeping the plant clean, but also lookingat the extension of the life of the plant. Thismeans making things easier to maintain sothat they work properly and operate reliablyto prevent environmental incidents, notusing resources to continually replace thingsthat break, and not operating machineryinefficiently thus consuming extra power.

With the commissioning of the magnetiteConcentrator at the mine site, there was asignificant increase in the use of water. To combat this higher than anticipated waterusage, OneSteel has put together a strategyaimed at saving megalitres and making megalitres. The combination of these willensure OneSteel is well below its allocationlevel for water.

I am a member of a committee that is activelylooking at reducing the impact of coal dustupon the Steelworks through the coke makingoperations. Incremental improvements havebeen achieved while operating with minimalbudgets and personnel have included thesetasks in their day-to-day work. Reducing dust isgood for the plant and good for the environment. A healthy, sustainable environment to workin should be the right, and expectation, ofevery employee.

Employees should alsominimise their impact or preferably enhancetheir effect on the environment whether atwork or at home. In his usualthe eastern part of Whyalla. All of the hardreducing reliance on the Murray, energy useset at 50 micrograms per cubic metre. Theconscientious fashion, Clint chaired the ECGwork and countless hours put in by OneSteel and greenhouse gas emissions will be on themeasure remains important as it is designedfor a number of years and was a very valuableemployees and contractors involved in Projectagenda, along with marine discharges.

Unfortunately ClintMagnet has delivered a business on a sounderfinancial footing and a cleaner environment. Wind direction is also taken into account whendetermining the Community Dust Target. The Community Dust Target holdsthe company accountable for its contributionto fine dust particles, but it is that contributionwhich pushes the particulate load at WallsStreet over the NEPM.

We wish him all the best forthe future. Eddie HughesChairEnvironment Consultation Groupcomes to reducing dust levels but the generalclean up around the pellet plant, demolition ofredundant infrastructure and the removal of thenorthern stockpiles will also lead to an incrementalimprovement in dust levels. The ECG will monitorprogress over the next year on the above activitiesas well as general dust management. With the appointment of an independentassessor as part of the Community Clean-UpProgram, we are now moving closer to the cleanup of dust-affected properties and a generalimprovement in the visual appearance of the oldpart of Whyalla.

The ECG will be heavily involvedin the remediation process. OneSteel canonly be held accountable for the dust it generates from its operations,which is where the Community Dust Target plays its part. Whyalla has a lot going for it and I spend a lot oftime soaking up some of the many advantagesincluding having the conveniences of a large citywithout the hassle of traffic, noise and pollution;being able to get anywhere within 10 minutes ofleaving home; sunny warm days; fantastic nightskies viewing; and friendly faces.

It is myhope that my training and experience in naturalresource management can be useful and assistin the development of positive, sustainableoutcomes for the group and for the Whyallacommunity. So what drives me? I have a strong sense of community and the importance ofcommunities being engaged in making decisionsabout their future. It is my belief that educationand the willingness to learn underpin the abilityof any community in achieving this.

I alsobelieve in the importance of communities takingresponsibility for the care and protection of theenvironment to ensure the resource base andthings we take for granted as part of our naturalenvironment are there for future generationsto use and experience in a sustainable manner.

Sadly, the ECG had to farewell a long-standingmember and chairman in Clint Garrett earlierin the year. Clint has long had a passion forenvironmental conservation and joined the groupas a community representative in March He has had a deeply rooted interest in theenvironment extending back more than 20years.

During his time on council, he workedon the Local Environment Plan and was keento tackle what he saw as a serious issue withfugitive dust in the eastern end of town. Clint soon became chair of the ECG in Sept and oversaw numerous achievements in the pastfew years. This included conducting focus groupswith members of the public to ascertain theirfeelings on how dust impacted on their lives. Clint chose to resign from the group so hecould focus on his job while also completing aGraduate Diploma in Knowledge and InformationManagement.

He will retire from teaching at theend of the year. For now, he will continue to championenvironmental concerns such as the WhyallaConservation Park, and said he would like to seegreater support for conservation issues fromSouth Australian industry. We thank you for your valuable contributionsduring your time on the ECG, Clint, and wish youall the best in your future endeavours. While previously the pellet plant was fed usinghematite ore which would come in dry on theback of rail wagons, we now mine magnetite foruse in the steelmaking process.

This comes toPelletising consisting of the filter flux plantand the pellet plant in a wet slurry via apipeline from the Concentrator. For the first part of the process, entirely newcrushing and screening equipment was built atthe Iron Duke mine site.

This alleviated the needfor ore to be crushed and screened in Whyallaat the pellet plant and removed a major sourceof fugitive dust. Once the ore has been through the threecrushing and screening circuits, it entersthe new Concentrator facility. This plant — builtespecially for Project Magnet — converts the dryore into a wet slurry for transportation to Whyalla. The ore first enters the high pressure grindingrolls where it is reduced to a smaller size beforeentering the magnetic separators. Theseseparate the magnetite from the unwantedmaterial, with the waste material collectedin the tailings dam.

From there, the separatedmagnetite enters the ball mill where it is groundand progressively reduced using steel balls.

Itthen enters a further magnetic separation,producing the final grade concentrate which issent to the thickener tanks to be thickened. The final slurry is sent to Whyalla via anunderground, kilometre pipeline. It firstarrives at the filter flux plant, where the aimis to reduce the moisture content so the orecan be fed into the pellet plant for processing. Limestone and dolomite fluxes are added beforethe concentrate is pumped into the pressurefilter cloths.

Water is then removed through Excesswater is sent back to the Concentrator viathe return water pipeline to be reused in theprocess and ensure no water is being wasted.

The remainder of the steelmaking process thenremains essentially unchanged compared topre-Magnet steelmaking.

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