Tonnes of waste concrete amass on mine sites every year, and disposal costs often run into the millions – until now.
As the Australian mining industry gears up for a net-zero push, major innovations in technology are needed to make the leap to a greener future.
Fortunately, many of those innovations are here.
Decades of experience, not to mention being in the right place at the right time, was what led to Remote Area Concrete chief executive officer Roger Osborn’s innovation that could save the mining industry millions and keep countless tonnes of concrete out of landfill.
Osborn’s idea was to produce relocatable concrete modules for, but not restricted to, short- or long-term workshops and wash-down pads for trucks, as well as a multitude of other infrastructure requirements.
The concrete slabs traditionally used for workshops and washing are broken up and discarded when no longer needed at the site, but Osborn’s specially-designed modules have changed that approach.
“After being out of the industry for a while, a previous client contacted me regarding a wash-pad for a short-term project he was working on,” Osborn told Australian Mining. “At the time I was helping a mate who was short a truck driver for his sideloader which was carting sea containers from the wharves.
“Realising the lifting capacity of the side loader and the ability to move modules of such a dimension as to be stable when positioned, I set about the designing process and had heavy-duty concrete modules engineered that would be suitable for multiple uses.”
Across Australia, thousands of traditional concrete slabs are used every year with no potential for resale, and those slabs have to be installed.
This requires imported manpower, and quite often limited site accommodation, along with demolition and disposal using rockbreakers and tippers. This can come with huge costs to mine operators when the project is completed or no longer viable.
The result is wasted concrete clogging up the environment and hundreds of thousands of dollars forked out by mines to have another slab built nearby.
But Remote Area Concrete’s relocatable concrete modules are designed to lock in together to form one strong unit that easily detaches when the project has been completed, rather than needing rockbreakers and tippers, not to mention cutting of re-enforcement and dumping of precious resources into landfill. Once in landfill, these resources become useless.
The Remote Area Concrete modules are able to be transferred quickly and economically to an alternative location, using easily available equipment and can be reconfigured to multiple designs.
“The versatility of the modules makes them suitable for several industries,” Osborn said. “There is no requirement for provision on newly sourced materials. RAC standard layout requires 80m3 of concrete or approximately 140 tonnes of sand or aggregate and 36 tonnes of cement.
“Relocating can happen in as quickly as a day. It converts workshops and previous heavy infrastructure from being a liability to a saleable asset.”
With savings of up to $230,000 per workshop, Remote Area Concrete sees a big future in bringing versatility and sustainability to the mining industry and beyond.
“We believe that there are so many options for our modules,” Osborn said. “At the moment, our target is mining; however, civil projects will be targeted, as will potential hire opportunities.”
Having successfully installed its first relocatable concrete module on a mine site, Remote Area Concrete was able to deliver a cost-effective solution to a long-term problem.
“The client has already found that a change of circumstances has given them the opportunity of relocating their workshop and enabling them to prioritise their newest acquisition,” Osborn said.
Happy customers, happy environment, happy industry. Remote Area Concrete is committed to supplying the future landscape of mining with a focus on cost effectiveness and sustainability.
As the mining industry faces the challenge of net-zero targets and decarbonisation, it’s innovations like Remote Area Concrete’s – innovations that rethink the way it’s always been done – that will grow the industry, support the economy, and protect the environment.
This feature appeared in the November 2023 issue of Australian Mining.