As one of the biggest, most distinguished mining services companies in Australia, National Group understands it has a key role to play in ensuring its sustainability and ESG practices are first-rate.
National Group has implemented a sustainability strategy to assist its customers on their net-zero journey, while also enabling the respected mining services company to achieve its own environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals.
In today’s mining industry, companies must be vigilant about their sustainability performance and need plans in place to refine and optimise this aspect of the business.
This situation is set amid increasing pressures from investors, governments and other stakeholders who are beholden to their own sustainability obligations.
In an effort to get on the front foot, National Group engaged with external ESG experts to develop its sustainability strategy.
“Our main principles are that we stay ahead of the game, we’re cutting-edge and we make sure we’re doing best practices,” National Group head of marketing and partnerships Kain Ford told Australian Mining.
“One of the key things we do is ensure our fleet of mining equipment is as modern as possible, because the more modern the fleet is, the more cutting-edge features it has to reduce its environmental footprint.”
National Group partners with leading original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) such as Caterpillar, Liebherr, Hitachi and Komatsu, who are all proactive about enhancing sustainability performance and are incorporating the latest technologies to do so.
National Group is in the process of fitting its fleet of Komatsu 830-E dump trucks with Cummins’ modular common rail system (MCRS) engines that utilise high fuel pressure and advanced electronics to precisely control the engine combustion process.
The MCRS has been known to create smooth, quiet engine performance and up to two per cent better fuel economy, driving down costs and carbon emissions, while supporting a 10 per cent longer life-to-overhaul.
And Ford said National Group’s sustainability strategy isn’t just limited to improving environmental outcomes.
“National Group’s sustainability strategy also looks at how we can contribute to the communities we’re involved in, more so on the social front of ESG,” Ford said.
“We wanted to hone in on local communities where we’re working and give back to the people that work in those communities. So we’ve been focused on supporting local sporting groups, which has led to some fantastic initiatives over the past year or two.”
When central Queensland football club Moranbah Bulldogs AFC needed more COVID-safe water bottles in 2021, National Group stepped up to the plate, providing 200 bottles for the club’s juniors during their Australian Football League (AFL) carnival. This was organised by Emily Maddern, National Group’s support and improvement superintendent in the Bowen Basin.
National Group has also supported the Mapoon Indigenous community about 80km north of Weipa on the western Cape York, which sits on the lands of the Tjungundji people.
The Mapoon Community Justice Group was planning a horse-therapy program in the area to combat challenges associated with alcohol, drugs and domestic violence, and needed storage containers to store equipment.
Enter National Group, who – through its work with Rio Tinto’s bauxite mines at Weipa – was able to provide the Community Justice Group with a solution, donating a refurbished 20-foot container and securing another at a subsidised price.
Ford said that while National Group is committed to supporting local communities, it’s also important that values are aligned.
“We want to support organisations and events that have values strongly aligned with those of National Group and our best sponsorships often bring together multiple stakeholders around a common cause,” he said.
“We are committed to supporting remote communities that support us. Many National Group employees live and work in remote towns, so it’s important that we help in those areas when we can.”
National Group has several goals for its sponsorship strategy in 2023, which includes building long-term partnerships in communities with which it operates.
Having already supported the Mapoon Indigenous community through its work in Weipa, National Group will co-sponsor the Weipa Fishing Classic in 2023. The company is also keen to increase its support of health-related charities, particularly mental health.
“Mining can be quite hard on mental health,” Ford said. “A lot of people are doing fly in, fly out (FIFO) and working away from home, and that can be a week, two weeks, three weeks away from family in remote communities.
“We want to ensure our people get all the support they possibly can so they’ve got all the tools they need to help them stay on top of their mental health.
“More broadly, we’re looking at charities that work in this space and whether we can partner with them. It’s something we’re passionate about and Mark (Ackroyd, National Group managing director) is passionate about.
“You’ve got to be happy in your workplace and part of that is also being valued by Mark and all our managers.”
A 100 per cent privately-owned outfit, National Group has big company experience but a family-owned feel that focuses on the customer.
And as National Group grows, the company is constantly working to maintain this ethos.
“Over the last two years, our workforce has grown significantly, and we’ve had to learn how to develop with that growth ourselves,” Ford said.
“Not everyone can have that direct access to Mark as easily as it was in the past, but we still want to ensure our employees can feel that we are still very much a family-owned company and that the communication path is free flowing from top to bottom.”
National Group’s ability to grow and shift with the times is reflective of its commitment to diversification, which has always been embedded in the company but will be of even greater importance in the years to come.
“The key thing for us over the next decade is diversification,” Ford said. “It’s making sure we diversify on a lot of fronts, including technology, sponsorship, social, whatever that may be.
“We don’t just want to be focused on sport, we don’t just want to be focused on mental health, we want to be focused on a range of different things. This also includes fostering our female workforce as well.”
Diversification could also see the company shift into new commodities as future demand profiles change.
“We are thinking more about how we can help companies in the green-metals space as demand for these minerals grows,” Ackroyd said.
“National Group is exceptionally well placed to provide a full end-to-end solution for companies with green-metals projects.”
As one of the biggest, most distinguished mining services companies in Australia, National Group understands the positive impact it can have not just on the mine sites where it operates, but in the local communities that depend on those operations.
The company’s sustainability strategy is proof of this methodology in action.
This feature appears in the June edition of Australian Mining.