no mention of umc...

12 November 2009 | by Michael Mills

Australian Mining - Australia's premier mining news website last night recognised the winners of the 6th Annual Prospect Awards at a gala ceremony in at Doltone House, Sydney.

BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance’s (BMA) Saraji open cut coal mine in Queensland took out the coveted Australian Mine of the Year Award.

The mine also shared the Coal Mine of the Year Award with Anglo Coal Australia’s Moranbah North mine, also in Queensland.

OZ Minerals’ Prominent Hill mine in South Australia was the winner in the Metalliferous Mine of the Year Award, capping off a remarkable 12 months for the company.

Cement Australia’s Sandra Collins was recognised for her pioneering 30 year career with the Outstanding Contribution to Mining Award.

A multiple winner on the night, Collins also received the Mine Manager of the Year Award, along with Rio Tinto Northparkes’ Dr Craig Stegman.

Australian Mining editor Cole Latimer said the judges had faced a difficult task picking the winners from an outstanding field of finalists.

“In a field with so many high quality and innovative companies and mining industry professionals, it was hard to narrow it down to a single winner, however with the help from our highly regard judges, we chose those finalists who have shown best practice and developed innovative technologies over the past year.”

The 6th annual Australian Mining Prospect Awards aimed to recognise and reward excellence in the Australian mining industry across 12 categories.

This year saw record numbers of entries in several categories, including Minerals Processing Plant of the Year, Innovative Mining Solutions and Excellence in Mine OH&S.


The winners and highly commended finalists in each category are listed below.


Contract Miner of the Year
Sinclair Knight Merz
CDE Capital (Highly Commended)

Employer of Choice
Alcoa of Australia
Nucrush (Highly Commended)

Excellence in Environmental Management
DuPont (Australia) - Anglo Coal
Rio Tinto Iron Ore -Tom Price (Highly Commended)

Explorer of the Year
Energy Resources of Australia
Atlas Iron (Highly Commended)

Innovative Mining Solutions
CRCMining
Robotic Automation (Highly Commended)

Excellence in Mine OH&S (Shared Winners)*
Robotic Automation
Awaba Centennial Coal

Minerals Processing Plant of the Year
Xstrata Copper - Ernest Henry Mining
Hill End Gold (Highly Commended)

Most Outstanding Contribution to Mining
Sandra Collins - Cement Australia East End Mine
Rod Morrison - Department of Primary Industries (Highly Commended)
Frank De Hoog -CSIRO Mathematical and Information Sciences (Highly Commended)

Metalliferous Mine of the Year
OZ Minerals - Prominent Hill
Rio Tinto - Northparkes Mines (Highly Commended)
MMG – Century (Highly Commended)

Coal Mine of the Year (Shared Winners)
BMA Saraji Mine
Anglo Coal Australia Moranbah North
Rio Tinto – Tom Price (Highly Commended)

Mine Manager of the Year (Shared Winners)*
Sandra Collins - Cement Australia East End Mine
Dr Craig Stegman - Rio Tinto Northparkes Mines

Mine of the Year
BMA Saraji Mine

* In instances were the award was shared, the Highly Commended prize was not awarded.

I am sure UMC holders (or former holders) could come up with an appropriate award for the UMC team... LOL