bhps nickel experiment

BHP's nickel experiment: workers are like nuggets
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Tuesday, 27 February 2007
Stephen Bell



WANTED: 250 sparkies and plant technicians looking for a sea change in sleepy Ravensthorpe, Western Australia. Experience in ramping up cost-challenged nickel laterite processing facilities will be favourably regarded. The Metal Detective by Stephen Bell.

The above job advertisement was penned by the Metal Detective, who fancies himself as a head-hunter for BHP Billiton's $US2.2 billion Ravensthorpe nickel project.

BHP's official wording may be slightly different than MD's off-the-cuff communiqué.

But the world's biggest miner will soon be advertising in the Appointments Section of newspapers in South America, South Africa and Eastern Europe.

Stung by severe cost blow-outs and delays at its flagship global nickel development, BHP is trying to avoid further problems by luring offshore workers to the remote WA site.




BHP's new Stainless Steel materials chief Jimmy Wilson, who put his feet under the desk January 1, is comfortable that his Ravensthorpe team can meet a revised start-up date of first quarter 2008, compared with the earlier Q2 2007.




With construction nearly 80% complete at the Enhanced pressure Acid Leach facility, that target doesn't look particularly onerous to MD.

But as watchers of the nickel laterite space know well, finishing construction is only half the battle in this type of specialised processing gig.

Getting the expensive chemistry set to regularly pump out nickel – without bits and pieces blowing up – is the hardest part.

Perth-based Minara Resources claimed to have "finished" construction of its Murrin Murrin facility, also in WA, in 1999.

But, after numerous expensive repairs and a dear-death experience for Minara several years ago, Murrin Murrin is yet to reach its nominal capacity of 40,000 tonnes per annum.

It has finally pushed up to nearly 35,000tpa though, creating a profit boom for long-suffering Minara shareholders.

Jimmy Wilson is trying to ensure that Ravensthorpe's ramp-up is a long way short of the six years endured by Murrin Murrin.

BHP's official line is an 18-month build-up, targeting full production in the second half of 2009.

To achieve that timeline, Wilson needs the right sort of people to push the buttons, tweak the gadgets and tighten the screws on all those high-pressure vessels.

Wilson told MD that he's "very confident" BHP will deliver on the forecast, and the company is going through a recruitment drive to ensure it has the necessary plant operators on tap.

At present Ravensthorpe has a construction workforce of around 2500.

BHP has around 400 permanent employees, including contractors, but needs another 250 to fully staff Ravensthorpe.

"There are a few superintendents that we need to hire, and there are a few supervisors, and then tradespeople," Wilson said. "They are difficult to find."

WA's talent pool is nearly dry because of the China-driven commodities boom, which has encouraged billions of dollars worth of nickel, gold, gas and iron ore expansion projects.

"At the end of the day, the pool in WA is stretched," Wilson said.

"So where it is appropriate, we look outside of Australia," he said, adding that BHP intends to bring overseas workers in on 457 work visas, targeting selected towns in South America, Eastern Europe, southern Africa and Canada.

It is a process familiar to Wilson, the former South African executive who moved to Perth in mid-2005 after BHP's $9.2 billion WMC Resources takeover.

"I work on a 457 visa and I'm in the process of attaining my citizenship," he said.

BHP's great talent hunt may be assisted by the location of Ravensthorpe.

At first glance, it looks like the typical mine in the middle of nowhere, or more precisely six hours drive from Perth in the Great Southern farming belt.

But the minesite is only 45 minutes from the pristine coastal hamlet of Hopetoun.

Formerly a fishing spot for local farmers, Hopetoun (population 1000) is bursting at the seams as brickies throw together an estimated 300 new houses for BHP employees.

There is only one pub in town, which must be doing a roaring trade.

After all, building laterite nickel plants is thirsty work.

Here is Jimmy Wilson's list of things to do: 1. Finish building Ravensthorpe. 2. Start filling out a couple of hundred 457 visa applications. 3. Make sure the pub doesn't run out of beer.

It will be fascinating to watch how Hopetoun copes with the expected influx of foreign workers.

With Ravensthorpe boasting a mine life of greater than two decades, we could be witnessing the start of a BHP-backed social experiment: sea change meets nickel mining.

*A feature on Jimmy Wilson and BHP Billiton's Nickel West operations will appear in the March edition of Australia's Mining Monthly magazine.