Philippines and the Didipio Daze

I recently traveled to the Philippines with the major purpose being a week on site at the Oceanagold Didipio mine working with the geology group. This gold and copper deposit is named Dinkidi and is part of a regionally prospective area for copper. Currently it is being mined as an open pit with its future being an underground mine, giving a total mine life of about 16+ years. Production started later 2012 (just before I first visited) with the mill starting up in late 2012.

One of the road drying payan crops, complete with a local bike club (there were another 15 or so behind us).

Getting to site requires a flight from Manila to Cauayan (Coo-eye-an) and then vehicle transport to site. From Cauayan to Didipio is only about 110km, but takes about 3 hours due to the traffic and the roads. At this time of year the roads are also used as a drying area for the local Payan crop, which causes more delays when there are no shoulders to the road. But once on site it's check in to the camp and then go and meet the geology group for the first time in a year. 

This time last year I was on site setting up the grade control system and there were only two geologists. Now there are seven on site and they were all sharing a small office with me, trying to suck in as much information as they could. The group all certainly did a good job of doing so and as with most training classes it all became a little more relaxed towards the end. The last day on site was spent helping those in need and showing off some of the MineSight product for the engineering group as well. 

The geology group and our native lunch "boxes", a four course meal with rice, soup, a meat and a vegetable compartment. All in a convenient to carry arrangement.

Half way through the stay on site, Typhoon Usagi was within range of the mine, leading to some extra rain and winds for a couple of days. So just like when I was on site a year ago, a typhoon influences the weather pattern. However this time I’m not booked on a plane back to Manila that would be cancelled (leading to a 14 hour drive), but pre-organised ground transport. So only a 9 hour trip. Fortunately on drive out day the winds had abated and skies were back to relative normality.

Looking from the ROM pad over the camp, mine offices and the village of Didipio in the background.

So while the mine is about 270km from Manila as the lethargic carrier pigeon flies, the drive is about 370km. But part of the reason for it taking so long is the average 20km/h for the first hour over rough dirt roads. Then no more than about a 45km/h average until hitting the motorway for the last hour and a half. Those clear skies that were there for the start of the trip certainly disappeared by the second half of it which also didn't help the pace. All the scooter and tricycle riders and passengers were doing their best to stay dry, but for the most part they weren't succeeding.

Arriving back in Manila the weather was rain. Rain, rain and more rain as it’s the wet season, plus the extents of the typhoon as well. But at least the hotel was close to the local shopping center, which makes for a great place to fill in some time. And the office of Freeport McMoran Exploration, Philippines was only a two hundred metre walk from the hotel (and another hundred to the shopping center/resort). So a day was spend with a couple of the FMI geologists and then a last night relaxing in town and making sure everything was packed. This included making sure all flights were on time due to the passing of Usagi into China and causing all sorts of flight delays. So with all flights still on time and confirmed off to bed.

Up on Tuesday, head to the airport, check in. Nope, no check in as the Hong Kong to Perth leg had been cancelled due to the weather. Grrr. Oh well, an extra two nights in Manila it is before tryign to head back again on Thursday. Book into a hotel again and try and organise a decent way to fill in my recently relocated day. I’ve always wanted to go and see Mount Pinatubo and the spare day in Manila would be an excellent opportunity to do so. Unfortunately all volcano tours were not running for the same reason the planes weren't flying. New plan required. So to fill in some time and catch up on work it's up to the business center. 

On the top level of the hotel is the business center, it's not a bad view either. A little distracting from the work though when looking across to the Makati part of Manila.

So while the extra day wasn't the most exciting day, it was good to relax, catch up on reports and the like and generally recover. The level of service from the 15 door and bell hop staff as you walk past the front desk is high, but sometimes it feels like you're back in a department tore with people asking if they can help you and mentioning for you to have a nice day every 5 seconds. I guess I'm not used to it and a little more independent than most of the travelers going through there. Not that I'm complaining mind, it is a good hotel and complex. The adjoining hotel has a central casino and a high quality mall surrounding it. This was good for a bit of sightseeing and a leg stretch as well. Surrounding the Marriott complex is a substantial construction field. As seen in the picture above, the buildings on the left are new apartments being built. There are a good 20 acres of them going up between the hotel and the airport and these are all for a higher class residence. Actually, on that note, Manila as a whole continues to be building up at a fast rate. There are residential towers being built in the city centres as well, and have been for the last few years I've been passing through.

So on Thursday morning it was time to check out again and head for the airport. This time all seems to be good, bags checked in, through security and relax with the knowledge that at least this time all should be as on schedule as any set of flights would be.

Porgera

Barrick Porgera JV is an open pit and underground gold mine located in the Enga Province of Papua New Guinea's Western Highlands. The mine sits towards the top of the Porgera Valley at about 2300m above sea level and receives approximately 3.4m of rain a year (a little less than the Ok Tedi mine at about 10m a year).

To get to site requires a trip from Perth to Cairns, where after a few hours sleep (I blame the cricket and the people on various balconies outside my room) an early check in awaits. From Cairns to Mt Hagen takes you over some of the reefs of northern Queensland and over the flat lands tributaries and then some of the mountains of Papua New Guinea. This was done in a brand new plane, less than 2 weeks old. It would seem the flight crew and the passengers were all happy to have a new toy with better facilities. Upon arrival at Mt Hagen a short disembarkation allows you to go through customs and immigration before hopping on to a twin-otter or a helicopter for the short flight (over and between mountain ranges) up to the Porgera airport.

Due to the rugged nature of the area, the airport (next to Mt Paiam) has a short landing strip which resembles a ski jump to allow the planes "enough" space to gather up enough speed to take off, or drop enough speed to stop upon landing. It's certainly a fun experience, especially for take off when you look through the front window of the plane and see the end of the runway and only air beyond. I guess it beats seeing a cliff at the end of the runway though.

Between the airport and the mine and camp is about 20 minutes of rough roads. This takes you through a couple of villages and past the original airstrip which is now a bustling marketplace. The bus ride does take in some amazing scenery, it's just unfortunate that circumstances dictate that you can't really take advantage of them. Due to some of the local conflicts, the mine vehicles all have a mesh covering to help protect the windows from being broken care of misplaced flying objects.

So around midday we have been checked in to our camp rooms before going off to complete the basic site induction for visitors. This made an opportune time to let the office know I had arrived on site and all was going well. 2 minutes after sending that email of course my laptop packed it in. Not what you want before even reaching the office where you will be spending the next 8 days trying to help update systems and run training. It would appear that Sony laptops are allergic to me :(

The better part of the afternoon is then spent reintegrating with the open pit mine geology group and the process used to update the model from the drilling that takes place. Once reintegration has taken place, it was time for dinner, some light reading and an early night to make up for the lack of sleep in Cairns.
Monday was the first real real day of working then and this involved going through the "errors" that were being generated by various steps within the process I was on site to help out with. So by the end of the day the "errors" were pretty much resolved and it was more into improving other parts of the process and the supporting tasks. Testing and improving also involves training those that are the site champions of these processes. This proved to be a very successful part of the trip, with new skills being taken in by those who were there to learn.

Looking over the bottom half of the camp. The mine is back across to the left.

The evenings were spent either watching tv, at the gym, walking up and down the camp (about 50m height difference between the bottom and top of camp, with about 450m each direction), or reading. But when laying in bed there is half a chance of hearing the "thump thump thump" of the tear gas canisters being let off against the illegal miners who abound in this part of the world. Of course, firing of tear gas means the guard dogs are barking (which sets of the town dogs behind the camp), the illegals are yelling and screaming, and all in all it makes sleep a little more interesting to come by. But it's all part of the adventure and certainly isn't the first time I've heard it here. Nor was it the last for the trip.
And just for fun on the Thursday morning, some tear gas was dispensed on the hill above the office, so 10 minutes later (because no one thought to shut the windows) everyone starts getting cleared noses and itchy eyes. And for some reason it seems to give the same sensation as eating a couple of chilies. Funny that. Add it to the experience list.

As the trip went on, the other outcomes required were achieved. New model data imported to relevant projects, new models created, updates made and training carried out. Thursday brought about a new influx of workers into the mining office. This meant I had some contact time with the main person responsible for bringing me to site. This allowed for final details and queries to be sorted out so the weekend would be as productive as possible.

This is the view from just outside the mining office looking up the stairway to heaven. This is part of a multi million dollar fence that surrounds the mine and the camp. It is supposed to keep the illegal miners out, but isn't as effective as it's supposed to be. Due to the high nugget effect of the gold mine, some of the "new" locals are pretty ingenious when it comes to ways to make it into the mining area.

The rest of the week had the systems sorted out and new ideas put into the process. Plus a little bit of time spent with some of the other users on site in order to help them with the newer features of the software. 

Due to the earlier mentioned nuggety orebody, there is a very significant security presence on site. This means that you have a good chance each day of having a random search. As you go through checkpoints you swipe and the colourful lights tell you whether you get to go into a side room and get patted down, or just continue out the gate. I was averaging a search a day until the last day where for some reason the lights were kind and no search needed. 

So Monday rocks around and all is finalised with what I need to do on site. The morning is beautiful fly out weather, clear blue skies for the first time in my swing on site. Unfortunately by the time we were approaching the airstrip the drizzle had set in and the chances of leaving were looking slim. Thankfully after checking in we had the clouds clear out enough for the planes to take off and we made it to Mt Hagen and then to Cairns. So in Cairns there was time for a quick run, curry, some cricket (when I last looked the Aussies were only one down) a short sleep and then the early flight home via Brisbane. Unfortunately my bags took an extra 8 hours to make it back to Perth as the 40 minute changeover in Brisbane was a little short for the ground staff. Usually they do alright. 

Anyway, back home so time for a run and to go for a drive :)

And some sunshine would be nice too.

Tabubil, Ok Tedi and the Tru Kai Fun Run

Any trip to Papua New Guinea from Perth will take almost two days to accomplish, at the very least. Heading to Tabubil in the Western Highlands to train Ok Tedi Mining personnel was no different. The Perth to Cairns leg usually has a stop in the Northern Territory, be it Alice Springs or Uluru. This trip was the former before arriving in Cairns late evening. This gives time to check into the hotel, go for a quick walk and grab some dinner before settling in for the night.

Flying from Cairns to Tabubil gives a view of some of the Great Barrier Reef (cloud permitting) before requiring a quick stop at Horn Island for a refuel and then on to Tabubil. On the days with little cloud cover this second part of the flight  also has some great scenery of meandering water courses of the lowlands  and the hills around Tabubil upon landing.

On this trip after arriving in Tabubil it was into the accommodation and then to the training centre for a quick induction prior to making sure the training room was set up. Induction complete, training room ready, training started. So the afternoon was spent going through some geostatistics with a couple of senior geologists. Good fun, or it is to me.

At the end of the day, being a Monday, the Star Mountains Hash House Harriers meet up and go for a random run around before dinner and talk. It's a great way to end every Monday when in Tabubil. It gets you out of your accommodation, gets you socialising, and more importantly gets you active. Running in 99.9999% humidity and high 20 degrees makes for a very sweaty activity. I think I would have been less wet had I just showered with all my clothes on. But it is good fun and having other people around always helps with the running motivation.

Tuesday began the regular training of geologists who needed to learn how to utilise MineSight a little more effectively for their jobs. There were two classes that would each run for three days with the Sunday off breaking up the second course. The attendees were all receptive which is always a good thing when teaching :)

So the Sunday happened to be the day of the Tru Kai Fun Run. This is a 5km fundraising and awareness run that this year was dedicated to helping raise the awareness of TB in Papua New Guinea. The event is run in a number of locations throughout PNG and Tabubil was one of them. So at about 645 on the morning of my day off I've joined about a hundred others to run through some torrential rain for half an hour. Though to be honest, as a lot of people also walked and by the time some of us had finished it was going to be another 45 minutes before the presentations, I figured another lap of the course would be a good thing. And yes it was still raining, but it did help fill in the time and when you're already wet it doesn't matter too much. So another 5km later and it was presentation time. What was really encouraging was the fasted three were all young local guys, some of which are part of the Tabubil Triathlon Club as well.

A little later when the rain had dies of a couple of us went mountain biking out of town. Really we just rode mountain bikes down the gravel road out of town for 40 minutes which was a lot of fun, but not much in the way of flat pedaling. I didn't realise just how much the downhill outweighed the uphill as the ride back took just over an hour, and the profile of the ride is pretty interesting to see as well. My time wasn't particularly helpful to those I was cycling with as my descending skills are absent, though I did usually catch up when going back up the hills. Usually. Until we were nearly back into Tabubil anyway.  But it was certainly fun and always nice to do something on a day off in town.

The afternoon off ended up being a little more involved as I spent it with the Exploration Manager and we did a bit of training and making geological shapes. It's the sort of thing we do when we pretend to be grown up geos instead of just drawing shapes on paper sections and colouring them in. That's right, geologists are really just paid to do the same stuff we all did in play school :)

Then Monday was the last day of the basic training (and another evening Hash House Harrier run) and then it was a couple of days up the hill at the Ok Tedi mine office instead of down in town. It's good to see the pit as I hadn't been up to the mine for a year and there were a couple of changes to the layout of the pit compared to my last visit. Now you may think that a lot will change in a mine pit over the course of a year, and while you're basically correct, the bigger pits the change doesn't appear so obvious all the time. It's a bit like watching a tree grow. You don't always notice the changes until you haven't really looked for a while. So most of the time it's still rather cloudy up at the mine (one of the reasons the mine has 10+ metres of rain a year), but there were moments of convenient timing where the far wall was viewable.

These last few days were spend doing problem solving and a little bit more training with the MineSight using geologists in the mining offices. It's a good thing to do as you remember how the software is really used on site which hopefully allows you to incorporate those facets into your training courses, making it all a little bit more relevant to those you're training.

Then on the Friday after a half day on site, it was the flight direct to Cairns where after checking into the hotel a 10 kay run was on order. It was nice to run on the flat after having the previous 12 days running being either up or down hills for the most part. Up early Saturday, fly home to Perth and swap the suitcase for a hockey bag and go running around on the grass. Under blue blue sky. Without rain. Ahh, the small things :)

But it did appear to be a well received training trip and for me it was good for a bit of exercise and to catch up with those who I hadn't seen for a while. I'm not sure when that means the next trip to either Papua New Guinea or Ok Tedi will be, but I'm pretty sure it will be on the itinerary again one day.

Waihi Wanderings

Waihi is a town about 150km south east of Auckland in the north island of New Zealand. It is about 10km inland from the Pacific Ocean and mining for gold has been an occurrence in the area since about 1878. The Martha Mine itself has been in (and out of) operation since about then, predominantly as an underground operation until it closed in 1952.

The open pit mine was opened in 1987 and has since had a number of extensions made to its original scope, including additional underground development from the bottom of the pit.

Due to the mine being mostly surrounded by town infrastructure, there has been a lot of development done to try and have a positive impact on the townsfolk. This includes only being a day shirt mine, and when the current push back was new, not mining most of the weekend. But to also help the tourism of the area, mine tours are given, and there is a walk around the rim of the pit and mining operation.

Near the southern edge of the pit is the Cornish Pumphouse and the Poppet Headframe.
The Cornish Pumphouse was build in 1903 to house the mines steam engines and pumping equipment to de-water the underground mine. The pumphouse was then disused from 1913 when electricity replaced steam as the power of choice.

In 2006 the pumphouse was moved 300m from its original location due to the ground it was sitting on slowly collapsing. The building was moved by placing it on teflon pads and then slowly moved along stainless steel plates in a process that took 3 months. The building has also been reinforced with steel bracing to help it survive not only the move, but the test of time.

The Poppet Headframe is a replica of those that used to be seen as the Waihi skyline.

A good place to stay is Waihi Beach, about 10km east of Waihi. The beaches here are beautiful and extend for about 9km.

Off the coast is Mayor Island

It makes a nice base for the days work, and a lot of the miners feel the same way. Though it was a little cold, it certainly beat being a little further south. Though Rotorua isn't too far further south if you want some climbing and snow. Waihi and Waihi Beach are great little towns and it's always a pleasant place to visit. But it must be time for another visit to the south island I think.

Dinosaur Triangle - Queensland

Central Queensland has a dinosaur trail taking in the three towns of Winton, Richmond and Hughenden. This positions the triangle about 450 km west of Townsville, and about 450 km east of Mt Isa.

Within the triangle I started out at Winton. Remember, it's worth staying at the Gregory Hotel, not the Matilda Motel as I did (twice the cost, no wifi, massive cockroaches, but I did get my own ensuite). Winton was once located on the edge of Australia's eastern inland sea, resulting in both marine and land originating fossils being found in the area, but its claim to fame is definantly the land originating fossils, particularly dinosaurs. 11km east of town, heading back to Longreach, is the turn off to a dinosaur research and display facility.

This facility is called "Age of Australian Dinosaurs" and is situated on top of a mesa overlooking a sheep grazing property belong to David Elliot (who's land a lot of the fossils have originated on). This contains the largest collection of Australian dinosaur fossils, many of which are still to be worked on by volunteers, staff, and paying members of the public. It also processes marine and flora fossils found on the property, but most of the effort goes on the "terrible lizards".
Age of Australian Dinosaurs is based around a couple of important dinosaurs found in the grazing paddocks of and around Winton.
http://australianageofdinosaurs.com/
One of the original sauropod bones that has been pieced back together.

Volunteers working in the laboratory, slowly exposing the fossils from the rock.

Tour guide Maddighan with an opened fossil wrapping waiting for fossil exposure and identification.

This is how the fossils arrive to the facility. The fossils are found in the paddocks, exposed, wrapped in wet newspaper, aluminium foil, plaster cast and then gently shipped to the laboratory where they sit until it's time to look through them.

Banjo (Australoventator wintonensis) is one of the newer dinosaurs found in the area. And as it's a carnivore it is also one of the "sexier" dinosaurs. Below is what they found of it so far (as displayed in the collection room), and also a recreation of what it may have looked like.

If you travel about 110km south of Winton you come to the Lark Quarry Conservation Park and the Dinosaur Stampede National Monument. This is the site of the only known fossilised dinosaur stampede in the world. It consists of over 3000 dinosaur tracks. This iconic site is now protected within a modern ecological building in order to protect them from weathering.

The stampede itself happened about 95 million years ago and was discovered by a station manager, Glen Seymour. The story of the stampede itself is believed to have occurred on the edge of a creek, where potentially several hundred Coelurosaurs (chicken sized dinosaurs, likely carnivores) and Ornithopods (emu sized herbivores) were feeding and drinking. It is thought that a large carnivorous dinosaur (potentially the same as Banjo, due to footprint matching to the fossilised remains processes at the Age of Australian Dinosaurs facility) then ambushed the group of smaller dinosaurs, causing them to panic and stampede. There are also tracks from a sauropod in the rock, but this dinosaur was believed to have passed through earlier as the tracks are consistently placed and are overwritten in places by some of the stampeding footprints.

Measurements of the tracks have the Coelurosaurs moving at about 10-15 kph and the larger Ornithopods moving at speeds of up to 30 kph, similar in speed to the carnivore. This fossil site was actually the inspiration of the stampede scene in Jurassic Park. Researchers for the movie made their way to Lark Quarry and this helped them plan not just the stampede scene, but also how to have the dinosaurs move in the movie. This came from measurements and positioning of the footprints in the rock.

Richmond is a 250km journey to the north of Winton and is home to Kronosaurus Korner. Situated where an inland sea used to be 100 million years ago, the area is known primarily for its aquatic fossil range, particularly the Kronosaurus and Itchthyosaurs. The Kronosaurus modelled outside the museum was found in the local area in the 1930s, but currently resides in the USA. Part of a Kronosaur jaw next to a modern crocodile skull. The Kronosaur could have teeth 30cm long.

A short drive to the north of town, across the Flinders River, are two fossicking sites that public are allowed to work. A number of finds from these locations have made their way back to the facility located in Richmond. The museum also contains an extensive collection of aquatic animal fossils.

Pride of place though is the Richmond Pliosaur, a short necked plesiosaur. It is a nearly 100% complete skeleton making it one of the best preserved skeletons of its type in the world.

The other dinosaur of merit is Minmi (minmi paravertebra), an ankylosaur. This 100 million year old fossil was discovered by a local grazier in 1989.

The final town in the trifecta is Hughenden. This town is home to one of Australias best known dinosaurs, the Muttaburrasaurus.

The Flinders Discovery Centre also incorporates metal sculptures around the town created by local artists.

It's a good little circuit if you like dinosaurs. I know that next time I head that way I'll remember my geo-pick and a pan. This will make the fossil hunting experience a little more productive and the pan is useful for some of the other stops along the way where gem fossicking is allowed.