Rio Tinto | Minerals and Metals for the world

More than wine and roses
Valuable resources underpin some of Australia’s intriguing countryside, from the wine-growing south to the Great Barrier Reef coastline. Ralph Mills reports.

Seen from afar, rural Australia is steeped in images: aside from the outback, it is a land of rolling pasture bathed in that special warm yellow sunlight, a place of eucalyptus and corrugated iron roofed shacks, grazing cattle, one-street towns, dirt tracks winding amongst vineyards. Wallabies, koalas and...coal.

Coal? Yes, coal is as part of the rural scene in wide areas of New South Wales and Queensland as kookaburras and gum trees.

The Hunter Valley of New South Wales may be best known for its wines, but look beyond the vineyards and you’ll find Coal & Allied. Likewise, to the north, Southern and Central Queensland may be better known for its palm trees and beaches, but pick up a tourist leaflet and you’ll find trips available to view the work of Pacific Coal.

Look even harder and you’ll find that both Coal & Allied and Pacific Coal are not just visible elements of rural life, employers of rural people, but are deeply involved partners in and supporters of the communities amongst which they operate.

But surely, mining for coal is simple? You just dig a big hole, haul out the coal until it is exhausted, then go looking for more somewhere else.

Nothing, of course, could be further from the truth, and Rio Tinto’s Australian coal operations are text book examples of how complex and technologically advanced a process mining really is.



More than wine and roses Valuable resources underpin some of Australia’s intriguing countryside, from the wine-growing south to the Great Barrier Reef coastline. Ralph Mills reports. Seen from afar, rural Australia is steeped in images: aside from the outback, it is a land of rolling pasture bathed in that special warm yellow sunlight, a place of eucalyptus and corrugated iron roofed shacks, grazing cattle, one-street towns, dirt tracks winding amongst vineyards. Wallabies, koalas and...coal. Coal? Yes, coal is as part of the rural scene in wide areas of New South Wales and Queensland as kookaburras and gum trees. The Hunter Valley of New South Wales may be best known for its wines, but look beyond the vineyards and you’ll find Coal & Allied. Likewise, to the north, Southern and Central Queensland may be better known for its palm trees and beaches, but pick up a tourist leaflet and you’ll find trips available to view the work of Pacific Coal. Look even harder and you’ll find that both Coal & Allied and Pacific Coal are not just visible elements of rural life, employers of rural people, but are deeply involved partners in and supporters of the communities amongst which they operate. But surely, mining for coal is simple? You just dig a big hole, haul out the coal until it is exhausted, then go looking for more somewhere else. Nothing, of course, could be further from the truth, and Rio Tinto’s Australian coal operations are text book examples of how complex and technologically advanced a process mining really is.
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Review is published by Rio Tinto, 6 St James' Square, London SW1Y 4LD, England Telephone +44 (0)20 7930 2399 Editor: Cherry DeGeer