“The art of crushing rock is still pretty much the same, technology has significantly improved though, as have our systems for health, safety and environment.”
Neil Bellamy is not one for a fuss – but given that he’s just clocked up 40 years at Boral we thought you’d like to hear his story.
When I finished high school in 1984 at the age of 17, I came across a job in the Courier Mail newspaper for a Soil Tester with Blue Metal & Gravel, a company owned by Boral, and applied for the role. I started work on the 28 November 1984 and I’ve been here ever since.
I was provided training at the central concrete and quarries lab located at Eagle Farm and after a week or so, I was placed at Pine Mountain Quarry to receive further site-based training.
In 1985, I commenced work at Stapylton Quarry, which had only been operating for over a year and was the designated long-term replacement for Pine Mountain Quarry.
In those days, we performed all the drilling and shot-firing ourselves. Ammonium nitrate would be delivered in five-tonne loads of 40kg bags – no forklifts back then – two of us would unload it by hand, store it, pull it out the next day and blend it with other ingredients, store it again, pull it out the following day and take up to the shot, load the shot, fire the shot, then go back to our other normal work activities until the next round.
On his career
In those first nine years or so, I made it my job to learn about all the facets of quarrying. How good is this I used to think, “The money’s good and they let me blow things up!”
Around the early 1990s, when Pine Mountain Quarry ceased operations, the crushing and screening plant was repurposed to Stapylton Quarry. This was my first exposure to ‘Capital Projects’ – the commissioning of the repurposed circuit combined with Stapylton’s existing fixed plant made it Queensland’s flagship quarry.
Around the mid-1990s, when I was 26 years old, I became the Quarry Manager at Staplyton. I was very proud of that achievement as what was then, and still is now, a very young age to hold such a position – and we built a great team.
In the late 1990s, the quarry industry ceased the extraction of sand and gravel from the Brisbane River, this led to my second major Capital Project, the building of the Manufactured Sand Plant at Stapylton Quarry. We commissioned this plant in 2000, so I was now managing a site with three fixed crushing and screening plants, and a bespoke sand classification and re-blending circuit – I was in quarry heaven.
In the early 2000s, I was asked to manage West Burleigh Quarry, specifically to work on improving the site’s performance.
Apart from managing the quarry I also had a Fine Sand operation at Hope Island called ‘Jabiru’ to manage, the company tippers and Lorry Owner Drivers (LODs) also reported to me, and for those first few years, I also managed all the sales functions.
In partnership with Orica, we developed several advanced blasting techniques at West Burleigh, focused on compliance with overpressure and ground vibration conditions. At the time they were ‘world first’ and these days they’ve become ’standard practice’.
We pioneered the use of electronic (digital) initiation systems in Australia, specifically designing the decking and delay timing to target high-frequency vibration which in turn assists with compliance and the physical outcome of the blast.
We received many visitors to West Burleigh Quarry from abroad based on the blasting initiation systems. One proud memory is of a Mine Manager from Siberia who, following a site visit, pulled me to one side to express how impressed he was with the blasting technology and the quarry in general. He then pulled out a photo of his office back in Siberia where he had an aerial photo of West Burleigh Quarry up on his wall!
Following my time at West Burleigh I’ve been fortunate to work in many interesting roles across Queensland and the country – Area Manager, Operations Manager, Drill and Blast Manager, Process Optimisation Manager, etc. I’ve absolutely no doubt, my grounding at Stapylton Quarry in my early years gave me the foundation for success in these various roles.
Currently, I’m working on various process/overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) improvement projects across the quarry business and picked up a not-so-small sideline of Project Managing the new plant build at Roseneath in Townsville.
My philosophy has always been simple when it comes to optimisation or efficiency – “there’s two speeds, flat out or stopped, anything in between is just a waste of time”.
I have always loved what I do and still love it. It helps that Boral feels like home to me – I’ve been provided much autonomy over the years to go and do what needs to be done, and it’s no secret I’ve always been surrounded by good people, so I can’t complain about that.
My wife Cindy has worked at Boral for over 17 years, my son Luke works here as does my son-in-law Brent.
Boral has been very central in my life, both work and home.
I figure I’ve got another ten years in me, there’s something about making that 50-year milestone, hopefully I can update this story then!