Ian Cawrse

Since February 2008 I have been working for Sinclair Knight Merz as a Senior Engineer in the Mining and Metals Business Unit. The focus of my work has been on embedding sustainability principles into the design process for large mining and mining-related infrastructure capital projects. I have also designed and facilitated workshops and carried out sustainability assessments of engineering designs. In July 2008 I took on the responsibility of being the Sustainability champion for the Mining and Metals Business Unit, which includes:

• Supporting project teams to embed sustainability into projects;
• Assisting client managers in discussing issues of sustainability with clients;
• Providing and expanding strategic sustainability services to clients; and
• Supporting internal communication and knowledge sharing with respect to sustainability trends and technologies and their implementation with clients.

During and immediately after studying a post-graduate MPhil Program at Cambridge I was working as a sub-contractor to th UK office of Australian Mining Consultants, focusing on closure planning, permitting, financial modeling and project management. I was the lead consultant for the development of a conceptual closure plan for a brownfields mine in Spain, and worked as the Sustainability Adviser for the Operations Restart Project Execution Plan at the same site. My responsibilities included: scoping and leading work on environmental and OH&S statutory compliance; developing the strategy for environmental financial assurance for closure liabilities and tailings dam failure events; providing inputs and reviewing the accuracy of the financial model for the life of mine; and assisting with the stakeholder engagement strategy.

From October 2005 to September 2006 I was contracting to BHP Billiton at the Olympic Dam site. I worked in the Mine Technical Services department reviewing and optimising the existing mine design. Liaising extensively with relevant stakeholders, I produced mine area designs, conceptual designs, and detailed stope designs. I was also actively involved in improving safety and design systems, and mentored junior engineers and technicians.

From late 2004 to September 2005, I was the production manager for the Brambles operated backfill quarry and cemented aggregate fill (CAF) Plant at Olympic Dam. We were contracted to crush approximately 6Mtpa of minus 75mm aggregate with four in pit mobile crushers, and screen 1Mtpa of dune sand. In addition, we campaign crushed various sized aggregate for civil works. CAF production varied but was as high as 200,000m³/month.

Between November 2002 and December 2004 I worked for Boral Construction Materials in South Australia. My first role was as the Planning Engineer for 14 quarries in South Australia and the Northern Territory. I was responsible for mineral tenement and land tenure issues; and developed and maintained relationships with stakeholders, consulting with land owners, government agencies, community groups, industry bodies and committees. My next role with Boral was as Business Development Manager for the concrete business in South Australia, where I developed forecasts for the concrete market in Adelaide’s metropolitan and outer metropolitan areas and contributed to Boral’s metropolitan concrete business strategy, making recommendations for acquisitions, greenfields sites and plant upgrades.

As an undergraduate I worked for Western Mining Company (WMC) over a summer break in and was then offered a graduate position which started in 2001. I spent 12 months working underground in various roles of the four departments (services, production, drill and blast, and development), which provided me with invaluable operational experience. After completing my underground time, I worked on the surface as a mine design engineer, where I was responsible for providing design and planning input for the mining operation to maintain a two year design front and a five year mine reserve.