Andrew Watts & Darren HamblinLatest news

Businessmen Score Regional Award

They did it! Mackay businessmen Darren Hamblin and Andrew Watts of Mastermyne were named northern region Entrepreneurs of the Year in the financial, business and property category at Thursday night's awards ceremony.

They will now compete nationally for the title of 2006 Entrepreneur of the Year in November.

Mastermyne specialises in delivering turnkey projects to the underground mining industry. Mr Hamblin and Mr Watts were recognised for successfully building their business on reliability in a price-sensitive industry.

It was also noted that they had built an enviable reputation in the marketplace by showing respect for staff.

Mr Hamblin and Mr Watts developed Mastermyne from a $3000 investment to a $50 million enterprise, employing about 250 people.

The Entrepreneur of the Year program was launched in Australia in 2001. It was founded and produced by Ernst and Young.

Recently the Mastermyne outbye services crew achieved a significant milestone at Moranbah North Coal reaching 4 years LTI free. The achievement was acknowledged by the management of Mastermyne and Moranbah North Coal by way of a presentation ceremony on site at Moranbah North Coal led by Darren Hamblin. What was significant about the achievement was the number of different jobs that these guys carried out during this period which demonstrates that with the correct risk management tools jobs that we don't undertake everyday can be done safely. Here is the article as it appeared on the Anglo America intranet.

Moranbah North Contractors Pass Four Years LTI Free!

This safety achievement has been due to an appropriate management of Zero Tolerance to poor standards, good planning and communications, effective risk management and thorough supervision.

One of the companies supplying services to Moranbah North Mine, Mastermyne has achieved a significant safety standard by operating for more than four years (more than 200,000 hours of work) without a Lost Time Injury.

Lee Parker, Moranbah North Projects and Outbye Services Coordinator said that since May 2003, project crews from Mastermyne have worked on more than 400 jobs including longwall moves, shot firing, secondary support, fall recoveries, conveyor installations, retractions and development work.

The four year LTI free safety milestone was marked by a presentation conducted at the end of shift with Darren Hamblin (Director) of Mastermyne with and supported by MNM Management , Darren presented the Projects team with a collectable decanter modeled on Dyno Nobel Explosive Exploder.

"This safety achievement has been due to an appropriate management of Zero Tolerance to poor standards, good planning and communications, effective risk management and thorough supervision."

"A strong relationship with MNC management and MNC personnel, proper personnel selection and excellent supervision have all played a part in the continuation of Mastermyne being LTI free at Moranbah North," said Lee.

Mastermyne acknowledged the following Mastermyne and MNM personnel for their demonstrated commitment to safety and contribution to reaching this milestone. Mastermyne have further demonstrated a commitment towards target Zero by including their supervisors in the Anglo Safety Leadership Program.

Allan Russell
Scott Head
Jason Hemley
David Hauwert
David Gisinger
Mark Bailey
Stephen Kunkel
Steven Anderson
Dean Russo
David Stafford
William Ririnui
Brett Capper (MNM)
Lee Parker (MNM)
David Sykes (MNM)
Tim Hobson (MNM)