Slowdown changes landscape for Roy Hill

ROY Hill Holdings CEO Barry Fitzgerald said the company had gone from being concerned about recruiting workers to inundated with applications in just 12 months, while revealing the staggering number of candidates seeking to work at the $A10 billion project.

In May 2012, the federal government approved an enterprise migration agreement for the Roy Hill iron ore project in the Pilbara, allowing the company to import 1700 workers due to the skills shortage in Australia.

Speaking at the Global Iron & Steel Forecast Conference in Perth yesterday, Fitzgerald said the environment had changed dramatically.

"We are now faced with the difficulty of not having the debate about not employing overseas people, we are now faced with the problem of how, professionally, to manage the number of expressions of interest we have from people who are seeking an opportunity with Roy Hill, whether it be in the construction or the operations phase," he said.

"And I think it's a significant responsibility we have to make sure those who are suffering and have seen the wrong side of the downturn, do understand that we are treating their expressions of interest and their applications for jobs with open minds and integrity and it's a very different approach from being very scared or very worried about whether we're going to have people joining us."

Fitzgerald revealed that since December, about 5500 people had registered expressions of interest or applied for jobs at Roy Hill.

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BHP worker injured at Eastern Ridge

A BHP Billiton employee has been transferred to Perth after being injured in an accident at the Eastern Ridge site near Newman on Tuesday.

BHP said a thorough internal investigation was underway and the incident had been reported to Western Australia's Department of Mines and Petroleum.

The DMP has been contacted for comment.

The accident is the latest in a spate of serious safety incidents in WA's mining industry this year.

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Large resources projects spur employment

EMPLOYERS in Queensland and Western Australia are expecting a strong increase in hiring from last quarter, indicating some strength is returning to the resources market as larger projects move back online in the states, according to the latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey.

In Queensland, the hiring outlook rose 5 percentage points to +7%, while WA employers recorded a 6% increase to an outlook of +12%.

NSW and NT bosses report little change to their hiring outlook, with the Net Employment rate sitting at +6% and +14%, respectively, and remaining relatively stable in comparison to the prior quarter and last year at this time.

Overall, Australia's hiring pace is expected to pick up slightly in the second quarter this year, with the survey showing that employers report a slight improvement in hiring intentions for the second quarter this year, based on a Net Employment Outlook of +10%.

The survey, which asks the hiring intentions of over 1500 employers in Australia for the coming quarter, found that 22% plan to increase their hiring, 11% plan to decrease their hiring and 65% plan to make no changes to their current payrolls.

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Road set for massive development

AT A capital expenditure of more than $A4 billion, Iron Road's Central Eyre project in South Australia is shaping up as one of Australia's most ambitious projects.

The task, which involves building an open-cut mine, rail line, and port development from scratch, would have been a lofty goal even amid the price booms several years ago.

On the back of recent falls the project seems an even greater challenge, with a softening market testing the mettle of developers and producers alike.

Despite the fluctuations managing director Andrew Stocks is confident the company will enjoy strong demand for its product, providing an alternative supply from BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, and Vale.

"We've got a concentrated supply: three companies producing half the world's iron ore, one country [Australia] producing half and two countries [Australia and Brazil] producing three-quarters," he told MiningNews.Net on a recent site tour."

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Rio's $880M Pilbara expansions approved

THE Western Australian government has approved $A880 million worth of expansions by Rio Tinto, including plans to boost production by 20% at the West Angelas mine in the Pilbara.

The West Angelas expansion will raise production from 29 million tonnes per annum to 35Mtpa and will extend the mine's life by around 13 years.

It will create around 290 jobs during construction, with the ongoing operations workforce expanding by 200 to a total 1300.

Rio is also expected to spend around $200 million increasing production at the Western Turner Syncline mine from 25Mtpa to 30Mtpa.

The development will create around 240 construction jobs and 30 permanent roles.

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