Safety remains a key focus and priority in all that we do.  We train and supply essential equipment, but still rely very heavily on our people to look after themselves and our project sites.  Our key risks are in fatigue and travel both in New Zealand and in some of our more remote sites abroad.  We work on awareness and support and have this as a constant focus in our professional lives.

Turn-over has grown through our clients showing their trust in us, our own hard work in developing our markets, and increased activity in the resources sector with some modest improvement also in construction.  We remain heavily committed overseas on active and developing mining projects, and in New Zealand on the same.  We are currently engaged in significant geological drilling and resource work, and also in power and rail opportunities.  We see these sectors as sustainable and strong in the short to medium term, and it is likely that mining will continue to dominate our business.

CPT testing is improving with the economy and as our reputation grows, and as the market becomes more aware of our services.  In line with our general philosophy, we have invested in CPT and purchased “cordless” equipment to help better interface with “conventional” drill rigs for pushing.  This is in addition to our tri-axial testing capability which we anticipate will see increased use with the focus on shear wave and seismic testing.

Amongst all of this, we remain aware that our culture, team work and systems are the key to our innovation and success.  We work on communication and “connectivity” while we are scattered throughout our various work sites.

Finally, we look forward to our new hires joining in May/June (hurry up guys we need you now !).

• David Reynolds, Principle Geologist – 25 year experienced geologist, ex-South Africa most recently from Harmony.  Particular experience in project evaluation and economic assessment, project management. Arrives early May.
• Jonathan Gaerlick, Geotechnical Engineer – ME (Civil Eng, City of London Uni), 3 years with particular experience in windfarms and waste water. Arrives early May.
• Evangelos Georgopolous, Geotechnical and Mining Engineer- MSc(Design and Construction of Underground Works), 8 years experience in foundations, tunnels, rock reinforcement, stress and displacement analyses and modelling, soil and rock geotechnics.  Arriving June.
• Gareth Hay, Logging Engineer – BSc(Earth Sciences), 5 years experience geophysical logging in New Zealand.  Joins to support new Acoustic Televiewer services (Downhole Services).

Acoustic Televiewer services (Downhole Services) are being developed in the Philippines with our partner on the project GXD Exploration Drilling supplies (www.gxdsupply.com).

Richard (Branson) says:

1. Assemble a management team with vision, passion and sense of ownership. Look for leaders who listen – to employees and customers.
2. A business is….a group of people bound together by a common purpose and vision. Manager must look for the best in people – catch someone doing something right everyday.
3. Lighten up.  Find the fun in your business.  Ensure your customers and staff feel a sense of warmth and affection.
4. Have courage.  Have the bravery to give it a go and the resolve and conviction to overcome hurdles and the confidence for people to follow.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/small-business/4045103/Richard-Bransons-leadership-tips

RDCL has monitored its emissions and estimated the company carbon foot print as part of the journey to sustainability.

Per full time employee (FTE) RDCL’s carbon footprint (July 2009 – June 2010) is estimated at 4.8 tCO2 totaling to 30tCO2.

Our carbon footprint is dominated by air and road travel. This is based on miles traveled by air and estimated vehicle efficiency and fuel consumption.  We will focus on reducing travel through awareness, improved planning and choosing appropriate vehicles.

Office electricity consumption has seen a natural increase since we doubled our office space, but per full time employee and per unit area our consumption is decreasing. The decrease in electricity is a result of a large number of employees working on projects out of the office environment for extended periods of time. We aim to maintain the reduction in electricity emissions during periods when more employees are office based.

We dispose of one bag of waste to landfill per month making a negligible contribution to our carbon footprint. All organic waste is composted in worm bins and the majority of the remaining waste products are recycled. The aim is to maintain our performance and reduce paper usage.

Looking ahead, our vision for the year to come is to:

• improve and add emissions performance indicators, and

• offset the carbon emissions we are unable to reduce at this stage.

We will aim to gain carbon neutral verification by the end of the financial year.

We have applied emission factors most recently released by the Ministry for the Environment (2009). Emission factors are commonly used to convert direct source emissions to equivalent tCO2. The footprint in terms of waste, electricity and vehicle transport is currently limited to the Havelock North office and does not include employees and their emission sources elsewhere.

The mining industry in Australia results in 82,000 jobs and contributes $27 billion to the domestic economy.  The mining technology and services (MTS) sector which exports (technology and services !) values at A$30billion.  The MTS sector is about human smarts and value adding.

Derek Handley NZ’s latest high profile entrepreneur and founder of “Hyperfactory” recently talked on Radio NZ about the same opportunity to add value through the opportunity dairying presents.  He is quoted talking about his business:

“Globally, Kiwi companies are at the cutting edge of the use new technology, and by having the courage to take our ideas and capabilities offshore, we are able to become a significant powerhouse within some of the world’s leading corporations.”

The mining debate is emotive and easy to hijack.  The reality is that this is a smart, high  tech industry with the muscle to develop economies external to the mining sector.  The very many Kiwi’s on mine sites and holding high positions in the leading mining houses in the world know this already.

RDCL is a small company taking this challenge.  We supply mining, engineering and economic geology, resource evaluation and groundwater services in New Zealand and overseas.  We are developing NZ graduates and investing in technology, people and safety systems to compete on the world stage.  It’s a tough battle and we need support at home to realise our dreams.

The human species creates its own ecosystem through the built environment.  As engineers, we are directly involved in this process through our everyday professional lives. Our role and responsibility is to design and build to positively impact our world.  “Sustainability” is then simply nothing but good, design-led engineering.

FIDIC (International Federation of Consulting Engineers, http://www.fidic.org) supports the sustainable development of resources.  Good, practical resources for the implementing sustainability concepts and principles in engineering consulting practice are available through the web site (http://www1.fidic.org/resources/sustainability/) .

The NZ Society for Sustainability Engineering and Science (http://nzsses.auckland.ac.nz) is a Technical interest group of the Institute of Professional Engineers NZ, and a good resource concerning events and learnings in New Zealand.

Resource Development Consultants’ name reflects our interest in developing resources. We aim to do it through design, which, by definition,considers the effects on stakeholders and seeks positive, win-win outcomes.  We think this is simply sensible.

The Ministry of Economic Development has released a web based environmental assessment tool for small to medium sized businesses in New Zealand. The tool is aimed at reducing operational costs whilst quantifying and improving environmental performance.  Its a good start and we recommend it to you.

In our work we will continue to make logical, tangible recommendations in keeping with our sustainability policy and recommendations made by FIDIC (International Federation of Consulting Engineers, www.fidic.org).

RDCL company and staff are members of numerous technical societies and industry groups  representing and serve on national, branch and local committees including:

• NZ Branch committee of the AusIMM (www.ausimm.co.nz; and www.ausimm.com.au),
• ACENZ representative for Hawkes Bay (www.acenz.org.nz),
• NZ Contractors Federation Hawkes Bay regional committee (www.nzcontractors.co.nz), and
• NZ Minerals Industry Association national committee (www.minerals.co.nz)

This engagement allows us to sample widely across our markets and to understand the economic conditions in which we work.  In this way we identify opportunities, and also better understand the pressures affecting our clients.

We see some relief in the price of commodities including gold, coal and dairy (at least next year) and are hopeful that manufacturing can maintain growth.  We know that some residential development is happening, but really cannot see a substantial driver for growth in that sector.  We have seen no benefit from any “stimulus package” and don’t expect to in our region.

So, will we keep concentrating on:

• Serving you our clients,
• mining – coal and gold, mostly because we love it and can see the up-side in the industry,
• water – cause we think it’s going to be “BIG”,
• rail ‘cause we love that too, and
• power ‘cause everyone needs it !

Rock on.

Two of RDCL’s employees Joy Hoverd and Reuben George have just completed the Supervisor Gold Card course for Project Managers.  As a company, RDCL has adopted as the Supervisor Gold Card as the entry level qualification for managing complex or remote field operations.  All our staff either hold, or are working towards, Advanced Site Safe Passports and comprehensive First Aid certificates.

Reuben George has been appointed RDCL Health & Safety officer, a new role for the company.  In addition to the Gold Card training, Reuben has qualifications in outdoor education and guiding and is also responsible for RDCL’s quality systems.  He is well suited to lead and support our safety initiatives.

Site Safe is a not for profit independent organization operating since 1999 and setup to promote Health & Safety practices in the construction industry.  The organisation offers low cost, relevant training which is affordable and accessible for small business such as ours.  We highly recommend it.

None of them thought the movie a “anti-American, anti-capitalist, anti-mining rant” (Financial Post, 5 March 2010) ! I’m not quite that vitriolic, although the “message” does build on an ingrained “anti-development” mind-set, and is not helpful.

That company was out-of-line (do you think ? ), and it was great to see them nasty dudes off the planet !  But Avatar is not an example of what happens in the world and no “lesson” about anything.  It is a fantasy movie and great entertainment.

The evolution of corporations from profit takers to community builders is ongoing, is not perfect and demands even greater effort.  The conflict over “development” exists throughout society and not just in the remote corners of the world.  There will always be concern about development, almost always accompanied by polarising fear, anger and ideology.

NZ is burdened by a crippling outflow of educated graduates, and many areas of the world remain mired in poverty without access to medical care, clean water, education or stable food supply. The world needs development and profits because the ugly truth is that they are necessary to improve society.

The “lesson” is to strengthen our institutions, strive to understand and respect for each other, engage and embrace both sides of the debate, and work for sustainable solutions to the problems and opportunities which face us.

The old “heads in the sand” approach didn’t work for the Na’vi and it didn’t work for the “company”.  Smart heads on both sides would have avoided bloodshed, grief and destruction.

The challenge is to do a lot better than that !

Modern successful projects be they land development, dairy in the McKenzie Basin, windfarms or dare I say it, mines are built by embracing the driving principles of the day.  Social and environmental responsibility is as much a part of any project as technical viability.

And the reason is simple.  It’s about money.  No investor will risk their hard hoarded millions on a project doomed to fail through public opposition.  (Brown and Murray (2007) “Commitment, Compliance and Capacity – How Environmental, Safety, Security and Financial Issues Affect Lender’s Risk”. Proceedings “Project Evaluation Conference” Melbourne, June 2007).

RDCL does a lot of work in the Philippines and Asia.  In our opinion, social issues are the overwhelming cause of delay on projects in those areas.  And it’s the same in New Zealand.

The (use of) natural resource debate is about the challenge of bringing “the companies” and the community together for meaningful change, to utilise resources available to us and improve the lives of the current and future generation.

The laws, guidelines, intelligence and collective goodwill will bring about the right result

The Equator Principles require:

• Review and Categorisation – puts a project in the framework
• Social and Environmental Assessment – do them and show results
• Applicable Social and Environmental Standards – international
• Action Plan and Management System – commitment
• Consultation and Disclosure – demonstrate it
• Grievance Mechanism –part of management system
• Independent Review – show it
• Covenants – to comply, to provide, to decommission
• Independent Monitoring and Reporting – external
• Reporting – publicly at least annually