Proud Partners. Shared Success.

UNDAMINE INDUSTRIES

Story courtesy of  The AngloAmerican Grasstree Gazette – March 2021

Getting Started: From Kitchen Table to Contracting

In this month’s edition we are featuring our partnership with embedded contractor Undamine Industries, owned by Peter and Karla McPhail and Shane and Renee Jackson. Karla, Pete, Shane & Renee started Undamine Industries after they saw a niche in the market.

Pete had recently finished at Oaky No 1 after 15 years of service, Karla was the Head of Junior School (Prep–Grade 5) at Middlemount State School, they had 3 children under 6 and they lived in Middlemount. They saw an industry opportunity and started their business on their kitchen table for Peter to contract deputy. “The plan was not to employ people, it was just myself, just bloody me” Pete said. So Pete started as a Contract Deputy at Bundoora Mine and worked around 18 months. Steven Firth (Firthy) was the first employee they put on in 2007, he did a short stint at Oaky before forming part of the trio of men under Pete at Bundoora doing general pit services work. The trio included Firthy, Wayne Winter and Dan Salter. Undamine transitioned to Grasstree Mine starting under a secondary support contract on LW802 in 2007 and have been putting bolts up ever since – they have seen a lot in the last 14 years providing their service in partnership at our mine.

From the House to the Donga

Karla was juggling her HOD role at the local school in Middlemount, and as the contract got underway, they employed an administration assistant, who worked from an office desk inside their family home which expanded to a donga beside their house. With the Undamine office initially based at their house, the workers frequently dropped in their timesheets at their house which on most occasions involved a chat about how the day went.

Solving the Accommodation Crunch

Accommodation in 2007–08 was extremely tight due to shortages, so Pete bought a few caravans and setup accommodation for his Undamine men at the Middlemount Caravan Park. “I picked up a Caravan from Gemfields and thought the wheels were going to fall off it by the time I got it back to Middlemount”, Pete fondly recalled.

Old School Operations and Leadership

When they first started there were no computers needed for the first 7–8 years for the work they conducted. Handwritten shift reports and handover notes with Pete overseeing it all. From writing reports to leading them on the gopher, Peter always led from the front. Their workers have increased over the duration of their contract to now have over 40 men working for them. They have endured the industry impacts losing a lot of labour in the highs/lows that now see many seeking to return to Undamine. Some of the biggest challenges Pete faced leading his men was around manning and conditions. But with his “it’s all good” mentality his exemplary leadership style always saw Undamine achieve what they set out to do. “We’ve stayed in sections where permanents do not like to work. We’ve stayed in our specialist space, which has seen us always stay ahead of production, zero roof falls or strata control issues, which is attributed to the integrity and standard of supply of Undamine work”. This is evident with a calculated total of 227,778 bolts installed by Undamine to date.

Meeting the Toughest Conditions

“The blocks with the faults in them have been our most challenging conditions”, and they have never let it beat them; the work is always finished. This has seen them be the “longest standing performance-based contract, always under budget, ahead of production and hit every KPI”. They have evolved in streamlining their systems for planning and reporting to align to the mine’s planning system, Fewzion.

Shaping a Culture of Contracting

But this has been an incredible amount of hard work to get to where they are. Undamine’s lasting footprint is a partnership that has changed the culture of contracting, they are a value add to Grasstree Mine. “A lot of time has been put into our standards which correlates our relationship of trust, quality assurance, training, safety and management. We complement the business and ensure there is no risk. All the people that have come through management at Grasstree Mine we have had great rapport.”

Ethos and Expansion

Undamine’s original company ethos was “We Work and We Train”, as we have seen them grow with sister company Coal Train based in Yeppoon that provides training in resource sector, business, hospitality, first aid, management, leadership and more. With the growth of this company the overall ethos evolved to “People first, always”.

Commitment to Community

Not too many Contracting Companies have lived in the town and been present in the community, Peter, Karla and their children did that for 10 years. They have been a big supporter of Middlemount Panthers rugby league, junior sport, Middlemount Race Club annual country race day and plenty more. They are very passionate about providing for children of the community.

Legacy of Impact

When reflecting with them both on their greatest memory and proudest achievements they highlighted an achievement has been training & upskilling people for lifelong jobs. Hundreds of people they have provided lots of training and job security who have gone on to successfully be employed by the mine, they are happy for those employees to transition in such a way. Their greatest memory is the financial contributions they’ve given back to the community. Junior/Senior league, Rugby, AFL, Races – it’s all built into their Community program portfolio, which started in Middlemount as a springboard to a non-for-profit organisation The Real Group which now supports several hundred initiatives, through housing, food, accommodation, education for disadvantaged youth on the Capricorn Coast, and brings everything back to “People first, always”. Upon Pete’s reflection on looking towards the chapter end at Grasstree Mine – he wants to finish it in the safe & productive manner they’ve always done alongside good relationships with the entire workforce, and in Pete’s infamous words “it’s all good”.

With Thanks

We thank Undamine Industries for their partnership over the last 14 years at Grasstree Mine.