Technical Meetings

In 2019 the BOHOGS committee planned and/or attended a total of 9 events – two QLD chapter technical meetings, two NSW chapter technical meetings, attended two universities, and held one formal and one informal meeting in Brisbane, and shared Supplier’s Day again with BBUGS. BOHOGS events accounted for ~1000 hours of Chartered Professional Development for our members in 2019.

Finances

BOHOGS saw slightly increased sponsorship in 2019, and will have approximately broken even again in 2019 once end of year costs are accounted for e.g. Supplier’s Day. This was partly due to in-kind support from companies who hosted site or technical meetings, such as Thiess at Mt Owen, and Glencore for a meeting in Brisbane.

Committee Movements

Most of our 2019 committee members will be returning for 2020. Adrienna Robotham is stepping down as BOHOGS Chair to make time to take on a new challenge at home, and the very capable Kathryn Young will be stepping into this role in 2020. Brit McArdle will take on Kathryn’s role as Secretary. Ian Kelso has moved out of the coal industry, but we hope to maintain a relationship with him regardless. We are welcoming two new Young Professional Representatives – Gurshaan Virk in NSW and Lily Nairn in QLD who we hope can continue to build our relationships with universities in each BOHOGS state.

Awards

The presentation of the year winners for 2019 as voted by members through an electronic survey are:

NSW: John Simmons “Run the numbers: How Mt Owen got its geotech right” – Mt Owen Technical Meeting

QLD: Matt Tsang “Application of synthetic rock mass models to the Burton widening highwall failure” – Brisbane Technical Meeting

The prize for the BOHOGS practitioner of the year award is the registration to a conference related to geotechnical engineering. In 2019, this prize was won by Warren Hitchcock, as selected by the three previous winners Adrienna Robotham, Gavin Lowing and Kathryn Young.

Warren is a quiet achiever in the BOHOGS community and the industry, currently working as the BHP Geotechnical Superintendent where he closely mentors many junior and senior geotechnical engineers, including his seven direct reports from five mine sites, and indirectly other team members, consultants and short-term contractors. Those at the receiving end of Warren’s mentorship value Warren’s selfless efforts to pass on his extensive knowledge, even when off roster, and hope his retirement is still a long way off.

Warren provides technical mentoring to the industry via two ACARP projects, his role as a Fellow of the AusIMM, participating in the Large Open Pit forums, thesis supervision, and presenting at BOHOGS events including the Hail Creek meeting in October 2019.

Thank you Warren, and congratulations.

Thank you

A huge thank you to all our members who offer ideas for meetings, presentations and offer support in many different ways.

Finally to our sponsors, many of whom have been supporting BOHOGS for years, thank you for making BOHOGS 2019 possible. We look forward to your support next year and in the years to come.

Kind regards,

Adrienna Robotham – BOHOGS Chair 2018-2019