MACH Energy Australia’s Scott Winter made it in – and out – of Muswellbrook without being cornered by the media days after the privately-owned company he manages purchased Rio Tinto’s Mount Pleasant Project.
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Safely back in Brisbane, away from the 474-million tonnes of marketable reserves that come with the $320-million deal plus royalties, the one-time Tinkler Group executive was willing to answer some – but not all – of the Chronicle’s questions.
His kids’ connection to the name choice for MACH Energy Australia, controlled by Droxford International an entity of Indonesia’s Salim Group, was a surprising trivia moment.
“MACH has a meaning; it is an acronym of the names of my four children – Mabel, Ashlyn, Cade and Harriet.
“Our family got together and came up with the name and Mr [Anthoni] Salim thought it was okay because it was an idea that was family-oriented,” Mr Winter said.
When asked how he met one of Indonesia’s wealthiest men, Scott Winter was coy.
“I started dealing with the Salim Group about 18 months ago when the Group decided it wanted to invest in the coal sector, primarily in Australia.
“I was introduced because I have a suite of skills in the mining industry built up over two decades and for me it was a natural progression,” he said.
Scott Winter started with BHP Billiton, went to Thiess, had a stint mining with Nathan Tinkler and moved on to the Salim Group.
He has worked at the Wilpinjong Mine near Mudgee; the Burton Mine south of Mackay; and the Prominent Hill Mine near Coober Pedy.
“My job now is to build the infrastructure for the Mount Pleasant deposit because we are working on a program of first production coal by the end of 2017.”
Development consent for Mount Pleasant, which bumps up against Bengalla Mine and is just four kilometres from the township of Muswellbrook, was granted in December 1999 and will expire in 2020.
“One of the first tasks MACH Energy Australia will undertake is securing consent renewal,” Mr Winter said, “and that will run parallel with the feasibility work on the project.”
On the thorny issues of environmental hurdles, cumulative impacts and the dramatically changed mining landscape compared to the one where consent was granted 15 years ago, MACH’s managing director would not be drawn on specifics.
“Our production and construction will be in accordance with consent approval.
“We have a fully-approved mine and we intend to work within our consent guidelines and there will be monitoring, evaluation and reporting,” he said.
Scott Winter manoeuvred carefully around the question of jobs for locals without giving concrete numbers.
“We recognise Muswellbrook has a good skills base and we recognise the skills that are in Muswellbrook.
“As we finalise our strategy for the development we will have a clearer understanding of what fits our needs and where our workers will come from,” he added.
The MACH website claims "500-600" workers will be required to develop the mine; "200-350" to operate it; and "at this point in time MACH does not anticipate a Fly-In-Fly-Out workforce."
And that brings us back to Muswellbrook, and the little matter of 474-million tonnes of marketable coal reserves, and the reason for last week’s very quiet visit.
“We were in Muswellbrook within a week of signing [the contract with Rio] to meet the Mount Pleasant Community Consultative Committee (CCC).
“We listened to part of the history, the concerns the Committee has and we gained insight on how the project is viewed," he said.
No doubt, Mr Winter will make many more trips to check on the welfare of his new charge as the weeks and months unfold.
