1. Delivering better sustainable
development outcomes in resource
intensive regions
Dr Glen Corder
Principal Research Fellow
Development Manager – SUSOP
Pty Ltd

2. Overview
Gladstone and Sustainability
and Regional Synergies
A New Sustainability
Framework
Better sustainability outcomes
for resource intensive regions?

3. Gladstone Regional Synergies
• Aims:
– enhance local synergies between industrial operations
– assist operations to achieve greater efficiencies in
energy, water and materials consumption
– reduce wastes and emissions generation.
• Timeframe
– April 2004 until June 2007
• Supported by:
– CRC for Sustainable Resource
Processing
– Gladstone Area Industry Network

4. Gladstone Industrial Area (circa 2007)
Queensland Energy Resources
Cement Australia
Transpacific Industries
Rio Tinto
Aluminium Yarwun
Refinery
Central Qld Ports
Orica Chemicals Authority
Gladstone Power Station Gladstone Area Water Board
Gladstone Area
Industry Network
Queensland Alumina Ltd Boyne Smelters
Rio Tinto Aluminium Yarwun
Refinery
Cement Australia
Awoonga Dam Central Qld Ports Authority
Gladstone Area Water Board
NRG Power Station
N Orica Chemicals
Boyne Smelters
Queensland Alumina Ltd
0 4 Queensland Energy Resources
Transpacific Industries

5. Gladstone Regional Synergies
(circa 2007)
Calcined ash
Queensland
Cement Boyne
Fly ash Energy Caustic soda
Australia Smelters
Resources
Caustic soda
Rio Tinto Transpacific
Yarwun Pozzolanic NRG Power Industries - Queensland
Refinery Enterprises Station Waste Plant Waste Alumina
Transfer
Tyres Fly ash
Station
Solvent based fuels Secondary treated effluent
Gladstone Gladstone
Orica
Ports Area Water
Chemicals
Authority Board
Synergies
Gladstone City
•Alternative fuels Council
Old tyre
Geocycle
suppliers •QAL effluent re-use Calliope River
STP
•QAL waste separation/re-use
•Fly ash re-use
•Caustic recovery

6. Project Process and Outcomes

7. Common Factors for Success
• All involved parties must benefit
– business benefit, either direct or indirect
• Key success factors:
– Proven technology Technology
– Convincing business case
Successful
– Licence to operate synergy
projects
Business Licence to
Case Operate
van Berkel, R. (2006). Regional resource synergies for sustainable development in heavy industrial
areas: an overview of opportunities and experiences

8. Lack of uptake of synergies?
• For an industrial region, some key questions are:
– Why are more synergies not being implemented?
– To what extent is synergy uptake related to physical
constraints, such as industry mix, density, and
location?
– To what extent do less tangible factors, such as
regional community pressure, organisational
networks, and regulatory issues, also play a part?

9. Drivers for Industrial Synergies
• Are there 3 types of synergies?
Cost Benefits SD Benefits Research?
High At least sound Will happen
(without researchers)
Marginal Strong Yes
Low Limited No need
• Do most synergies fall into the middle category?

10. Industry Commitment
• Strong public commitment to sustainable development
and sustainability
• From both industry bodies (e.g. International Council on
Mining and Metals) and major mining companies
– ‘Sustainability’ or ‘Sustainable Development’ is on the Home
Page of major mining companies’ websites

11. International Council of Mining and Metals 10 Principles
1. Implement and maintain ethical business practices and sound systems of corporate
governance.
2. Integrate sustainable development considerations within the corporate decision-making
process.
3. Uphold fundamental human rights and respect cultures, customs and values in dealings with
employees and others who are affected by our activities.
4. Implement risk management strategies based on valid data and sound science.
5. Seek continual improvement of our health and safety performance.
6. Seek continual improvement of our environmental performance.
7. Contribute to conservation of biodiversity and integrated approaches to land use planning.
8. Facilitate and encourage responsible product design, use, re-use, recycling and disposal of our
products.
9. Contribute to the social, economic and institutional development of the communities in which we
operate.
10. Implement effective and transparent engagement, communication and independently verified
reporting arrangements with our stakeholders.
http://www.icmm.com/our-work/sustainable-development-framework/10-principles

12. The Challenge is…
• How to incorporate sustainability at the practical level
• Typically sustainability principles are used to ensure, at best,
compliance
– Once all major decisions are made
– Leaving little scope for innovative initiatives that could improve
sustainable development outcomes in resource intensive
regions

13. Key Research Question
What is the most rigorous and defensible mechanism
that enables sustainable development principles to be
incorporated into the design and operation of
resource processing?

14. Development of SUSOP®
• Co-operative Research Centre
for Sustainable Resource
Processing (CSRP) from 2003
to 2010
• Key members of the SUSOP®
Development Team
– University of Queensland
– University of Technology Sydney
– GHD Pty Ltd
– Hatch Associates Pty Ltd
– CSIRO

15. SUStainable OPerations
SUSOP® is an emerging industry standard:
A guiding framework for projects that enables a
proper contribution to sustainability by the industrial
facilities being studied, designed, built or operated.
HAZOP brought a design methodology to safety…
….SUSOP® seeks to do the same for sustainability.

16. Key Features of SUSOP®
 SUSID™
 Generate “new ideas” leading to better project
outcomes
 Identify business and sustainability risks
 SD Balance Sheet™
 Schematically show impacts on sustainability
framework
 Sustainability Register™
 Formal record of outcomes, similar to a risk
register

17. SUSOP® Key Elements
Familiarisation with
(SD frameworks and principles, public domain information and data, details on other Sustainability Concepts
and Project Context
Goal Scoping and
Opportunities & Risks
SUSID™
Identification
SUSOP® case studies, relevant SD tools)
Analysis of Sustainability
Knowledge Base
Opportunities and Risks
Prioritisation of
Sustainability
Opportunities and Risks
SD Assessment
Sustainability SD Balance
Decision Support
Register™ Sheets™

18. Case Study 1:
Site selection for new mineral processing plant
Problem: Solution – SUSOP® delivered:
 Developer faced with  Clear points of difference
deadline for site selection due  Labour, energy, infrastructure
to pending lease expiration integration, by-products, transport
 Standard risk and financial  70 opportunities and risks
analysis could not provide definite  Water treatment, energy,
guidance on which sites to retain transport, enterprise
development, export, by-products
 A development plan for two
key business risks
 Related to high operating costs
(specifically energy and
expatriate labour costs)

19. Case Study 1:
Site selection for new mineral processing plant
 Integrated development plan
 Avoiding high energy costs and high expatriate labour costs
Renewable
Full scale
Energy
implementation of
Demonstration at Small Scale in Trial on Mine Implement on
commercially available
Current Camp Community Equipment equipment
renewable energy
technology
Lowest Operating Costs
Supporting local skills
Local capacity building
Local capacity building
technician workforce
Enhancing skills
and businesses
Local support
Local expertise
development
Local mature
Local labour
Development
Skills
Small-scale Local skilled technician
Support Skills Local Technical Skilled workforce
Enterprise workshop (employees
Development Support servicing operation
Development and contractors)
Concept (Year 1) Pre-feasibility Feasibility Construct/Commission Operation (Year 10)

20. Financial Financial
Manufactured Manufactured
No Change
Human Human Negative Change
Positive Change
Social Social
Natural Natural
-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5
Rating Rating
Standard outcomes from Improved outcomes from
business-as-usual approach application of SD principles
SD Balance Sheet™
Ideal: All capitals positive
Acceptable: Balance of all capitals is positive
Unacceptable: Balance of all capitals is negative
Catastrophic: Any capital has extreme negative impact or all capitals are negative

21. Case Study Learnings
 Importance of recording outcomes is critical
 Led to the Sustainability Register™
 Relevance of sustainability concepts with project
 Implications on surrounding community and
environment and the wider range of stakeholders
 Value of sorting opportunities into categories
 Rather than producing a single, long prioritised list
 Value of clustering into “concepts”
 Shows linkages across sustainability framework

22. Example of Clustering

23. Into the Future
3 key questions for new
projects: Fundamental aim of SUSOP®:
 Is it technically feasible?  A standard approach to
 Does it make financial identify and drive
sense? innovative solutions
 Will government or  that translates
community or owners of sustainability principles
the resource allow it? into operating practice
and design
 without compromising
financial rigour

24. So what about a region like Gladstone?
 Projects Under Construction (GEIDB website)
 Queensland Curtis LNG (QGC) – LNG for CSG
 Rio Tinto Alcan – Yarwun Alumina Refinery (Stage 2 expan.)
 Boyne Smelters Ltd – new furnace and reduction line upgrade
 Powerlink - Infrastructure upgrades
 Western Basin Dredging and Disposal Project
 Fishermans Landing Reclamation Area – Port Expansion
 Queensland Energy Resources Ltd – oil shale technology
 GLNG (Santos, Petronas, Total and Kogas) – LNG for CSG

25. Acknowledgements
This project presented here were carried out under the auspice
and with the financial support of the Centre for Sustainable
Resource Processing, which was established and supported
under the Australian Government’s Cooperative Research
Centres Program.
The Centre for Sustainable Resource Processing was a joint
venture between Alcoa, ANSTO, BHP Billiton, CSIRO, Curtin
University of Technology, Newmont, Rio Tinto, University of
Queensland, Xstrata, Anglo Platinum, BlueScope Steel, GHD,
Murdoch University, OneSteel, Orica, Rocla, University of
Newcastle, Department of Environment Water Heritage and the
Arts, Hatch, Kwinana Industries Council, Minerals Council of
Australia, and URS.

26. SUStainable OPerations
Questions?
www.susop.com.au
Glen Corder
Development Manager, SUSOP Pty Ltd
Principal Research Fellow, Sustainable Minerals Institute,
University of Queensland
Email glen.corder@susop.com.au