End of Year Message from Damien Wynn

End of Year Message from Damien Wynn, General Manager and Senior Site Executive at Oaky Creek Coal

2023 has been another busy year. Oaky Creek’s talent strategy has successfully led us to fill critical roles in a competitive labour market, welcoming top talent – and their families – to Tieri and injecting new energy into our top little town. We’ve seen several of our Cadets pass their training and begin their career as Deputies. And we had the pleasure of seeing long-standing OCC family member, Des “Dessy” O’Connell, retire and Wayne Miller celebrate 40 years of service with Glencore! I remember first meeting both Dessy and Wayne back when I was a graduate Mining Engineer at Oaky Creek in 2003. They’ve both had a marked impact on the site and on the culture we aim to create.

Despite the material supply chain delays, construction and delivery challenges from the pandemic, we managed to get our second Longwall for Oaky North built and delivered from China, and have already produced and delivered our first coal. And at Oaky Surface, Hydro-Mining is also up and running, enabling us to reprocess the tailings (byproduct) from washing coal. This not only produces more product coal, it means we fast track our land rehabilitation efforts, which have been another highlight for the year. In fact, in 2023 we increased our land rehabilitation target from previous years and we are still on track to hit that target before the end of the year. Restoring the land we operate on and returning it back to its original state, or even better, is extremely important to us and we’re proud of the outcomes we’ve had to date.

Despite the many successes, we’ve experienced too many safety challenges this year, especially hand-related injuries. Safety is – and always will be – our number one priority at Oaky Creek. The people we work with day in, day out, are not just our colleagues, they are our neighbours, friends and family. Which is why we’re rolling the  out again this year. We want to share real stories from individuals at Oaky who have gone through an incident, and how it has affected their private life, their family and friends, and their mental health. My thanks to all the individuals who have taken part in the campaign. Each of them wanted to share their story as a way to keep their mates – you – safe. We need everyone to get behind the She’ll Be Right campaign because, like the Safety Resets and every other safety initiative we rollout, it is your involvement in them that makes the difference and ignites change. Keep an eye out for the campaign soon.

Perhaps the most overwhelming stand out as I reflect on 2023, is the unwavering sense of collaboration and support from across the mine site and the whole town as we planned for and enjoyed the 40th anniversary celebrations of Oaky Creek Coal and Tieri. As Paul mentions in his Letter from the Editor, they ignited a real appetite to do more events that bring the whole community together. I’m excited to see what the Organising Committee comes up with so we can all continue sharing those moments in the new year.

And what a year it’s shaping up to be. Whilst we’ve successfully filled many critical roles, our recruitment drive will continue and we look forward to welcoming more people to town. We’ve got a stable, experienced Management team in place who are committed to our solid business plan and, most importantly, to ensuring the safety of our teammates by raising awareness, encouraging people to speak up and empowering them to develop and implement the ‘right plan to finish right’.

Speaking of safety, I hope you all stay safe over the holiday, whether you’re at home or on the road. Have a well-earned break, doing the things you enjoy with the people that matter to you most. Relax and refresh and get excited about coming back and being part of making OCC and Tieri the best place to work and live.

Happy holidays,

Damien Wynn, General Manager and Senior Site Executive at Oaky Creek Coal