Gove Refinery Closure Project

Liberty Industrial’s approach to local and indigenous participation is based on actively engaging with local communities, leader to leader, prior to tendering for work, to identify opportunities for local businesses and individuals to contribute to project delivery.  This is known as Liberty Industrial’s Healing Country Framework.

The key objective on any Liberty Industrial project is to facilitate opportunities for local contractors and individuals with relevant capabilities to undertake elements of the works, with the intention to contribute to the economic wellbeing of the region throughout the duration of the project.

In 2021, we understood that the Gove Refinery Closure Project would have a significant impact on the local community and that it was an equally important priority for Rio Tinto to both support the community and sustain the local East Arnhem businesses through this transition. The 2011 Gove Agreement provided a commitment from Rio Tinto to seek commercial opportunities for Traditional Owner partners. With this in mind, Liberty Industrial put plans in place to provide meaningful economic generation and capacity building for the local and Indigenous communities of Nhulunbuy and broader East Arnhem Land.

One element of Liberty Industrial’s Healing Country Framework for the Gove Refinery Closure Project was the forming of a partnership with the traditional owner business, Gumatj Corporation, to align on opportunities for the immediate and long-term sustainability goals for the business and local indigenous community.

Concrete Crushing

As our relationship has developed, we have continued to progress discussions exploring additional opportunities for Gumatj to participate in the Gove Refinery Closure Project. Our focus has been on avenues that will provide Gumatj with increased business capability for life post closure.

One such opportunity was the significant concrete crushing scope, involving the removal and crushing of approximately 300,000 tons of concrete into 75mm minus reusable product. Some of this product will be used as backfill on the refinery site, while the remainder will be available for off-site use.

Given Gumatj’s extensive experience crushing Bauxite at their mining operation, it seemed a natural fit to engage them in the concrete crushing scope on-site. It soon became clear that a new concrete crusher would be a key addition to the Gumatj fleet, expanding their civil contracting capability and enabling them to provide contract crushing services for future road work & civil contracts within the region.

Following on from the initial plant hire agreement, Liberty Industrial sourced all equipment quotes from preferred suppliers, conducted numerous site visits to observe the preferred crusher in action, and then presented the final proposal to the Gumatj board for approval.

Liberty Industrial mobilised the Kleemann MR130 Evo 2 crusher to the site and will perform all maintenance, servicing, and repairs in accordance with OEM standards. Gumatj will provide two operators for training and operational duties throughout the course of the crushing campaign at Gove, ensuring they not only have access to the necessary plant but also trained personnel for the safe operation of the crusher now and into the future.

Upon completion of the concrete crushing campaign, Gumatj Corporation will own the crusher outright and Liberty Industrial will provide a comprehensive hand over pack containing detailed equipment maintenance records and operating manuals.