Townsville Mayor flags regional project pipeline
Townsville mayor Nick Dametto outlined a pipeline of regional projects set to drive demand for quarry materials across the Townsville corridor at the IQA North Queensland branch’s dinner meeting in April.
Speaking to 34 sector professionals at the North Queensland Club, Dametto highlighted upcoming developments expected to create significant opportunities for local quarry operators and suppliers.
The Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads’ Kylee Petersen followed with a detailed update on major transport infrastructure works underway in the region, with both presentations generating strong discussion among attendees.
Komatsu’s Nathan Timms rounded out the evening with an update on the company’s latest updates, reinforcing Komatsu’s valued ongoing support of the North Queensland branch.
Branch chair Paul Hooton said the packed room reflected growing sector engagement across the Townsville region.
Fossils, forklifts and fellowship: QLD Branch heads to Berrinba
Every quarry tells a story, but some tell stories 300 million years old.
That was the takeaway from the IQA Queensland branch’s sold-out Porter Equipment Berrinba site tour in April, where more than 60 attendees heard Anthony Romilio and Professor Bruce Runnegar deliver a fascinating presentation, Quarrying deep time: Industry at the front line of discovery.
The session explored the remarkable role quarries play in uncovering Australia’s fossil record – from dinosaur footprints to ancient plant remains – and the sector’s quiet but significant contribution to palaeontological research.
For many in the room, it was a reminder that every site worked today could hold scientific value tomorrow.
Anthony Romilio welcomes any potential fossil finds from the quarrying sector – operators are encouraged to take photos and email a.romilio@uq.edu.au. No need to stop production, just an opportunity to record a potential discovery.
The afternoon had opened with a behind-the-scenes tour of Porter Equipment’s Berrinba facility, hosted by Jason MacDonald and his team, who showcased the business’s operations and its support for the quarrying sector.
Adbri’s Anielle Berthelot then delivered a compelling presentation on safety excellence, offering practical insights on embedding strong safety culture across operations.
Victorian branch hits the greens
On 23 April, Victorian branch members traded site boots for golf clubs, taking over X-Golf Preston for the autumn social event. Across the indoor simulators, members tackled some of the world’s iconic courses while doing what these nights are really built for: catching up, swapping stories, and making the kind of connections that don’t happen on a Teams call.
The format was relaxed, the competition was friendly, and the Branch’s autumn calendar is well and truly off the tee.
Quarrying in the tropics
Running a quarry in one of the wettest parts of the country comes with a particular set of challenges. On 30 April, the IQA Far North Queensland sub-branch went to see how Pioneer North Queensland’s Innisfail Quarry handles them.
Innisfail averages more than three metres of rain a year, a climate that shapes everything from stockpile management and water handling to plant maintenance and production planning.
The site tour, hosted by Pioneer North Queensland’s Darren Caddy and Paul Stokes, gave Far North Queensland members a close-up look at how those pressures play out across the operation’s plant, processes and current production.
The conversation continued over a networking dinner at the Parkview Tavern. Members from across the region traded notes on equipment performance, compliance pressures and the realities of running operations in tropical conditions, the kind of practical exchange that’s hard to replicate in a webinar.
