Track Record

• Lachaln was the technical services superintendent for Blair Athol mine where he managed a team of mine planning engineers, drill and blast engineers, geologists and surveyors to deliver the budget mine plan. Lachaln successfully navigated mining through adverse geological conditions in a highly constrained mining environment.
• He has created and implemented an innovative dragline excavation strategy for the equipment to remain productive in a pit with significant spoil, geotechnical and access limitations. This strategy improved dragline productivity, reduced unit costs and increased pit turn-around time.
• At Isaac Plains East, Lachlan introduced blast timing optimisation to increase cast blast volumes which reduced overall costs for the mine. The increase in cast volume decreased the amount of material required to be moved by the high-cost excavators.
• He has conceptualised, designed, and executed an endwall cutback in a short time period to correct a hazardous endwall condition whilst taking advantage of low strip ratio coal. A staircase dig method was also implemented in conjunction with the operations teams to maximise production and safety.
• At a mine in Central Queensland, Lachlan designed and optimised a dragline relocation strategy across a major highway. Hazards like overhead powerlines, buried high pressure gas lines, blacksoil and the highway crossing strategy were identified and mitigation strategies created.