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Quarry contract awarded

Quarry contract awarded - Contractor Mag - Oct 2017 - Featured Image

RedBull is providing blasting services for all GBC Winstone’s quarries across the North Island.

THIS FOLLOWS THE contract award in July, where RedBull Powder Company’s service was extended from four quarries to providing an integrated drilling and blasting service for all nine sites.

Moving to a single supplier is a significant change for GBC Winstone, the largest supplier of aggregates in New Zealand. And according to the RedBull Managing Director Peter Shapiro, his team is set to help realise significant immediate and long-term benefits for this key client.

“Being the sole supplier for drilling and blasting, we are committed to delivering significant improvements and cost reductions to GBC Winstone quarries over the coming years. We have already expanded our resources to deliver consistently high-quality blasting, safety and risk management processes across all sites”, he said.

“We have invested heavily in our people, our plant, and in our relationships with our clients. This contract is a great acknowledgement of the hard work we have put in to develop a responsible and innovative company.”

Mark McKenzie, General Manager of GBC Winstone, concurs, saying the decision to appoint RedBull was based on demonstrated value. “We selected RedBull as sole supplier based on their demonstrated savings, using their high-quality bulk emulsion, excellent service and their aligned safety, quality and risk management values.”

Successful first blast wins fans

For the RedBull team, taking on five additional quarries has been an interesting challenge. According to Peter Shapiro, while the company is resourced to capably manage all nine sites, the challenge has been to exceed expectations, from the very first blast at each new site. “And our team has done this admirably.”

Blasting Operations Manager Tristen Bradley is responsible for coordinating all drilling and blasting activities, and making sure the customer is satisfied at all times. He loads blast holes with his team, continually reviewing how best to improve the next blast.

“When you’re following an incumbent, and they’ve had great relationships with the quarry teams, you need to build the new relationship based on confidence in our ability and a commitment to excellence,” he says.

“Our first blast was at Wilsonville Quarry on 2 August. I was proud to hear the feedback from the GBC Winstone quarry team, who said it was the best blast they had ever seen at the site.”

With many successful blasts across the quarry network since, Tristen and his team are looking forward to continuing to build the relationship – one safe, high-quality blast at a time.

Background

Established in 1997, RedBull Powder Company is New Zealand’s leading specialist drilling and blasting contractor, with a legacy of innovation in the industry. From humble beginnings, it now has the largest resource of technically advanced plant and equipment in the country.

RedBull provides comprehensive drilling and blasting services to over 120 quarry customers, as well as mines and construction projects. The team has an excellent safety record, and have had not had an LTI for over 1000 days (dating back to April 2014).

The North Island emulsion explosives facility is at Kopako, near Auckland. The South Island operation is based at Macraes Mine, where RedBull has recently renewed its contract to supply the Open Pit and Frasers Underground mines with all explosive products.

This article first appeared in Contractor October 2017.

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