October 2008

Employee profile - John Gronbek

Kestrel Mine coal handling and preparation plant co-disposal/railings supervisor John Gronbek has found a way to combine his career with his passion for the environment.

Based on a property on the outskirts of Emerald, John has always had a love of the land and a desire to help make a difference by looking for climate change solutions.

John’s most recent contribution to reducing the effects of climate change was at work with his efforts to decrease the amount of waste coal.

Working with the co-disposal group, John helped develop a solution to transfer waste coal into the coal handling plant, which has reduced waste by more than 20,000 tonnes per year.  

“It is great to have an influence on a larger scale and help reduce waste,” John said.

“It is also great to be part of a work environment where new ideas are encouraged, when you come home from work and know you have made a difference.”

Kestrel Mine general manager operations Tony Lennox said John’s involvement with the waste coal project team has proven there are many ways to reduce waste.

“It is a credit to John and the team for the way they have come up with a solution to reduce the amount of coal waste and therefore reducing the impact of climate change,” Tony said.

Make sure you read our other employee profile about Hail Creek Mine’s Peter Kent.

On the spot

• Tell us in 30 words or less what your job entails? I manage the co-disposal facility which consists of around 500 acres where we pump all the reject material to and from the coal handling and preparation plant. I also look after the product stockpile on site and the stockpiles at the Gladstone port facility and coordinate all Kestrel Mine railings with Queensland Rail.
• What do you do for fun? I enjoy working on my farm and mucking around with anything that has horsepower. 
• Tell us one interesting thing about you your colleagues don’t know. We have five Kestrel Mine graduates racing against me in a model speed boat race and what they don’t know is I have secretly installed a bigger and more powerful engine in my speed boat.
• What movie/cartoon character are you most like and why? Scooby Doo, because he is always enjoying himself.