Life Notes – Jim Stewart
Born into a coal mining family in Fife, Scotland around start of WW11. Oldest of four. Loving parents. Father worked hard in mines all life and Mother cared for families’ health and wellbeing, a difficult task during and immediately after the war. Mother pushed to educate (at least the two boys) as much as she could. Judged not good enough to gain entry to the senior high school system, I was afforded a great basic education in a junior high school. Still remember a small English teacher who had tried everything to get me to spell accurately that she finally resorted to applying the leather strap to my hand, having to stand on a chair to apply the encouragement. Her marvellous endeavours were destined to failure as I still can’t spell (my thanks to Microsoft ‘word’ for relieving me of this burden). Fond memories of my paternal grandfather with his love for fishing and hunting soaking into my character. Still celebrate that love with 2 pilgrimage’s each year to Tassie high country fly fishing for trout. Sure we all have people in our past who we remember fondly for the positive influence they had on us, he remains one such person, alive in my mind though he passed away near 60 years ago. Applied for and was accepted into a fitting trade apprenticeship in (you guessed it right) the National Coal Board (also had an offer from the Rosyth Naval Dockyard as a torpedo fitter – could have landed up in submarines underwater rather than mining underground – some choice! I can hear you exclaim). My conservative values were born from evidencing the huge waste of people’s positive energies and things resources in this monopolistic enterprise. Excellent marks in National Certificate exams – again thanks to Mother who encouraged me, giving study facilities and keeping the mob quite whenever I was studying, not an easy task in council housing – resulted in an invitation to join the Heriot-Watt (of James Watt, steam engine fame) University in Edinburgh in mechanical engineering. Interesting that there was a near consensus from ‘friends’ and extended family for me NOT to take up the offer – above class status and loss of earnings through the full time studies were the ‘reasons’ proffered. This was one of these points which occur in everyone’s lives when a choice appears and you have to make a ‘select’ or ‘reject’ decision. With parents in support, I accepted and my life changed for the better. Another such event occurred whilst at Uni. I played soccer for the Uni team, poorly, but loved the game and still do (get up in the middle of the nights to watch Manchester united, Barcelona or Real Madrid play most weeks during their season. One day a representative of the Uni rugby (union) team approached to see if I would play in the team as they thought I would do well in the game. )
To try and answer the ‘why bridge?’ question you will be asking. During my late teens my parents regularly had friends visit on Saturday evenings to play Whist. TV was only for the very well off in those days. I was allocated responsibility for keeping beer and sherry (don’t think wine was available or affordable then) glasses topped up, but also allowed an education on the way of whist tactics. Think I used to stand in when someone wanted a rest from the competition. Found the game stimulating and that interest stuck with me. Only when I found time after my career did I rekindle the interest and have time to join with the BDC and, with Hubert Dabs tolerance and help, learned to somewhat control a hand of 13 cards. I’m still learning, but that is a neverending skill most of us apply to all situations. Back to the story. Immediately after gaining a BSc in Mechanical Engineering, I emigrated from Scotland to Oz. By that time, driven by natural forces, I also had a wife and young child. Mount Isa Mines had interviewed me in the UK and offered a job, which we accepted. Arriving after a very long flight (some 4 or 5 stops at the time) we hit the Isa on a 100 degree + day, after leaving Edinburgh in 2 degrees of frost. Slight change in weather conditions. As in most mining communities we were welcomed and assisted to settle easily into our new environment. This helped our early homesickness issues to dissipate rapidly. Initially worked with the mining team to address engineering issues in the underground equipment performance. Found this engineering work almost boring and was granted a change into maintenance activities. Learned to love the pressure and trouble that came looking for you in that marvellous profession. One area that I remember fondly was being responsible for leading the maintenance effort on the state-ofart K57 supply shaft, with its new tech friction winder and headframe being one of the Isa’s iconic structures. After 2.5 years I headed down to near Ballarat country to join Alcoa at Point Henry, Geelong, in their aluminium hot rolling mills complex as a production engineer. Although the job was enjoyable, and the climate closer to what we were used to, the wages were not enough to get by comfortably [had to do some moonlighting in local tractor manufacturer to get by]. Also, the family had grown by one whilst in the Isa. Searching for some relief I re-joined the civilisation supporting, mining industry. This time in King Island at its scheelite (Tungsten) mine leading their engineering and maintenance people. Money was good and there was little to spend it on, so bank balance took on healthier glow. Some of you may suspicion, or have evidence, of the existence of corruption in Australia. Came across it directly when working there. Also learned here one key ‘first principle’ of maintenance & operations work that may interest you. We were constantly breaking the heavy wire ropes on the mines (open cut mine) power shovel [main ore digging machine] and on investigating the cause discovered that no operator had been given any training by the machine supplier. Organised that, and to mine management ‘surprise’ with the resultant smooth operation of the shovel no ropes were damaged. Principle – when in trouble read and apply the manufacturers operating manual requirements – this is applicable in any workplace and home environment.
Next commission was the one that really set my career alight. In my experience most professionals ‘find their feet’ after a few experimental career changes early on and then stay and build from then on. CRA (now RioTinto) was that ‘mother’ company for me. Started in Comalco with them as a maintenance supervisor at their newly constructed Aluminium Smelter at Tiwai Point in the far south of New Zealand. The plant was commissioned and operated under joint Australian and Japanese ownership with the New Zealand government building the Manapouri Hydro Power Station on the back of the large, long term contract with the smelter for electrical power (Al smelting takes a lot of electrical energy to free up the metal which is used to fly us around the country and world). Was a marvellous experience with successful outcomes for everyone, and country, involved. In the 8 years spent in NZ my career moved from supervisor to Manager in maintenance and power services. Income became less of an immediate concern during this career development phase and started to look at some outside interests.
Discovered harness racing and decided to join with a respected Invercargill owner/trainer in Jim Dynes. Jim was purchasing a few yearlings at the Christchurch sales and he allowed me to share in one of those with him. Once bitten with this bug you can never escape, I didn’t, and have had great fun and excitement over the years but it has remained an overall drain on financial resources since then (guess that didn’t surprise any one of you). Did manage to own one horse that won several races at Harold Park in Sydney and Mooney Valley in Melbourne (when harness racing was conducted there) that paid bills for a time and gave heaps of pleasure and pride. This interest is one factor in now residing near Ballarat and happily sharing your world with you. Must have performed okay in NZ as Comalco offered the General Managers role at their Bell Bay Smelter in Tassie. Who could refuse? I didn’t. Enjoyed every minute in the job, working with a great bunch of switched on people. Argued for and achieved a technology upgrade to, and an extension of half, a potline to help us make the smelter competitive in the modern age. Very satisfying for all. The team had to work hard and keep on improving everything we did but were able to create magic with basic tools and a focus on improvement and excellence. Tassie hydro was all set to extend their dam network to the Franklin river and generate more competitive electrical energy and we were looking forward to convincing our owners to invest in another potline. This would have created many more jobs and saleable product that would have been a just reward for the Tasmanians who had built the smelter, starting just after WW11. However, despite the state government having an endorsement from the people to go ahead the federal government of the day (under Bob Hawkes leadership) used external affairs power to stop that project, and most others of any value to Tasmanians. Received a bit of coverage on local news during this period as the smelter consumed a quarter of Tassies power and it was a small step from arguing about the project to Bob Browns worry about spotted frogs disappearing. The company then tapped me on the shoulder and indicated a desire that I tackle a major change program in their historic Broken Hill Lead/Zinc mines. As a soul steeped in mining roots to be selected for such a general manager role was ‘a laid down misere’, yes. As with all the senior roles I’ve been privileged to be selected for I chose to walk through the door without any support staff with me. Assumed that I had to change and learn, as expected of those already in the enterprise. Although my time in the Hill was an emotional, many lost employment and some lost status and earnings, time for all I nevertheless consider that time as one of the highlights of my career. To underscore the major changes taking place to the town, we stopped sounding the mine horn at midday (had to buy one elderly lady a watch as she did not have a clock in her house and had depended on the horn to fix a time for her daily routines), closed the GM’s residence on mine site and rented a house within the town, placed a short performance report (including costs and what was earned if we had sold our production at internationally quoted rates during the period) each month in the local paper, etc, quite apart from the many changes to operational systems within the mines. A fond one was to cancel our involvement in a monthly mine managers/ barrier union council meeting which used to ‘approve’ industrial issues for consistency across the whole field (several different companies). Had our people relations team work with the unions of course but only on the mines own issues without reference to what other companies were doing. Insisted that every person working with us heard an explanation from me on the changes, these were necessarily very short, but at midnight on the entry platform to the shaft and holding back a shift of miners ready to start work you can imagine some of the colourful language exchanged during the presentation, was good for my soul some reckoned and they were probably right. Worked to upgrade mines infrastructure, including toilet and crib facilities, as well as systems and invested in development to access the last of the famous ‘Lead Lode’ deep in the mine. Most of the ore in the lead lode was galena, some 40% Lead & 30% Zinc, so soft you could almost eat it, and when your cap lamp beam hit the crystalline structure of the lode it was instantly like being in Aladdin’s cave with the light being reflected everywhere by the crystals. Our achievements resulted in CRA being able to join with others to form Pasminco. CRA then pointed to a place taking me back to my roots in underground coal mining. Kembla Coal & Coke, based in Wollongong and leading a team operating 3 longwall mines and a coking plant. Around the time of this change the company had been researching ways to bring all of the people in its various operational and other activities into less formal, more rewarding and enjoyable working relationships that could lead to more flexible and productive outcomes to better address the commercial realities of that time. Having a track record by then of leading organisations to more efficient and pleasant places to spend the better part of their peoples waking hours, the company thought that I should be rewarded for my sins by dropping me into what was to become the darkest days of my career, no pun intended. You have all probably heard of the CMEFU (the construction and mining union) and recognise that they deal “a strong hand of play’ in any activity that their members are involved in. In their heartland of coal mining they were, and are, particularly strong. Spent several years working with mines managers, staff, tradespeople and miners to make each mine a special place for those that worked in it.
With determined focus on improving safety performance and team leadership I did make some small pockets of marvellous improvement but did not achieve any noticeable dent in the overall culture and traditions of the day. We also suffered the gross tragedy of 2 fatalities over the years that I led the group. The stories associated with these terrible events are not for these notes but anyone interested in the surrounds to these events, feel free to talk to me on them. I still live with them in my mind and feelings. Formed a partnership with a coking manufacturer in the Indian state of Goa, the once Portuguese province. On one of the trips to our partners we (me and Finance manager) suffered plane scheduling issues which resulted in having an unplanned stopover in New Delhi. At the airport in the morning we were given the run-around when trying to change our flight tickets. Resulting in ‘the penny dropping’ just before the aircraft we wanted to be on was scheduled to leave. Corruption at its sharpest edge – scraped what US dollars we had, placed this in our tickets, asked to see the supervisor on duty, shown to his office, placed the tickets on his desk with the request that he kindly help us get to an important meeting in Goa that morning and left the office. Barely walked outside when he rushed out grabbed our cases and had us threaded through checks and customs onto the aircraft. End of story was our partners, having politely listened to our woes, booted us up the bum for giving the supervisor too much (remember it as US$10 when we should have given 2 or 3). The stint in K.C.C. also proved to be the final one within CRA RioTinto had just bought out the remaining shares in CRA that they did not already own and was restructuring the company in its own image with senior managers, like me, with full-on operating backgrounds not being favoured as people with financial and commercial backgrounds became more fashionable. This period also brought an end to my first marriage. Having educated the children to University degrees, as well as their mother, the need to retain the failed relationship seemed a useless exercise for all and a divorce was granted. Choosing to try and reset my career directions, I signed on to an exciting challenge with a new-start mining company, Sino Mining, and served as their general manager leading a team to establish the first western standard gold mine in China. Formed from a consortium of Chinese gold miner operators and Australian Financial interests, it was to build and operate a mine & process plant near JianChaling in the Qingling Mountain range in central China. Whilst there were many frustrations in the early work of establishing the necessary materials and equipment, working with the local employees was a joy as they were as switched on a mob as you would find anywhere. So it proved to be a time when my batteries were recharged and I came back to enjoying ‘doing and achieving things’ with a team of triers. One story from early on might amuse, or concern, you.
We were building an access road down a mountain side to the proposed mine site. One villager, an elderly lady, whose husbands cairn (in this rocky area they never used available soil area as cemeteries as they needed to grow food to survive in such areas) was in the-line-of fire of the explosives being used so we had to ask her to move him. On a Saturday afternoon I had to persuade the lady to do so. Standing by the cairn as the interpreter and I talked with her I could see a skeleton foot sticking out from the already disturbed cairn. She kindly explained how her man had fought the American devils in the Korean War and she was very proud of him. I did not think it necessary to enlighten her that Australian devils had also fought against the Chinese in this encounter. We finally agreed enough compensation for her to shift him and the project was allowed to continue. On return to Oz I was recruited by Joe Gutnick’s people to lead the operating team commissioning their state-of-the-art Nickel laterite plant near Kalgoorlie. This plant used a submarine like Autoclave (maybe the gods reminding me of where I nearly started my working life in Rosyth Dockyard – I say that because I know the gods were looking after me in introducing me to my now wife, Larissa, later in my Kalgoorlie time) to dissolve the laterite ore in a high temperature and pressure acid leach liquor. Everyone employed at the plant and mine were signed up on individual contracts, including me and, from my experience, I know that this is the future for building productive and enjoyable workplaces in Australia (anywhere). The team quickly settled the plant and we were the first of 3 Nickel Laterite plants built around the same time to achieve designed throughput for one year. A great performance, given the many technical issues that arose from several exotic materials used in these plants, such as titanium lining in the autoclave vessel. My 7 years at this plant covered a period of very low metal prices and this forced ownership changes as Joe ran out of cash for the plant. Unfortunately, such events bring the need for changes in how the plant was required to operate and produce with subsequent reductions in employment levels. These we handled, caring for our colleagues dignity and futures as best we could and then continued with pride to perform and meet our new owners expectations. Lara and I were married in Kalgoorlie and, at my brothers demand, I wore a kilt of black watch tartan in the Kal sunlight to join with the most lovely woman and person in my world. I have posted a photo of those two happy people to introduce Lara to you all.