Boral Quarries Dundowran
70-78 Lower Mountain Road
Dundowran QLD 4655
Australia
SATURDAY - OPEN BY APPOINTMENT ONLY
Please reach out to the quarry manager to find out more.
About Us
Boral Limited is an ASX listed company and one of Australia's largest building and construction materials suppliers. In Queensland, Boral Construction Materials operates more than 100 sites including 20 quarries, 62 concrete batching plants, and 16 asphalt plants, with operations in major centres from the Gold Coast to Cairns.
Boral have held a key position supplying construction materials in the Fraser Coast region for a number of years with one quarry, two concrete plants and an asphalt operation serving the market.
Boral Dundowran Quarry operates in the Queensland Wide Bay area. The quarry is located 15kms west of the town of Hervey Bay, close to the rural centre of Dundowran. The Boral Dundowran Quarry services the Hervey Bay region which has experienced rapid growth over the past decade.
Over the years Boral has demonstrated a clear commitment to sustainable development and the ability to lift and sustain performance to a level of industry best practice. Focus is on delivering best practice in safety management, responsible environmental management, sustainable product development and value-creating partnerships. This is evident through the external recognition that Boral has received including a number of awards for its Environmental and Community partnerships:
- Cement, Concrete & Aggregates Australia (CCAA) - Environment, Health and Safety Awards 2016: Highly Commended - Environmental Innovation Category - Boral Ormeau Quarry Innovative Stormwater Management System. For the design and introduction of a stormwater management system to capture, contain and clarify stormwater runoff at Ormeau Quarry.
- Healthy Waterways Awards 2016: Finalist in the Industry & Government Stewardship - for Boral's Ormeau Quarry Riparian Corridor Restoration & Stormwater Management; one of 4 finalists and only Industry participant next to BCC, Port of Brisbane, and SEQ Water.
- Cement, Concrete & Aggregates Australia (CCAA) - Environment, Health and Safety Awards 2015: Winner - Community Partnership Category - Boral Ormeau Quarry. For a twenty year partnership with Landcare including establishing the Darlington Conservation House, as well as the creation of the Boral Environmental Reserve.
Site Ownership
The original land owner was Roy Senstock. The quarry was opened by Jim MacGuinness in approximately 1970 and was run by him until 1984 when John Turnbull purchased it. In 1986 John Turnbull sold it to 'ByRock' who subsequently sold to Boral. Boral took ownership in 1987 and have operated the site ever since.
Market History
Dundowran's market has been traditionally both internal and external sales. The internal sales are made up of concrete aggregates, asphalt and sealing aggregates. The external sales consist of road base and lower grade materials such as crusher dust and scalps.
Geology
Dundowran Quarry is situated within one of two basaltic lava flows that occurred during the Miocene Epoch (12-25 million years ago).
The resource is comprised of a generally southwest to northeast trending ridgeline of olivine basalt. The basalt is columnar jointed and is suitable for use as concrete, asphalt and sealing aggregate, as well as armour rock and road base.
Approvals
The environmental development approval (administered by the Queensland Environmental Protection Agency) permits extraction, crushing and screening environmentally relevant activities (ERAs) to greater than 100 thousand tonnes per year.
Town planning approvals of various ages exist over the site.
Dundowran Key Resource Area - KRA 90
The Key Resource Area is located at Dundowran, about 9 kilometres west of Pialba.
The Dundowran KRA 90 comprises of basalt in one of a series hills that trends northeast between Takura and Dundowran.
Dundowran Quarry is the main source of road base and aggregates for the Hervey Bay, Childers and Maryborough region. The region is experiencing notable growth which is expected to continue into the near future. Boral's resource is sufficient for between 25 and 30 years production at the current rate.
Separation Area: On the north western and northern sides of the resource, a separation distance of 500 metres has been adopted due to partial shielding by a ridge along the northern side of the resource. Where houses or urban subdivisions already exist, these have been excluded from the separation area. To the east of the resource, topographic shielding is absent and a separation distance of 1000 metres is required. On the south eastern side of the resource, the width of the separation area is limited by the existing Rural Residential zoned area. In the southwest, the separation area extends to cover the Dundowran West resource.
Transport Route: The main transport route into Hervey Bay is via Lower Mountain Road and Dundowran Road to the Pialba-Burrum Heads Road. Some product is also transported south via Purser Road and Hornes Road to the State-controlled Torbanlea-Pialba Road.
See a map of the Key Resource Area here.
Environmental Projects at Dundowran
Rehabilitation of quarry buffer land with the assistance of Environmental contractors. Rehabilitation projects will focus on establishing bunding walls and tree planting.
Community & Stakeholder Engagement
Boral recognises the importance of stakeholder engagement to the sustainable development of the business. At key quarry sites a significant commitment has been made to effectively engage with stakeholders using the Boral 'community liaison group model'.
Stakeholders with an immediate interest in the quarry and or over neighbouring land were invited to form the Dundowran Quarry Liaison Group. Typically members include: direct neighbours, community representatives, Government representatives, and Boral employees.
The objectives of community liaison groups are to:
- facilitate open communication - creates a forum for discussion and exchange of information on topics related to the Boral quarry and our neighbours;
- create a forum to raise issues - acts as a "structured" communication link between Boral, the community and other stakeholders;
- provide an opportunity to influence operations - assists in identifying and addressing local issues and concerns relating to the Boral quarry and our neighbours;
- provide an effective vehicle to communicate important information regarding Boral quarry operations; and
- identify opportunities to partner with Boral on community projects - builds relationships between Boral, the community and stakeholders to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes.
The Dundowran Quarry Liaison Group was established in May 2005 and regular meetings are held at the Rural Fire Brigade facilities on 1 Lower Mountain Road.
Key initiatives and major achievements of the Dundowran Quarry Liaison Group include:
- Noise Reduction - reverse squawkers have been installed on mobile equipment to replace reverse beepers (sales loaders & dump trucks)
- Dust Suppression - dust suppression on haul routes and the quarry is achieved via increased frequency of water truck in windy conditions; and the installation of a fogging system.
- Blasting Signs - blasting signs are in use to inform the community of upcoming blasting on site; the signs are being placed on the approach to the quarry entrance; and a blasting notification list is held at the quarry. This list holds contact details of neighbours and liaison group members indicating their preferred way of notification (eg. via phone, sms, or email) of upcoming blasting on site.
- Asphalt Notifications - Boral Asphalt notifies neighbours and interested parties of 'out of hours' work (i.e. night works, or weekend works) via email and sms.
- Quarry Extension Proposals - long-term planning for the quarry operation was discussed early in the Quarry Liaison Group (QLG) process, which culminated in the need for a development application. QLG members were kept up to date and had input into the Development Application (DA) process. Concerns raised were addressed within the DA submission and as a result we received over 60 letters of support and no objections to the quarry DA.
See latest minutes of our Dundowran Quarry Liaison Group meetings below: