More Positive News for Mining, Energy and Construction Sectors October 2010

Dear Industry Colleagues,

As always I would like to promote some positive news that you may not have heard of as yet. There is indifference out there.

We heard in from our Advanced Sales and Sales Leadership Workshop participants that the months have been the busiest ever, while some are upbeat about December period.

Mining and Construction related Activity

There are 11 new mineral mines and 16 new coal mines expected to be in production within the next six years in the Gladstone region, according to the Qld Department of Employment Economic Development and Innovation.The mines have exploration licences to explore deposits of gold, copper, silver, zinc, coal, apetite, ilemite and magnesite.

Rusal has approached the Qld Govt with an expression of interest in taking over the long-delayed $3B Aurukun bauxite project.

Rio Tinto has given the thumbs up to a further $A3.2B investment to expand its Pilbara iron ore capacity.

Hancock Coal’s Alpha and Kevin’s Corner coal projects could be up for sale for up to $A2B

Peabody Energy Corp.’s third-quarter profit more than doubled as revenue rose and margins widened.The coal company has been increasing production and remained bullish about Asia, saying demand is “very strong” for the thermal coal burned by power plants and the metallurgical coal used .

Xstrata expects the first coal from its $1.1B Ulan West mine in 2014. Construction on the 18-year-life, 6,7Mtpa thermal coal mine is set to start before the end of the year. Ulan West will complement the Ulan number three underground mine and use some of the existing infrastructure at the Ulan complex.

Adani Enterprises, India’s biggest coal importer, said it’s committed to a $6.9B coal bought from Linc Energy Ltd., making it the largest acquisition by an Indian company in Australia. The company is targeting first coal output by the end of 2014 and production of 50 to 60Mt by 2022.

Rio Tinto says it produced record amounts of iron ore, alumina and coking coal in the September quarter.

Their share of iron ore production in the three months to September 30 was 47.608Mt, up from 43.61Mt in the June quarter.Its share of alumina production totalled 2.347Mt, up from 2.24Mt previously, while coking coal rose to 2.43Mt from 2.39Mt previously. “We continue to run our operations at close to, or above, capacity rates, taking advantage of strong prices for our products.”

Vista Gold has raised at least $57M in eight PIPEs, is raising $30M in a private placement of special warrants to repay debt and fund its Mt. Todd project..Vista is focused on the development of the Concordia gold project in Baja California Sur, Mexico, and Mt. Todd.

Norilsk Nickel aims to restart Lake Johnston mine early next year and is reviewing four other mothballed as prices rebound for the metal used to rustproof steel.

Xstrata Coal might approve the development of the Ravensworth North open cut mine in the Hunter Valley before year-end.

Rio Tinto is to spend about $100M on fixing a loading system that spews alumina hydrate into the sea. It was not known how much it would cost to install a new loader at the Alcan operation near Nhulunbuy. In the meantime, the company is spending $5.4M to improve loading and dust control.”It is lost on the conveyor belt and during loading,”. Alcan manager Julio Costa said the company was working with the Territory Government and an internal engineering team to find a “workable solution to a complex and challenging” problem.

Qld Govt has commenced its bidding process for the 99-year lease of Abbot Point’s Coal Terminal. The Government confirms it will retain ownership of the port land and associated strategic infrastructure such as the jetty and wharves. It also intends to retain control of future expansion sites for terminals T2-T7 including the Multi Cargo Facility. The new leaseholder will inherit all existing user and maintenance  agreements and a corresponding obligation for future maintenance and rehabilitation of the X50 coal loading facilities.BHP Billiton and Hancock Coal are said to have already negotiated preferred developer status with the terminal’s current owner North Queensland Bulk Ports (NQBP) they want to export 30Mtpa each of coal in a deal that may lock competitors out of any big expansion. Xstrata Coal, the existing major tenant is expected to put up a fight.

SG Partners Sales Training feedback – Advanced Sales & Sales Leadership
Interesting after assessing 15 sales managers last week as part of our Sales Leadership workshop we found the majority of the participants were extremely interested in their current sales  and sales management weakness that were holding them back from being a truly effective sales managers.

So we have decoded to run a 3 day Sales Management Clinic which wil ensure sales managers can effectively

• Performance manage their teams
• Coach and mentor their teams
• Increase the win/loss ratio in favour of winning more often
• Recruit sales teams
• Create a sales strategy and refine the VP

At the completion of the The SG Partners Sales Leadership Clinic, sales managers will know/have:

1. A report discussing their strengths and weakness via a 38 page full assessment
2. One on One coaching to Reduce the effect of weaknesses of the performance of sales management
3. How to set up a dashboard performance management system
4. How to identify motivational drives in sales people
5. How to coach sales people
6. How to mentor sales people
7. How to hold sales people accountable
8. How to recruit sales people
9. How to set up a systemised quaifying process to enhance sales
10. How to increase your win/loss ratio in favouring of winning – do not tie up resources and time on non winable RFQ/Tenders
11. How to position value selling – do not sell on price
12. How to present to groups and audiences

Sales Leadership Clinic – Register Your Interest Now!

Brisbane  3 & 4^th February 2011

We can only accommodate 20 people.

Better than any course I have attended previously. Fantastic, knowledgeable speaker. This was not your typical rar-rar over the top sales seminar. Was more about the psychology of selling. SG Partners has really helped me to understand the customer and their needs including how to get the most of out them.

Sales Tips What can you do for me on the price?

Heave you heard this before – How would you and your team respond at this moment?

Many people will respond to the question by immediately giving or implying the possibility of a discounted price. (Managers: How much more revenue could you add each year by helping your team avoid the immediate jump to a discount?)

Here are the hard-dollar points to better negotiating…

1.         Remember that negotiation success depends more on the work you do early in the sales process than on the negotiation moment itself. It’s all about the perceived value of your offering and the buying urgency you create with your prospect. The stronger the perceived value and urgency by your prospect, the better. Great front work will stop objections, nullify pricing concerns and further strengthen your negotiating position.

2.         Be prepared for the inevitable discount inquiry. Preparation feeds confidence. Always respond by letting your prospect know that a discount, if it’s possible at all, will mean they’ll need to make a larger buying commitment or give up an added feature before you can “do something on the price.  Never give something unless your receive something in return.

Think value. Think urgency. Be confident.

Energy

Federal Environmental Minister Tony Burke announced the long-awaited environmental approvals yesterday of two liquefied natural gas plants on Curtis Island.The approvals signal a new era for Australian energy and a new era for Gladstone.Mr Burke said both Santos (GLNG) and Queensland Gas Company (QCLNG) will have to meet tough standards with more than 300 conditions applying to coal seam extraction and a further 51% relating to the Gladstone harbour.

Woodside advises that it has entered into a Sale and Purchase Agreement to acquire a 50% participating interest in exploration permit WA-404-P, offshore Carnarvon Basin, from Hess Exploration (Carnarvon). On completion Woodside’s participating interest in WA-404-P will become 100%. The WA-404-P permit contains the Martell, Noblige, Larsen and Larsen Deep gas discoveries, as well as several undrilled prospects which are subject to an ongoing exploration program. The acquisition is consistent with Woodside’s drive to obtain sufficient gas volumes to support potential expansions of the Pluto LNG Park.

Eastern Star Gas has signed an agreement with Japan’s Marubeni Corp to advance its LNG prospects out of Newcastle. Under the deal, Eastern Star will consider selling an equity interest in its Narrabri coal seam gas project to Marubeni and others, which would then take a lead role in off-taking and marketing the converted LNG. APA Group will take responsibility for construction and operation of a gas pipeline to deliver the gas from Narrabri to Newcastle.

China National Offshore Oil Corporation, China’s largest offshore oil and gas producer, plans to build nine LNG receiving terminals along the Chinese coast.

Metgasco has commenced feasibility studies into the delivery of gas to LNG export markets. Metgasco has entered into a MOU with FLEX LNG to evaluate the feasibility of an export LNG project located offshore.Over the next few months Metgasco and FLEX LNG will assess whether a Floating LNG project is a viable proposition to monetise gas from Metgasco’s onshore acreage in the Clarence Moreton Basin in NSW.

InterOil signed an agreement with the Energy World Corporation to complete the FEED, a prerequisite for the project getting off the ground. This brings a step closer to getting a second LNG project to compete with the $US16 billion dollar LNG project already underway.

Santos has raised another $420M in funding for its Gladstone LNG project.French company Total recently bought a 15% stake in the GLNG project for $650M.The coal seam gas project had also secured more than $100B of contracts, making it one of the largest export deals in Australia’s history.Santos has yet to publish an estimate of the cost of building GLNG but analysts forecast it will cost about $16B.It now has a 45% share, meaning its funding commitment would be about $1B more than it has already secured.Santos is awaiting federal assessment of GLNG. It aims to make a final investment decision by the end of the year if federal approvals are forthcoming.

BG Group and its subsidiary QGC has committed $15B to their Curtis Is LNG two-train project. The project will be operated by QGC Pty Limited. To feed the LNG plant, more than 3000 gas wells will be sunk near the Surat Basin towns of Chinchilla, Tara, Miles and Wandoan.They will be linked to Gladstone via a 380km underground pipeline.The company will start exporting to Chile, China, Japan and Singapore by 2014.

QGC said it had also awarded contracts to Bechtel Oil and Gas for the engineering, procurement and construction of the liquefaction plant. Joint venture MCJV won the contract for the transmission pipeline network.

SG Partners Sales Recruitment Services – yes we recruit sales and sales management professionals.

We are currently searching for:-

Account Manager, Brisbane and Perth, Mobile OEM

Sales Co ordinators, Brisbane, Mobile OEM

Sales Person, Emerald, Technical products

Commercial/BDM, Syd, Underground Equipment

Sales Co ordinators, Brisbane, Engineering

BDM, Brisbane, Project/Change Manager Automation systems

Sales Manager, Perth, Mobile OEM

If you know anyone that may be looking for a change – refer them onto to us or give us a call 07 3852 5454 or michael@sgpartners.com.au

Look, its quite simple – you keep recruiting the way you have always done, and get the results you have always had. If your sales team is performing the way you want them too – great. If not – well change things. Our ability to understand where they resonate within sales and sales management is unsurpassed – I can give you references.

Check out Our Talent Pool.

• BDM with vast electrical knowledge selling into the mining, energy and water sector, Brisbane.
• BDM with experience selling into mining (mechanical). Brisbane and Newcastle.
• Sales Manager who can turn around a sales team and grow revenue quickly. Brisbane.
• Sales Manager who with proven solution selling experience would be an asset to any large sales team. Brisbane.
• BDM with long experience selling mineral processing solutions, Melbourne.
• Sales people selling mining equipment Brisbane and Perth.
• Sales people selling equipment and services into mining and mineral processes and ports, Mackay and Gladstone.

We have some great sales professionals available; they have been screened and interviewed ready for the right position and company – give us a call if you want certainty in recruiting a great sales person/sales manager. 07 3852 5454 or michael@sgpartners.com.au

Other News

China recently discovered new iron ore reserves exceeding 15BT. Approximately 10B newly found iron ore reserves are located in Yanzhou, Anshan and Jidong. Several new large sized iron ore mines are currently in the planning stages throughout these regions.

Vale has signed an agreement with two Chinese lenders to borrow USD$1.23B to finance the construction of 12 shipping vessels.

Phillippines mining sector will receive up to $12.92B in fresh investment from 19 projects starting next year.Three medium-scale nickel mining projects and one processing plant would be on stream by next year: Eramen Mining, Sta. Cruz Nickel, Marcventurs, and the HPAL Line 2 nickel processing plant of Nickel Asia and Sumitomo Mining of Japan. The Philippines’ production of metallic minerals rose 51% to P49.83B in the year to June 2010, up from P32.92B in the same period last year

The U.S. Energy Secretary signed off on final agreements that formally commit $1B in federal funding for the controversial FutureGen project. The project, which would transform an old power plant west of Jacksonville into a clean-burning facility and ship carbon pollutants to a disposal site via a first-ever pipeline.The project has a target completion date of 2015.

Sales and Marketing

You know those people in your group who are punctual? The ones that always show up early?

ALWAYS?

Who get really upset at themselves when they’re late?

See how they’re doing in life. Chances are, more likely than not, they’re doing pretty darn well.

There’s so much to be said for punctuality. A great, solid habit to have that incorporates so much:

Discipline,

respect for time,

respect for others,

planning,

foresight,

commitment,

confidence,

pride, etc.

All that wrapped up in the beautiful gift of punctuality.

What signal would they send to your customers if your people were punctual – would it provide certianty and make it easier for them to decide on buying from you.

Mining Equipment and Services News

John Holland won a four-year, $348M mining services contract for Jellinbah Resources.

Industrea will buy mining equipment manufacturer Valley Longwall International after Industrea successfully raised $A50M to assist with its growth and acquisition strategy

John Holland Group has been awarded by The Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group the contract to supply and build Stage 2AA of the structural and mechanical works at Kooragang Island.

Wagners, has won a multi-million dollar contract to operate two concrete plants for ExxonMobil’s US$18B LNG project in PNG.Through the help of the Australian Government’s Export Finance and Insurance Corporation (EFIC), Wagners will supply, install and operate the plants for the Southern Highlands project. Wagners will work in collaboration with Japanese engineering and construction firms Chiyoda Corp and JGC Corporation, whose joint venture CJJV is building the LNG plant for Esso Highlands, a consortium led by ExxonMobil.

Worley Parsons has been awarded a $580M contract for BG Group’s $US15B Queensland LNG project. It had been appointed the detailed engineering and procurement services contractor for the upstream gas field facilities and related infrastructure at the Curtis LNG project.

Weir Group raised its forecast for full-year profits after oil company appetite for pumps spiked in the third quarter.The maker of pumps and valves said order input from customers operating in the upstream oil and gas space rose 232% in the 39 weeks to the beginning of October, compared to a rise of 166% in the first half of the year.

SG Partners offers:-

• sales and customer focus training – refresh and focus people on being customer focused;
• sales team recruitment – ensure people can sell and can manage sales teams;
• sales team analysis – we can identify the hunters, farmers, strengths and weaknesses of qualifying and closing within your sales team and define the exact training and support requirements;
• sales process and engagement consulting – crm, remuneration programs, tender/rfq processes.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you want to grow your revenue NOW.

More Positive News for Mining, Energy and Construction Sectors September 2010

Dear Industry Colleagues,

As always I would like to promote some positive news that you may not have heard of as yet. I hear we are starting to see long lead times again building up.

Mining and Construction related Activity

Mount Gibson Iron’s proposed $20M upgrade to its Geraldton Port unloading facility has been approved by the WA Govt. The increase will enable rail unloading capacity to reach 3,000tph.

Centennial Coal’s Charbon Colliery near Mudgee has received approval to expand to 5.2Mt of coal from a new underground mine and five new open cut pits, but it must adhere to 81 strict environmental conditions stipulated by the NSW Independent Planning Assessment Commission.

Allied Gold has finalised expansion plans for its flagship Simberi gold mine and has formally given the go-ahead for the $A34M PNG project.

Rio Tinto plans to invest A$859M to ramp up the underground block cave project at its Argyle Diamond Mine.

Avoca Resources and Anatolia Minerals Development Ltd. have agreed to merge in a deal that will create a gold company with a market value of some $2B.

Bauxite Resources has signed a heads of agreement with Chinese partner Yankuang Corporation to pursue plans to build an alumina refinery in south-west WA. The company says it will now undertake a feasibility study, site selection and environmental approvals for the project. Under the agreement, Yankuang will cover 90% of the refinery construction cost and receive 70% of the alumina product. The partners hope to begin construction within five years

Focus Minerals said studies were continuing on the company’s gold resources for the commencement of open-cut mining from 2011 and it would review opportunities to commence nickel exploration at its Nepean Nickel Project in WA in the coming period. The company said trial mining would be conducted at the mine to identify possible expansion prospects.

Metallica Metals said that an initial scoping study at its Nornico nickel-cobalt-scandium project indicated its A$132M plan to commence mining in 2013 at two of the site’s three deposits was possible. The study had identified potential improvements to the processing flow sheet that the company would include in a second study to be completed by year-end, which would put position it to launch a BFS early next year. Metallica is aiming to build a 180,000mtpa heated agitated atmospheric acid leaching plant by 2013 to process ore. The scoping study estimated the capital cost of the first stage of operations at A$132M and the average total operating cost at A$250/mt of ore. The third Kokomo deposit to the north of the proposed processing plant would be mined later.

New Hope Corporation has bought a stake in a breakthrough coal to liquids technology as part of its ongoing strategy to become a diversified energy producer. The technology, initially developed by the West Virginia University, USA, and licensed by the private Canadian firm Quantex Research Corporation (QRC), produces a pitch product from thermal grades of coal using a ‘clean’ liquefaction process. The pitch can further be processed into synthetic crude oil with a by product that can be a metallurgical coke substitute.

Conquest Mining will develop the Mt Carlton project, NQ, folliwng the acquisition of the SAG mill from Hillgrove.

Western Plains Resources moves forward with the awarding of overal project desigh to Como Engineers, Hual Rd underpasess to Parson and Port Pirire capital works to SKM.

Moly Mines has awarded their Spinifex Ridge Iron Ore Project mining contract to BGC Contracting, at the production rate of 1Mtpa of direct-ship product. They won the contract following a thorough 8 week competitive tender process against 7 other conforming bids. BGC plans to mobilise to site mid September 2010, with a mining fleet which includes Komatsu 785 dump trucks and a PC 2000 excavator, and commence ore mining in October.

Cliffs Natural Resources says it has approved a $A320M expansion of its Koolyanobbing mine in WA.

Rio Tinto Group, is seeking approval for a $900M expansion of its Weipa mining operation. The expansion would include two new processing plants and a new port. The expansion would take three years and would start once it receives environmental approval. The new operation would have capacity of 50Mtpa and bauxite would be exported from the new port between Boyd Pt. and Pera Head

Sales Tips

The research shows that having a formal sales process improves performance in 87% of sales organisations. This, as opposed to relying upon a person’s experience, instincts, gut feelings, and seat-of-the-pants selling, works.

Telling isn’t selling and yet I have found that even sales reps who have been selling for 20+ years could use a back to basics or a refresher course once in awhile.

The Sales Process is the one that addresses the client’s Buying Process. You can’t have success in one without fulfillment in the other.

1. What is the long term objective/goal/outcome your looking for?

2.What is the situation today and how does it compare to your objectives?

3.What has to change to accomplish the outcomes?

4. What is in it for you if this happens?

5. What are you willing to do to get these outcomes?

Energy

Power companies are increasingly switching to natural gas to fuel their electricity plants, driven by low prices and forecasts of vast supplies for years to come. Some utilities are closing coal-fired plants; others are converting them to run on gas. The switch is occurring globally and is getting a push from regulators who want to limit emissions that contribute to climate change, haze and health problems such as respiratory illness. Coal-burning facilities are expected to slip to 10% of total new capacity in the U.S. in 2013, down from 18% in 2009. Gas, meanwhile, is expected to soar to 82% of new capacity in 2013 from 42% last year. Natural gas also has the edge in Europe. In 2009, far more gas- than coal-burning plants were built in the European Union—24% of new capacity versus 8.7%. China’s government has pledged to roughly double the percentage of electricity the country gets from non-fossil sources, to 15% from 8%, by 2020. But much of that new energy will come from hydropower.

AGL Energy and New Zealand-based Meridian Energy have finalized contracts to develop a 420MW wind power facility in the western district of Vic which would become the largest wind farm in the southern hemisphere

Total Oil reported it had agreed to the purchase of a 20 % in Gladstone LNG project. The move will see Total remit a sum consideration of $750 million for Australia’s Gladstone LNG Project from Santos and Malaysia’s Petrona.

Gorgon contracts to date.

* Thiess/Decmil/Kentz JV (TDKJV); contracted to design and construct an accommodation construction village on Barrow Island for Chevron Australia.

* Offshore Marine Services Alliance (OMSA); marine vessel and labour supply.

* Australian Portable Camps APC; contracted to design, construct and operate a 300 bed rapid deployment camp.

* Mermaid Marine; access to a common-user marine supply base located at Dampier in the north-west of Western Australia.

* Thiess; site preparation works and construction of temporary facilities on Barrow Island.

* Toll; to manage the supply base and logistics services on Barrow Island. It is anticipated about 200 people will be employed under the extendable three-year contract.

* JP Kenny and Technip Oceania; Gorgon Upstream Joint Venture (GUJV) as the FEED and EPCM contractor with respect to the upstream facilities for the Greater Gorgon development.

* The Kellogg JV – Gorgon (KJV-G) including KBR, JGC Corporation of Japan, and Clough Projects and Hatch Associates have been selected to perform the FEED for the downstream part of the project.

* The Saipem Leighton Consortium was selected to develop the $900M Jetty and Marine Structures project. The scope of work includes design, material supply, fabrication, construction and commissioning of Australia’s longest LNG jetty which also includes supply, fabrication and construction of marine structures. Project design is underway and construction is to commence in late 2010 on Barrow Island, to be completed in 2013.

* CBI was awarded the contract for the engineering, procurement, fabrication and construction of two 180,000 cubic metre full containment LNG tanks, four condensate tanks, and the associated piping, electrical, instrumentation and civil works.

* Neptune Marine Services; contracted to provide diving, survey and vessel support services, which forms part of the scope of works awarded to Marine & Civil Construction. The scope also includes installation of pipeing and the offshore pump station associated with the temporary desalination plant at Barrow Island, diving support for the construction of a new supply barge facility, general construction and dive support.

* Compass: catering and camp services.

* Monadelphous; facility management.

* Agility Project Logistics; supply base operation and road transport.

* Omega Security Services; site security services.

* Health Services Australia Ltd; medical services and personnel.

* ERTECH; initial civil works.

* Allseas; offshore pipeline contract.

* Aker Solutions; design of the Mono Ethylene Glycol Plant.

* Altona Plumbing and Encee Electrical; supply and installation of services for the LNG Jetty and marine structure.

* WA Civil Contracting and Spiers Earthworks; earthworks and paving contract for the LNG jetty and marine structure.

SG Partners Sales Recruitment Services – yes we recruit sales and sales management professionals.

We are currently searching for:-

Sales Co ordintaors, Brisbane, Mobile OEM

Sales Person, Emerald, Technical products

Commercial/BDM, Syd, Underground Equipment

BDM, Perth, Fuel Systems

BDM, Brisbane, Automation systems

Sales Manager, Brisbane, Electrical Systems

Sales Manager, Perth, Mobile OEM

If you know anyone that may be looking for a change – refer them onto to us or give us a call 07 3852 5454 or michael@sgpartners.com.au

Look, its quite simple – you keep recruiting the way you have always done, and get the results you have always had. If your sales team is performing the way you want them too – great. If not – well change things. Our ability to understand where they resonate within sales and sales management is unsurpassed – I can give you references.

Check out Our Talent Pool.

• BDM with vast electrical knowledge selling into the mining, energy and water sector, Brisbane.
• BDM with experience selling into mining (mechanical). Brisbane and Newcastle.
• Sales Manager who can turn around a sales team and grow revenue quickly. Brisbane.
• Sales Manager who with proven solution selling experience would be an asset to any large sales team. Brisbane.
• BDM with long experience selling mineral processing solutions, Melbourne.
• Sales people selling mining equipment Brisbane and Perth.
• Sales people selling equipment and services into mining and mineral processes and ports, Mackay and Gladstone.

We have some great sales professionals available; they have been screened and interviewed ready for the right position and company – give us a call if you want certainty in recruiting a great sales person/sales manager. 07 3852 5454 or michael@sgpartners.com.au

Other News

Qld Govt stated a record $917.1M in exploration expenditure was invested in Queensland’s mining and petroleum industries during 2009-10.

BMD Constructions will team up with Italian companies Acciona and Ghella to build the $1.5B Northern Link toll road tunnel. The Transcity consortium’s bid to design, construct, maintain and operate the tunnel represented a $300M saving over the expected cost of the project of $1.8B.

Sales and Marketing

An optimised sales process consists of steps, each one containing a combination of milestones, goals and actions.  Most companies have some of these but the two biggest problems are that key sales milestones are often misidentified or missing, and nearly always included in the wrong stage.

A well-trained sales force, following an optimised sales process, will always see the following results:

• Shorter sales cycles
• Higher conversion ratios
• Higher average sales
• Higher margins
• Higher customer retention
• More repeat business
• More accurate forecasting

As I review sales assessments with sales teams, I am staggered how few have an understanding of the basics they need to be monitoring.

• How many calls
• How many opportunities come from the calls
• How many proposal they create for those opportunities that are uncovered
• How many proposal are closed
• What is the win/loss ratio

If they are not measuring this, how do they know they are getting better or what to do to get better.

So what about your company? What is the current state of your sales process?  What are you waiting for?  How will you get started? Call SG Partners NOW to get more revenue, customer loyalty and a higher win/loss ratio.

Mining Equipment and Services News

O’Donnell Griffin has updated its progress on contracts underway at BHP Billiton’s $US260M Mt Arthur coal expansion project in the Upper Hunter Valley, known as MAC20.

KBR has been awarded an EPCM in a contract worth $A1.36B.for the Hope Downs 4 iron ore mine.

John Holland has been awarded a $276M contract for marine work, as part of the early stages of Rio Tinto’s Cape Lambert Port B project in the Pilbar. Rio Tinto is to spend a further US$230m on its Dampier Port as it expands production to 230Mtpa. The investment follows expenditure of US$91m on the same facility and almost $US1bn on expansion of Cape Lambert.

ABB has won an order worth $20M to provide the electrical and automation system for six underground mine incline conveyors for Newcrest Mining’s Cadia East project in NSW.

Leighton Holdings has won a contract worth more than $800M to carry out works on Gorgon project to deliver the civil and underground works. The contract win is in addition to the company’s current work on the Project where gthey and fellow construction and engineering firm SAIPEM are completing works on a 2.1km LNG jetty and marine structures. The latest contract covers earthworks, in-situ and precast concrete and underground services, including drainage, piping and electrical and instrumentation cabling that will be installed within the LNG plant site. Work will start immediately and is expected to be completed by mid-2013.

Byrnecut has been awarded a contract for the decline access for Ivanhoe’s Merlin mine in Cloncurry.

SG Partners offers:-

• sales and customer focus training – refresh and focus people on being customer focused;
• sales team recruitment – ensure people can sell and can manage sales teams;
• sales team analysis – we can identify the hunters, farmers, strengths and weaknesses of qualifying and closing within your sales team and define the exact training and support requirements;
• sales process and engagement consulting – crm, remuneration programs, tender/rfq processes.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you want to grow your revenue NOW.

All information contained in this email derives from information available within the public domain. SG Partners take no responsibility for information that may be incorrect at time of collation.

More Positive News for Mining, Energy and Construction Sectors August 2010

Dear Industry Colleagues,

As always I would like to promote some positive news that you may not have heard of as yet. The presentation by Tom Albanese, CEO Rio Tinto was very interesting.

Check out the best time to cold call in the Sales Tips area!!

Mining and Construction related Activity

Xstrata said the demand outlook for the commodity for both steelmaking and power production is “robust” because of urbanization in China and India. Australia will be a key investment region as Xstrata seeks to boost production to tap rising consumption. A development decision on the A$6B Wandoan coal project is due next year. Xstrata is spending $14B to expand metal and coal output by 50% by 2014, betting on a sustained revival in demand as the global economy recovers from last year’s recession. Power-station coal prices may rise to $105 a metric ton in 2011, from $98 this year.

Rio Tinto says it will invest $1.8B to develop the Hope Downs 4 iron ore project in WA and link it with existing rail, power and port infrastructure.The new open-cut mine will have an annual capacity of 15Mt of high-quality iron ore, with first production anticipated in 2013. Rio Tinto will share the capital cost to develop the mine, estimated at $1.33B, with joint venture participant Hope Downs Iron Ore. The project, 30km north of Newman, will include a village for more than 600 staff, mine dewatering, an open cut shovel and truck mining fleet and wet ore processing infrastructure. Rio Tinto will spend $US425M on the capital cost of rail, rolling stock and power infrastructure owned by Rio Tinto required for the mine.

The Qld Govt has conditionally approved a $4B Caval Ridge Coal Mine with strict development and operational restrictions. These include a network of 16 air-monitoring stations around the mine and the township of Moranbah, dust and flood mitigation work and a potential housing plan. Construction of the mine could start in 2011, with first coal exports by 2014.

SG Partners Sales Training

It always interests me to discuss with sales people, sales managers and business owners/custodians how they intend to take advantage of the huge opportunities in the marketplace.

You employ a sales team to generate revenue and yet there is very little upskilling taking place. When was the last time you invested in a sales training workshop (not a product/sales training) or gave them a book about sales?

You would not hesitate to invest in new production/servicing equipment to create a better output or efficiency, so why not invest in the people that are employed to create revenue. Does this not make sense? If you think they should already know their trade – guess what, they can always be better, and I know I assess and recruit sales team, and believe me, even the IBM trained sales people have low qualifying and closing skill sets.

Would training them to be better at creating rapport, better at qualifying, better at closing and better at creating long term relationships generate more revenue – of course.

If you want to generate more opportunities, have sales people engage even more with customers and people buy from you on value and not price, then ask SG Partners about their workshops. 07 3852 5454, michael@sgpartners.com.au

“Better than any course I have attended previously. Fantastic, knowledgeable speaker. This was not your typical rar-rar over the top sales seminar. Was more about the psychology of selling. SG Partners has really helped me to understand the customer and their needs including how to get the most of out them”

Mining and Construction related Activity

Gladstone Steel Project has progressed during the quarter with the bulk of the EIS work now completed and ready for submission. The receipt of the preliminary plant engineering proposals has enabled Boulder Steel Limited to complete the site layout with only minor

BHP Billiton delivered another strong set of results despite significant volatility in the macro economic environment with growth in Underlying EBITDA and Attributable profit of 10% and 16% respectively. The highlights are record sales volumes achieved in iron ore, metallurgical coal and petroleum with local currency costs well controlled across the Group and continued investment in business successfully delivered another five growth projects.

CST Mining Group recently received formal Qld Govt approval for its Plan of Operations for resumption of production at Lady Annie. CST acquired Lady Annie and Chariot Resources Ltd which owned 70% of Peru’s Marcobre copper project. As of 2009 Lady Annie had reserves of 11.2Mt 1.1% copper within a total resource of 40.5Mt 0.85% copper. They have equipment on site moving material already and will mobilize the rest of the required mining fleet to site.

Macarthur Coal will acquire the majority of a MCG Coal Holdings that owns the coal mining tenement in Bowen Basin. MDL162 is expected to begin producing after 2014 and will produce up to 6Mtpa ROM coal at full run rate. Funds raised will be used to fund further exploration work and a bankable feasibility study for MDL162. Macarthur and the MCG Companies have plans to develop an open cut mine.

Gindalbie Metals announced that it has received final regulatory approval from the WA Govt to ramp up construction at its Karara Iron Ore Project. The approval was the final hurdle for Gindalbie to activate the initial use of a $1.2B project loan, which is being provided principally by the China Development Bank and the Bank of China.

Moly Mines has awarded a 5 year crushing contract to Rapid Crushing and Screening for the 1Mtpa Spinifex Ridge Iron Ore Project. The RC&S circuit has the capacity to expand throughput to 1.3Mtpa with no additional capital. The plant will be mobilized to site to commence crushing in the second half of October. Mining and haulage tender packages are expected to be awarded soon. Ore haulage to the Utah Point facility at Port Hedland is expected to commence in the first week of November 2010. Site activities continue to progress well. Construction of a 30km water pipeline from the De-Grey borefield is complete. Construction of the haulage road from the iron ore deposits to the run-of-mine pad at the crushing facilities is near complete. Ground preparation for the crushing facilities is underway. Offsite construction and assembly of camp accommodation units is progressing for transfer to site. The camp site has been cleared with ancillary roads and pads
under construction.

Legend’s Paradise Phosphate Project Feasibility Study is expected to also receive government approval and grant early in Quarter 4, 2010. Capital required in the first 3 years from 2011 — 2013 is US$688M and relates directly to mining and transport infrastructure, with associated working capital, and the construction of the Mt. Isa Phosphate Fertilizer Complex.

Vale announced the Goro project has successfully produced its first nickel metal product. Remaining commissioning work will continue to take place over the next few months, with the refinery expected to be in production by the end of the year.

Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group (NCIG) construction of the second stage of the third coal export terminal, 30 to 53mtpa, in the Port of Newcastle will begin immediately following completion of finance arrangements. Total finance package, sufficient to cover the expected project construction cost of $900M, has been completed with a range of Australian and overseas financial institutions. The announcement means that coal export capacity at Newcastle is expected to increase to more than 180mtpa by 2013, with potential for further expansion. This next stage of works on the 136- hectare site includes a new rail unloading facility and rail sidings, an additional stacker/reclaimer and stockyards, additional conveyors and sample stations and an additional shiploader.

Gladstone Pacific Nickel said it has received a letter from Queensland Nickel Resources advising that it will make an unconditional cash offer for all the ordinary shares in GPNL it does not already own.

Energy Activity

Origin Energy says its $35B LNG JV has caught up to rival Gladstone LNG projects planned by BG and Santos. Origin says that a deal with BG was an example of one that could have benefits for two projects whose plans to export Qld’s vast coal-seam gas reserves were now at similar stages.

Bow Energy says it will start construction this month of a new gas-fired powerplant at Blackwater. Approvals are expected and construction is on track to begin immediately.

Stanwell Corporation has agreed to proceed to Stage 2 of the Farmin Agreement covering Icon Energy’s key coal seam gas tenement committing a further $30M.  The Stage 2 commitment by Stanwell Corporation means that a total of $36M will be committed to establishing 340 PJ of 2P reserves, located north of Goondiwindi. This pipeline will allow Stanwell Corporation and Icon Energy to sell gas to the market outside of power generation planned by Stanwell Corporation.

Alinta Energy has signed binding agreements for the sale of the Cawse Power Station and associated infrastructure to Norilsk Nickel Cawse and for the termination of the associated energy supply agreement and ancillary agreements.

Eastern Star Gas said it intends to raise $100M selling shares as it advances with plans for a LNG project NSW. The coal-seam gas explorer agreed to pay $25M for land in Newcastle. Eastern Star will also use funds from the share sale to institutions for a study into the gas export project and to drill and develop gas fields.

SG Partners Sales Tips – When is the best time to cold call

Thursdays either early morning (8-9am) followed closely by late afternoon (4-5pm).

A study in the USA revealed that the absolute worst time to call is right after lunch. In fact, an early morning cold call is 164 % more likely to qualify a lead than one made from 1-2pm.

How long before a hot lead turns COLD. For most the answer is one hour, after which the lead is no longer “hot.” It’s still a lead, but it’s no better than any old lead taken from a list.

The USA study further revealed that, in B2B selling environments, the best odds of qualifying a lead happen within 20 minutes after interest is shown. However, calling within 5 minutes is 21 times more likely to result in a qualified prospect than if you wait half an hour.

Commodity and Other News
Seaborne thermal coal markets continued to be robust through the first half of 2010. Seaborne demand was led by China and India, but imports were also up to other Asian countries, including Japan and Korea. China’s coal imports for the first half of 2010 were 81M metric tons, which is a run rate 55% higher than 2009. Of this, 22M metric tons were met coal and 59M metric tons were thermal coal. Imports are expected to moderate in the second half, but should stay above 2009 levels. India’s imports accelerated in the past couple of years, and that trend is expected to continue with imports up 22% through the first half. In addition, India’s major new power plants are being sited in coastal regions to enable access to seaborne markets.

International commodity markets are being influenced by near term slowing from China and from declining momentum of industrial production in the U.S. and other developed countries. China’s steel output is expected to be down 4-6% in the second half, after being up 18% through the first half. U.S. steel production is expected to decline to 66-68% capacity utilization in the second half, after reaching 75% utilization in May. Even with the anticipated declines, the second half run rates for steel production would remain near record levels in China and well above last year in the U.S.

Slowing growth in steel production is impacting near term demand for met coal and iron ore. Demand for these raw materials is leveling off, but remains at historically high levels. Prices have softened along with demand, but remain significantly above last year. Third quarter prices for hard coking coal are expected to be set around $210 per metric ton, down 7% from second quarter contract pricing. Iron ore prices have been more volatile, but are recently trading in line with contract prices. Restrictions anticipated to be added to India exports and declining domestic China
production should add stability to forward prices.

Copper imports into China have been impacted by significant reductions in Shanghai exchange stocks, and are running about 4 percent below their twelve month average. China slowing is being offset by increased demand in the rest of the world, and this is providing support to pricing. Copper prices have remained above $3.00 per pound since late 2009, and the forward curve remains above this level for several more years. As a result, customers are proceeding with copper expansion projects in North and South America and Australia, and with future green field projects in Central Africa and Mongolia.

Japanese steelmakers, the world’s second-largest producer of the metal, won a 7% cut in quarterly coking coal prices, the first reduction this year, from BHP Billiton according to UBS AG. Prices for the material used to make steel will fall to $209 a metric ton for the three months starting Oct. 1, from $225 a ton in the current quarter, UBS said in a note.

Sales and Marketing Tips – Four Strategies To Turn Prospects into Opportunities

Converting prospects into opportunities (and eventually customers) is the key to building your pipeline. There are four key strategies to improve your conversion rate:

Strategy #1: Improve your prospecting list. The more the list is “pre-qualified” the more likely you are to convert prospects into opportunities. Ideally the absolute best lead lists are referrals from
existing customers.

Strategy #2: Improve your selling attitude. Working upon your attitude and motivation will position you for success. Your effectiveness as a communicator is highly dependent upon these “soft” skills.

Strategy #3: Improve your phone skills. The more effective you are at getting the right people on the phone and finding out whether they’re qualified to be prospects, the less time you’ll need to
spend doing it. Experiment with different approaches and keep a record of what works best for you. Do a mental debriefing after each call to decide what you could do better next call. Do not forget to call at the best days and best times.

Strategy #4: Improve your closure rate. If you become a more effective closer, you won’t need to generate as many opportunities in order to make your quota. Remember: an opportunity means that
prospect is ready to buy and will probably buy. Make sure it’s from you.

Mining Equipment News

Sedgman has received the notice to proceed from Discovery Metals for the Boseto Copper Project in Botswana. Sedgman announced the award of the EPC contract on May 24.The initial scope of works under the contract included the FEED and related metallurgical testing for the copper flotation plant. The scope of works was then to be expanded to include the detailed design, procurement and construction of the plant and associated infrastructure including the borefield development.The notice to proceed now confirms Sedgman’s expanded scope of works which is expected to take the contract price to more than USD$90M.

Joy reported new orders increased 51% as compared to the third quarter of 2009. Net sales for the quarter were $850M compared to $956M in the third quarter of last year. Underground original equipment orders were up $115M, led by increased orders for longwall equipment in the United States, and room and pillar equipment across most regions. Original equipment orders in the surface business were up $109M over the third quarter 2009, with orders for electric mining shovels received from coal and metal customers across all regions. Drills destined for North America also contributed to order strength in the third quarter 2010. Aftermarket orders in the underground equipment business were exceptionally strong, up 38 %, led by a catch up in machine rebuilds and parts orders in the United States as equipment is put back into service. Parts orders in China also increased as we reached replacement cycles on a growing installed base of original equipment. Surface business aftermarket orders were up across most regions, increasing by 5 percent in the quarter compared to the prior year quarter. Backlog increased to $1.8B at the end of the third quarter from $1.5B as of October 30, 2009 primarily due to strong year to date bookings reported for both divisions.

Aurecon Hatch has been retained by DBCT Management to provide engineering services to investigate options for the next planned expansion of the Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal (DBCT) at the Port of Hay Point.

OneSteel Whyalla has been commissioned to produce more than 2,000Km rail for two re railing projects in SA, Victoria and NSW. The Australian Rail Track Corporation projects are worth more than $400M.

Watpac has won two mining projects worth more than $38M, encompassing mineral sands and gold mining in WA and Qld. At Tutunup in WA, Watpac’s Civil & Mining division will undertake earthworks and mining works for Iluka Resources, worth more than $32M over four years. The team will utilise an extensive fleet of excavators, dump trucks, and wheel loaders on the mineral sands project, with the first mill production due in June 2011.In Queensland, the division has won a $6.5M gold mining contract with NQM (North Queensland Metals) Gold 2 for works at the Pajingo JV Janet A Pit mine. Located outside of Charters Towers in the north of the state, the eight-month project will involve the removal of 600,000 bank cubic metres of material, with Watpac undertaking load and haul, and drill and blast operations. Preliminary works at the project site are expected to begin in mid-September, with labour drawn from the Charters Towers area.

Downer EDI has signed a $2.75B six-year contract with Fortescue Metals Group for the provision of mining services at the Christmas Creek A-G Iron Ore Mine. This comes only seven days after Downer announced a $1.8B deal with BMA to provide similar services at its Goonyella Riverside and Norwich Park coal mines.

The BAM Clough JV has been awarded a letter of intent to proceed with the design and construction of the LNG and condensate offloading jetty for the PNG project.

SG Partners offers:-

* sales and customer focus training – refresh and focus people on being customer focused;
* sales team recruitment – ensure people can sell and can manage sales teams;
* sales team analysis – we can identify the hunters, farmers, strengths and weaknesses of qualifying and closing within your sales team and define the exact training and support requirements;
* sales process and engagement consulting – crm, remuneration programs, tender/rfq processes.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you want to grow your revenue NOW.

http://www.sgpartners.com.au

All information contained in this email derives from information available within the public domain. SG Partners take no responsibility for information that may be incorrect at time of collation.

More Positive News for Mining, Energy and Construction Sectors July 2010

Dear Industry Colleagues,

As always I would like to promote some positive news that you may not have heard of as yet. It was all positive at the QME, most suppliers talking about their order books filling up.

Mining and Construction related Activity

Xstrata Coal board has approved the investment of US$1.1B to develop the 6.7mtpa Ulan West longwall underground mine. With a life of mine of approximately 18yrs and cash costs at the bottom of the second quartile of the industry cost curve, construction of the mine is expected to commence in late 2010, with the first longwall coal to be extracted in 2014 depending upon a receipt of NSW Govt approvals,.

Rio Tinto is to invest a further US$790M in its drive to expand the annual capacity of iron ore operations in the Pilbara to 330Mt. This brings total investment funds approved to US$1B. The Pilbara expansion centres on increasing the port at Cape Lambert to 180Mt by 2016. This will be achieved through construction of a new 1.8km jetty and four-berth wharf to run parallel to the existing jetty and four-berth wharf.

Rio Tinto’s planned growth of its Pilbara iron ore operations to 330 Mt/a capacity consists of the following steps:

* 225 Mt/a by Q1 2011 – Dampier port systems efficiencies (in implementation)

* 230 Mt/a by Q2 2012 – Dampier port incremental gains (in feasibility study)

* 280 Mt/a by H1 2014 – Cape Lambert B 1st 50 Mt/a increment (now in feasibility study)

* 330 Mt/a by H1 2016 – Cape Lambert B 2nd 50 Mt/a increment (pre-feasibility completed)

Xstrata reported a more than threefold rise in first-half net profit, benefiting from rising prices and increased sales volumes across many of its commodities such as copper, ferrochrome, zinc and nickel. Net profit was $2.29B for the six months to June 30, compared with $690M a year earlier. Revenue rose 43% to $13.61B from $9.54B.

Rumour News Flash – Xstrata Coal Board has decided to run with Balaclava as their port rather than Wiggins Island for Wandoan Coal. Will Wiggins Isl have enough tonnage to going ahead?

Northern Energy is inching closer to producer status as it sets 5.9Mt of probable hard coking coal reserves at its planned open cut Colton mine within the Maryborough project.

International Coal Ventures has bid for Stanwell 200Mt of coal reserves.

Aquila Resources announced the DFS of their 30Mtpa 1st Stage iron ore project will have capital expenditure estimated at $USD5.77B, including EPCM and contingency costs. The DFS recommends construction of a mine, 282 km of new rail and a new deep water port facility at Anketell Point, which has collectively been granted Major Project Facilitation status by the Federal Govt whilst the port development was recently approved as a multi-user facility by the State Government. Development decision by the Project Participants is scheduled for the Qrtr 3 2010, construction could commence in the March Quarter 2012 with first shipments early in Calendar 2014

Aquila Resources hopes to produce hard coking coal from its Washpool $320M project after announcing a completed FS of the project. With construction starting in 2012, the mine would be able to produce 1.6Mtpa for 25 years at the $106/tonne quoted price. The company estimated that based on a likely market price of $US144/tonne, the current value of the project’s expected future cash flows, or npv would be $364M. The project will depend on the development of the proposed Wiggins Island coal terminal.

Anglo American says it is selling its interests in undeveloped coal assets in Australia for $580M in cash to a consortium comprised of Korea Electric Power Corporation, POSCO and Cockatoo Coal. The assets comprise two wholly-owned underground coal deposits in NSW and its share in three open cut coal deposits in Qld.

Surprise, surprise, Xstrata Coal has announced that it will re-commence developing its Rolleston West, Sarum and Wandoan coal projects.

Alpha coal mine development remains on track after the state’s coordinator general approved the proposed $2B Hancock Coal rail corridor which would connect the mine to Abbot Point port. The mine needs to purchase the land for the corridor from private owners.

Gita Wiryawan, head of Indonesia’s Coordinating Board for Investment, stated that Indonesian nickel and gold producer PT Aneka Tambang will sign an agreement “soon or later this month” with Chinese steelmaker Baosteel Group Corp. to establish a nickel plant on Kalimantan Island with an investment of $1.2B. Mr. The output of the new plant will reach 500,000mtpa of ferronickel and that construction will start later this year.

Mincor Resources has restarted production at its Miitel ore body. Prices have now more than doubled from their trough levels last year, and the three-month London Metal Exchange nickel contract closed at $21,945 a metric ton.  Mincor Resources plans to boost nickel production in fiscal 2011 and 2012 after a strong fourth quarter. Mincor produced almost 3000t of nickel ore at its mines in Kambalda in the three months to June 30, 2010 – up 10% on the previous quarter. The nickel producer says it aims to lift output this financial year – to up to 14,500t – and to between 15,000 -16,000 tons in fiscal 2012.

Nickel Asia Corporation of Philippines together with Baosteel Resources Co Limited may develop a laterite nickel mine in the Philippines, located in an island in northern Mindanao. NAC fully owns the property now, and its half output of nickel ore exports to China.

BHP Billiton reported a strong performance in its fourth quarter ended June 30, with production of iron ore and metallurgical coal both up 16% on a year before. The world’s biggest miner produced 31.2M metric tons of iron ore in the fourth quarter of its reporting year and 125Mt over the year, it said in its year-end production report. Iron ore accounted for around a third of BHP’s earnings in the previous financial year, followed by petroleum and metallurgical coal.

Whitehaven Coal said it is in talks with unidentified groups about potential deals.“Those discussions that are continuing are preliminary and remain incomplete.”  China Shenhua Energy Co. and Korea’s Posco are among companies that may have made an approach. The compnay has received NSW Govt approval to start the $300M stage two development of its Narrabri mine in the Gunnedah Basin.

Gujarat NRE Coke has announced plans to undertake both greenfield and brownfield expansion projects. The company plans to ramp up production capacity of NRE No. 1 Colliery and NRE Wongawilli Colliery to 2.4Mtpa before the end of 2010, and to 6Mtpa 2013-14 respectively. GNCL would invest another $392M to $435M in Australian assets in the next few years.

SG Partners Recruitment and Training

An astounding 1/3 of Australian workers are planning to change jobs. What are you doing to retain your staff?

Depending upon which survey you read: The Hay Group or Drake International, an astounding 25 – 33% of Australian workers are planning to change jobs with 50 – 71% of workers saying they are dis-satisfied in their current role. With the cost of replacement being anywhere from 50 – 150% of an employee’s salary it’s much more cost effective to keep the ones you have! What are you doing to keep yours?

Energy

Beach Energy is hatching plans to export as LNG some of its shale gas in the Cooper Basin in SA. They signed a non-binding MOU with Japanese trader Itochu to study  the potential to develop and supply shale gas to a potential LNG project. Beach MD Reg Nelson said the JV was looking at mid-sized plants that could produce 1-1.5Mt of LNG a year. Beach believes its Nappamerri Trough shale ground, which straddles the Qld and SA borders, could hold about 200 trillion cubic feet of gas — or double the combined CSG reserves of Qld and NSW.

Korea Gas has signed a non-binding deal with Chevron and its Wheatstone partners to buy $21.7B worth of LNG over 20 years. Chevron said it had signed a heads of agreement to supply Kogas with 1.5 Mtpa from the planned Wheatstone LNG, worth $US936M/yr at current spot prices. Kogas is in talks with Santos about buying supplies from the Gladstone LNG project; with Woodside about the Pluto LNG project; and with Shell about its plans to build its Prelude floating LNG venture. South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has indicated he wants to increase Australian LNG imports to between 20 & 30% of nation’s total.

InterOil has finalised the JV operating agreement with Japanese player Mitsui for a proposed condensate stripping plant to handle production from InterOil’s Elk and Antelope field site in Gulf Province.

BHP Billiton is getting near to selecting winners of two of the main turnkey contracts for its Macedon shallow-water gas development.

Chevron has continued its good run in WA’s Carnarvon Basin with another discovery that will support the company’s long-term LNG growth plans in the Asia Pacific region.

Sales Tips

Do you have Fear of rejection? Delay that phone call? Drive past that company?

It’s why we don’t like to ask.

Ask our partners / or a stranger for time alone.

Ask for a favor.

Ask for the job.

But think about it.

Even if the other person says no, did your life change?

If you asked somebody to dinner and they said no, you weren’t going to have dinner with another person in the first place.

Nothing changed.

You can’t lose.

You can only win.

So pick up the phone and call a prospective customer, you can only win.

Other News

Copper prices began to rise steadily, the price of nickel are added almost 1%, the price of silver matched to a record high in recent days. Metals rise after the news that the Chinese government intends to increase the volume of low-cost housing.

Infrastructure Australia has identified more than $18.2B of port, rail and road projects deemed to have met its stringent criteria, including those able to strengthen the economy and clear export bottlenecks. Infrastructure Australia has prioritised $5.3B of port projects, a figure that does not include the Oakajee port development north of Geraldton. The rail sector has almost $2.9B of projects earmarked as priority, although several projects in NSW and the Mt Isa-Townsville and East-West rail corridors are not included in that number. More than $10B of projects were identified for the road sector.

The Vic Gov has released details of contract packages for the $4.3B Regional Rail Link, including two major Design and Construct contracts and three alliances.

Sales and Marketing

Talking to a very senior Xstrata Coal figure at QME I thought I would share this with you. If you are selling a product that will be still operating for 20 years, and you think, that’s great – well think again. Maybe your customers are not interest in your technology as it will be super =seeded by the necessity to upgrade for a bigger more optimal unit before the 20 years. So do mining companies really want to pay more for the period of reliability – I think not. They want something that will meet their needs within their defined period of operation for the initial stage – go ahead ask someone who is strategic, maybe a C level person. And yes I know procurement ask for different things but they do not make decision.

Here is something else to consider:-

1. Is our corporate sales strategy clearly articulated, measurable and actionable?

2. Does our sales compensation plan reinforce that strategy?

3. Is there a plan to retrain existing or hire new personnel to support that strategy?

4. Is our marketing team able to produce leads and provide materials that support the strategy?

5. Is sales support prepared to assist the sales team as we execute the strategy?

6. Is human resources prepared support any required training and rehiring efforts?

7. Is our CRM system ready to measure the metrics for that strategy?

8. Are there no major disconnects that might prevent the execution of the strategy?

Mining Equipment and Services News

Leighton Contractors has won the works contract for the installation of two gas turbine generators, part of a $138M upgrade to Darwin’s Channel Island Power Station.

Bounty Mining has won a two-year contract from Anglo American Metallurgical Coal to provide board and pillar mining services for the Aquila and Bundoora collieries at the German Creek minesite.

Asciano has signed a 10-year contract expected to generate revenues of over $320M with Middlemount Coal.

Boral will raise $490M to overhaul its operations and fund expansions in its core building and construction materials businesses, while looking to offload some underperforming subsidiaries.

Northern Stevedoring Services has been loading the first multi-million dollar shipment of lump iron ore on behalf of Mount Moss Mining. The 50,000t shipment is worth an estimated $7.5M on the spot market and will sail to China.

Metso will supply a complete crushing and screening system to Mount Gibson Iron for the Extension Hill mine.

Ausenco signed a $32M contract to provide engineering design services for the processing plant upgrade included within Newcrest’s recently announced $1.9B Cadia East Project.

Caterpillar reports it will build a new plant in North Carolina, where it will machine components and assemble, test, and paint axle assemblies for large mining machinery. The new plant is part of Caterpillar’s long-term global strategy to increase capacity for mining trucks. Earlier this summer, Caterpillar outlined a four-year, $700M investment program to expand production of mining shovels at its Aurora plant, and heavy mining trucks at Chennai, India. Caterpillar reported quarterly profit of $707M was up a massive 91% from the corresponding quarter of last year. Sales and revenues of $10.41B were up more than 30% year over year.

Downer EDI’s mining division has signed contracts with BMA to June 2015 at Goonyella Riverside and Norwich Park Mines in the Bowen Basin.

SG Partners offers:-

• sales and customer focus training – refresh and focus people on being customer focused;
• sales team recruitment – ensure people can sell and can manage sales teams;
• sales team analysis – we can identify the hunters, farmers, strengths and weaknesses of qualifying and closing within your sales team and define the exact training and support requirements;
• sales process and engagement consulting – crm, remuneration programs, tender/rfq processes.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you want to grow your revenue NOW.

www.sgpartners.com.au

All information contained in this email derives from information available within the public domain. SG Partners take no responsibility for information that may be incorrect at time of collation.