WHEN TIMING IS CRITICAL, and the doors need to open, Supervisor Lenny Jackamarra (left) holds the key.
Lenny is entrusted with ensuring trucks arriving at Newcrest's Port Hedland storage facility, each carrying up to 110
tonnes of copper concentrate, are unloaded and their valuable cargo is graded and stockpiled correctly prior to shipping
to markets overseas.
Lenny has worked at the facility for the past five years, and manages a 10-person mainly-Indigenous team responsible for
unloading up to 12 trucks and stockpiling 1300 tonnes of product in a 24-hour period with minimum fuss.
About 18 ships arrive at the port each year to collect and deliver some 180,000 tonnes of copper concentrate to
Newcrest's clients in various parts of the world. It normally takes about 18 hours to load each ship with about 10,500
tonnes from two hoppers inside the facility.
"I enjoy the work, age-wise it suits me," said 66-year-old Lenny. "The main challenge is in scheduling the deliveries
and stockpiling the product efficiently, so that we don't keep the trucks waiting too long before they can unload and
head back to Telfer."