curragh north overland conveyor - qld

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At Curragh North in Central Queensland, the project delivered an engineering milestone: the world’s longest single, flight overland trough conveyor—stretching approximately 20 km—to connect the open, cut mine to the Coal Handling Preparation Plant (CHPP) 

As part of a fly, in/fly, out remote delivery model, the installation supported a high, throughput coal operation, requiring coal movement at ~2,500 tonnes per hour.

Trevor Hall held full P&L responsibility for the delivery on behalf of the contracting business. He led the complex third, party mine, client partnership, ensuring that the team met the highest safety standards, scheduled performance, and environmental expectations while operating from FIFO camp facilities. Infrastructure delivery required extensive remote coordination, modular logistics, and camp, based workforce management.

“Complexity here wasn’t just technical, it was operational. We balanced remote delivery, high IR challenge, safety, and environmental stewardship, all while running across FIFO rosters and tight client expectations.”
— Trevor Hall

• Remote FIFO logistics and coordination across rugged terrain
• Meeting Tier 1 labour relations and IR environments in a large camp setting
• Integrating a massive 20 km conveyor,  with tight safety, environmental, and      quality controls
• Ensuring minimal environmental impact as part of the client’s social license to operate
• Delivering on strict program and budget commitments, to exacting standards on this high, capacity asset

• Delivered safely and efficiently under FIFO workforce conditions
• Achieved all program, quality, and safety objectives, aligned to the highest standards
• Successfully managed environmental compliance, meeting the client’s social license requirements
• Enabled seamless coal transport from mine to processing, supporting continuous      plant operation
• Enhanced the contractor’s remote, infrastructure delivery capability, reinforcing its position for future bulk, material projects 

The Curragh North conveyor remains a benchmark for remote bulk infrastructure delivery. Trevor’s strategic and operational leadership underpin HCE Advisory’s capability to guide delivery teams through high, risk, highly regulated, and logistically challenging environments, especially where safety, environment, and IR complexity must be managed concurrently.

 The Mt Arthur North Mine represented the first major capital project following the amalgamation of BHP and Billiton, unlocking access to adjacent coal leases in Muswellbrook, NSW. With BHP operating an existing open-cut mine and established rail infrastructure, the merger made previously uneconomical reserves viable. The challenge was clear: rapidly develop an integrated mining infrastructure system that could meet the highest standards of safety, quality, and schedule performance. 

Trevor Hall was recruited into the project leadership role following Barclay Mowlem’s successful award of the contract. His mandate was to translate the promise of the new venture into a seamless operational reality—delivering mission-critical infrastructure with zero tolerance for rework, delays, or compromise.

Trevor led the end-to-end delivery of a new mine industrial precinct including the administration building, maintenance workshops, and a large-scale overland conveyor system tying the new lease into the existing BHP rail head.

• First major post-merger project for BHP Billiton—high strategic visibility
• Operating within an active mining environment with strict zero-harm policies
• Stringent safety and quality standards: rework would mean massive downtime cost
• Compressing the program timeline to meet aggressive production readiness targets
• Recruiting and leading a high-performance team capable of delivering at Tier 1 mining standards

• On-time and to-spec delivery of administration, mining, and maintenance infrastructure
• Seamless integration of the new lease to the existing BHP rail export network via overland conveyor
• No significant safety incidents, with rigorous systems implemented from day one
• Delivered a fit-for-purpose facility to full client satisfaction under high scrutiny
• Set a benchmark for future mine infrastructure delivery, paving the way for projects like Curragh North (Australia’s longest overland conveyor)

The success of the Mt Arthur North project was a turning point—not just for BHP Billiton’s operational growth, but for Barclay Mowlem’s positioning in the mining infrastructure sector. Trevor’s leadership transformed client trust into long-term opportunity and built internal delivery confidence that was directly leveraged into securing and delivering Curragh North and other complex mining infrastructure.

This project exemplifies HCE Advisory’s ability to lead complex resource sector infrastructure from concept through to delivery—meeting exacting commercial, technical, and operational expectations.

 In Whyalla, South Australia, a key industrial client (OneSteel) had maintained a long, standing service relationship with a competitor contractor for over a decade. The engagement had become operationally embedded.

The client—an integrated manufacturer with complex operational and logistics needs—was ready for change, but required a partner who could understand both the deep, rooted expectations and future, state opportunities.

Trevor Hall set his mind to developing and executing a strategic displacement and value, led client acquisition plan. Rather than competing on price or transactional delivery, Trevor led a process grounded in strategic empathy, operational insight, and disciplined preparation—focused on meeting the client where they were, understanding their ambitions, and demonstrating a pathway to measurable improvement.

Trevor’s approach reframed the offering—not as a contractor switch, but as a step change in partnership and performance. Through structured engagement and precise delivery preparation, the client was ultimately transitioned away from their incumbent provider for the first time in over 10 years.

“It wasn’t about selling—it was about aligning. When we showed OneSteel that we understood what better looked like for them, the rest followed.”
— Trevor Hall

• Displacing an incumbent with a decade, long embedded service model
• Building trust with a client whose expectations were high, but whose confidence in change was low
• Proving that promised outcomes could be achieved, and done so profitably
• Aligning internal delivery capability with the specific performance uplift required
• Maintaining delivery continuity through the onboarding and transition period

• Successfully secured recurring contract engagements with OneSteel in Whyalla
• Strategically displaced an incumbent provider while elevating the client’s experience      and outcomes
• Delivered the promised step change in operational performance and client alignment
• Established a long, term, profitable service relationship with enhanced trust and      mutual benefit
• Demonstrated a replicable framework for securing strategic clients in contested      industrial markets

This project reflects the power of commercial insight, stakeholder alignment, and delivery credibility to reshape entrenched markets. Trevor’s leadership turned a one, off opportunity into a long, term relationship, proving that with the right strategy and follow, through, even long, held client loyalties can be realigned.

This experience continues to shape HCE Advisory’s approach to market positioning, strategic pursuit planning, and major account transitions, particularly in the industrial, logistics, and infrastructure sectors.

At a time when Victoria’s infrastructure market was experiencing unprecedented demand—fueled by mega projects like Melbourne Metro, West Gate Tunnel and North East Link, labour was scarce, supply chains were stretched, and certainty of delivery was critical. The risks to productivity, schedule, and cost certainty were significant, with the potential to impact the state’s most high-profile projects.

In response, the business led by Trevor Hall made a bold, industry-shaping decision: establish a purpose-built precast facility in regional Victoria to de-risk delivery and create lasting industry capacity.

Trevor held full accountability for the strategic vision, business case development, and successful implementation of the Benalla Precast Facility—now the largest precast manufacturing facility in Australia.

The facility was structured as a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), with the clear intent of delivering:

• 50,000 precast elements for the West Gate Tunnel Project
• Over 40,000 precast components for the North East Link 

This was not just a manufacturing initiative—it was a visionary procurement strategy designed to reshape the delivery model for major infrastructure.

Subsequently, this facility is now producing the 97,000 precast elements for the Suburban Rail Loop

• Labour shortages and market overheating across Melbourne’s infrastructure sector
• Uncertainty and risk in traditional supply chain methods for mega project delivery
• Need to guarantee quality, consistency, and productivity across multi-year programs
• Establishment of a greenfield facility with accelerated mobilisation requirements
• Requirement to scale from concept to full output while maintaining safety and quality

• On-time establishment of the Benalla Precast Facility with high-output capacity
• Delivered tens of thousands of precast elements with industry-leading consistency
• Created a regional employment hub, supporting local jobs and skills development
• Secured long-term pipeline of work across multiple generational infrastructure projects
• Achieved measurable productivity gains and cost predictability for multiple major clients
• Provided a model example of how innovative procurement can lead to industry-wide benefits

The Benalla Precast Facility is a defining example of how visionary thinking and commercial courage can reset how infrastructure is delivered. Trevor’s leadership delivered a procurement strategy that not only de-risked delivery, but created a long-term, high-impact legacy for Victoria and the infrastructure sector at large.

While the industry continues to talk about productivity improvement, Benalla stands as a rare example where those improvements were made real, scaled, and sustained—setting a new benchmark for future mega project supply chain strategies.