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BBE
and First Air hustle the air freight
to EKATI for BHP Billiton
Imagine a place on earth where your ability to bring in supplies by road
lasts only 8 to 12 weeks each year. Now imagine cutting that window in
half. An unseasonably warm winter in the NWT made this situation a reality
for BHP Billiton, which operates the EKATI Diamond Mine, normally accessible
by ice road during a small operating window in the winter. This year,
winter road access to the EKATI mine and other mines in the diamond resource
area northeast of Yellowknife, NWT was suspended before many of the trucks
transporting site equipment were able to reach the mine. BBE is currently
assisting BHP Billiton meet the challenges of the shortened winter road,
in conjunction with First Air. The early closure of the ice road meant
some supplies and equipment needed for the mine’s operations didn’t
reach the mine as planned. But thanks to the operational efforts of BBE
and First Air, BHP Billiton has been able to get needed supplies to the
mine.
Truck freight that did not make it to the EKATI mine site is now being
transported on the Lockheed L-100 Hercules aircraft operated by First
Air. “BBE is managing the airport logistics for this operation,”
says Gary Reid, BBE’s Vice-President of Operations. “We are
responsible for staging the cargo, building the loads onto the 40 foot
aluminium pallets and loading them onto the Hercules aircraft.”
While BHP Billiton anticipated a shorter-than-normal ice road season,
only 184 truckloads out of 3170 truckloads were ultimately unable to make
it to EKATI over the winter road. All but 16 of these loads are now being
transported to the site on the Hercules. “We rely exclusively on
our contractors to move our loads to site,” explains Deana Twissell,
BHP Billiton’s Senior External Affairs Officer. “BBE is one
of our alliance partners and we utilize their services year round to manage
our supply chain activities. At EKATI, we value our relationships with
our alliance partners; these partnerships allow us to keep our diamond
mine in operation.”
The Hercules normally makes 7-8 weekly deliveries to the mine, but in
order to address the early ice road closure, First Air has contracted
the use of an additional Hercules aircraft and deliveries have increased
nearly three times to 20 flights every week. “First Air is working
hand-in-hand with BBE and BHP Billiton onsite staff, to get the aircraft
loaded and unloaded, and to ensure that BHP Billiton’s needs are
met,” says First Air’s Matthew Mossman. This includes making
sure that required equipment arrives in a timely manner.
“When BHP Billiton indicated that it couldn’t move all its
loads to the site over the ice road, BBE worked with BHP Billiton to develop
a plan to transport its cargo in an effective and timely way,” says
Reid. “We work daily with BHP Billiton to prioritize our loads to
ensure that BHP Billiton’s staff gets what they need, when they
need it. BBE is pleased to be able to help BHP Billiton to continue normal
operations in this harsh and challenging environment.”
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