Alkane’s general manager Mike Sutherland, who is known by Dubbo locals as “the face of Alkane” won two separate awards, the Environmental Excellence Award and the Environment & Community Leadership Award.

The first award was for his commitment to preserving the endangered pink-tailed worm lizard at the company’s Dubbo zirconia project, while the second was for his environmental leadership over the past two decades.

Downer Mining’s Shaun Smith won the Health Excellence Award for Boggabri’s healthy lifestyle program, Centennial Coal’s Kara Newbury won the Safety Excellence Award for the component review of Clarence Colliery’s primary support system, while Glencore’s Craig Strudwick won the Community Excellence Award for the Mudgee 4 Doctors program.

Coal Services technical advisor Paul Healey and Centennial’s principal technical services manager Peter Corbett were the joint winners of the Health & Safety Leadership Award.

“These awards encourage NSW miners to identify where health, safety and environmental aspects of mining operations can be improved, and then design and implement solutions that can be adopted across the industry more broadly,” NSW Minerals Council CEO Stephen Galilee said.

“All award entries were of a very high standard and the winners have had to demonstrate significant achievement to succeed.”

The awards were presented by Minister for Industry, Resources and Energy Anthony Roberts in the Hunter Valley.