When we started discussing the options of creating a book full of the Weird and Wonderful facts, stories and people of the mining world – we never imagined how popular and far reaching it would be. So many have embraced the four editions and Mining IQ could not be happier with how many people have accessed the mining eBook and shared with their mining buddies and the mining community.

In October, a 320-strong Santos GLNG team donned their lycra to join almost 8,000 cyclists in taking on the Santos GLNG Brisbane to the Gold Coast Cycle Challenge and raising much-needed charity funds.

Riders braved temperatures topping 30 degrees to pedal 100 kilometres from South Bank to Broadwater Parklands at Southport and raise more than $162,000 for the Heart Foundation and Diabetes Queensland.

According to Bicycle Queensland President Bill Loveday, smiling faces at the end of the ride were a highlight for the event organisers.

Due to a new partnership between two major industry players, the New Year will see an exciting opportunity for all mining industry people to benefit from specialist training - including online webinars, podcasts and case studies – and it won’t cost you a cent.

Keeping the community informed

We held a series of information sessions late in 2012 in Bauhinia, Moura, Rolleston, Jambin and Yarwun to provide an update to local communities about our current activities and development plans for the future. More than 100 people joined us for the sessions to hear about our Project first-hand and speak with members of our team.

Our Project has reached a major milestone with construction of our 420 kilometre underground gas transmission pipeline kicking off. The pipeline, which will connect our gas fields in the Maranoa region to our liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant on Curtis Island, is expected to be completed in less than two years.

Earthmoving contracts totalling more than $279m have been awarded to five Surat Basin businesses, creating up to 200 new jobs on the Queensland Curtis LNG Project.

Operator of the Queensland Curtis LNG Project, QGC has continued its commitment to employing local people and to using local goods and services where possible.

What a year 2012 has been for the resources sector, and now many wonder what the New Year holds.

THE MARKET HAS experienced the ups and downs of the stock market, share prices, growth and employment, so it is only natural to ponder what the future holds for many mining companies.

Despite the climate changes, Rio Tinto recently held an investor seminar in Sydney that included an in-depth look at its iron ore and diamonds & minerals product groups.