October - November 2013
MODERN QUARRYING
25
IQSA SYMPOSIUM
FEEDBACK
Above left:
Motivational guest speaker Alex
Harris.
Above right:
The Rub’ al Khali, or Empty
Quarter, is the largest sand desert in the world.
The terrain is covered with sand dunes at heights
of up to 250 m.
Right:
Mark Senyard.
covering the last 45 years of the Institute.
It will cover the stories, traditions, look
at some of the older members of the
Institute, and provide a history of the
quarrying industry. “Dale Kelly has been
employed by us to compile this book and
she has asked for any memorable photos
of old equipment, operations, humorous
stories, and characters you may remem-
ber. AfriSam’s Henry Terblanche, for exam-
ple, is well known for his repertoire of
stories about our industry which he tells
over campfires and get-togethers, and I
am sure that there are many of you that
have similar stories to share. We also want
to include the suppliers to our industry
so that we can commemorate this event
with a book that we will be proud to pass
on to the next generation,” he says.
“In terms of this, we would also like to
implore for sponsorship. The cost of put-
ting this book together is in the region of
R100 000 and we are looking at sponsors
for R5 000/page. Whatever you can do
would be appreciated.”
Keynote speaker
At only 25 years of age, Alex Harris was
the youngest person ever to lead an
expedition to Mount Everest. Later in
his climbing career, he became the first
South African to climb on all seven con-
tinents, and has climbed the seven sum-
mits – the highest mountain on each of
the continents.
He has previously been a guest
speaker at an IQSA conference, and at
that time focused on his quest to the
South Pole. That story was a cold one,
and he came out of there with the convic-
tion that whatever he did next would be
warm. “What I didn’t know then, was just
how warm it would be,” he says.
On February 4 this year, Harris, Marco
Broccardo and David Joyce, became the
first people to cross the Empty Quarter
unsupported and on foot, in a journey
which started in Salalah and lasted 40
days, ending in Dubai. The team only
made use of three water stops along the
journey, pulling a specially-designed cart
which housed all their supplies for the
entire expedition.
Harris’ presentation was entitled
The
Dirty Thirsty
, because as he says: “Very
soon in that expedition we came to the
realisation that we would thirst like we
never did before, and as we didn’t have
the luxury of washing ourselves, we
became dirty in a way that we never had
before.
“When I look back over the years that
came after Antarctica, this expedition was
the evolution of an idea that was sown
in seed form – a relatively simple idea –
but as we began to explore further, we
realised that it was in fact quite complex.”
The journey was one of ruthless disci-
pline; trust in one another; extraordinary
belief and unflagging optimism; together
with outstanding leadership and ethics.
The Rub’ al Khali, or Empty Quarter,
is the largest sand desert in the world,
encompassing most of the southern third
of the Arabian Peninsula, including Saudi
Arabia and areas of Oman, the United
Arab Emirates and Yemen, and covers
some 650 000 km
2
. The desert is 1 000 km
long and 500 km wide. Its surface eleva-
tion varies from 800 m in the southwest
to around sea level in the northeast. The
terrain is covered with sand dunes with
heights of up to 250 m interspersed with
gravel and gypsum plains. The region
is classified as hyper-arid, with typical
annual rainfall of less than 30 mm. Daily
maximum temperatures average 47°C,
reaching as high as 56°C.
Concluding his epic tale, Harris says
there are no shortcuts. “Only as far as
we seek can we go; and only as much as
we dream, we can be. How much do you
dream you can be?” he asks.
The first paper of the day was pre-
sented by Barloworld Equipment’s
Mark
Senyard
, who is well respected in the
industry. His paper entitled
Loading and
Hauling Unit Selection
looked at a com-
parative production for wheel loaders
and hydraulic excavators, and discussed
factors that affect a purchasing decision.
The overall comparison tests were carried
out at Caterpillar’s Malaga facility in Spain.
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