MY ACCOUNT
29 Jul BPEQ 90th Anniversary: Celebrating Ray Boyle
In 2020, BPEQ turns 90. To celebrate this milestone BPEQ is acknowledging the achievements, projects, innovations, discoveries and stories of RPEQs past and present.
Ray Boyle is a former RPEQ who spent most of his career at Mount Morgan Mine. In retirement, he has taken it upon himself to help preserve the legacy and history of one of Queensland’s most significant historical engineering projects.
The Mount Morgan Mine in Central Queensland has had an interesting and complex history producing, between 1883 and 1990, a total of 250 tons of gold, 350,000 tons of copper and 50 tons of silver from its single ore body.
‘In retirement, he has taken it upon himself to help preserve the legacy and history of one of Queensland’s most significant historical engineering projects.’
It is a tribute to the technical expertise of the in-house engineers of the first operating company that when, in 1927, low copper prices and severe industrial troubles forced the mine into voluntary liquidation after 44 years, it had paid £11 million in dividends returning 500,000 percent on its original capital. But with eight million tons of underground ore remaining, a new company led by the former General Manager formed Mount Morgan Limited to acquire the Mine; it struggled in the Great Depression until 1932 when a government loan of £15,000, repaid in six months, enabled it to start. The new company, operating an Open Cut, continued mining until 1981 when all the ore was exhausted. It had paid an average of 12%.
Retired RPEQ Dr. Ray Boyle was involved with the Mine for 35 years beginning in 1948 as an apprentice but was selected to undertake the University of Queensland Diploma in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering. Transferred to the Drawing Office in his third year he and others worked under the guidance of senior engineers on all aspects of current engineering projects. On completion of the diploma he was appointed Assistant Engineer with responsibility for engineering workshop services, Power Station and Smelter rebuilding.
‘In retirement, he has taken it upon himself to help preserve the legacy and history of one of Queensland’s most significant historical engineering projects.’
In 1957 he was appointed Mine Mechanical Engineer with responsibility for mine equipment but often undertaking work throughout the Mine. He was chosen to undertake various management courses and in 1960 completed a world study trip of 14 weeks including investigating the manufacture of Calcium Carbide in Germany.
Commencing in 1963, realising his diploma did not gain entry to IEAust membership, he undertook an Associate Diploma in Mechanical Engineering which he completed in 1969 through the Queensland Institute of Technology. As Chief Engineer from 1969 he was part of senior management and was responsible for Peko’s program of reequipping the Mine and crushing sections but it was from 1979 onward that he was, in addition to his normal duties, appointed to lead the engineering section of the new tailing retreatment plant designed to recover gold from the tailings accumulated over 100 years. Completed in 1982 under new owners he decided it was time to leave the ‘Mount’ and he joined what is now Central Queensland University as Senior Administrator in the Engineering Faculty and as a part time lecturer in Engineering.
This year is a celebration of the achievements, projects, innovations, discoveries and stories of RPEQs past and present. BPEQ encourages RPEQs to share their thoughts –
• What are some of Queensland’s great engineering feats?
• Who was the RPEQ/s who helped deliver the project?
• Are there unsung heroes in the profession?
To have your say contact BPEQ at admin@bpeq.qld.gov.au.