Networking & Tours
Regional Council Welcome Reception
Date: Wednesday 6 July 2022
Time: 5.45pm – 7.15pm (timing subject to change)
Venue: Resources Centre of Excellence, 65 Crichtons Rd, Paget
Transfers: Return bus transfers from the MECC will be provided
Drinks, canapes, entertainment and networking
Cost: Included in full registration ($80 for guests)
Study Tours
The pick up and drop off location for all tours is the Mackay Entertainment & Convention Centre (MECC).
Date: Wednesday 6 July 2022
Time: From 8.00am – 12.00pm (all tours run concurrently)
Cost: $20 per person
Transfers: Return bus transfers from the MECC will be provided
- All tours can be booked during the registration process.
- Limited availability, book now to avoid disappointment!
Tour 1 – Resources Centre of Excellence
The Resources Centre of Excellence (RCOE) was established to connect the brightest minds in research, technology, education and METS to shape the resources sector of the future. The physical hub of RCOE is a central facility, located in Mackay, Queensland, that is supported by multiple satellite extensions with a global scope. These extensions include both actual and virtual spaces that provide a platform for the development of innovative solutions for the resources sector while also creating the industries and jobs of the future.
Our Charter
- Be a catalyst for connecting resources excellence in the region and around the world
- Promote genuine collaboration to deliver ground-breaking solutions for industry problems
- Empower research and development to accelerate ideas and concepts to commercialisation
- Facilitate, educate and train the resources workforce of the future
- Involve our communities in a collective strategy about the resource sector of the future and how it adds value to the world
This is your opportunity to experience the RCOE in action
- Overview and tour of the $10m RCOE facility
- Simulated underground mine walk wearing full safety equipment
- Hands on VR/AR experience
- Understand the operations and safety systems of the underground mining environment
| Time | 9.00am – 11.20am |
| Max. no of participants | 20 |
| What to wear | Closed-in shoes, long pants, long sleeves |
| What to bring | n/a |
| Cost | $20 |
Tour 2 – Mackay City and Waterfront Walking Tour
This walking tour will showcase the culture, heritage and transformational projects underway in the city centre and riverside precincts of the Mackay Waterfront Priority Development Area (PDA). The comfortable 3km walk, at our coolest and finest time of year, will start at the acclaimed regional gallery, Artspace Mackay and then meander through the city centre. The tour will take in some key artworks on the Public Art Trail, and a share a taste of the vast heritage collection. We will pass an array of local cafes and boutiques along the journey, with the intent to return to your favourites at the end of the tour.
We will head along the beautiful blue Pioneer River, one of only 2 ‘Blue Rivers’ in Australia to discuss the Mackay Waterfront PDA development. This catalytic project focusses on a diverse mix of public and private investment, tourism and placemaking to transform the region. Morning tea will be provided alongside the Farmers Markets on the river.
Highlights include:
- Mackay Waterfront – sharing the approach and delivery towards the transformation of the city centre and riverside development and witnessing the near complete public realm construction works.
- Public Art Trail – including the significant Fiona Foley riverside collection and the recently revitalised ‘5th Lane’ laneway art, complete with interactive augmented reality experiences.
- Heritage Walk – sharing one of Queensland’s largest collections of Art Deco buildings, the stories of where Mackay began, and its history of evolution – including its’ diverse multicultural influence, fires, floods, cyclones and more!
| Time | 9.00am – 11.15am |
| Max. no of participants | 30 |
| What to wear | Sun protection, comfortable walking shoes |
| What to bring | Mobile phone for augmented reality experience |
| Cost | $20 |
Tour 3 – Distillery and Miniature Sugar Mill
Delegates will start the day with a sweet treat at the Sarina Sugar Shed, about 40km south of Mackay City Centre.
Sarina Sugar Shed is a multi-award-winning attraction offering an authentic paddock-to-plate food tourism experience which highlights the rich heritage of the sugar cane industry in Queensland.
The Sarina Sugar Shed will take delegates on a journey from growing sugar cane to crushing and processing it, ready to be converted into refined sugar and alcohol, and finishes with tastings of both alcoholic and food products made onsite to showcase sugar in its finished form. With a boutique distillery, café and retail store, Sarina Sugar Shed is the taste of the tropics, providing a unique and genuine Queensland experience.
Located adjacent to the Sarina Sugar Shed, delegates are taken through an informative presentation and site tour of Wilmar’s bioethanol distillery.
Wilmar has been manufacturing bioethanol in Queensland for almost a century. The Sarina Distillery is Queensland’s only manufacturer of bioethanol and Australia’s largest producer of bioethanol derived from sugarcane. Up to 60 megalitres of bioethanol are produced here annually, supplying fuel, printing, food & beverage, pharmaceutical and general industry markets. Delegates will gain a more detailed insight into the operations at the facility and be taken on a brief bus tour across the site.
| Time | 8.00am – 11.55am |
| Max. no of participants | 20 |
| What to wear | Closed-in shoes, long pants, long sleeves |
| What to bring | n/a |
| Cost | $20 |
Tour 4 – Biofuels – Mackay Sugar Cogeneration Plant & Biocommodities Pilot Plant
Queensland’s iconic sugar milling company, Mackay Sugar, has been a local leader in developing a greener future for Northern Australia since 2013. It’s Cogeneration Plant uses sugar cane waste to produce enough steam and electricity for powering the mill, its co-located raw sugar refinery, and approximately one third of the Mackay region’s annual electrical power requirements. Each year, Mackay Sugar’s Cogeneration Plant supplies the local grid with enough electricity to power more than 27,000 households.
Delegates will be able to explore the facility, learn about the process of using the waste product bagasse to produce electricity and how Mackay Sugars Cogeneration Plant is almost carbon neutral.
Located on the same precinct, delegates will then be able to explore the unique research and development facility, the Mackay Renewable Biocommodities Pilot. Here a wide range of biomass feedstocks is converted into biofuels, green chemicals and other bioproducts.
Delegates will be offered insights into the broad range of technologies and processes, including the horizontal reactor, steam exploder, fermenters and the Mercurius pilot plant, where cane fibre is converted into precursor chemicals to produce a range of products such as jet fuel.
| Time | 9.00am – 11.45am |
| Max. no of participants | 20 |
| What to wear | Closed-in shoes, long pants, long sleeves |
| What to bring | n/a (PPE provided on site) |
| Cost | $20 |
Tour 5 – Beach Sunrise with the Wallabies Experience
Tours can be booked during the registration process.
Limited availability, book now to avoid disappointment!
- Our morning will start with a pick-up from the Mackay CBD area, we will need the last pickup completed by 5:30 am to be on our way out to Cape Hillsborough.
- The cost per delegate is $89 which includes a breakfast + juice pack, we can also offer a cold-pressed coffee by pre-order.
- Delegates will need warm comfortable clothing, suitable for walking along soft sand and walking tracks and of course their camera/ phone for taking pictures along the way.
| Date | Thursday 7 July 2022 |
| Time | 5.30am – 8.20am |
| Transfers | Return bus transfers from the MECC will be provided |
| Cost | $89 |