Doug Hood Mining

Kevin Davies – General Manager: happy retirement

September 20, 2021

Kevin is retiring as General Manager and Director after 21 years with Doug Hood Mining Ltd.

Kevin joined the Company in 2000 following eight years with Works Civil Construction as Area/Branch Manager of the Rotorua/Eastern Bay of Plenty business unit. Recruited by the Late Murray Trounce, Kevin brought strong construction, commercial and human resource skills to the Company.

Kevin commenced work with Doug Hood Mining Ltd in Ashburton as South Island Manager, initially overseeing the Nelson, Christchurch, Ashburton and Oamaru branches involved in farm development and civil infrastructure projects, including:

  • multiple on-farm irrigation conversions from flood to spray and other farm development works;
  • Leeston and Oamaru sewage treatment ponds;
  • Waimakariri Irrigation Canal;
  • Spooner’s Range (SH6) road realignment;
  • Lake Hood, Ashburton;
  • Manapouri Power-station 2nd tunnel tail-race;
  • Mt Hutt Ski Field access road winter maintenance contracts.

In 2003 the Company took a new direction focusing predominately on mining, consequently selling or closing the provincial branches.

Kevin therefore joined forces with the mining division as Contracts Manager to bid for and then win the five year Stockton Mine principal mining contract in 2003, then went into overdrive to oversee the construction and employment contract aspects of the project.

In 2008 he was offered and accepted the General Manager role upon the resignation of Dougal Francis.

A one year extension of the Stockton contract from 2008 to 2009 then a one year fleet-wide plant hire agreement in 2009 on cessation of our physical works at the mine were successfully negotiated.

Running both in parallel and subsequent to the principal Stockton contract the company tendered for, won and completed multiple contracts including:

  • Stockton Mine – Mangatini sump excavation, A18 earth dam embankment raising, SN14 and Cypress overburden stripping contracts, McCabes earth dam construction and sump excavation; 
  • Multiple wet and dry plant hire agreements – including at Island Block, Escarpment Mine, Cascade Mine, Macraes Mine, Globe Mine;
  • Reddale Mine – greenfielding and development;
  • Sumner Road – rockfall mitigation catch-bench.

With a solid platform of systems and structures in place and forward work ahead, Kevin has chosen to retire in order to spend more time with his family including an expanding number of grandchildren both in New Zealand and Sweden, and with his wife Judy planning to explore the highways and byways of Europe.

We therefore wish Kevin and Judy a long and happy retirement, however we hope that whenever Kevin sees a Nor-west arch in the sky that he thinks back to all those good times on the West Coast and wonders what he might be missing out on, “Or Not!”

A sample from the DHML photo library:

Inspecting McCabes Dam embankment, Stockton Mine

Sharing the accolades with McConnell Dowell Constructors, presented with the Health and Safety Initiative Award for the Sumner Road Geotechnical Remediation: Rockfall Risk Management System at the 2019 NZ Minerals Forum Awards evening

Pre-construction site inspection, Sumner Road, Christchurch

Site inspection with Rangi Hicks, Project Manager, Reddale Coal Mine, Reefton

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