AU2004100983B4 - Primary Products Production System and Method - Google Patents

Description

18 Nov 2004 113:22 Smoorenburg Patent Trad 03 9712 0159 p.3

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PRIMARY PRODUCTS PRODUCTION S STEM AND METHOD FIELD OF INVENTION The present invention relates to a primary product production system, and a method of supplying material for a primary product production system. In particular, the present invention is directed to the provision of raw materials in a manner that provides, inter-alia. an improvement in the delivery and/or selection of supplied materials used In primary product pr duction systems and methods.

in one particular form, the present inventio relates to primary product manufacturing, and a method of supplying materials used in the production of primary product. In another particular form, the )resent invention relates to the production of primary products resultant from he metal making and/or coal industries.

BACKGROUND ART Systems and methods used for the sup ply of raw materials and the production of a primary product are generally 3ased on a large scale. For example, in the production of Hot Metal, raw materials, such as iron ore and coal are sourced from separate mines, which are usu Ily geographically remote from the foundry site where the Hot Metal is produced These bulk raw materials are then usually transported great distances by roa and/or rail and/or ship and a system of cranes and conveyors to the foundry. However, it is current practice also to stockpile the raw materials so that the sup ly of the raw materials into the foundry can be coordinated with foundry output and customer orders. In other words, raw materials are generally mined and tra isported to a stockpile near the foundry or a remote site until they are required by he foundry.

In business terms, a stockpile is considere j to be an under-utilised asset.

In effect, there are costs associated with the provision of a site to store the raw materials, lost opportunity costs in terms of cash fl w, in that expenses have been incurred in the mining/supply of raw materials, including transport, but the materials have not yet been converted into a saleable commodity and customers have not yet purchased the commodity, meaning he foundry has not yet had the benefit of cash flow from commodity sales. T ere is a need to better utilise assets.

COMS ID No: SBMI-01003700 Received by IP Australia: Time 17:35 Date 2004-11-18 Nov 204 16:22 Smoorenburg Patent L Trad 03 9712 0159 p.4 0 0 Oc 0 00 0 2 Where customers have specific needs, sa Hot Metal having specific specifications and cc supplies Hot Metal falling within a range of param month supply contract. The contract may provide Metal having a certain preferred composition, an price for Hot Metal not having the preferred cor characteristics of raw materials vary from mine each mine. Thus a stockpile of material from a include possibly great variations in the raw mat 10 stockpile is fed to the foundry, due to the variatloi materials supplied to the foundry, it is difficult tc grade of Hot Metal and thus, the foundry has diffi quality within a customer's contract range and r which falls outside the range acceptable to custoi customer's range is difficult, if at all possible, to s under-utilised asset of the business.

De-phosphodsing plants have been utilise problem of the production of Hot Metal which is customers. This Involves further and/or additiona only does this involve the construction and opel reprocessing involves moving the liquid Hot Meta bubbling an inert gas plus the de-phosphorising barium fluoride) through the Hot Metal. This phosphorous into a slag which is skimmed off pri the processing chain, all of which incurs further Metal to customers. There is a need to enable t more constituent in meeting specified parameters Further improvements are also considere which materials are supplied to the foundry.

material to a foundry, such as the supply chain, programming technique. This is a supply chain o a lowest cost delivery basis. In this regard, Figure chain for the supply of the main raw materials f ch as a need for the supply of mposition, the foundry usually Dters as set out, usually, in a 12 a relative premium price for Hot d also provide a relatively poor nposition. It is known that the to mine, and even vary within nine or a number of mines will rial characteristics. When the is in the composition of the raw provide a relatively consistent ulty in producing Hot Metal of a nay in fact, produce Hot Metal ners. This Hot Metal outside a 3ll and thus, represents another d in the past, to overcome the unacceptable to the foundry's processing the Hot Metal. Not ation of another plant, but the to this intermediate plant, then agent (eg calcium fluoride or ;hemical action separates the r to returning the Hot Metal to expense in the supply of Hot e supply of Hot Metal which is >fcustomers.

d necessary in the manner in Current practices of supply of are primarily based on a linear raw materials based largely on 1 illustrates an example supply r the production of Hot Metal.

COMS ID No: SBMI-01003700 Received by IP Australia: Time 17:35 Date 2004-11-18 18 Nov 2004 16:22 Smoorenburg Patent Trad 03 9712 0159 3 Mines 1, 2 and 3 Indicate raw material source and/or other materials. These are transported 7 t port 8 for transport by a ship. At some point in tin the foundry either form the mine 1 directly, fron from port 8. The materials are provided to the f( Metal. As noted above, the present supply chai the production of Hot Metal of varying qualit therefore also considered to be a need to providt supply chain.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION The present invention provides, in one asp selecting raw material from a plurality of locations for the production of a primary product, including order specifying characteristics of the primary customer order, a specification of required raw m to provide the primary product order by the custoi to a database identifying characteristics and qua resources, which available raw material resou substantially meet the specification of required ra\ Other aspects and preferred aspects are I or defined in the appended claims, forming invention.

In essence, the present invention is base supply chain for each order of each custome automatic/repetitive basis via computer aided having a number of 'assets', preferably each 'as to an information and/or event management syste In fact, the present invention enables a supplier mine raw materials on the basis of knowing destined to fulfil, and which thus enables the su source or utilise existing materials of a partici and/or availability, knowing that these particular of a relatively quantifiable customer product. Th They may be iron ore, coal stockpiles 4,5 or delivered to a e, the materials are delivered to stockpiles 4,5 and/or the ship undry for the production of Hot arrangements tend to result in of characteristics. There is an alternative and/or improved a system and or method of for delivery to a processing site receiving a customer order, the product, determining, from the terials to be processed in order er, determining, with reference ntities available of raw material es can be utilised in order to Smaterials.

isclosed in the specification and part of the description of the on determining a new created r to be produced and on an technology. This stems from it' in the supply chain connected am andlor system chain system.

f a primary product to source or hich order(s) the materials are pplier of the primary product to lar quality and/or composition materials will enable production Sprimary product supplied may COMS ID No: SBMI-01003700 Received by IP Australia: Time 17;35 Date 2004-11-18 15/08 2005 MON 15:40 FAX 4-4 IP AUSTRALIA I005/016 4 Sbe at the end of a production process, or supplied from any point in/during the production process, dependent on customer requirements. The present invention may also include known delays calculated on statistical information, for example in-foundry or in-refinery processing delays, in order to determine a relatively correct time for raw material or product flow through the supply chain and/or for t' filling the customer order from initial sourcing of raw materials.

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0 The present invention also enables a number of advantages to be realised when compared to prior art arrangements and current practices, such as: S Increased predictability of Hot Metal, stainless steel and aluminium chemistry and coke specifications. Knowing the requirements of a Scustomer's order, it is possible to source various raw materials and more exact qualities for each of those materials in order to more closely meet the customer order.

Reduced variation of Hot Metal, stainless steel and aluminium chemistry and coke specifications. Furthermore, knowing the requirements of a customer's order, raw materials can be sourced and their delivery coordinated substantially simultaneously to a foundry, so that the correct ingredients for the customer's order are provided.

Savings in costs in supply chain. The present invention enables the reduction or elimination of stockpiles, and also provides alternative supply chain(s) based on unpredictable or unexpected events.

Increased availability/knowledge of assets in supply chain.

S Increased yield from coal, bauxite, Alumina and iron ore reserves, and from blended beds of coal and iron ore. This transpires due to a reduction in delivery of raw materials and Hot Metal production not meeting customer requirements.

0 Extended economic viability of assets in supply chain. This result is due to the improvement in supply chain costs, thus assets considered traditionally unviable, may now be considered viable.

Reduced safety risk to people, based on a forecast of mine operations and automatic early warning of mission safety critical states generated from the local model and electronic memory of designed functional capability COMS ID No: SBMI-01420781 Received by IP Australia: Time 15:48 Date 2005-08-15 18 Nov 2004 16:23 Smoorenburg Patent L Trad 03 9712 0159 p.7 compared with history of use and with proj related to wear and fatigue scenarios bai envelopes.

Reduced environmental Impact resulting f stockpiles.

Scaleable, because the fully intercc modularised architecture can be used at sensors up to production and planning a and because the information m telecommunications systems and the Inte business parameters so it is not constraine to a range of makes and models of proces Real-time distributed operations so that the point of control, making it flexible and to perturbations before the overall proces end result or goal is changed or adve operations can be introduced without re process, increasing the robustness of t degradation such as asset wear or failure Reduced apparent complexity of the suppl and refining processing of bulk raw mate easier to install, operate and maintain t supply chain. The benefits are increased and an increased yield from the raw mg supply chain for a given productivity and ca Complex resources planning reduced, Th complexity on the part of operators and such as mine roof collapse, equipment br and Iron ore specification variation, custom size and economics, asset value, strippin from leaving or arriving at port, etc.

cted and/or planned usage and d around known performance om a reduction in the need for nnected, massively parallel, II levels of the CM model (from id back down to the actuators) y be communication via et and is based on physical and d by a protocol and is applicable ;ing plant and equipment.

Scontrolling logic is located at therefore being able to respond is disturbed and/or before the sely affected, updates to the fucing the performance of the Sprocess to local performance r loss of resources.

chain or continuous production als via the system so that it is e assets and resources in the availability of the supply chain arials being processed by the pacity.

present invention provides less reates strategies for scenarios akdown, coal, bauxite, alumina 3r requirement changes, market Sratios, ships being prevented COMS ID No: SBMi-01003700 Received by IP Australia: Time 17:35 Date 2004-11-18 15/08 2005 NON 15:40 FAX IP AUSTRALIA lJ0/1 [a 006/016 6 In terms of the present invention, an 'asset' includes raw material(s), ;Z material reserve(s), stockpile(s), blended bed(s), haulage, mining equipment, port loading and unloading costs, foundry(ies), refinery(ies) and/or operational expertise.

Throughout the present specification, 'primary product' means an output of a process in the steel making and/or coal industries, such as any one or a 00 combination of, but not limited to, hot metal, pig iron, slab, clean coal, blended coal, coke, lump and nuts, blended lump and fines sinter, aluminium, stainless steel.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 illustrates a prior art supply chain for raw material, Figures 2A and 2B3 illustrate an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 3 illustrates, by way of a time line, a representation of the way in which the present invention is implemented, in one form, Figures 4A, 4B3 and 40 illustrate examples of the present invention as applied to a Hot Metal supply chain inasmuch as different supply strategies and product compositions are illustrated, Figures 5A and 513 illustrate yet a further representation of the present invention, Figure 6 illustrates yet a further example of the present invention, Figure 7 illustrates yet another example of the present invention, and Figure 8 also illustrates another example of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to Figure 2A, one overall generic description of the present invention can be made. A customer 10 places an order of processed product having specifications as set out in the order 11. The order includes, typically, quality and quantity of processed product, such as pig iron or other product as required. Subsequent changes 12 may also be made. This information is input to a database or computer 20. The computer or database then determines from this order which sources of raw materials or ore bodies, represented as 'assets 1 to n' and denoted by numeral 15 are to be used to supply raw materials to the foundry or refinery in order to produce a primary product (for example hot metal, COMS ID No: SBMI-01420781 Received by IP Australia: Time 15:48 Date 2005-08-15 18 Nov 2004 15:24 Smoorenburg Patent Trad 03 9712 0159 p.9 O0 0 0 0N 0 0 0 7 aluminium, stainless steel or blended coal) wh ch fulfils the customer's order and/or changes. The raw material(s) may be supplied from an 'asset' whether from only one asset or a number of assets.

Referring to Figure 2B, which represents ai asset, such as a mine site, this illustrates that within an asset, there may be regl ns of raw materials of different compositions or characteristics (T1, T2, T3, T4 e These regions may also be listed as an 'asset' for the purpose of the present nvention inasmuch as they may be included as a supply source for raw material Equally, it may be possible that within a stockpile (not shown) different corn ositions or characteristics may also be located.

Also, known time delays (for example bas d on statistical or industry data) for raw material or primary product delivery or in-iefinery or in-foundry processing requirements/delays can be factored into meet the customer's delivery schedule.

For example, transport times or delays and fo ndry processing or production times can be taken into account in meeting the customer order requirements.

These times can be utilised in determining the scheduling and management of supply as put to the raw material source.

The present Invention, through its access to certain data, such as asset information, delays and various scenarios (pro ided or calculated) provides a determination and/or coordination or primar product to meet customer requirements.

This determination of the source of raw materials is possible because information regarding each 'asset' is provided or gathered locally, and on a continuous or periodic basis. In one embodiment each asset is 'tagged', in other words, identified uniquely. This unique tag may te associated with the particular asset throughout its journey to the end product a d customer. This information is provided In the present invention at a local poin 14 and/or by means of a 'tag' denoted in Figure 2 as A1, A2, A3 through to An, each corresponding to their respective asset The tag information may be ieported daily and/or at certain points, as is required, in the overall product delive and production process. The tag also enables the movement of the asset(s) lo be monitored throughout the production delivery and process. The informati n provided locally at 14 is, for example: COMS ID No: SBMI-01003700 Received by IP Australia: Time 17:35 Date 2004-11-18 18 Nov 2004 16:25 Smoorenbure Patent Trad 03 9712 0159 p. 8 Details describing the asset's fundami functional capabilities based on the syst metrics: in the particular case of coki examples are ash, sulphur, phosphorus, crucible swell number, moisture, sizing.

may also be described, Business parameters to be optimised by managed locally at the asset namely vai asset's mission life and retum on investn availability, Presence of raw materials in the processin History of operational use and performanc Details describing the designed operating Schedule of planned use of the asset, Operational status of the asset includii forecast status against schedule of plannec Asset's physical configuration as opt solution is being sought, as the propc strategy when a system-wide solution h.

current operating set-up during operational Asset's operational capabilities during being sought and the functional se executed, The processing step being performed by step is being performed, the processing b processing asset, the geographical loc material being processing by the asset.

It can well be appreciated that this 'local I stored 'locally'. For example, using well-known understood that the 'local information' may be sto in a networked system. The 'local' information si to the particular asset.

)ntal physical properties and )m-wide business performance ig coal for Hot Metal, typical itrinite, volatile matter, fluidity, )ther information as is required the system-wide solution and iable and fixed operating costs, lent, productivity and yield and assets, of the asset, nvelop of the asset, g current status, history and use of the asset, lns during the phase when a ed set points andlor utilisation s been found, and as the use, Sthe phase when a solution is -up when a solution is being the asset In terms of when the ing done on the material by the ition of the asset and/or the iformation' does not need to be communication techniques it Is •ed or be accessible at any point nply is required to relate 'locally' COMS ID No: SBMI-01003700 Received by IP Australia: Time 17:35 Date 2004-11-18 15/08 2005 MON 15:41 FAX IP AUSTRALIA Qoo7o01 9 Based on this local information 14, the present invention has in its database 20, or has access to 14, data concerning the assets 1 to n. Thus, it is possible to know that a certain quantity of raw material having a certain composition which is required for a specific order is able to be sourced from an asset or a number of assets. The raw material may also be sourced from a t' stockpile or mine, where the local information 14 regards stockpile or mine 00 characteristics and related data.

Based on this knowledge of where raw material can be sourced, a schedule for delivery of raw material and coordinating the arrival of raw material to the blast furnace (where possible) is determined. It may also be advantageous for a particular raw material to be 'reserved' for particular client or order. In other words, it is possible to ensure a specific raw material or quantity is for only specific orders or customers.

Figure 3 illustrates schematically, by way of example, a schedule. The compositions and quantities of each raw material in order to produce the Hot Metal is taken in this example to have already been determined.

In parallel are coal and iron ore time lines, in weeks. At time 21, iron ore is sourced from Port Hedland. At time 22, coal is mined. It is to be understood that the iron ore and/or coal may be sourced from a plurality of assets. For simplicity, we describe one asset source for each of iron ore and coal. The present invention is not to be so limited, however. From Figure 3, it can be seen that the iron ore and coal have been scheduled to arrive substantially at the same time 24 at the steel works, for example Port Kembla. The coal is coked in coke ovens at time 27, fed at time 26 to the blast furnace 28. The iron ore is also fed to the blast furnace at substantially that time. At time 25, Hot Metal can be obtained from a tap hole in the blast furnace. What the present invention provides, in one aspect, is the ability to have relatively good knowledge of the output from the blast furnace, in terms of quality, quantity, etc, given that there is provided relatively good and detailed data regarding the input raw materials to the furnace.

The present invention also reduces or eliminates the need for stockpiled materials, the raw material(s) may be fed directly to the furnace if they are needed. If there is a given time delay for the steel works, based on data from the COMS ID No: SBMI-01420781 Received by IP Australia: Time 15:48 Date 2005-08-15 15/08 2005 MON 15:41 FAX IP AUSTRALIA 1008/016 0 1 steel works, the time delay could be factored into a schedule for the delivery of Sproduct to the customer.

Figures tables 4A, 4B and 4C illustrate examples of the determination undertaken by the present invention, and as shown in the Tables 4A, 4B and 4C, there are example product compositions and from which 'assets' or ore bodies C they are sourced. Figures 4A, 4B and 4C also illustrate that with the information 00 S14 or tag associated with each asset, it is possible to provide a number of

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possible raw material and/or product supply/delivery to customers depending on events, as yet unpredictable in mining and product delivery operations. For example, what if, with reference to Figure 4A, the 'Appin Mine, Appinwashery' Swas unable to fulfil the delivery of raw material as requested in the initial determination of the present invention. The result is illustrated in Figure 4B. The present invention, in continuously or periodically making determinations for each order and/or customer, enables a fresh determination to be made for such events.

These determinations may also be made by way of predictions based on statistical information and/or anticipated or possible scenarios. In the case illustrated, some raw material is now sourced from 'WestCliffMine, WestCliffWash' and some raw material is sourced from 'TowerMine, BCWashery'.

In the situation where a fresh determination is made and raw material is altered, say, due to the need for management of unexpected events, the present invention may have to find a raw material or a number of raw material source(s), that whilst not being exactly the same as the raw material which cannot be delivered, are the most closely matched or the most commercially effective, compared to the raw material which cannot be delivered.

In fact, in one embodiment of the present invention, it is contemplated that provision is made for the determination of a relatively large number of (even 90 or more) alternative supply chains, each alternative supply chain being determined bearing in mind a change in the initially selected supply chain. In the example above, the 'Appin Mine Appinwashery' was unavailable. The present invention, in this form determines, in advance, an alternative supply chain to meet such a scenario, and thus the customer's order can continue to be met by way of utilising this determined alternative scenario.

COMS ID No: SBMI-01420781 Received by IP Australia: Time 15:48 Date 2005-08-15 15/08 2005 MON 15:42 FAX IP AUSTRALIA A009/016 b 11 SThis is done periodically, continuously and/or automatically by the assets running forward predictions derived from the information provided locally at 14 and/or system of the present invention running predictions to generate scenarios _when particular assets and supply chains would not be viable and when assets and supply chains would be at optimal utilisation. This results in the generation of Sasset portfolio management strategies for current and future customer 00 requirements. For example, scenarios may be generated based on one or a number of events, such as floods, labour force disruptions, earthquakes, geomechanical failure of a mine, changes in water tables, equipment failure, road or rail infrastructure disruptions, weather conditions, technical changes, processing times or delays, delivery/transport times or delays, likely customer order changes, foundry efficiency or delays or updates.

Figure 4C illustrates the result of a fresh determination in which the product characteristics have been changed. The phosphorous needs to be less than or equal to 0.005%. Resultant changes in the raw material sources can be seen as a consequence.

Referring to Figures 5A and 5B, another embodiment of the present invention is shown. By way of applying the essence of the present invention, it can be seen that the 'primary product' supplied in accordance with a customer's order does not need to be the final output of, for example, a steel making process. In fact, the present invention serves to provide a newly created supply chain for each primary product supplied in accordance with a customer order.

Thus the present invention selects any one of, or a combination of, assets Al to An in a manner that enables supply of the customer order.

The customer order may include coking and/or energy coal 29 from one or a number of assets, lump and/or fines 30 from one or a number of assets.

Equally, the order may seek blended coal 31, coke, nuts and/or breeze 32, hot metal and/or pig iron 33, sinter 34, and/or steel 35. It is to be understood that the primary product is a raw material(s) which has been processed or refined in some form. The invention is not limited to only these primary products, and may include any primary product within the coal, aluminium and/or steel making industries.

Figure 6, illustrates another example of the present invention. Information regarding assets are displayed by product view, and/or by system view. Assets, COMS ID No: SBMI-01420781 Received by IP Australia: Time 15:48 Date 2005-08-15 Nov 2004 16:26 Smoorenburg Patent Trad 03 9712 0159 p.14

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0 \00 0 0 0 c-i 12 such as mine face, washery, coke ovens, sinter to the present invention. Again, coordination provided to the blast furnace. Again, the inventi ore and coal emulation depicted.

Figure 7 illustrates one example of the stainless steel production. In stainless steel materials are sourced, such as stainless stee ferrochrome 38, other ferroalloys and slay forme 39 and scrap steel 40. The present invention as 10 schedule the raw materials in a manner to suit cu requirements. The present invention may be u 41, ferric/martensitic grade 42 and/or Mn grade are typically used to produce flat products, suc long products, such as bar, rod and wire, for us construction, transportation, food/beverage hand durables.

Figure 8 illustrates one example of the aluminium production. In aluminium production, sourced, such as bauxite 46 and alumina 47, su would be well known in the art. These raw mate refinery. The present invention as described abc raw materials in a manner to suit custon requirements. The present invention may be Aluminium Is typically used in many applications, As the present invention. may be embc departing from the spirit of the essential charact be understood that the above described embodir invention unless otherwise specified, but rathe within the spirit and scope of the invention as d Various modifications and equivalent arrangeme within the spirit and scope of the invention and ap ant, etc provide the information f raw material delivery can be In is not limited to only the iron resent invention as applied to production, a number of raw scrap 36, primary nickel 37, as would be known in the art escribed above can be used to stomer orders and/or prod uction d to produce anstenitic grade tainless steel 43. These grade as sheet, strip and plate, and in process plant, building and ling, automotive and consumer resent invention as applied to a number of raw materials are h recycled aluminium scrap, as rials are typically delivered to a e can be used to schedule the er orders and/or production sad to produce aluminium 48.

s would be known in the art.

died in several forms without dstics of the invention, it should ents are not to limit the present -should be construed broadly efined in the appended claims.

its are intended to be included )ended claims.

COMS ID No: SBMI-01003700 Received by IP Auslralia: Time 17:35 Date 2004-11-18

Claims (4)

1. A method of selecting raw material from a plurality of locations for delivery to a processing site for the production of a primary product, including: receiving a customer order, the order specifying characteristics of the Sprimary product, 00 determining, from the customer order, a specification of required raw materials to be processed in order to provide the primary product ordered by the customer, determining, with reference to a database identifying characteristics and quantities available of raw material resources, which available raw material resources can be utilised in order to substantially meet the specification of required raw materials.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the primary product is lump, fines or iron ore from one or more assets or an output or a process in the steel making and/or coal industries, such as any one or a combination of, but not limited to, hot metal, pig iron, slab, clean coal, blended coal, coke, lump and nuts, blended lump and fines sinter, aluminium, stainless steel.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the determined available raw materials are (each) supplied in a manner coordinated with the production of the primary product.

4. A method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, further including the step of repetitively and/or continuously determining a new supply chain for the order for at least a portion of the time taken to move the raw material(s) from source to a final destination. COMS ID No: SBMI-01420781 Received by IP Australia: Time 15:48 Date 2005-08-15 Nov 2004 16:27 Smoorenburg Patent Trad 03 9712 0159 p.16 14 A method as claimed in any one of claims of determining a plurality of supply chains, takir changes in customer requirements, equi body/deposit/reserve availability, feed varatio delays/liming transport delays/timing and charac DATED THIS 18"' Novem BHP BILLITON INNOVATIO 0 SMOORENBURG PATENT TRADE MARK AT PO BO 9 KANGAROO GROUND VIC 3097 AUSTRALIA 1 to 4, further including the step g into account events, such as xnent availability, asset/ore r, local commodities, supply ristics. er2004 M PTY LTD "ORNEYS COMS JD No: SBM1-01003700 Received by IP Australia: Time 17:35 Date 2004-11-18