Welcome to Big Ditch Dam Company!

My name is Lindsey Hughson

But since I can remember my nickname has been Angus

That’s probably because I stand 6’4″ and weigh 120 kgs

A friend  once said I resembled an Angus bull, and it stuck

There’s an old saying that you can choose your friends, but you don’t get to choose your nickname

Diamonds

I was President of BHP Diamonds Australia, a division of the world’s largest mining company BHP Billiton

While in that position, I became the company’s change agent, responsible for bringing the massive old multi-billion dollar mining company into the internet age

I was responsible for BHP going on-line, and enabling consumers to buy diamonds direct from BHP

The successful strategy represented another direct challenge to De Beers’ dominance of the world diamond market which many observers felt had become more and more tenuous

BHP Billiton Plays Hardball With De Beers

“The world’s number one diversified miner began tackling fierce rival Anglo American-De Beers in the high stakes marketing end of the business”

While selling diamonds online certainly went against BHP’s once stodgy corporate image, the plan was actually part of a broader e-commerce initiative that is focused mainly around minerals and metals marketplaces

Within two years, BHP began to transact all of its business online across minerals, petroleum and steel including buying and selling.

Indeed, the company took a lead role with 14 other mining and metals companies in establishing a global Mining and Metals Procurement Market Place that bought together producers and suppliers in more than 100 countries.

Shock & Awe

In a move that shocked the business world, I created plans to float the diamond brand as a stand alone business, and planned to move BHP into global retailing on a huge scale

On the 6th of September 2001  Business Report said:

“Lindsay Hughson, the president of BHP Diamonds Australia, said the public float was a key long-term goal for BHP Billiton. He said the share sale would first involve the rollout of 500 North American retail stores. That move put BHP in direct competition with the De Beers-LVMH joint venture, which would create a new company focused on the premium diamond jewellery market”

Sales targets for the planned network of 500 branches were set at $2 billion a year, with indications that we would capture up to 36 percent of the diamond market.

As the person who was shaking up the global diamond market, I was also the featured speaker at the World Diamond Conference in Vancouver

BHP Diamonds

BHP Diamonds was the second largest diamond mining company in the world behind DeBeers of South Africa – and operated the massive Ekati diamond mine – Canada’s first surface and underground diamond mine

Heavy Metal

Mining equipment used to construct the mine consisted of Driltech D90KS blasthole drills, Demag H655SO diesel-hydraulic shovels, 10 x Caterpillar, D10R bulldozers, 13 x 240t Cat haul trucks, 3 x 170t Cat 793 haul trucks, 11 x 100t Cat 777D haul trucks, Cat 994 loaders, Cat 5120 hydraulic excavators and Cat 992 loaders

Market Share

This mine enabled BHP Billiton to move from a position of 0% market share  in the diamond market in 1997 – to those mines producing over 15 million carats of raw un-cut diamonds

Sold

In just 5 years, BHP’s production overtook DeBeers of South Africa – which had been the dominant market leader for over 100 years.

In 2012, Toronto-based Harry Winston Diamond Corporation bought BHP Billiton’s diamond business for over $500 million.

At sale date, the mine had produced $6 billion in rough cut diamond sales for an investment of $1.3 billion

Yellow

I then moved on to create and be named CEO of BHP Billiton’s new brand strategy company called

Yellow. A Division of Blue

For one hundred years, BHP had been known as ‘Big Blue’

This company was tasked with branding all the BHP divisions products, and to create a public facing series of brands for a mining company that up to that time had been a faceless behemoth.

Aurias

Our first task was to brand the diamonds being extracted from the Ekati mine

We created the world’s first diamond brand

Aurias. The Brighter Diamond

BHP’s chief strategic officer, Brad Mills said

“part of the strategy is to build our own retail brand and identity, and we feel the strong need to have our own diamond brand.”

Rappaport, the world diamond industry newsletter on Oct 25 2000 reported that:

“Lindsey Hughson, president of BHP Diamonds Australia, says that they are cutting out the six middlemen that normally stand between the diamond mine and the end consumer”

As one might expect from a dyed-in-the-wool Australian company, the name ‘Aurias’ has a sports connotation to it.

David James, one of the seven original BHP shareholders, bought a race horse named Auraria with one of his dividend checks.

The horse went on to win the country’s prestigious Melbourne Cup in 1895.

Bye Bye BHP

But all good things come to an endMining is subject to booms and busts, and funding follows those trends.

When BHP decided to terminate it’s $40 million venture capital fund due to the collapse of the iron ore market in 2002, I took the opportunity to do other things.

Read the full press release regarding my departure from BHP

Getting my hands dirty

After retiring from BHP, I moved from Melbourne to my property at Crescent Head, and in 2003 I contracted a large 10 mgl dam for the property from a local earthmover.

Long story short, that dam failed – miserably – and 10’s of thousands of dollars disappeared along with all the water in the dam.

Unable to get satisfaction from the contractor, I bought a 20 excavator, and fixed the dam myself.

This led me on a 15 year journey in dam building and construction, eventually becoming the only artisan dam building & repair company in Australia, with projects nationally and internationally.

Also, I finally finished the dams at my place.

This is how it now looks..