Coming This Summer.....

So it's vacation work season once again, and everyone at uni is in the process of signing vacation work contracts. For some people, it's their first taste of industry, but for vacation work veterans, like Sophia, Luke & myself, it is our third time going out for Summer work. I received offers from both BMA & Vale for their Central Queensland coal sites, but decided to go with Vale, because it goes for the whole 12 week period, and they have already given me 4 major projects to work on over the course of the period.

It has been two years since I have been out on site in Mt. Isa (refer to my earlier blogs), having worked in a design office in Brisbane last year. After working in the office last year, I have decided that site work is much better at my age, and it's way more fun being out in a small town, or in my case, a camp. I'll be sure to post updates throughout the summer on how the vacation work is going.

Mitch.

Recent Activities

The past few weeks have been some of the busiest of my life, with every university subject deciding to have several assignments due on the same day....but apart from that, I've been trying to make the most of free time to relax, as this is probably the busiest semester ever....

Recently, we had our annual QRC scholarship day, which as usual was very informative. Michael Roche, CEO of the QRC, gave a very informative speech about the future of the minerals & petroleum industry in Queensland. I had no idea some of the stuff he was talking about even existed, and after seeing the amount of development about to happen around Queensland, there's hardly any reason to worry about job security!

We also had very informative talks from the likes of companies such as Golding, BMA, Rio Tinto & Santos.

Anyway, i've got a plane to catch to New Zealand..........

New Leaders Conference

Last week I attended the Ausimm (Australian Insititute of mining & metallurgy) New Leaders conference. This conference presents information about opportunities in the resources industry, as well as technical papers related to certain fields. For example, this year there were presentations about climate change, mine design & specific types of jobs within the industry. The conference is a good opportunity to learn about new developments, as well as hear interesting debates (especially in regards to the climate change issue). This is the second time I have attended the conference, and as always it has benefitted me. The first day of the conference culminated with a welcome function hosted by Thiess on the Island party boat, whilst for the second night, I had too much study to do to attend those activities.

The 'R' Word

We've all heard it, The 'R' word......Recession. What does this word mean to us as resource engineers? For starters it means lower commodity prices, which means some mines which were profitable when commodity prices were good, can now now longer be sustained. For example, the mine site at which i did my first vacation work, Mt Gordon, has been significantly downsized. Because of this unsustainability, people tend to lose their jobs. Mostly the jobs that have been lost have been contractor jobs. Engineering jobs however, have tended to be quite safe, and as an engineer myself, it makes me feel a whole lot better to know that there is still a job out there somewhere for me.

3rd Year Engineering & Stuff

3rd year engineering is definetly a challenge. This is where the real subjects start to happen. I'm currently doing 6 subjects, but still manage to get almost 2 days off per week. Just finished the first part of the semester, and am on midsemester break at the moment, which I'm very grateful.

In general news, I moved into a house with my girlfriend & some other friends, and am currently planning a trip to New Zealand. All this again, would not have been possible without vacation work over the previous summer at Sedgman. We are also tryng to put together a metallurgy team for the mining games in a couple of weeks.

Vacation Work At Sedgman

My second year of vacation work at Sedgman is coming to an end this week, as it is time to head back to Uni for year three of engineering. It has been good working here, as it is close to home, and still provided me with challenging engineering work.

In my 3.5 months here, I have undertaken a range of work. For example my major projects were:

• Research and development work in the area of fine coal separation.
• Developed a program which models the behaviour of fluidized beds.
• Developed a program & spreadsheet to estimate the amount of site-run piping within any coal processing plant.

Other minor projects included:

• Working with project drawings & databases.
• Finding new safety innovations.
• Research into water & energy saving measures for a coal processing plant.

Sedgman has been a very good company to work for. Within my first week of working there, I had a free trip to dreamworld, and every friday afternoon there is always a social event at club Sedgman.

Engineering & The Economic Climate

The mining boom may be over, but there is still a shortage of professional engineers in the industry. I myself know a few people that have given up on mining and metallurgy because of what is currently happening, some people even in their first year. We just have to remember that when it comes to the economy, what goes down, will eventually come up, and people need to be in a position to work for the mining industry when it does.

Yes I know what is currently happening does suck, and it probably will be harder to get things like vacation work next year. However, I'm still not worried about graduating with a position in the mining industry, because I now that I will be well placed no matter what.

Vacation Work

I've now completed about 7 weeks worth of vacation work. It is really flexible here, and i have been enjoying the work. Ive been applying my university work to practical solutions, and coming up with a few of my own original designs. I recommend Sedgman to anyone looking for a graduate position in coal, or some vacation work!