The End is Near...

So it's been a while since I've blogged, and there have been quite a few developments this year.

Firstly I learnt something when applying for jobs; if you don't succeed try again. The job I wanted for next year was at Olympic Dam; which is a Copper/Uranium/Gold/Silver mine north of Adelaide, which essentially houses everything a metallurgist could ever dream of. I applied through the normal channels, but didn't hear back for several months. I began to worry about job prospects, as I was due to travel overseas in June for a Europe trip, which was essentially the peak time for job interviews. I ended up emailing Olympic Dam my resume & a letter of application personally, and the next day, I had a phone interview! After that I had my full interview, which is usually face to face, on the phone whilst relaxing in the Spanish countryside.

Within a couple of days after returning to Brisbane, I flew to Olympic Dam for a site visit, and I was offered a contract! The moral of the story here is; do not hesitate to take things to a personal level. Just because companies have their normal procedures for hiring, it may not hurt to send things personally to a contact.

In other news, there is about 5 weeks left of uni, and we are tidying up our final design projects for the year. By the end of this semester, we would have essentially designed an entire Alumina refinery....without getting paid!

Holidays & 4th year uni.

The 4th & final year of uni started today, and as ever it was good to be back. The holidays was a bit of a disappointment, as I had to cancel my vacation work due to injury, and therefore had 14 weeks of holidays. It was good, for a bit, but when you're friends are all away on vacation work, it gets a bit tedious. Nonetheless I am looking forward to a good final year at uni. Many events are happening this year, to name a few;

• QRC is kindly sending me over to the new leaders conference in Kalgoorlie!
• I'm turning 21.
• Hopefully a metallurgy field trip to Chile & Brazil (depending on the extent of the earthquake damage).
• AND most importantly of all, a graduate job at some stage of the year.

Over the next few weeks & months I will be applying for jobs left, right & central....should be fun!

Mitch.

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!

Vacation Work

I've currently been doing my second year of vacation work for about three weeks now. I've been working for Sedgman, designing & optimising coal preparation & handling plants. It's been good because i can now acytally apply my university studies to an industry job. I will be working here until march, enjoying every moment of it.

Mitch.

Whats Been Happening

Haven't done a great deal since returning from Europe, been pretty quiet because I spent all my hard earned money! Managed to do the annual Gayndah trip in september. Apart from that have been pretty focused on Uni, exams in two weeks time! Hopefully will be getting vacation work at a metallurgical consulting firm. Update soon.

Peace out,

Mitch.

Oh yeh woops forgot, I moved out of home!

Europe Trip

I have just returned from a whirlwind trip of Europe, which I financed with the money I made from vacation work over last summer, totally worth it now. Me and two mates went to heaps of countries. We visited London, Paris, Bruge (Belgium), Amsterdam, Berlin, Munich, Interlaken (Switzerland), Venice, Florence, Rome & Dubai. The trip went for five weeks. I experienced lots of different cultures, and compared to Australia, these places are very old, and very interesting. The only reason I was able to go on this trip though was vacation work, so if you are into mining, and want to do something like this while you are young, get some money over summer, (because Europe is too cold to visit anyway!).

Mitchy.

2nd year engineering....

So we are now half way through the first semester of second year engineering, I have to say its better then first, because subjects are alot more specialized, but the workload has picked up a bit, I'm still there 5 days a week....the engineers curse, however i finish early or start late most days which is good because i value my sleepins, unlike last year where i started at 8 every day.... next weekend we have a fieldtrip to Gladstone to an aluminium refinery & smelter, and then i have heaps of exams and assignments....fun. Its ok because at the end of this semester i have a trip to Europe to look forward to.....yay!

update soon,

Mitch

Mt Gordon Vac Work: 5th & Final

Twas my last swing at Gunpowder, and it was quite an exciting one. The boys seemed to know it was my last 9 days, and hence I bought a lot of cartons that week. Throughout the week i was working on ore hardness testing, which ended up failing after 8 days of work, and needless to say I wasnt very happy. On my last night i had a big party with maybe 20 friends from Gunpowder, which ended close too 3 oclock in the morning, and we had to be at work by 6 :(.

Overall Gunpowder was a good first experience, I had fun, and I learnt a whole lot from the guys there about processes, and the mining industry in general. I now know what to expect when i graduate.

Mt Gordon Vac Work: Part 4

http://uqedu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=87936&l=f54b4&id=742020110. A link to my Mt Gordon Photos.

For My 4th stint in Mt Gordon, i joined the ranks of the metallurgists and started work on a major project of identifying and mapping the water systems of the plant, this involved a few days of research and note taking around the plant and then a few days of finishing my design. I also moved up into the '5 star rooms' for the 9 days because one of my mates was on holidays and loaned me his room for it. After I finished i spent 5 good days in cairns at the beach and wandering the rainforest. Apart from that i only have 9 days left at Mt Gordon left, and then i can say goodbye to gunpowder for a while.

mitch

Mt Gordon Vacation Work Part 3

Again I ventured back to the Mt Gordon mine for another 9 days of fun....This time I did some test work in the lab, but after a few days, i was kinda bored of it...So i did some work for the OH&S department and audited safety systems around the plant. My audit on the safety showers & eye wash systems proved succesful, identifying major faults, and thus new procedures were put in place to make sure these systems were working in the case of an emergency. It made me feel like i was actually contributing to the minesite as a whole. In other aspects, i really looked forward to nightimes as almost every night we would have a verandah session with maybe 5 or 6 of us, and of course the cold beer. I have also uploaded some photos of the Mt Gordon mine, and the surrounding area around Gunpowder, they can be viewed here:

http://uqedu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=87936&l=f54b4&id=742020110

Mitch.

Mt Gordon Vacation Work: PART TWO!

I adventured back to the outback after a pretty cool christmas (although i had to fly back up here on Christmas day). This time was different though, this time i was working night shift. I can't say it was bad, i rather enjoyed it actually. It wasnt so hot, the flys were gone, and managed to have some enjoyable times with some of the younger guys that work here. I only had to work 8 shifts this time, and spent most of my time in the flotation circuit. This 8 days culminated with a large barbecue on thursday morning, a bin full of beer, a pool made of an old polytank, and the worst sunburn i have ever had. Lets just say the flight home on thursday afternoon was a very sleepy ocassion.

Mitch.

Mt Gordon Vacation Work

I have just finished my first 9 days at the my Gordon copper minesite, situated roughly 125km north of Mt isa and 250km South of the Gulf Of Carpentaria, and 200km from the Northern Territory border. Myself, along with fellow scholarship holders Felicity & Luke are currently working there. For my first 9 days I worked in the Grinding section. I am really enjoying it; the people are great, the scenery is awesome, and well, the bar after work is pretty good too:) I've had some pretty interesting experiences, almost every afternoon without fail a storm would roll in, and there would be an incredible lightning show, nothing like ive ever seen in Brisbane. Also, some afternoons I went for a walk down to the lake near the camp, only to find a pack of wild pigs, which can be quite dangerous, i jumped straight up a tree when I saw them. There is a multitude of wildlife there, ive seen 5 or 6 crocodiles down at the lake, pigs there is wild dogs and apparently some water buffalo as well. The rooms they have us in arent crash hot, and the food isnt very good, but it makes up for it in the money we earn:) The work there isnt easy, and most afternoons I would come home covered in mud, but its good because every 9 days we get 5 days off for some rest and fun.

Equality In Mining.

There is no doubt that this has been one of the largest issues in the mining industry over the past few years, with women & indigenoud australians moving into the industry. I think the figure stands at about 12% of the mining industry are women in non traditional roles, i.e mining engineers, geos, metallurgists etc. The industry still wants to increase this figure, and the job retention prospects are very good at this point in time. The other thing that the industry has worked on is increasing the amount of indigenous Australian workers in mines. An excellent example of this is the Zinifex Century Mine, in Northern Queensland. The mine is situated very close to many indigenous communities including Normanton, Karumba & even Mornington Island. In a survey by the CSRM (Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining) here at UQ, found the once indigenous Australians were in these roles, their quality of life increased, they recieved training, and were payed alot more then previous work. In another survey, indigenous Australians who left the mine, were generally more qualified, and wanted to get other work related to the mining industry.

These are exiciting prospects. The mining boom is bringing alot to our economy, and now it can bring even more to our community, by promoting equality within all parts of Australian society.