What's your job about?
Mineral Resources Limited (MRL) is a mining services company at its core, yet extends its scope of work into transportation, energy, and infrastructure. This makes MRL versatile to offer solutions for their privately-owned mine sites as well as their contracting sites. Within MRL, I have worked in the mining services field providing technical assistance for both MRL owned and contracting sites. A day on the mine site consists of a pre-start meeting used to communicate the plan for the day, followed by reviewing and reporting on the previous 24-hour mine production. Throughout the day, drill and loading designs are done for the drill and blasting team as well as operational designs. We also plan for the next 2 weeks and 24 hours to ensure the mining operations are on target to achieve the long-term plans. This is all done before ending the day on a meeting to communicate the immediate plan for the next 24-hour mining operations. For all tasks, we are constantly communicating with our technical team as well as other mine operation departments to ensure an efficient and safe working environment solving day-to-day problems.
What's your background?
I grew up in Queensland for the majority of my childhood, as well as three years in the Cook Islands. I was in the Cook Islands for the early stages of my schooling where I experienced a completely new culture and way of learning. When I arrived back in Australia, I struggled to keep up with my class regarding the taught material and had to put in extra work to catch up. This experience showed me a completely different way of living as well as the hard work needed to bridge certain knowledge gaps. Once I got to high school, I was able to direct my focus to more specific subjects that I enjoyed including Geology, Science, Math and Japanese. That led me to find a passion for Geological Science and Civil Engineering at university. I applied myself through various practical activities like working for Snowy Mountain Engineering Corporation (SMEC) as an Undergraduate Geotechnical Engineer as well as writing a thesis on rain-induced slope failures. After 5 years at university, I really wanted a job where I could combine both disciplines of my degree while getting lots of practical experience. That is when I found the opportunity to become a Graduate Mining Engineer for Mineral Resources in Perth, Western Australia.
Could someone with a different background do your job?
Yes, definitely. I am an example of someone who didn’t have a Mine Engineering degree. However, used my double degree in Geology and Civil Engineering to combine and pursue my interests while adding the practical experience of being on-site every day. You should have an appreciation for analysing and providing solutions for real-world scenarios. However, the important thing to have is the right mindset and motivation to take on new challenges and experiences. That is where you will be able to learn and apply yourself the most.
What's the coolest thing about your job?
I love that in my job; I can create an engineering design and then go out into the field to implement it. For example, I was designing a drill and blast pattern in the office and then went out with the Drill and Blast team to implement it in the field. It gives me both the theory and practical balance that I love. The other aspect of my job is the ability to look over the whole supply chain from mine to ship within Mineral Resources and that gives me a sense of being impactful, which helps me stay motivated.
What are the limitations of your job?
My job is a critical part of any mining operation and therefore comes with a large amount of responsibility. Some nights on site, I found myself working just to ensure our drills or excavators kept operating. I’ve also worked for three months in the blast crew team which is physically demanding. All of this is daunting at the start and teaches you to learn quickly. Yet, the amount of industry-based experience I’ve gained from it has given me the confidence and knowledge to be ahead of the curve.
3 pieces of advice for yourself when you were a student...
The advice I would give my past self is to try out everything from university social groups to numerous internship and vacation jobs. Take everything on board, even if you think you won’t need it in the future, and don’t be scared to fail. Who knows? You may end up loving something that you initially didn’t think you would.