Explo 2011

Just to prove I was there - and not just out enjoying Melbourne the entire time (although I was able to get plenty of that too..)

QRC Lunch

Beginning with a State of the Sector Forum, it was interesting to see so many different views on where the industry is headed. It was made clear that there are many factors holding the industry back from achieving the full benefit of the current boom. The current boom is bigger than most can imagine. At the site I am at, just looking at the company I am working for, we are trying to double our production. That means almost doubling everything - trucks, diggers, blasting operations, operators, staff, accommodation. To remember back to what it was like a year ago, it's pretty incredible to think that we now have over 50 trucks with our operations on site alone - and still getting bigger.

The major components identified in the report were the limitations on labour, water, and electricity. Check out the report here: https://www.qrc.org.au/_dbase_upl/Growth%20Outlook%20Report_Final_v2.pdf
Labour is obvious where I am at the moment - most sites are struggling to find skilled operators with the enormous boom - and to train so many new people to the industry all at once is impossible with the way that things are working at the moment.
Water is surprisingly vital to any mine, and quite a large amount. Most people don;t think about the amount needed to water the roads for dust suppression, maintain the wash plants, as well as the smaller quantities for drinking, washing, etc. It's one of the most critical elements of a feasibility study. Without it, it's just not possible. To import water is rarely economical.
Electricity is obviously needed to run pretty much everything on site. Although diesel runs a lot of generators and machinery, the workshops, offices and wash plants all need electricity.

Following the forum, we heard from Anna Bligh over lunch. Regardless of political views, she is a great speaker, keeping many people enthralled.

Explo

At the start of November, I again saw first hand, the industry's commitment to further education. With such a skills shortage, and the industry attempting to fill positions in creative ways, this is necessary for every company. I was able to attend Explo in Melbourne. Considering my strong desire to learn more about drill and blast engineering, this was an awesome experience. Surprisingly enough, I was straining to remember a few things from the uni statistics subject from a few years ago. It was pretty cool to meet some senior people in the industry, who have spent their lives in drill and blast. Melbourne was pretty fun as well, but I can't say that I'm keen on the weather, especially with the sun up well after 8pm.

AUGUST

I'm about half way through my time at Goonyella Riverside, since I came back from my holiday in March anyway. Not much has changed at work. I'm now focussing on the short term planning for 2 pits (we are currently occupying 5 pits as contractors). It's great to have full responsibility of certain areas, and it seems to work pretty well. Being engineers though, communication is sometimes an issue.

I was hoping to get on bomb crew while it is still winter, but it doesn't look promising. It's pretty hot work in summer, as it is probably one of the most physical jobs (in the sun) on site.

I'm not doing any drill and blast engineering now as there are now two people looking after that area. I'm still working on my thesis when I can though (economics of varying powder factor vs. the dig rate revenue). I'm pretty keen to see a bit more drill and blast in metals one day, where it is usually a bit more challenging with trying to minimise grade movement.

I get to go to an internal company conference down in NSW next week, and visit one of our sites down there. I'm pretty excited about that, as I've only ever seen some of Downer's QLD sites.

Career Options

The site I work at has finally managed to approve a 7days on, 7 days off roster. I have to admit, an equal time roster making an enormous amount of money might sound appealing, but it's not the job for me. I figure if you are going to spend a fair chunk of your life working, you may as well find the job that you enjoy. After driving trucks for 2 months, I know it's definitely not what I want to do for the rest of my life. I'm not sure I could even do it for a year. There are quite a few people that love it though, and also plenty who do it for the money and spend half of their life counting down until their break.

I met someone at a party on the weekend whose niece is keen on creative industries. She was pretty insistent on talking to me about mining, and what her niece should do in the industry. As much as some relatives and friends think they are doing the right thing for people trying to choose a career path, it does annoy me when they try and persuade them to a 'more secure', or higher paying job. If you love your job, that's seriously all that matters. In Australia we are pretty lucky, that in whatever options you choose, most people have enough money to survive. It is a hard decision to make though, when everyone says it is for the rest of your life. The reality is that you can change your mind as much as you want now. I'm only 22, and I've had a few different careers already. Admittedly, working the three jobs at once in retail, hospitality and a bit of tutoring wasn't really a career, more just a way to survive. I did really enjoy my 'gap year' in property management, but the career advancement options weren't there. I love mining engineering though, there are just so many options to specialise, or move into different areas.

If you are happy with your career, then I figure that's better than the money you might make in a different job. Personally, I think that it's pretty awesome seeing the trucks digging and dumping the dirt according to your plan, and seeing that it all actually works. I'll have to see which is better though - watching that, or a blast go off according to my tie-up design. I haven't managed to do that one yet. As long as it doesn't stuff up, I'll be happy..

Back at work

3wks back at work at Goonyella Riverside, and it feels like I never left. There's still a lot of dirt and rocks, with a lot of coal under it. The rain is still as annoying as ever, and doesn't seem to be leaving us alone, despite the 'wet season' coming to an end.

I'm living in camp, about 40km out of Moranbah, so I need to escape on the weekends. I head back to Bris every second weekend or so to check that my unit is still standing, but I plan to check out Eungella sometime soon, before it gets too cold to camp.

My supervisor has changed at work since I've been away, and there's some pretty cool stuff planned for me over the next year. I'll be able to work in drill and blasting, as well as short term planning. The short term planning requires a lot of time talking to the supervisors, as they have a lot of experience, and know what will work best. We then draw up the plans, checking volumes of the pit and dumps, as well as checking for buried services, powerlines, permits, etc. It's interesting stuff, but there is a lot more to the job.

Heading home

After spending 6wks in Europe, I'm more than ready to come home. It's been fun, and I've met some great people, but it has made me appreciate Australia a lot more. I'm not looking forward to 36hrs of airports and flights, but it's worth it. 

It might be surprising for most people, but I'm really looking forward to going back to work. The company that I work for has offered me full-time work until uni starts again next year, which is awesome. An opportunity then came up to go back to goonyella at moranbah, instead of working from Brisbane office. I'll miss my partner and friends, but the opportunity is awesome during the ramp up. I managed to start in the industry when the bust hit, so it's a nice change to see everything expanding so rapidly.

Looking forward to a year with heaps to learn :-)

Work

I have been back at work for 2wks now since Christmas. So far I have been tasked with finding where we have missed charging the client for work we have completed. It was interesting to see the massive amount of money missed. Following this, I have started implementing a new system to capture the information, which has been challenging to make sure it will work, and is fool proof. There are heaps of problems with the current system, and I am trying to eliminate them. My solution was a simple excel sheet with a few macros, but it needs to be pretty robust as many users will fiddle with it.

I have also been given a massive amount of paperwork to complete before I can get out on the bomb crew (loading shots before they are blasted). It is about half a ream of assessment, so I hope I can get through that pretty quickly, as I only have 4wks left on site :(.

I love this site as there is so much to do, with a massive ramp up currently underway. There are also so many experienced and knowledgeable people on site, who are always happy to explain things to you. On Friday I drove around with the Production Manager for a few hours, and he was happy to teach me a fair bit about why things are being done a certain way. It was a pretty good experience. I guess I better start getting ready for work. I love the late start on Monday. It's especially late today, at 10am, which is a nice change to the rest of the week, when we start at 6am.

Politics :(

I heard this morning as I was getting ready for work (loving the late start Monday's), that Kater thinks the coal industry caused the floods. Uneducated comments like this really get to me. The actual facts are that the 1974 floods were caused by very similar weather events - of which Anna Bligh has admitted. Queensland has a lot of coal mining (which is also one of the biggest contributors to the QLD economy). Queensland also suffered devastating floods. That's where the similarities end.

Coal mining creates very little pollution in comparison to the burning of coal. This, which Kater does not mention, does not (for the most part) occur in QLD, or even Australia. Often the coal and iron ore are shipped overseas (to China etc), for the coking coal to be burnt in order to create steel, which is then shipped back to Australia. It seems a bit of a silly process, but I guess it's cheaper to do in other countries, even with the transportation cost taken into account. Thermal coal is pretty much the only coal that I know of that is burnt in Australia, and mainly for electricity. Thermal coal is lower quality, and doesn't possess the properties required for steelmaking (burning really hot). As we slowly move to introduce more solar systems, this may reduce the quantity of thermal coal required (depending in population growth), but this is only a small part of coal mining. The coking coal is where the money is, and the most commonly mined coal in the Bowen Basin.

Kater would do well to keep quiet unless he has something positive or researched to say. The floods have been horrible, and this is not needed after the amazing reactions of so many Queenslanders. After traveling to Brisbane on the weekend, it was incredible to see that they had too many volunteers. Strangers helping to clear out the rancid mud from other people's homes. Many coal mining companies shutdown mines to help out. They sent their workers to the clean up in Emerald, and other nearby towns. The electricians from nearby mines went in to Emerald to assess homes. The flooded houses cannot be lived in until the electricity is turned back on, which cannot occur until it has been checked by an electrician. Given that most of the town was under water, it would take weeks, maybe even months to check them without the help of the mining companies.

The company that I work for (Downer EDi Mining) has donated $100,000 to the flood appeal. In addition, they will match every employee's donation (which they have also helped to be tax free). I know of other mining companies doing similar things. I expect that companies like BMA will give more, as they have a lot more resources than the contractors, but it is great to see so many companies helping out in their communities. I hope that all the help available will let the people affected to get back on their feet as soon as possible.