Hey everyone,
I have been working in mining for the past 4 years, 2 years spent as a vac student during uni and the other 2 in a full time surveying role. I have worked in open pit previously, but now moved onto UG mining.
Any questions on the industry or my role feel free to ask!
No life to speak of, only the occasional fly that gets stuck in the car on the way down the hole. And some wasps appeared near the fresh air shafts, I think there is a nest nearby and they get sucked down the intake.
Have you started mining X and Y lens yet?
X is still being drilled, and Y is about 50% done.
any plans for Z or is it still shite?
Was your vac role in surveying as well or were you being cycled through other engineering roles?
Yeah the vac role was a surveying position in open pit, just worked in the semester break to get some exposure to mining. Haven't worked in other engineering roles but have a fair bit of exposure to drill and blast/production engineering.
How's the canary doing?
Do you guys need any enviros?
Let's rephrase your question so it more accurately asks what you want to ask.
"How do you feel, or justify, working in an industry which is not looked (upon) favourably by me personally?"
Love it… thank you for rephrasing something for me freakatronic :) I obviously didn't know what I was asking.
And also to those who jump to a negative just for a simple question.
As someone who actually works in the same industry as loky, albeit, in a different field, it's a question we ALL get asked and have to justify somehow.
Thank you for your response loky. Here is a funny/cheeky powerful vid for those who don't understand mining/commodities at all - and what comes from it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZrfmPAvtV8
To others who find simple questions challenging, and jump to the negative button straight away… sadly you vote :\
I quite often get negative comments on the industry that I'm in, usually this is by misinformed people who end up being very defensive when I reply with an educated answer calling them out on their own irony. If you have a car, house or computer you support the mining industry. The consumer is at no more fault than the people who work in the mines, if there wasn't a need the industry wouldn't exist.
I would rather mining be in Australia than anywhere else, we are world leaders in the resource industry and set the standards globally for resource extraction and management. People have extremely well paying jobs in very safe environments and have been given so much support that they wouldn't otherwise get in many other sectors. The environment will always be an issue, but we now manage it better than ever. You always hear about the effects of legacy operations or poorly managed overseas operations, but no one comments on how well some operations have managed their environmental footprint, most people don't know a mine was even there in the first place.
I'm not saying the industry is perfect, but people are so far removed from the process of the products that they use today that they don't see themselves as the ones contributing to the problem.
What kind of salary could I expect to get as a surveyor in the mines? I have about 2 years experience, working in civil and general building construction.
also, which mines/companies would you recommend working for?
If you come in as a uni qualified surveyor at least 90k, this depends mostly on the company who you are working for. Since you have no mining experience you would have to go with a junior miner, who generally pay less than top/mid tiers. Once you have experience average packages range from 105k-120k, and top tier mines would pay 140k+, with senior level touching 200k. In a contracting role day rates are generally $800/900 per day with all travel/food/accomo expenses covered, and you can work as much as you like, provided you don't burnout. There is huge demand at the moment, so if you are thinking about getting into mining now is the time to do it.
do you use labour hire like monos or downer for shuts or have you heard of Linkforce (stinkforce) WA based shut mob
Not sure who comes in to do our shutdown maintenance, there are so many contractors on site in general its hard to know who is who.
Who is responsible for injuries at work? Do they cover or did you sign your life away?
Work has insurance that covers you for everything, also covers anyone visiting site as well. They pay for the local hospital to be open 24/7 just in case of a serious event.
How deep are you mining?
How oftern are you taking gyro shots?
How oftern are you traversing the decline?
Whats your forward station procedure?
What gear are you using?
1.6km odd at the moment, plans for 1.8km or so in the not too distant future.
Every few years we get a contracting mob to come in and do some check surveys, we have one coming soon since we have to join up two distant areas.
Not usually on the main declines due to holding up traffic, during mine maintenance shuts we go down and do check surveys.
Minimum 3-4 station resection with good residuals to traverse forward. Good being sub 3mm (E,N &H) and less than 20" orientation.
Leica TS-16 & MS60. Have a teledyne optech CMS scanner and Renishaw CALS
Damn that`s deep, must be pretty hot down there.
What size drives do you have?
MS60 is a awesome bit of gear.
Are you using Surpac?
Yeah it gets pretty miserable, not helped by the fact Tassie has the highest thermal gradient in Aus.
Mostly 5.4 x 5.8, only do 5 x 5 drives if it isn't going to be there very long, we have issues with drives squeezing.
It is a good bit of kit, infinity has a lot left to be desired though.
Surpac for now, we are transitioning to Deswik very soon.
what is the average temp + humidity at those depths (1.8)
Around 30-32 wet bulb. For reference we aren't allowed to work in areas above 34 wet bulb. They give us electrolytes to help manage the fluid loss but you can't stay in headings that hot and do physical work for very long.
Is it same temp in winter? Wonder if it can be used for heating normal houses.
Cools down a little bit, if trucks and stuff and working nearby it gets steamy very quickly. They have geothermal heating in a few industrial buildings in Hobart. Very very expensive to set up.
@Barefoot Miner: dont the exhaust fumes from vehicles overwhelm you/become annoying etc, or do you have heaps of exhaust fans
@DiscoJango: The ventilation runs on a circuit, you have surface intake and exhaust fans which assist the natural convection flow along. Vent doors in various parts separate return airways from fresh ones, you are only allowed in these return airways with gas monitors. The fresh air circuits go down the main declines, any drives off this circuit have huge electric fans to force air through the levels where it's needed.
You don't usually work in close proximity to the machinery, if you do it just gets too hot. The fumes aren't too bad, can sting your eyes a bit but I leave a few minutes for the air to clear before going in. They have fume exclusion zones when we fire development headings or large production stopes, the fumes from a firing will knock you out so no risks are taken there.
@Barefoot Miner: How physically fit do you need to be to become a miner? And it is common to see miners with an ethnic background?
@windrc: Depends on what role you want to do, they have a minimum fitness test to pass pre-employment and if you're in a more physically intense role that fitness test is pretty strenuous. Yeah we have a very diverse group working all around the place, most common background would be South African.
This is one of the most interesting AMAs I have read on OzBargain. Thank you.
What's a typical day in your role?
What are the ratio of females to male employees?
Has there been any accidents that affected you physically or mentally?
Glad I can make an interesting thread!
Mostly working in with the engineers to get blast designs marked up for drilling or lasers put in to guide development headings. Laser scanning stopes would be another big part, whenever they are empty or cave in we need to calculate volumes and see how much the ore is diluted. Managing survey control would be another big one, extending it along new areas and doing checks.
In technical services the ratio is probably 1 in 5 and I would say it's less for operators. Maybe 1 in 15, they have had a big hiring round and took on all female operators trying to diversify the group.
Nothing underground as such, a few large seismic events nearby had me running. Some really big ones lift 70 tonne loaders off the ground.
At my old workplace a contractor died in a rockfall incident, and even though I didn't know him it really hit home how quickly things can change. I came close to a few rockfalls in open pit, had a spotter with me to scream if there was something coming down. Since that incident they stopped doing that, looking back that was by far the most dangerous job I've had.
My Bros a spotter, all they do is look around and pretend to be busy 😂
Wow damn, If I get paid for being spotter on OzB, I will make millions..
Do you have internet access at the mine?
Yeah we have an office underground with full server/internet access through an optic fiber link from the surface.
So technically you live under the rock and still have better internet technology than most of Australia. Thanks to MTM that we have!
any tips and strategies on the Saboteur card game?
If you are offered a nice office job with $100k package, would you take it? Or you would still prefer doing what you doing to earn a bit more?
I am asking to see if I should leave my office job and work at mines instead :D
Probably not at this current time, the job is pretty diverse and I spend about 50/50 underground and in the office. So it breaks up the day and I get access to heaps of expensive surveying gear that I wouldn't otherwise get exposed to such as drones, scanners, radar etc. I can't see myself here forever, a lot of mine surveyors are quite young and the physical side of it would be catch up with you as you get older. My girlfriend is a professional as well, so the time away from home is hard as she is usually working when i get back home during the week. A nice six figure job in the city and going home every night is where I dream to be in less than 6 years time.
Wish you all the best mate
Hi OP,
Very good AMA.
Question, is this mine by any chance near Strahan? In Queenstown?
We drove through there 3 years ago, and whilst Strahan is amazing, it was depressing how delapidated and 'cold' Queenstown was.
Also, what is the most satisfying part of your job?
There are a few nearby you have Mt Lyell in Queenstown which still has huge reserves but in care and maintenance at the current time due to company issues in India. Henty, Rosebery and avebery are active and fairly large operations. And you have a few small privately run mineral mines hidden away in Dundas and surrounding areas.
Most satisfying part would be how much impact I can have on the wider operation. I'm only 25 and I never thought I would have that much significant input into problem solving a job or people coming to me for advice about things. But considering I'm one of the only people on my shift in this role and that I've proved myself in the time that I've been working has been great. Most people look down on younger people as too ambitious or stubborn in a lot of ways, but it's great that I get the support structure here.
Have you found any Bitcoin?
I heard few years back few mine workers posted a video dancing in the mine…they were sacked for flouting safety rules. Is that really that big an issue
OH&S is really big in mining companies and on-site. Considering the fact a small lapse in judgement can cause serious injuries or even death - then yes, it's not something mine sites/companies play around with. There are lots of legal issues which go with this.
Even not following the correct pathway (ie. jumping over a small retaining wall) to an office has been reason to officially warn staff.
Inductions & training vids are all part & parcel of the industry. If you go to an mining office, you will have to spend 10 mins learning & signing off the OH&S video/manual. More like a repetition thing so people know that they shouldn't flout them. Of course, if they do then they have to face the consequences.
Yeah that video was at Henty, most got let go for that. Mobile phones underground are a big no no if you get caught you will be under a pretty heavy investigation, if not let go. Some sites are far more serious than others, if you work for bhp or rio something as simple as not parking properly underground or stepping up onto a stockpile will have you dismissed. It's a very serious industry when it comes to saftey and most sites have a zero tolerance policy for cutting corners.
Would ex-mines be suitable for storing nuclear waste?
See any moles?