Vac Work

I have finished my penultimate year of study and yay! i am pleased to report i have vac work. In less than 2 weeks, i will be in the hunter valley to do vac work with VALE. Im really looking forward to this. As far as i know i am going to working on a project for integrated waste management over the site. Its a coal mine which is good for me as last year i did vac work at a copper mine, so something different is good. Its hard to say to much more now, but im happy to have vac work once again(and in a different state is a good oportunity) and i will post more once ive started down there.

Japan Holiday

In June this year, during mid term break i went to Japan for a holiday. It was my second time this facinating country and i loved it just as much as my first trip. I travelled around a bit some of my stops included tokyo, kyoto and osaka. I visited heaps of temples, a japanese hot spring (where i bathed naked with many japanese women--an interesting experience), went to a monkey park, tokyo disneyland, an aquarium which was home to a whale shark, and ate some yummy and strange food(including raw beef liver and beef tounge).The photo is me dressed up like a maiko (apprentice geisha). Overall it was an awesome holiday. Great way to take the stress off in between terms. The only reason i got to do this was because of saved up money from my vac work. So kiddies go do some vac work! Great industry experience and awesome overseas holidays await you!

Im hoping to go to either europe or latin america next year, this years vac work should help with financing that! Its great to be a uni student!

Scholarship Student Ambassador Day

Every year the the Queensland Resources Council helps young students interested in entering the exciting resources industry by giving out scholarships, this year my fellow scholarhip students were joined by new students on QRC joint scholarships. We all met and bonded in May when we had our annual scholarship student day. On this day us old hands told the freshies about some of the vac work we had done and also we all heard talks from people within the industry. I guess this is very belated welcome to the new kiddies! Glad to have you join us!

Conference at the Gong

In July this year i went to Woolongong, NSW as part of a group of QRC scholarship students attending the AusIMM New Leaders Conference. As with last year the conference was incredibly interesting and made me once again be incredibly excited about the industry into which we are all entering. The conference focused on the challenges that face the resources industry at the moment but also the great opportunities and rewards that are available. The New Leaders conferences are so diverse in topic matters, which makes it all the more interesting. I think the 'bonding' that occurs by providing a never ending supply of alchol to a room full of soon to miners, uni students is incredibly rewarding and some of these contacts will be useful in our future careers. Overall a very fun and educating experience.

Tassie Conference

In April at the start of this year I attended a AMD conference as the environemental science scholarship student for the QRC, the conference was held in Burnie, Tasmania. The ACMER conference was extremely rewarding for me as a student because I was surrounded by some of the best hydrologists, geochemists, metallurgists, and environmental engineers and scientists in the field. The conference was about AMD (acid and metalliferous drainage) from rock waste dumps and tailings dams. The sessions built on my knowledge of AMD from uni. It was so interesting because what they teach in uni is straight out of textbooks, and sometimes outdated, but this conference showcased the most up-to-date techniques and knowledge direct from the experts. As a QRC scholarship student, I made invaluable contacts with people from all over Australia and Asia. Speaking to some of environmental scientists at the conference gave me a chance to see where my career could be in few years. We took a feild trip to the savage river mine site to see the effect of acid drainage there and the innovative measures they are using to manage it. As well as this i took the opertunity to explore tassie, as i have never been thee before. I went to Port Aurther, up to the top of Mt Wellington(it was freezing) and out to the historic town of richmond. It was all very fun.

Vac and Grad Work Op's

Interested in scholarships or vacation work with mining or energy companies? Search for and join this Facebook group: Vac work with Mining and Energy Companies

This group is for engineering and science undergrads who are looking for vac work with a mining or energy company. This page is regularly updated with information on when, where and how to apply for vac work with mining and energy companies. Via this page you will receive message with up to date with information on new vac work opportunities, reminders to apply for vac work when applications are closing, as well as contact details for some useful company representatives. You will not find this information anywhere else all in one place!

You may also want to join the Facebook group Engineering and Science Scholarships which lists more than 300 scholarships that are available. Likewise, you will not find this information anywhere else all in one place.

Also check out 'Graduate jobs with mining and energy companies.'

Joining these groups is the best way to ensure you are getting the most accurate and timely information however, if you are not on Facebook for whatever reason, email Emma Wimberley Manager, Careers Marketing and Strategy for Queensland Resources Council at emmaw@qrc.org.au.

Mt Gordon-Vac Work

Stop Global Warming

I couldn't resist adding this because anyone who knows me, knows i love the Gilmore Girls tv series. This clip combines the actresses from the show with something to do vaguely with global warmning.

Global Warming- Futurama Explanation!

Vacation Work at Mt Gordon

At the moment I am doing vacation work at Birla Mt Gordon. I am here for a 3 month stint doing a 14/7 shift, from the beginning of December to the end of February when I go back to uni. The site here was originally known as Gunpowder. I found this out after saying “I’m going to Birla Mt Gordon” and nobody, not even some within the industry had much idea about it. The site is located about 120km north of Mt Isa. It’s a FIFO (fly-in fly-out) operation. I’m flying in and out of Townsville, however there are people out here flying from Cairns and Brisbane as well. This mine is all underground at the moment, mining copper, after the open cut was exhausted in 2005. This site is relatively old, and has seen a few different methods of mining. All of this makes for really interesting environmental work.

My role as the environmental vacation student has been to collect water samples, sediment samples, record flows through pipes, release snakes!! and monitor any potentially environmentally hazardous sites. I also have office work, such as archiving old reports and reading and writing new ones. I even got my own office and vehicle! This has all been really interesting and I have learnt so much already.

As well as learning all these practical environmental sampling and monitoring skills, I have also picked up a few more lessons out here-
-how to change a tyre (lets just say it was helpful I was wearing a hard hat at the time!)
-how to reverse very, very carefully down a long extremely bumpy track with a huge drop off on either side, after taking the wrong road
-how to slide gracefully on loose rocks in an ‘I meant to do that’ kind of way
-how to say “righto mate” religiously….very important phrase here!
-how to survive in above 40 degree heat.
-how to perfect the method of shooing flies….great skill
- how to scare both myself and a bull when stepping out of the gym at night to find the bull right on the doormat!
-how to fold archive boxes and lids….i'm a pro box maker now!
- and of course how to drink beer!

I believe that the skills I have learnt here have prepared me for a career in the industry. Getting over my preference of other acholic beverages to beer, came early on. It’s amazing how much a day working in the sun really makes you appreciate the stuff you previously dismissed! But having said that of course, while a drink and a chat at the end of the shift is great socialising and you meet many people that way, its really important to limit the amount of alcohol you drink while living in camp as there are always “Bretho’s” and you must blow 0.00 the next shift. Changing a tyre is also a really good thing to know how to do…as an enviro you have to drive basically all over the mine site and take some pretty rough roads, so it’s a great skill.

Another thing that that I found cool was that stereotypically the resources industry is male dominated, but I have met some really great women out here in a variety of roles. As well as that, being the only female vacation student for Birla, I somehow scored myself a room with an on-suite bathroom and close to the mess (dining hall) as compared to my fellow scholarship buddies Mitch and Luke who ended up in another camp using communal bathrooms!!

During downtime in the camp there is a bit to keep you occupied including a gym, a pool, a TV room, pub, the social club activities, plus there’s always a BBQ on somewhere, or that laundry that you’ve been putting off doing. A lot of people also have laptops with them, so that they can watch movies or play games. However you often find after a twelve hour shift you’re pretty ready for bed!

I think it probably does take a special kind of person to want to live and work in these conditions. But I am absolutely loving every minute of it so far and can see myself making this my career, no worries!

I will do another post when i finish out which will include photos.

I have included a link to the Birla Mt Gordon site as well for further information- http://www.adityabirlaminerals.com.au/birlamtgordonoperation.asp