u/kazkh

The description’s a bit vague as it’s entry level: ‘In this position you will help minimize the impact to unplanned downtime and also work on planned day-to-day upkeep and maintenance of the materials handling system.’ Just wondering if anyone knows how physically yards mentally hard this kind of role is. Offsides roles can seem alright in job descriptions until you read from people actually working there to know how hard it is.

I plan to career change into mining eventually on a 1:1 roster, likely as a geology assistant, Trade Assistant or the longest path of all- surveying. The other paths require no qualifications, where as surveying would require 1-3 years of study (TAFE Cert IV > Diploma > Advanced Diploma), attending classes 3 full days a week and working in a survey company on other days, then moving into mining as soon as possible.

The main mine in South Australia is BHP’s Olympic Dam, so it’s underground copper, uranium and gold mining.

I’m just wondering how difficult it is to get employed as mine surveyor when you’re starting from scratch (Eg. how much experience do you need before getting in? How competitive is it?). In my previous career I never anticipated how difficult it is to actually land a job in the field or to gain experience, so I‘m trying to avoid making the same mistake again.

Eg. for mine surveying, you can be employed directly by the mining company like BHP or by the big surveying companies that send their workers to the mine site for specific projects.

Is there much difference between working for a contractor or working directly for the miner? The one possible advantage I’ve been told by a recruiter is the chance for internal transfers to other roles if you’re employed by a miner.

Looking at Seek (Australia’s main JobSearch website), I don’t recall seeing a degree being required. From ‘survey assistant’ with no qualifications, up to ‘senior surveyor’ with high Salaries ($150-200K) requiring just a Certificate or Diploma from TAFE.

Curtin university’s mining school is one of the best in the world for entering mining, so I assumed they’d have a mining surveyor degree but nope, it’s an elective in an engineering degree.

The job requirements are always x years of experience and proficiency in using (xyz) software.

Am I missing something, Eg. maybe people with a Bachelor’s degree can ask for a higher salary?

To my understanding you’ve got a big responsibility running the massive processing equipment crushing and transforming rocks and isolating the valuable minerals. If things go wrong it’s a huge problem. How stressful is it when that happens? Are there always people around to help you solve the problems, or do you need to solve it alone?

It’s something I plan to move in later but don’t know how I’d cope if there’s a lot of stress.

I’m middle-aged so I assume there’s no point aiming for any apprenticeships? My university degree’s unhelpful for mining. I’m not strong enough for continuous physically strenuous work like being a offsider or even some utility roles (developed serious RSI years ago as a FIFO kitchen hand strenuously scrubbing pans all day long).

*Resource Processing* seems pretty interesting and I‘ve started learning the process from online books. *Survey Technician* also seems pretty interesting to me as you get to walk around assisting the surveyor.

I found out about these roles by chance in a TAFE booklet, and I don’t know what I don’t know. Is there anything else at TAFE worth considering for someone like me? I’d also be willing to work in town for a while for relevant experience before applying for a FIFO job.

Any advice appreciated.