Going to the mines

[ler]

Do you need a manual car licence if you go to the mines? I only have auto.

[NOS 247]

Get on to Ernest Hernery Mine ( Xtrata ) they will train clean skins in the dumptrucks at their expence.... u will have to live in the township for about 12 months before they will put u in the camp. but they will train u.. and pay for ur medical aswell.. if u get desperate pm me and i will try to find a number for u..

Jack

[Tote]

My brother in law has started in the mines in Western NSW in the last 12 months, he had no prior experience and was trained onsite. he works for a subcontractor and earns about $80K working 12 hour shifts 5 days a week (usually Monday - Friday)
As for hard work, they have a high percentage of drop outs who can't handle the physical labour, even some from the army.
The bad points are that in the town he lives in there is no accommodation and he is paying $300.00 a week for a fibro shack.
There are many people who he works with that hae become involved with the drug culture in town and shoot all their money up their arms, the choice for him is to leave most weekends.
He is looking for another job in a less isolated area as he now has enough experience to be considered by other companies. It would seem that you need to be prepared to "earn your stripes" as in a lot of other industries.


Regards,
Tote

[DODDO]

Originally Posted by NOS 247

Get on to Ernest Hernery Mine ( Xtrata ) they will train clean skins in the dumptrucks at their expence.... u will have to live in the township for about 12 months before they will put u in the camp. but they will train u.. and pay for ur medical aswell.. if u get desperate pm me and i will try to find a number for u..

Jack

Do they pay good? Im asking because im earning a fair amount now, not alot, but a fair amount, but i wanna make sure its worth me packing up my life in Sydney and moving across the country and not finding out that i will earn not that much more than i am now... if that made sense lol!

Cheers

[NOS 247]

Originally Posted by DODDOAU

Do they pay good? Im asking because im earning a fair amount now, not alot, but a fair amount, but i wanna make sure its worth me packing up my life in Sydney and moving across the country and not finding out that i will earn not that much more than i am now... if that made sense lol!

Cheers

Moneys not that flash.... only about 78g a year for 2 weeks on 1 week off. but most people only stay there to get there experence and then move down to the coal fields.. where its 120g for 4days on 4 off...... I left and went underground closer to Cairns for week on week off i prefer underground
as i look albino and dont get fried as much lol

[RIPGMH]

Originally Posted by NOS 247

Moneys not that flash.... only about 78g a year for 2 weeks on 1 week off. but most people only stay there to get there experence and then move down to the coal fields.. where its 120g for 4days on 4 off...... I left and went underground closer to Cairns for week on week off i prefer underground
as i look albino and dont get fried as much lol

78k a year are you kidding? I work at Mount Isa Mines, also owned by Xstrata and earn 94k on the surface all dayshift no weekend work. An operator at EH would earn a fair whack more than me.

[MITCHAY]

Damn there's some serious money in the mines. I work hard but I doubt I could do what would be required there.

[DODDO]

Originally Posted by RIPGMH

78k a year are you kidding? I work at Mount Isa Mines, also owned by Xstrata and earn 94k on the surface all dayshift no weekend work. An operator at EH would earn a fair whack more than me.

So how would you go getting a job on a minesite like yours? I have no previous experience in a mine.

[v gate]

YEH good 1 nice guy . hope i never work with u. there is plenty of work in the wild west but if your green as then u really should look at a t/a role. then start up skilling as you go. to many people now are running out and getting 5 minute tickets. Im sorry but ive got no time for those guys. it used to take 4 yrs to have adv rigger/scaff now 4 days. Ive seen bad accidents and its not good. So have a go and take your time listen to the old heads . safety is right at the top now so u spend a lot of time doing paper work . it gives me the sihts. Try these places monodelphious cbi pacific industrial aust clad . As for a mech get over there . mad if u dont

[DODDO]

Originally Posted by v gate

YEH good 1 nice guy . hope i never work with u.

Was this directed at me?

[v gate]

no if you go back a few posts youll see mr nice guy tell you to go and find the most dangerous job you can. Great way to start a career and finish one

[DODDO]

Originally Posted by v gate

no if you go back a few posts youll see mr nice guy tell you to go and find the most dangerous job you can. Great way to start a career and finish one

No worries, just seeing what i did wrong. lol!

[mrniceguy]

Originally Posted by v gate

no if you go back a few posts youll see mr nice guy tell you to go and find the most dangerous job you can. Great way to start a career and finish one

I dont think i was very clear in what i was saying. What i meant was if you are working in a processing plant(as opposed to actually digging the ore out of the ground) then experiance in a complex plant where they deal with dangerous chemicals and processes(safely) counts for more than say working on a gold plant. Gold is basically grind it up, add water and cyanide, add carbon to soak it up, filter out the carbon and strip the gold from it.

Where i work now i deal with steam and heated slurry at 4500kpa, 98%pure sulphuric acid, and poisonous hydrogen sulphide gas. Not everyones cup of tea, but its all managed safely, and it beats the hell out of driving up and down a hill in a dump truck all day long.

[tyxr8ute]

Stawell Gold Mine (home sweet home). At the moment there is plenty of oppourtunities out there for hard workers who want to move into mining industry. I no longer work underground and have moved into a technical role. Its a very satisfying job if you are willing to put in and do the hard yards. If your're slack you will last a week and it's like everything, EXPECT to start at the bottom because pecking order is how it is!

You might progress as follows: 1) nipper [$19-20/hr] 2) haul trucks [$28/hr] 3) loader operator [$35/hr] 4) charge hand [$40-45/hr] 5) production or development driller [$45-60/hr] etc. It may take you 4 - 5 years to get this far but good things come to those who wait! You work 4 days on 4 days off Day/Night shifts panels.

Remember nothing's for nothing, people go on about how much this place pays or this place pays eg: outback or remote sites. If you want to live anywhere near a town you will get less money, in the sticks doing fly in/fly out you will get more. If you work 2 weeks on 1 week off you will more because you work more it's all relative, also consider how much you place on family time and whether you will be home, it's also hard to make a relationship if you never in one spot for long enough.

I could go on forever...hope this helps!!!!

[sexyxe]

is this a **** buzz, or is it true.
Heard alot of mines wont hire people who dont live in the state or near to the site as people think yeah the money is awesome i can deal with it, but its so boring there they just leave from boredom.
Cant survive in a job EVEN if the money is that awesome!!
They train you at their cost then after 6months you leave as you dont realise it will be so boring, hence the reason that they prefer/only employ people who live in the state.
Is that a **** buzz??

[wicksy]

its also its not what you know its who you now helps as well around mining towns

[dan.76]

whats all this about working hard in the mines? not that ive seen lol.

maybe on the odd day if you work for a contractor on a shutdown, otherwise its a bludge, biggest problem is you have to stay there for 12 hours whether you have work to do or not.
if your an operator maybe the monotony would make it hard.

as for accomodation , you dont get top dollar for living somewhere nice, so plan on leaving on your days off if your a social butterfly.

[RIPGMH]

Originally Posted by dan.76

whats all this about working hard in the mines? not that ive seen lol.

maybe on the odd day if you work for a contractor on a shutdown, otherwise its a bludge, biggest problem is you have to stay there for 12 hours whether you have work to do or not.
if your an operator maybe the monotony would make it hard.

as for accomodation , you dont get top dollar for living somewhere nice, so plan on leaving on your days off if your a social butterfly.

So you've never relined a Ball Mill by hand in 50 degree heat and 150% humidity? Not all mine workers go hard all the time but there are alot of blokes out there that still earn their wages. And as for living somewhere nice, I'm not on top dollar and Mount Isa isn't Las Vegas but its got everything you could want in a town and the moneys not bad.

[flappist]

Working in the mines is very good for your bank balance provided you understand why this is.

Mines are in woop woop. There is not much there except for mines, miners, miner's wives, the pub and maybe a sporting field i.e. bugger all chicks, places to go out, beaches etc. as in all the things that are fun.

If mines were fun places to be they would not need to pay large amounts of money to get you to work there would they?

You will have lots of cash and be bored so expect to spend it on all sorts or toys. If you want to see a huge number of FPVs, HSVs etc modded to the max along with the worlds biggest plasma TVs (even though there is only analog or sattelite TV if any at all) go to a mine town.

Sex is not a problem either, there are lots of very pretty girls visiting who will do what ever you want for a fee and when you earn $2500/wk, $500 for some fun is not relavant really is it?

The bottom line is if you go out there, live like a monk, buy a house back in the real world, pay it off and behave your self you will do well but if you fall into the "I earn lots and can afford to splash it about" trap and waste it on cars, hookers, weekends in asia, giant TVs etc., one day you will realise that you are old, own nothing, have no skills (either social and technical) that are usable outside a mine and you will be on the road to the same place the grumpy, smelly oldtime hermets you see in the bar every night are.

The problem with saving all the money and then getting out is that all of a sudden you go from $2500/wh to $800/wk in the real world and that is hard to get used to.
I grew up in a mine town and know first hand what can happen as I have seen it with my own eyes.

Go there with both eyes open and do what you feel is the best for your life. Have fun.....

[dishpig]

Thanks for all the info everyone. I've looked into it and discovered to get into there a drivers licence is basically essential. and the problem is that I just lost my apprentiship due to loss of license hence why I decided to try and get into the mines so I could get back ontop finacially whilst having a sturdy career not some storeperson which I'm really not keen on doing.

But I'm still ganna try to get into the mines driller was my first choice but again I ran into the license situation. So I'm trying to find a way through labouring.

it's sucks though because from flappist post I'd be ideal there financially because I save pretty much every cent I earn and never really go to impulse buys.

[RIPGMH]

Originally Posted by flappist

Working in the mines is very good for your bank balance provided you understand why this is.

Mines are in woop woop. There is not much there except for mines, miners, miner's wives, the pub and maybe a sporting field i.e. bugger all chicks, places to go out, beaches etc. as in all the things that are fun.

If mines were fun places to be they would not need to pay large amounts of money to get you to work there would they?

You will have lots of cash and be bored so expect to spend it on all sorts or toys. If you want to see a huge number of FPVs, HSVs etc modded to the max along with the worlds biggest plasma TVs (even though there is only analog or sattelite TV if any at all) go to a mine town.

Sex is not a problem either, there are lots of very pretty girls visiting who will do what ever you want for a fee and when you earn $2500/wk, $500 for some fun is not relavant really is it?

The bottom line is if you go out there, live like a monk, buy a house back in the real world, pay it off and behave your self you will do well but if you fall into the "I earn lots and can afford to splash it about" trap and waste it on cars, hookers, weekends in asia, giant TVs etc., one day you will realise that you are old, own nothing, have no skills (either social and technical) that are usable outside a mine and you will be on the road to the same place the grumpy, smelly oldtime hermets you see in the bar every night are.

The problem with saving all the money and then getting out is that all of a sudden you go from $2500/wh to $800/wk in the real world and that is hard to get used to.
I grew up in a mine town and know first hand what can happen as I have seen it with my own eyes.

Go there with both eyes open and do what you feel is the best for your life. Have fun.....

That is the case for many mines, Mount Isa has been a mining town for over 80 years and has a population over 26,000. There is plenty of stuff to do here, theres a heap of clubs (including strip club). Huge lake, reasonable shopping all the usual takeaway places. They've just spent over 18mil on a new entertainment complex and they are now doing a feasibility study on a $6mil motorsport complex. It takes me 5 minutes to drive to work, Xstrata is a great company to work for plus there are hundreds of other companies in town that are desperate for employees. For example a mate of mine earns 40k a year doing over town deliveries. Mining towns can be tough but I wouldn't live anywhere else.

[Hippy]

Originally Posted by flappist

Working in the mines is very good for your bank balance provided you understand why this is.

Mines are in woop woop. There is not much there except for mines, miners, miner's wives, the pub and maybe a sporting field i.e. bugger all chicks, places to go out, beaches etc. as in all the things that are fun.

If mines were fun places to be they would not need to pay large amounts of money to get you to work there would they?

You will have lots of cash and be bored so expect to spend it on all sorts or toys. If you want to see a huge number of FPVs, HSVs etc modded to the max along with the worlds biggest plasma TVs (even though there is only analog or sattelite TV if any at all) go to a mine town.

Sex is not a problem either, there are lots of very pretty girls visiting who will do what ever you want for a fee and when you earn $2500/wk, $500 for some fun is not relavant really is it?

The bottom line is if you go out there, live like a monk, buy a house back in the real world, pay it off and behave your self you will do well but if you fall into the "I earn lots and can afford to splash it about" trap and waste it on cars, hookers, weekends in asia, giant TVs etc., one day you will realise that you are old, own nothing, have no skills (either social and technical) that are usable outside a mine and you will be on the road to the same place the grumpy, smelly oldtime hermets you see in the bar every night are.

The problem with saving all the money and then getting out is that all of a sudden you go from $2500/wh to $800/wk in the real world and that is hard to get used to.
I grew up in a mine town and know first hand what can happen as I have seen it with my own eyes.

Go there with both eyes open and do what you feel is the best for your life. Have fun.....

Pretty well sums it up ,,
i did around 12 years in the mines after contracting for the Lazy L , and Thiess
yep money is okay , if you want to put your head down and **** up for a short time , but be aware of the pitfalls , eg , no social life , to go brain dead , boredom , depression in long term -explains the grumpiness of fellow workers of a long term basis , believe me i've been thru it , and glad now to be back in the real world ..

cheers mate ,, all the best in your venture .. but remember the words of this wisdom ..
regards ..

[exrtnz]

Hey just interested to know what licences you need for the mines as im earning more at present but looking for a less dangerous job than my current one, athough i know there are a few risks involved, cheers Mark

[exrtnz]

So what would you recommend , just turning up and asking for work ? or is there a course that would help getting in there.

[RIPGMH]

Originally Posted by exrtnz

So what would you recommend , just turning up and asking for work ? or is there a course that would help getting in there.

It depends on what you want to do and what your current skill base/experience is. Basically if you don't have a trade and aren't willing to do an adult apprenticeship then you've either got Fixed Plant Operating or Mobile Equipment Operating. Most places provide on the job training but obviously if you've got experience thats favourable. I work with blokes doing adult apprenticeships that are on over 70k so thats not a bad way to go.

[Hippy]

just turning up and asking for work is not really acceptable , . most times they advertise by way of employment agencies etc. or local papers .eg Mackay -Rockhampton or the local paper around the mines

the best way is , if you know some in the industry , they can put you on the right track , you will need Mine induction Cert. . all that kind of thing now ,,
check out the employment agencies ,, Cheers ,,

[woodsy109]

Generally if you have a trade then you can get a job easily. Just call up any agency that deals with the mines and you will probably get some contract work. Then once you know some people you will move on to a better job with better pay. If you don't have experience or qualifications then you pretty much have to know someone that works there to get in the door. You can be lucky but there is a lot of people heading up north hoping to get onto the big money with no experience so there is an oversupply of these people but an undersupply of tradies.

I work a fly in fly out job at a site near Mt Isa. Week on Week off and it's a great lifestyle. I work in the lab and have tertiary qualifications though most people here only have lab experience. I have just got a new job at my current worksite as a process operator. It's about 95000 a year which is slightly more than the lab.

[dan.76]

ripgmh, only going by my own experience. i know as a domestic sparky i work harder than the mine electricians that i know

[RIPGMH]

Originally Posted by dan.76

ripgmh, only going by my own experience. i know as a domestic sparky i work harder than the mine electricians that i know

I totally agree with you, domestic electricans would work much harder than a mine electrican. Electricians at work mostly do fault finding stuff with PLC etc. I guess mine sparkies are paid for what they know not what they do as alot of the stuff is pretty much plant specific. It takes a domestic sparky about 1 1/2 years to come up to speed with a large plant.

[WAXBFAR]

Originally Posted by dan.76

ripgmh, only going by my own experience. i know as a domestic sparky i work harder than the mine electricians that i know

Our work is more dangerous as we deal with 1000v and 11kva a great deal.
Plus dodging the rocky's in their tonka toys.

Ever hung 70mm cable runs on the back (underground Ceiling) out of a IT basket??

roster; 8 day on, 6 days off, 12 hours,FIFO travel in work time, 21 days anual leave and a very good income.
In other words work 5 mohnts of the year in real terms