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just wondering, does anyone here work in the mines?

i want to get in as a (dump) truck driver or operator.

i cant believe what a pain in the ass it is to get in. they say there is a skills shortage, but they wont take people in and train them either! courses cost $2500 minimum and no guarantee of a job...its ridiculous. i cant afford to fork out money like that...but i really want to do the job

i have my HC licence, have done the standard 11 induction (you need it for QLD coal mines), will pass a medical, am willing to relocate....i mean, WTF? what else do they want?.......oh yeah, experience..y'know that stuff you get when you get a job!?

if anyone can shed some light, provide some (useful) advice it would be most appreciated. this is something i am really keen to do.

btw: the beer economy definitely applies if you can get me a successful interview!

All these skills shortage is pure garbage, ive applied myself with not even a nibble....................they only shortage they have is people willing to work for 1/4 of what they really deserve.

With the mines up here you go through a job agency ,one day get in ,throw you in a dumber or whatever ,train you and after 3 months if you not a dick head the actual mine company employs you.Of course it would be a advantage to have your tickets but not necassary.good luck

I have a mate who has been to qld, Perth, and dubbo mines. Never really said about if it was a pain in the ass to get in, I'll Facebook him and see if he has any info, hi is currently in perth though but any ideas will help hopefully!!
Oh yeah skills shortage will be filled with foreign workers cause there's no aussies wanting work in these fields???? My ass

The other problem is that every man and his dog wants to get in driving trucks. I was talking to a mine employment person the other day and they can afford to be picky with operators cause there is so many, the main shortages are in skilled trades, electrical, boily, fitters etc. etc.

mitch92 wrote:The other problem is that every man and his dog wants to get in driving trucks. I was talking to a mine employment person the other day and they can afford to be picky with operators cause there is so many, the main shortages are in skilled trades, electrical, boily, fitters etc. etc.

100% corect.
Took me years to get into the mines. Now its not as hard but still not a walk up start sort of deal.
Its the trade side of the job with the shortage aus wide.
NSW is where the real operator shortage is. The pit I work at was new when I started and part of the conditions put on them for aproval to operate was to imploy 40% new to industry.ie dudes like me.
Have you loged on to the BHP billiton site? Mt Authur is one of the biggest pit in the country (biggest in NSW by a long way) and are puting peaple on every mth. just serch "jobs at BHP Billiton" and there site will pop up.
Don't waist your $ on a training company. It will not get you any closer to a job as it will not give you all the skills required to control 300plus tone of truck day in day out. All the training is done on the job with/by the peaple you will be working with. They will make sure you are given all the skills to operate the gear in a way that will not make you a danger to yourself or any body ells. When shit gos wrong in one of these its mega and there is a real chance of death.

Agreed, they actively head hunt tradies as soon as they finish Tafe . Most workshops up here have the shots with it as it feels like they are just training tradies for the mines.

You need to be a diesel mech, desiel turbines eng, boilermaker, plant operator or a sparky. Keep persisting if you really want to get in.

holdontight wrote:

mitch92 wrote:The other problem is that every man and his dog wants to get in driving trucks. I was talking to a mine employment person the other day and they can afford to be picky with operators cause there is so many, the main shortages are in skilled trades, electrical, boily, fitters etc. etc.

Have you loged on to the BHP billiton site? Mt Authur is one of the biggest pit in the country (biggest in NSW by a long way) and are puting peaple on every mth. just serch "jobs at BHP Billiton" and there site will pop up.

yep i am registered with them, workpac, mpi, rio tinto, xstrata, red dirt plus more
i will see if there is anything for mt arthur...

It's very difficult to do this from afar unless you have the trade or quals they are looking for at the time. If you are unskilled labour then you just about need to be in the area for anything to happen at a great rate of knots. It also helps to have your generics (for NWQLD) up front. This does cost hundreds although some employers will pay. Workpac etc seem to stuff a lot of people around but they seem to be the busiest in my town. Generally speaking join the line if unskilled but some trades can almost walk in (sparkies, geo's etc). But if your serious it pays to be Johnny on the spot, good luck

Tripped over a rock and now I cant get out of the mines. Why? Good trades people are rare and they will do ANYTHING to retain you.

I listend at skool and stuck with a trade as a fitter and finally after 25 years it is paying off well and too hard to walk away from

I must get 2 or 3 phone calls I ignore everyday from recruitment companies trying to poach, all this does is drive my rates up and i can dictate my own terms I dont work mines full time any more (thats for the 20 y/o) and earn almost as much staying in Adelaide, I visit Moomba and Olympic dam regularly and it is a disruption in life but well compensated.


Ok here is the big tip for mining jobs, BHP at Olympic Dam is about to go open cut spending 2-3Billion a year in development, they are doubling the camp and eventually the town as we speak, they are removing the overburden for the biggest open cut mine on this side of the planet. (an increase of 5000 people)
If you dont already know it is a Uranium mine but in the processess they produce huge amounts of copper, silver and gold. they have been doing drill core surveys for years and they still havnt found the end of the seam, this is the biggest resource of this type in the world.

Oh dont think by just showing up you will get a job, they only employ the best, probably the best way in is through a major contractor like Monadelphous, Heading, Sandvik, coates, CAT, UGL (one of the biggest onsite), Cowell electrical, Broadspectrum, MacMahon, ODT, Linfox, Pirtek, Enzed, northpoint toyota, and many more. there is also civil and town services like Spotless, transfield, Tennix etc just to name a few off the top of my head.

No big intake of desperate proportions until Juliar and the big ozzie sort out how much carbon ransom they will pay, it will go ahead. So if you have half a brain and want a future in mining you would be contacting these companies and adjusting yourself in readyness, it is a modern day gold rush if you place yourself well.

Cheers Jonno..will be checking it out for sure...

my nephew drives a dozer at the Cadia mine at orange..
He mentioned they were always looking for people so you may want to try there too.

sneakypete wrote:just wondering, does anyone here work in the mines?

i want to get in as a (dump) truck driver or operator.

i cant believe what a pain in the ass it is to get in. they say there is a skills shortage, but they wont take people in and train them either! courses cost $2500 minimum and no guarantee of a job...its ridiculous. i cant afford to fork out money like that...but i really want to do the job

i have my HC licence, have done the standard 11 induction (you need it for QLD coal mines), will pass a medical, am willing to relocate....i mean, WTF? what else do they want?.......oh yeah, experience..y'know that stuff you get when you get a job!?

if anyone can shed some light, provide some (useful) advice it would be most appreciated. this is something i am really keen to do.

btw: the beer economy definitely applies if you can get me a successful interview!

I have close family in gold mining. They are all in Kalgoorlie and it seems that the best way to get work driving a truck there is to relocate with enough cash to live on for about a month. Slip your resume in as a local resident and you should pick up work fairly quickly. This advice is based on underground and open cut gold mining in Kalgoorlie. Without a trade then truck driving seems to be a first step into this type of mining and probably open cut first.

But be prepared guys they reckon its more exciting watching the grass grow,thats why you find more females driving them because they reckon they can handle the boardom more than males.Rumours have it the trucks are not allowed to have radios in them either wh ich only makes it worst but for the money they earn i think i could handle it,oh btw thats music radios not uhf

they use women to drive trucks because they are more gentle on the machinery ..... apparently

Living in Kalgoorlie is damned expensive so the good money gets chewed up pretty quickly, plus no twisty roads to ride on the weekend only red dirt, which is ok for dirt riders I guess