Day 39 Prominent Hill
Thursday, March 18, 2010 at 01:46AM Once upon a time there was a...... Oh sorry, wrong story! Hi Bloggies, I’m still here! I am slowly going nuts but I am still in Prominent Hill, bet you cant find it on your Map! Cause it is not there. The postal address is Via Adelaide.
I had breakfast with the HR manager this morning, they are doing a recruitment drive soon, they need 70 operators! Things must be going ok if you can put on 70 new staff!
Heather I reckon you should get a job up here, 2 weeks on and one week off! You would love it! drive a truck or an excavator, put on a blue singlet & get a couple of tattoos you would fit right in! Actually I probably give some people the wrong impression of mine workers, many of them have ended up in mining after having done other things, and there are teachers, retail workers, hospitality staff..... Heaps of different careers all working in mining.
Some people have asked me what working in a mine means, ok you have to keep in mind that the main reason they are here is to get the precious stuff out of the ground! Gold, silver, lead, zinc, coal, manganese, diamonds, iron ore...... and sell it!
So firstly you have management that run the place, HR, Engineers, geologists, drillers, Blasters..... (Now there is a boys fantasy job.... working with explosives and blowing things up) Support staff, Transport. Secondly you have the site & support for the mine. This includes all accommodation (for remote sites) Housekeeping & catering..... just to give you an idea this site has a minimum of 450 people here at any one time, this increases to 650 during maintenance shutdowns when they have 200+ contractors on site...... so that means they have to feed, sleep & entertain 650 people..... you housekeeping people that have worked in fancy hotels have had it easy!
Thirdly you have maintenance, for the camp and for the mine site.... this is electricians, mechanics, welders, plumbers, air conditioning specialists.....there are a lot of air conditioners up here! And fourthly you have operators. So truck drivers (Big trucks, 300 – 400 tonnes) Dozers, Scrapers, Excavators, Loaders, Shovels, Draglines and many other pieces of machinery. In the last few years they have tried “Multi Skilling” where they train operators to use different pieces of equipment..... I personally disagree with this as not many people can become really good at different things (My personal opinion). And then there are the people that work with the stuff once it is out of the ground, the wash plants, process plants, concentrator’s crushers, and loaders.
So to answer the question, what do they do on a mine site...... Heaps! The good thing about this industry is that they do put a lot of time and effort into training, and most people could work here quite easily with the right training & attitude.
One of the highest paid jobs out here is the cook! They are not necessarily chefs, but they have to know how to feed lots of people with good food. I have known of some mine camps to go on strike because of poor quality food, or boring food. Hey Angie, you can cook for large numbers.... you want a job?
I got myself a fly net today, someone offered me one when I was whingeing about the flies. It looks stupid, wandering around with fly screen around my head but at least I am not being driven mad with flies!
Before we left on our trip we disconnected Foxtel, we decided that we would not be there for 4-6 months so no use paying for it, we also disconnected the home phone number. But up here on this site they have Foxtel in all the rooms (yes you get your own TV & airconditioner in your room) and I realise that I have missed it! especially the footy. In Melbourne we don’t get much Rugby League, on Foxtel I have watched all the games.
Hey Ness.... Can you arrange Foxtel in the caravan?
Ness is picking up Brad & Dan & going to Sandy & Davids for dinner tonight..... I feel a bit left out! Will have to go up the Mess & have dinner with some smelly miners!
Goodbye – pull your pants up often, nothing worse than seeing undies hanging out!
Reader Comments (4)
Sorry! - I am saving my blue singlet and tattoo's for when I get invited to - Tosser central , or is the name Blokeworld? either way it will be filled with blokes who are tosser's
One more day to go till the moving is all finished !!!!!!!
Hi James
I guess you're mostly climbing the walls cause you're missing your side kick in all things but i agree how do you live without Foxtel? In my game i don't watch a lot of TV but when i do i love a good doco, footy game or Top Gear.
I suppose you will need to enjoy the shows the wife hates watching... Thats what i do when Karen's away...!!!
I subscribe and encourage to the use of fly nets !!!
Cheers Cam xx
and nothing smelt like panda today so it is ok :)
hope all is well. dont kill any discos :)
Firstly, the flies - yep, they are really bad!! We are still suffering from midges - little grey insects that look like a cross between a fly, flea and mosquito. Some people say they pee on you and that's what makes you itch. Ugghhh. The bite stays for a couple of weeks and then you have a mark there for a while. Flies have their upside out here. If you walk for excercise, your arms get a bloody good workout too as you constantly swat them away. I have taken secret pleasure out of watching Russell working outside, as he swallows flies on a daily basis then spends about 20 minutes retching and gagging. Why he can't just keep his mouth closed I'll never know.
When we first moved here we laughed at people in their little nets, but now I want one!
I'm glad you're managing to keep your humour, despite the car incident and you both being in separate states.
Question - where do the remote mines get their water from?
Comment - Menindee lake weir gates were opened last Monday, and already you can see water across the lake. It's 6 times the size of Sydney Harbour, and all the water from Queensland that made your trip down south arduous is heading our way and will be stored in the lake. some people fear it's too much and Menindee will be flooded, but they are the panic merchants that every town has.
Take care