Mining Jobs for Plant Operators??

johnoc353

Seem's that to even get a food in the door on an Australian Mine you must have Australian Experience, from what Hays have told me anyways!

Does anybody know of any companies hiring for operators on the Hitachi EX1200's? I have experience on them on quarries ( 5 years approx). I am also one of the lucky ones with an aussie passport so the WHV issue isn't a bother with me.

Been here in Adelaide almost 3 months, and cannot seem to get any operator job anywhere in WA or SA, even willing to relocate but not many serious responses so far. Had an interview in Perth for a new mine opening, wasted about 500 bucks on flights and taxi's and attending the medical just to be told yesterday she decided to go with another guy because he had more experience.. not what I was hoping to hear as you'd imagine..

Anybody know of any contacts I might be able to ring? Construction/Quarry/Mine whatever! Anything to get me working as 3 months job hunting is starting to get to me..

rightyabe

No contacts mate sorry, things are getting tight in perth at the minute, especially for plant operators/labourers. I read in another thread that road construction/ashphelting is in high demand. Might be worth trying.

Sadly nearly everyone I worked with on a mine camp construction site had a excavator ticket/HR licence, but there was only about 4-5 excavators on site. As for the bigger 1200's I wouldn't know.

Also Hays slowed down abit in the labour hire for camp cleaners anyway and I have heard that plant operators jobs are like hens teeth with them also...

Just looking there Thiess are looking for plant operators;)

johnoc353

Seems I must've brought the recession over with me.. :P

Hays are absolutely useless, timewaster's are what they are.

I was actually contemplating whether I should relocate to Perth, but that would be a Gamble as funds are tight enough and I'd end up loosing my bond on my apartment and after flights ill be left skint in Perth living in a ****ty hostel! If it wasn't for benefits I'd be gone back home to Kerry at this stage!

I've worked on civil sites before but never on road construction so I doubt that anybody would even look at me with no experience.

Sure I've got 2 mine recruitment companies to get back to me yet and both have a fair interest in me I'd say..I'm hoping for good news! They're keeping me updated every few days which is good, they say the mine itself are slow in getting back to the recruiters which is a bit of a balls.

I added up there all the jobs that i've applied to over the past 3 months, 1300 applications sent and only about 15 call-backs..when did things get so bad here..

rightyabe

I personally wouldn't go near Hays with a barge pole, my missus was working for them on a mine camp getting fairly good money but Hays were only giving her half of what they were getting paid for her..mates also looked for work with them and only got a few days here and there with them.

As for the road construction its worth a try at least, any maybe get a professional to look over you CV might cost $100 but its what the companies like to see.

Also I think theres may be better oppertunties in Darwin/NT at the moment, maybe try there..

catbear

johnoc353 wrote: »

..when did things get so bad here..

Only recently actually, iron ore prices have dropped from $180 a tonne a year ago to $90 a tonne in recent weeks. I believe the price has to stay around $120 a tonne for the mining companies to break even, if the price stays depressed then there will be further cutbacks. FMG, BHP and Rio Tinto have scaled back plans, so far there seems to be a lot middle management let go but site numbers remaining stable but things could change.

October is when the Chinese change their leadership, it will interesting to see where their priority is. If they decide to replace expansion economics with consolidation economics then OZ mining will certainly be affected. Ah well, worse comes to worse, I'll have a free flight home!:)

johnoc353

I heard that alright most of the recruitment companies charge the mining company like 85p/h and then they give you like 35-40..think that's what they all do though, as it takes away the HR worries from the mine so they can just click their fingers and the recruitment company has workers ready to go for them.

Will check seek for jobs in NT, anything would be good at this stage

johnoc353

catbear wrote: »

Only recently actually, iron ore prices have dropped from $180 a tonne a year ago to $90 a tonne in recent weeks. I believe the price has to stay around $120 a tonne for the mining companies to break even, if the price stays depressed then there will be further cutbacks. FMG, BHP and Rio Tinto have scaled back plans, so far there seems to be a lot middle management let go but site numbers remaining stable but things could change.

October is when the Chinese change their leadership, it will interesting to see where their priority is. If they decide to replace expansion economics with consolidation economics then OZ mining will certainly be affected. Ah well, worse comes to worse, I'll have a free flight home!:)

Jeasus, didn't think it was that bad.. Hope the Mining boom sticks around for another while! I'd like to make a few quid before the end of the world :P

The Aussie

johnoc353 wrote: »

Hays are absolutely useless, timewaster's are what they are.

rightyabe wrote: »

I personally wouldn't go near Hays with a barge pole.

I started legal action against them to get money owing in 2008, only after they received correspondence did they take it seriously, they are definitely in the never again basket and would strongly advise others not to.

catbear

johnoc353 wrote: »

Jeasus, didn't think it was that bad.. Hope the Mining boom sticks around for another while! I'd like to make a few quid before the end of the world :P

It's really hard to tell what way its going, things have changed so rapidly. The thing all the mining companies want to avoid is reacting too quickly like back in 08 where they shuttered some mines too quickly and then spent loads trying to get them up and running again when the Chinese announced a massive capital spending spree.
Fortescue mining share price has halved since April so they're trying to thin out what they can, hence the middle management clearout. One story in the AFR had Andrew Forest saying that he was loading ships with ore that hadn't even been sold yet! That's scary ****!
I'd imagine recruiting will be affected for a while but perhaps the October changeover in China will bring some stability back to whole industry.

IrishLad2012

johnoc353 wrote: »

Anybody know of any contacts I might be able to ring? Construction/Quarry/Mine whatever!

Most of the contacts I know about are based in WA.Try some of these:

www.monfordgroup.com
http://www.yellowpages.com.au/wa/baldivis/castle-equipment-hire-12464441-listing.html
www.minesiteconstructionservices.com.au

Monford Group hire a lot of labour and machinery to the mines.Great company to get in with.
Castle Equipment do a lot of Quarry work.I cant think of any more off the top of my head but will post if I do.

johnoc353

IrishLad2012 wrote: »

Most of the contacts I know about are based in WA.Try some of these:

www.monfordgroup.com
http://www.yellowpages.com.au/wa/baldivis/castle-equipment-hire-12464441-listing.html
www.minesiteconstructionservices.com.au

Monford Group hire a lot of labour and machinery to the mines.Great company to get in with.
Castle Equipment do a lot of Quarry work.I cant think of any more off the top of my head but will post if I do.

Thanks for the links IrishLad! Will give them a go see what they have got going on.

johnoc353

catbear wrote: »

It's really hard to tell what way its going, things have changed so rapidly. The thing all the mining companies want to avoid is reacting too quickly like back in 08 where they shuttered some mines too quickly and then spent loads trying to get them up and running again when the Chinese announced a massive capital spending spree.
Fortescue mining share price has halved since April so they're trying to thin out what they can, hence the middle management clearout. One story in the AFR had Andrew Forest saying that he was loading ships with ore that hadn't even been sold yet! That's scary ****!
I'd imagine recruiting will be affected for a while but perhaps the October changeover in China will bring some stability back to whole industry.

Fingers crossed!!

sponge_bob

johnoc353 wrote: »

catbear wrote: »

It's really hard to tell what way its going, things have changed so rapidly. The thing all the mining companies want to avoid is reacting too quickly like back in 08 where they shuttered some mines too quickly and then spent loads trying to get them up and running again when the Chinese announced a massive capital spending spree.
Fortescue mining share price has halved since April so they're trying to thin out what they can, hence the middle management clearout. One story in the AFR had Andrew Forest saying that he was loading ships with ore that hadn't even been sold yet! That's scary ****!
I'd imagine recruiting will be affected for a while but perhaps the October changeover in China will bring some stability back to whole industry.

Fingers crossed!!

I got a job in the mines about 2weeks ago done medical and hr licence. I was due to fly out yesterday and was put on hold then today i was told i had no job. Just have to start the search allover again.
*sigh*

catbear

sponge_bob wrote: »

I got a job in the mines about 2weeks ago done medical and hr licence. I was due to fly out yesterday and was put on hold then today i was told i had no job. Just have to start the search allover again.
*sigh*

Sorry to hear that Spongbob, I hope something else turns up. Do you know if it was for a Fortescue mine, they're announcing more job cuts today. BHP shelved loads of new projects but I haven't heard of cutbacks in existing operations. It's pretty serious when FMG lay of people that have been working for them for a decade.
This might be worth a new thread to alert people thinking of heading here to keep their eye on mining news.

PirateShampoo

If you have the HR then you should try and get into Asphalt or Bitumen laying. You can't get sponsored in it but you can make a killing in 6 months, plus loads of country work with Bitumen which counts to your second year.

johnoc353

sponge_bob wrote: »

I got a job in the mines about 2weeks ago done medical and hr licence. I was due to fly out yesterday and was put on hold then today i was told i had no job. Just have to start the search allover again.
*sigh*

That's just sickening..very bad form on the companies part, mind if I ask who was that with?

sponge_bob

catbear wrote: »

sponge_bob wrote: »

I got a job in the mines about 2weeks ago done medical and hr licence. I was due to fly out yesterday and was put on hold then today i was told i had no job. Just have to start the search allover again.
*sigh*

Sorry to hear that Spongbob, I hope something else turns up. Do you know if it was for a Fortescue mine, they're announcing more job cuts today. BHP shelved loads of new projects but I haven't heard of cutbacks in existing operations. It's pretty serious when FMG lay of people that have been working for them for a decade.
This might be worth a new thread to alert people thinking of heading here to keep their eye on mining news.

It was a BHP site, they just stopped all site inductions so effectivly stopped hiring. Even though i wasnt directly working for BHP it meant the contractor who i was due to start with couldnt place any new people on site.
Allthough i did hear today from another guy who has been doing FIFO for a number of years now that this isnt unusual for BHP and they may well start up inductions again in the next week or two.

The news over here has been going on about the slowdown in the mining for a few months now, iron ore prices have dropped back to 90dollars a tonne which is unsustainable for the mining companies and china is also slowing down which is their biggest customer by far. Hopefully the news from Europe over the last few days that have pushed share markets to a 4yr high overnight will have a similar effect on the mining industry and ore prices over here.

sponge_bob

PirateShampoo wrote: »

If you have the HR then you should try and get into Asphalt or Bitumen laying. You can't get sponsored in it but you can make a killing in 6 months, plus loads of country work with Bitumen which counts to your second year.

I have PR so not worried about sponsorship or getting a 2nd WHV.
What is the story with that, is it mostly based up north and that is why there is good money out of it, is it FIFO.
Any company names that are hiring, not sure if its my cup of tea, excavators is where iam at along with loading shovels and telehandlers, but wouldnt mind researching it a bit more, after all i did come out here to make some decent coin

johnoc353

im on the same boat as you spongebob

sponge_bob

johnoc353 wrote: »

im on the same boat as you spongebob

Have you done your HR licence yet? as a lot of companys will require you to have this as a minimum.

ellaq

Things will settle down shortly and maybe this time the mining industry will just get on with being busy without the hype for a while

Some of the lessons that people are learning this week is to never leave a job on bad terms because you never knew when you might want to come back. It is still a relatively small industry.

Apart from losing your job companies can also reduce the hours worked on sites until it really is not worthwhile working away. Another reason to be well like so you can get first dibs on transfers to a busier site. My OH has always worked in the Goldfields so apart from losing his job they can insist he does residential in Kalgoorlie.

There seems to be an increase in recruitment for mines out in Newman, the Goldfields and Boddington has kicked off again. Well in my OH line of work which is drilling.

It wasn't just the price of Iron Ore that was the problem, it is also the quality of it. It is only economical to mine for low grade Iron Ore when you are getting a good price for it, it just becomes unviable otherwise. Cloudbreak has low quality iron ore. You still have to wonder why FMG had a worse case scenario of US110 per tonne. And they weren't even diversified into other commodities either. No wonder they hit so much trouble last week.

johnoc353

sponge_bob wrote: »

johnoc353 wrote: »

im on the same boat as you spongebob

Have you done your HR licence yet? as a lot of companys will require you to have this as a minimum.

I have the HR done, also first Aid , S11, metalliferous core.

catbear

ellaq wrote: »

It wasn't just the price of Iron Ore that was the problem, it is also the quality of it. It is only economical to mine for low grade Iron Ore when you are getting a good price for it, it just becomes unviable otherwise. Cloudbreak has low quality iron ore. You still have to wonder why FMG had a worse case scenario of US110 per tonne. And they weren't even diversified into other commodities either. No wonder they hit so much trouble last week.

Yeah FMG are very exposed to a downturn, there was probably a lot of investor cash betting on them being the next big thing whereas now they're cutting everywhere they can and are selling of assets.
Interesting piece in the weekend WA about how while FMG are in trouble and BHP are retrenching, Rio Tinto is going ahead with its expansion plans. It's betting that the lower ore prices will kill off their competition in Africa and Asia and leave them as the biggest kid on the block. If it backfires, it will be spectacular.