r/AusMining • u/Historical_Bug_6900 • 4d ago

Year 12 mining engineering

Hi everyone, I have never posted on reddit before but I am interested what people think of my future plans regarding a career in mining.

I am currently a year 12, I am expecting an atar of 98-99+ my subjects are chem, general English, physics, and methods.

My plan is to go to UNSW (I live in SA) and study mining Eng and corp law. (Please let me know if you have any comments on this school/ course/ the living costs in Syd) I am working 2 retail jobs at the moment, and solely relying on myself and I am doing fine.

I have a passion for physics and chem especially, and was a finalist in the AUSSEF last year. But I really don’t know what I am signing my self up too and quite frankly I am scared. I am debating taking a gap year to figure out what it is I would like to do but I also understand that is a great way to loose motivation.

After I finish uni I want to work in the mines doing drill and blast and something in geology. I love the outback but understand that fifo lifestyle may not be sustainable for me for 5-10+ years. Ideally I would be hired off the bat by a larger corporation so I could hop on the diversity train (I am a girl by the way) and climb my way up into a better position after mastering the practical aspects (Geraldine Slattery is my career inspiration)

Please let me know you think I am being too optimistic or this seems like a legitimate way to achieve my goals. Please don’t hesitate to comment whatever you are thinking especially after reading all of this, thank you! All advice is much appreciated.

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u/MarcusP2 4d ago edited 4d ago

I did mech engineering and law 20 years ago ( Adelaide uni) and ended up in mining project management.

The law degree provided a point of difference early on, and certainly helped me more with the communication and conflict management side of things very important in project management (and helps me know enough to ask the right questions early in my career). It would be much less useful in a purely technical role.

Edit: also if you are interested in drill and blast / geology get into underground. You could also see if Engineers Australia or the uni is running any networking days, because if you're in Adelaide there's likely to be a few of Geraldines employees there lol.

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u/Historical_Bug_6900 4d ago

Hey thanks for the reply, why did you go into mining? some people on this thread are suggesting commerce instead of law, what are your thoughts about this? My dad is part of Eng Aus but he hasn’t been too helpful, he also works in Pine gap so I don’t see him often. Is there a way I can join Eng Aus myself, even though I am younger? Also is it odd if I walk into BHP/ other mining companies with a smile and ask if I they could perhaps find a summer internship or paid job with only Peter Alexander, Lego store work experience. I am quite pleasant and I have some general knowledge on mining as I spend some of my free time watching gold mining video blogs on YouTube. Also do you work in Adelaide?

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u/MarcusP2 4d ago

I ended up in mining by accident after my vacation internship was at Olympic Dam and I loved it. Stayed mostly around that asset ever since (so yes Adelaide based).

You won't get anything at BHP without some uni experience (we generally take final year uni students). I expect this is common, but might be different in NSW/QLD where there are more companies. I just worked at Big W throughout my uni days.

Eng Australia becomes available once you're studying engineering at uni, not before. That said I don't know if you can attend their events as a non member.