Who are you and what do you do?
My name is Ashlee Cox, and I am an Environmental Advisor for Thiess at Mount Pleasant Operation in Muswellbrook, NSW.
When did you start in the mining industry and what was your first job?
I joined the industry in November 2022 as a ‘Christmas Beetle’ for Thiess at Mount Pleasant Operation in the Hunter Valley. This is a name commonly given to university students who spend the summer university holidays in a vacation program.
How different is your job now to what you wanted to be when you were a kid?
When I was a kid, I wanted to be a zookeeper or a National Parks and Wildlife Ranger. I have always had an interest in the natural environment and a desire to take care of it. I am not saying working on a mine site is like a zoo, but I feel there are some similarities. I spend a lot of time talking to employees about our local environment and what we can do to minimize our negative impacts.
What’s a usual day at work entail?
Every morning I report on the environmental activities or conditions from the previous day. This involves documenting rehabilitation activities, rainfall, noise and dust conditions, and production activities. Typically, I then spend some time inspecting either the active mining areas, future mining areas, or maintenance work areas for environmental compliance. I also engage with contractors to schedule work such as water sampling, weed spraying and rehabilitation seeding. An environmental role is very diverse which means no day is the same.
What’s the best thing about your job?
The best things are getting to work within a large team, striving towards shared goals on site, and being involved in the planning and monitoring of the rehabilitation. I also find it extremely rewarding getting to attend career expos to help other young people enter industry and encourage environmental science as a career path for high school students.
The worst thing?
The Environmental Team quietly wishes for rainfall to assist with dust suppression and native plant growth in the rehabilitation; however, it causes delays to the production team and slows our progress towards targets. It’s a tough balance.
What’s the biggest challenge you’ve had to overcome?
Getting into industry was my biggest hurdle to overcome as I was the first in my family to work in the mines. I spent my last years of high school asking around my local community for any possible opportunities. In 2021, I met some Mount Pleasant employees who facilitated work experience for me, which led to future employment.
What’s something about your job that would surprise people to know?
To conserve environmental value at Mount Pleasant, we stockpile the trees with hollows prior to mining and stand them back up on the rehabilitation. This provides habitat for birds and small mammals that otherwise would not be available for decades.
What’s your best advice for people entering the industry?
Get curious and ask as many questions as possible (even if you think it’s silly). You’ll meet people from many different roles, and everyone plays a part in the process, and has valuable information to share.
The mining industry gets more than its fair share of criticism. What is your view of our industry and the impact it has?
Being part of the environmental team, I see firsthand how strict the environmental legislation is in NSW, and how in-depth the reporting requirements are. All activities with an environmental impact are monitored and reported to the government. This means our processes must be strict and enforced by our teams to ensure compliance with our operating license. I also see the positive impact our rehabilitation areas have, by providing native animal habitat in an area surrounded by agricultural land.
