Who are you and what do you do?
I’m the Ventilation Engineer at GM3 Dendrobium Mine, responsible for designing and managing the mine’s ventilation system to ensure safe and efficient underground operations.
When did you start in the mining industry and what was your first job?
I started in the industry as a Mining Engineering Cadet here at Dendrobium Mine whilst studying at the University of Wollongong. I still remember my first day, I was sent straight underground with the crews during a longwall changeout, something I’d only read and seen in a few PowerPoint presentations. It was surreal.
How different is your job now to what you wanted to be when you were a kid?
As a kid, I wanted to be a pilot. Throughout school I enjoyed problem-solving, particularly in physics and mathematics, so I decided to pursue engineering. Within my first year I knew I’d found my calling.
What’s a usual day at work entail?
One of the best parts of my role is that it combines time underground with office-based design work. A typical day might involve building ventilation models for upcoming changes, attending meetings on long-term mine planning, or heading underground to implement changes that I may have spent weeks designing.
What’s the best thing about your job?
There’s a real sense of satisfaction when another department brings you a problem, you spend hours analysing it, designing a solution and running models, and then take a sheet of paper underground with a set of predicted numbers on it. After more work underground, when the airflow behaves exactly as the model predicted, that’s the kind of result that makes my day.
The worst thing?
Dendrobium Mine is a 24/7 operation. I can only work so many hours, but problems can arise at any time. While we have teams that can deal with issues over weekends, there are occasions when I need to come to site outside my regular working hours.
What’s the biggest challenge you’ve had to overcome?
At the time of writing, I’ve just passed my Ventilation Officer’s exams and completed my Deputy’s written exams. Completing both courses while working full-time was a significant challenge, but it was also one of the most rewarding achievements of my career so far.
What’s something about your job that would surprise people to know?
One of the most trusted pieces of equipment I use is a mechanical vane anemometer. Despite the technology dating back to the late 1800s, it remains one of the primary tools for measuring airflow in underground coal mines.
What’s your best advice for people entering the industry?
When you’re new, the best way to learn is by getting involved. There’s no such thing as a silly question if you’re genuinely trying to understand. Work hard, ask questions, and take every opportunity to get hands-on experience – that’s where the biggest lessons are learned.
The mining industry gets more than its fair share of criticism. What is your view of our industry and the impact it has?
Whenever I encounter criticism of the mining industry, I think back to a quote from one of my lecturers: “If it wasn’t grown, someone had to dig it out of the ground”. Mining provides the raw materials that make modern life possible from highways and hospitals to renewable energy infrastructure and microchips. It also supports communities, local businesses and thousands of families. Whether people realise it or not, almost everything we interact with each day can be traced back to mining in some form.
