Fateh Salleh

4.30 AM

The alarm buzzes and my hands reach out for my phone and the light switch simultaneously. Hop in the shower and get changed.

5.20 AM

Conduct a pre-start on our light vehicle and drive off to the office.

6.00 AM

Attend the operators pre-start and note down where the operators are working in the pits and what their plans are for the day. The main things to listen to are: if there is a blast today, any traffic changes in the pits and are they digging ore today.

6.15 AM

Attend the geology pre-start in the core shed. Relay any safety shares and traffic changes in the pits to the team. There is a blast today, so I need to ask for help from one of the geology technicians to help me install Blast Movement Monitors (BMMs).

7.00 AM

I hop in the car and conduct my daily drive around the Active Mining Area. I drive down to the bottom of the pits, observe the action and ensure that operators are not diluting the ore. My brain works at 110% whenever I’m on the pit floor as I must keep my distance from big trucks, dozers and diggers whilst still checking face-up angles of the ore and the floor levels.

8.00 AM

Time to do some office work! Every day I will start off with entering the Grade Control (GC) drilling reports into the database and cross-check for any errors. I will also run the haulage report for the past 24 hours to check that our ore went to the correct stockpile as well as checking they did not under or over-dug the ore.

8.30 AM

Time is of the essence; I need to publish the daily maps before the 24-hour production meeting. I use the Vulcan software to edit the shape of the ore blocks as they get mined out and add any whenever the Mine Geologists release them after modelling. I will then update the flitch maps of each pit so we can visualize what ore blocks have been mined and when.

10.30 AM

Heading over to the production meeting! This meeting is essential to know what the plans are for the next 24 hours of mining. Representing the mine geology team, I discuss dig plans with mining engineers and production and ensure that they are mining the ore correctly. This is also the time to ask production to clean-up and lay sheeting on the pit floor for our GC rig. Other department’s plans may affect our plans, so a little bit of negotiating and compromising is needed!

11.00 AM

Time to prepare for the blast! I will print the map and set up the BMM software so that we can track where the ore moved after the blast. Grab our gear, pick up the technician, and off we go to the loaded shot! We shovel lots of dirt into the drilled hole so we can drop BMM balls at the correct depth.

12.30 PM

Drive out of the pit and have our lunch as we watch the blast go off from the TV in the office. It’s like watching fireworks go off! Now we wait for the shotfirers and geotechnical engineers to clear the blasted shot.

2.00 PM

I drive back down the hole to detect the new location of the BMM balls after the blast. This will tell me where the ore and waste contact have moved which will allow me to project on the software.

5.00 PM

I’m finally done moving the ore blocks and now it’s time for the night shift operator’s pre-start. I will relay geology’s requirements for night shift and ensure they are well informed of any updates.

5.20 PM

Home time! Quickly jump in the LV, pick up the geologists and drive back to camp.

6.00 PM

It’s been a long day, but I love going on a 5km run on the Marble Gum track around camp after work. The sunset backdrop behind the bush is very pretty at this time of day, it’s the perfect stress-reliever. I’ll head straight to dinner after my run and pack my lunch for the next day.

7.30 PM

Back at the donga, have a shower and then either watch something or call loved ones! A much-needed rest is needed after a full-on day. Ensuring I get enough sleep every night allows me to work the next day safely.

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