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Simon Prebble / Mining Engineer / Australia
Graduated in Mining Engineering, 1990
Manager (Production) Blair Athol Coal, Central Queensland, Australia
Q: what does your working day involve?
A: I have to make sure Blair Athol delivers coal to our customers safely and efficiently. This involves the whole mining process from exploration, through mine design, mining operations and delivery of coal onto trains for transport to the port. The biggest part of my role is leadership - making sure the group of Superintendents who work for me - and their teams - are all heading in the same direction. I spend about an hour a day monitoring operations out and about in the mine. Safety is critical - I spend at least an hour a day talking to employees about how safety can be improved. The rest of the day is spent in meetings, reviewing proposals, talking to people about how things are going. I occasionally visit our head office in Brisbane, but most of my time is spent on site.
Q: what do you enjoy most?
A:Getting outside every day, using my technical knowledge, the big variety of work, designing a mine and then watching it develop every day, down-to-earth people, the weather in Queensland (beautiful one day, perfect the next!), I've had a great time living in Australia.
Q: what do you dislike most?
A: If you want to stay involved in mining operations, you have to go where the mines are and a lot of mines are in remote locations. So you can't always live where you would ideally like. The Australian coal mining industry can be slow to change - making improvements can sometimes be a challenge.
Q: what has been the most exciting part of your career?
A: Coming to Australia has been great - I've thoroughly enjoyed living here. I have always been stretched and challenged in my work, with new opportunities regularly presenting themselves. Designing blast patterns, loading them with explosives, then seeing how they performed was probably the best fun job I had a few years ago.
Q: any suggestions for students starting out?
A: Be prepared to travel, be realistic about where you might be living, get as much industry experience as you can whilst at university, get involved with one of the big companies to make the most of opportunities to travel.
Q: would you recommend a career in mining and minerals?
A: Yes, definitely.
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