Education and training briefs: RMIT, CRCMining, SkillsTech, Underground Training Systems
Staff reporters, 4 July 2012
THE RMIT University School of Engineering TAFE will deliver instrumentation training at Mount Isa in Queensland under a $A900,000 contract with Xstrata and Stanwell Corporation.
The 17-month contract involves up-skilling 28 existing workers at the mine and two from the Stanwell power station at Mica Creek near Mount Isa. More than a third of the funding is coming via the Queensland gvernment’s Skills Queensland program.
Training is being delivered jointly by subject experts from SAGE Didactic and RMIT as the registered training organisation (RTO) at Mount Isa Institute of TAFE. Kinetic Group was the lead organisation that has brought all the groups together for the training, which will run through to June next year.
RMIT has been delivering instrumentation training for more than 100 years. Ron Barrow, divisional manger (trades) at RMIT Engineering TAFE, said the program focused on up-skilling and cross-training to address the skills gap around the support of site automation, process control and instrumentation. “In recent years the number of students taking up instrumentation and electronics apprenticeships has declined to the point where the skills shortages in these trades is starting to impact many industries, especially mining,” Barrow said.
CRCMining has welcomed two new interns from Komatsu Japan who will spend a year in Australia at the University of Queensland Pinjarra Hills campus. Takeshi Yamaguchi and Takemasa Otosaka, both from Komatsu’s Tokyo office, will study mining engineering at UQ and then spend six months working on CRCMining projects. Takeshi and Takemasa are members of Komatsu’s internship program, which has taken them to Germany and the United States on placements. They follow in the footsteps of Takanori Nagata, who worked with the CRCMining between 2005 and 2007 before returning to Japan.
Meanwhile, two CRCMining postgraduate students have won awards at the 2012 University of Queensland Engineering Postgraduate Research Conference. Automation engineer and part-time MPhil student John Dudley won the award for best first year mechanical and mining student presentation. His supervisor, professor Ross McAree, said Dudley’s work put him at the cutting edge of mining automation research.
PhD student Peter Beasley won the professor Don Nicklin prize for best engineering presentation. The Don Nicklin prize has been won by CRCMining postgraduate students in the five years the prize has been awarded.
The UQ Engineering Postgraduate Research Conference featured more than 140 students across five schools and engineering faculty institutes.
TWELVE international students were among the latest engineering graduates from Queensland’s Salisbury Training Centre under a course run by SkillsTech Australia.
SkillsTech is Queensland’s largest TAFE institute dedicated to trade and technician training in automotive, building and construction, electrotechnology, manufacturing and engineering, sustainable technologies and water. It delivers pre-apprenticeship, apprenticeship/traineeship and post-trade training to more than 20,000 students a year, at six Brisbane metropolitan training centres.
“We are seeing an increase in interest from international candidates across various trade sectors such as metal fabrication as they see the benefits a trade qualification will bring to their career,” said SkillsTech business manager Keith Tonkies.
“In this first group of international graduates we saw 12 students from diverse backgrounds including India and the Philippines complete their qualifications with passion and determination.”
Fernando Lim Junior moved to Australia from the Philippines with his family in 2010 to pursue his dream job as a qualified boilermaker and is now working full-time in his chosen field.
“I decided to study a certificate III in engineering as I had some knowledge from home and wanted to improve my skills in this field,” he said. “The training by SkillsTech Australia gave me knowledge and confidence, which definitely prepared me for working in the real world.”
RESOURCE industry employer group the Australian Mines and Metals Association estimates job vacancies in the resources sector could surge to 40,000 in the next year, but a mining training consultant says people are missing out on jobs because they lack basic industry knowledge.
“The mining companies are crying out for workers and there’s huge opportunity in mining with softness in other sectors, but people chasing the big dollars and stable employment don’t have essential know-how get even get an interview,” said Andrew Knight, who started Underground Training Systems in 2010 with former WMC co-worker Hector Silva.
Knight, who began a career in mining in 1994, said he set up UTS to provide pre-employment training and give people seeking work in the mining sector the basic knowledge needed to get a job. He is running a series of free sessions in Australian east coast cities, starting in Sydney on July 10, for people who want to learn about the opportunities in the industry and establish if they are well suited to a move into mining.
“The sessions will be in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney and we’ll be keeping it quite basic to help people get a grip on whether they are suited to the mining industry and specifically how they go about getting a job,” Knight said.
UTS also runs more indepth courses to prepare people for work in the industry.
“We spent three years developing a range of practical courses which give people a skill boost to get into mining,” he said. “We focus on embedding the knowledge to work safely and productively to give them a head start before they get on-site so they can succeed and stay employed – in an industry with around 30% attrition rates in the first six months. We also liaise with mining companies to help people get jobs – but there aren’t enough people coming through to keep up with demand – so we’re turning mining companies away empty handed.”
Also in the July 4 - 10, 2012 edition
- AFRICA
- Avocet drops the ball at Inata
- ASIA DESK
- Indo investment will continue, says Hegarty
- Play it again, Owen
- CABBIE'S CORNER
- Hot Fekola could get hotter still
- CHINA
- Report card bears sombre news
- CONSULTING
- Competition leads to a common path
- Firm takes high-tech road
- CONTRACTING
- St Barbara changes Gwalia mine contractor
- Watpac embraces drilling technology at Hill 50
- EUROPE
- EMED poised to woo back investors
- Investors told to ditch Talvivaara
- EVENTS
- FIFO book authors at QME
- EXPLORATION
- Kidman ready to drill former home of high-grade copper
- FINANCE
- Maudore board fight in fortnight
- The case for graphite
- FROM THE CAPITAL
- Month-end illiquidity boosts share prices
- GOLD
- Been there, done that
- Mutiny captain sees smooth waters ahead
- HEAVY METAL
- Atlas Copco sells ST7 No.100
- DAT 60 now in full ramp-up gear
- INTERCEPTS
- Alcoa sticks to market growth forecasts
- Anglo Asian targets regional acquisitions
- Augusta wins appeal over air permit
- Australian government plan targets infrastructure growth
- Avalon raises cash for Viscaria works
- Belview mining study completed
- Beowulf moves to test mining in Sweden
- Black Mountain lines up Conjecture process plant
- Black Range to market new technology
- Boskalis charts course for Chatham Rock project
- Bullabulling plots a satellite
- Carbon Energy reveals 1.2Bt Surat coal resource
- CDB offers to fund Globe’s Kanyika development
- Centamin setting records at Sukari mine
- Centius clears access for Croydon drilling
- CGA hits Masbate production record
- Cleveland closes in on commissioning at Premier
- Community supports Cañariaco Norte drilling
- Copper Fox, Bell Copper reach acquisition agreement
- Copper-gold offtake agreement signed at Didipio
- Corsa highlights coal uncertainty
- Cove finalises Finland titanium deal
- Crocodile smiles as gold production triples
- Demand drop closes NLMK steel-making furnace
- Downer wins $800m Meandu mine contract
- Dragon snaps up Murchison project
- Eclipse Metals backs Klondyke Gold tenement purchase
- Executive movements at Rio Tinto
- Ferrum plans infrastructure for Moonlight project
- Finance chief wins WorleyParsons leadership
- Financial restructure on the books for Patriot
- Forte drilling boosts Guinea uranium resource
- Funding for a clean-coal future
- Galaxy orders temporary halt at Mt Cattlin
- Gold Fields miners return after fatal fire
- Gold One overcomes Modder East shortfall
- Gold production on target for 2012
- Goldcorp drops guidance over two problem mines
- Golden Bridge back under new name
- Govt approves Oppenheimer share sale
- Green light for Orosur’s Uruguayan tailings plant
- Highland Gold fast off the mark in Russia
- Iluka hikes revenue on lower sales
- Integra pumps up Randalls reserve
- Invictus Gold takes Turkish option
- Jubilee agrees Madagascar iron ore farm-out
- Leighton offloads waste business
- Leighton wins Philippines coal plant construction
- LIM back to normal after blockade
- LionGold picks up Tasmanian assets
- Maiden Desert Scheelite resource exceeds guidance
- Medal recognises process optimisation research
- Merger lifts Marathon to 1Moz threshold
- Merger seals Galaxy’s starring role
- Miners combine to build Cloncurry rail facility
- Mount Gibson tips major iron ore growth
- New clashes hit Sihayo Gold’s Indon gold mine
- New Kyrgyz mining law gets a warm welcome
- New miner Ausbase picks Cypriot targets
- New pad to double Central Asia’s Kazakh production
- NSL achieves first Kurnool production
- OceanaGold negotiates Didipio offtake agreement
- Octagonal gets go-ahead for Black Reef pit
- Path to production paved with $26M
- Pathfinder Minerals wins its day in court
- Patriot financing receives court approval
- Philippine mining policy review complete
- PNG problems drive out explorer
- Processing expert to lead Beacon Hill coal project
- Qld mines lift Evolution’s production
- Qld to join mining tax challenge
- Reject Fairway offer, Gladstone says
- Resource drilling begins at Kennady North
- Sabina kicks of PFS process
- Safety stoppages limit Village output
- Sales forecasts fall on economic uncertainty
- Shareholders to vote on US Silver merger
- Stone Resources to contest former director’s claim
- Syama growth raises Resolute forecasts
- Taxman’s $27m shock for Polymetal
- Teck withdraws Quebrada SEIA application
- Tiger Resources beats Kipoi teething problems
- Tigers Realm raises Amaam exploration funds
- TNG gets positive study on Mount Peake project
- TNR Gold targets Shotgun resource upgrade
- TVI to take control at Agata nickel project
- TWSP, CTMCC venture just fab
- UCL penalised over faulty bid statements
- Union dispute shuts Excellon silver mine
- Vale to sell European manganese assets
- Vista Gold pushes for Mt Todd funding
- Waste land purchase gets EMED closer to Rio Tinto mining
- Yukon-Nevada starts Starvation Canyon portal works
- MINING INTELLIGENCE
- More of the same?
- MINING IT
- French firm updates geostatistical software
- Sandvik enters IBM alliance
- RUSSO'S RULES
- And their ghost may be heard as you pass by
- TECHNOLOGY
- OreAlyzer testwork ready for new phase
- UNDERGROUND
- Long decline of the shaft continues
- VIEW FROM THE WEST END
- Legs of stone