Vacation Work over the 2007/2008 Break - Cannington

Over the 07/08 Chrissy Break I was lucky enough to get offered a vacation job out at BHP Billitons Cannington Operation. Located in northwest Queensland, Cannington is a fly-in, fly-out mining and processing operation that has grown to become the world’s largest and lowest cost single mine producer of both silver and lead. I was offered a placement as a student environmental advisor!? This was a bit of a surprise (me being chemical engineering and all), but I m not one to pass up a great offer and took the job!!

It was an awesome experience, I was working an 8/6 roster with 12.5 hr shifts and living in the temporary camp set up for over 300 contractors. The camp was great, with a Gym (and personal trainer :P), swimming pool, footy field, tennis court, mini golf, BBQ and bar. Being an Enviro on site turned out to be a 24hr thing - Whenever an injured animal was spotted on site, cattle snuck onto site, or the goanna at camp was stealing peoples steak off the BBQ, it was our job to go sort it out. I learnt how to chase - and beta yet - actually herd cattle, not get bitten by goannas and snakes, 4wd on all the sites dirt roads (which only enviros where allowed to do), and in general appreciate the impact the mine was having on the area and the animals that lived there.

The environmental dept was a small group of people who took great care of me and made my time at Cannington memorable. Daily activity involved meetings with the HSEC Dept, various monitoring, and constant data collection/analysis/reporting. I attended various inspections at both the Mine Site and Yurbi Rail facility, aswell as data collection and tracking from the Townsville Port facility.

Although the work may not have been directly related to Chemical Engineering, I had an amazing time at Cannington and am grateful that I was given such a great opportunity! If you're ever offered a job that's not quite what you had in mind, remember life is full of surprises - take the chance and use every opportunity you can to try new things!