Day 9/10/11 - Who Needs Kidneys Anway

The "head" of P49 Shaft

So it's Wednesday I believe. Another day of inductions. Which really means another day taking it easy and enjoying myself. Can't complain, I have enjoyed myself so far, still amazed every day by different things. Learnt about some of the different services in the mine (air, water, drains) and how to manufacture and repair the hoses. When I say hoses, we are talking anything from 2 inch pipe to 6 inch, holding a few thousand PSI inside. Everything uses a special fitting called a Minsup fitting. It uses a twist style interlock, and is secured by 2 minsup pins (like a bent bit of metal really). Pretty cool stuff.

So yes, quite an easy day, same with Thursday. Happy Australia Day all. I spent it reading my book and listening to the Hottest 100 on Triple J. Had a few beers with lunch, and put my feet up for the day. Also, whilst we are on the subject of books, I got recommended Clive Cussler as an author, and I just read Dragon. Fantastic book and I will be reading a lot more of his novels now. Similair style to Matthew Reilly (one of my favourites) with a fast paced action, 1 man against a nation style story so very entertaining and hard to put down

A 2 inch hose I manufactured. Minsup fitting on the end.

10L workshop. Complete with 15 tonne overhead crane.

Anyway, Thursday down, onto Friday and my final day of inductions. Another pretty easy day, sort of, we spent most of the day driving around the mine familarising ourselves with different areas. Although "easy" it does tend to get to you with all the bumping up and down etc. not a comfortable ride that's for sure. The crew I have been with this week has been alot of fun, only 4 of us but it's been a laugh a minute. From the young bloke telling us he sends his missus to check the fuse box when the power goes out (as he is too afraid) to learning about a doctor who gives out Viagra samplers at Christmas, I have hardly stopped laughing. But as with all good things, it must come to an end. We didn't get run over (always a positive) and somehow managed to find our way up and out of the mine only to find it bucketing down. 30mm today they reckon, apparently it does rain in Isa, although it's normally a large shower, not constant rain they say. All I know is it is so damn loud when it rains and I am in my donga, that it makes my aircon seem quite. And that's like sleeping with a haul truck next to you.

An underground power sub station.

So after all that, another day was almost at an end. I hung around for an hour so I could meet my "superintendent" (everyone has fancy titles around here) and get an idea when I was meant to start, and what I would be doing. He wants me to get into the automation side of things which sounds really interesting. Basically part of this tele-remote system I was talking about a few days ago. It is officially known as MineGem. First, you take a 45 tonne front end loader (or a mucker), then you remove the driver, had some sensors, a computer up on the top level, and your away. There is 3 modes of operation, full manual (Im sure you can guess how that works), Co-Pilot mode, and Automatic. Co-Pilot mode leaves the operator in control but uses the sensors etc to ensure the vehicle always maintains set distances from walls etc and therefore it is the most common mode. The operator points in a general direction and the unit will navigate its way there basically. Automatic however, you set a pre-programmed path (from a drive (where the ore comes from) to an ore pass (where it is collated for removal to the crusher) for example) and the machine will drive itself there. This allows the operator to concentrate on the important parts, and manage multiple machines at once. Apparently the scale on which the automation is being carried out at GFM, is the largest and most advanced in the world. The team I will be working with are creating world first's in some of this technology and I will have the opportunity to not only learn it but be part of some fantastic design, research and development of new and improved systems. So I am pretty excited, and terribly nervous. I think my background in Avionics and my skills in IT should give me the skills and knowledge to fit in quite well. The team is a fairly new crew, so everyone is in the same boat and I am really looking forward to learning more about it all. The scale of such an operation is immense and mind boggling, and its going to take me a few weeks to start to get my head around it all I think.

So yes, another great day up here in the Isa, with plenty more to come. Will find out on Monday when I will be going home, but time has flown so far. Looking forward to my first day of "work" tomorrow. Thought I would also leave you with a video I did of driving around the minesite. Hope you enjoy.

P.S. I was looking at the page stats. 7 views from the US, not bad at all, but the 3 from Russia are rather odd. Hopefully they come bearing Vodka.

Day 7/8 - Back Into It

Today is Sunday, and for my part, it was the laziest Sunday I have had in a long time. Another day stood down, but this time I literally had nothing to do. So, I did a load of washing, watched a couple movies, and read my book. I did go to the gym for an hour (figured I had to get out of the donga for a little bit). I was getting frustrated with it for a little while, then I worked out that this weekend I have earnt more money sitting on my arse then I would normally make in a week. So then I decided to shut my mouth, lay down, and have a sleep.

All the vehicles waiting for the all clear to go down the portal.

Anyway, as I said, Sunday was pretty cruisey. Monday however, well, that's a completely different story...

10L

Not really, it was still just as cruisey, only this time I was back down the mine, and had others to talk to. I have another week of inductions, it's called New Starter. Basically it gives you a hands on to most basic functions of the mine, everything from driving underground (with 1200km of road and some pretty terrible signage its going to take me far more than a week), to operating certain tools, learning to use some machinery and how to safely enter and work in certain areas. The ground is always moving, so even though an area may have been safe to work in yesterday, today could be a different story. You need to learn how to tell what is good and bad, and how to deal with loose rock etc and make an area safe.

10L

So first up we were issued with some basic gear. Hardhat, safety glasses (both tinted and clear), gumboots, miner's belt and pouches, respirator and a water bottle. A 5L water bottle, and even though we didn't do a lot of physical activity today, and we were in aircon a fair bit, I still got pretty close to drinking all 5L. After that we headed down to 10L where the Safety and Training Room was located. Not a bad little area, right next to the underground workshop and store. My guess is that when I am underground it will be around this area as it's where the trades are mostly located.

My mining gear. Cap lamp, miner's belt and Self Rescue.

As I said, pretty easy day, some basic paperwork this morning, followed by driving around looking at parts of the mine and talking to people. Couldn't get much easier I reckon. It's a nice change from the flat chat days I am used to. Not sure if it will last for long so soaking it up while I can. This afternoon I got a locker issued to me for storing my gear in, and was back to camp by 4. This left plenty of time to go to the gym again, get this typed out and next I'll be off to dinner. Pretty hungry so looking forward to that. Got no real interesting facts today, I did make it to 15L however setting a new "deep" record for myself. 15L is 900m! Can't wait to break that 1km mark. I do however have some pretty cool pictures of down the mine which I hope you enjoy.

A mucker underground. They almost fill the tunnel.

Without caplamps you cant see your hand in front of your face.

An underground tele-mucker station. Up to 5 muckers can be remotely controlled from one of these stations.

Day 6/7 - End of the Week

It's strange, I know it's Friday, but days of the week seem irrelevant really. Imagine Monday is the day I fly out here, and Friday is my last day of work before going home. Everything in the middle doesn't matter.

Anyway, another day, another class. Working at Heights this morning, followed by P49 Cage Training in the afternoon. Pretty straight forward sort of stuff. Cage Training was basically learning how to operate the giant elevator that offers access down into the mine. This isn't an ordinary elevator though, imagine one so big you could fit 85 people in it, or a Toyota Landcruiser with passengers, and it goes to all 17 floors, that's 1.25km straight down, just remember, Q1, the tallest building on the Gold Coast, is 322.5m to the top of the spire. So this elevator travels 4 times that difference, at 45km an hour! Pretty exciting stuff. The cable is so long it stretches (and it's thicker than my arm) so the further down you are the more it bounces up and down.

Anyway, after that Friday was pretty much at an end. Dinner, couple of cold ones and off to bed. Today (Saturday now) I was rostered off, same with tomorrow, and not much to do. Luckily my company had offered to give me a lift into town for a while so I went in for a look around and some supplies. Kmart is the only "major" shop, picked up some nice light tshirts to help cope with the heat. Went to get an Optus card for my phone as they have the only reception out at the site (to make calls etc , I had to stand way out the back of the dongas) I was told they had to micro sims (which I need for my iPhone) and to try Woolworths. Well, after locating Woolies, and finding out they had none either, I spent an hour walking to every newsagent, store, servo that I could find and looked for one with no luck. So I gave up, went back to Optus to just get an internet dongle, and they then told me that they could "cut down" a normal one! Anyway, got it all sorted, now I have phone reception and wireless internet in my donga. Life is that much better now (sad hey)

Went and picked up a few books from the bookstore (Had to make a phonecall to get some author recommendations, ended up with 2 Clive Clussler novels, they sound good) and topped off the morning with an awesome beef burger at Mt Isa Hotel and a couple schooners to wash it down. Now Im watching "Changing Lanes" which I picked up from Crazy Clarks, enjoying a cold one and soaking up this wonderful aircon.

Anyway, another day almost over, it's just started sprinkling. Should cool it down for a bit. Looking forward to Monday to get back into this training and get it knocked over. Really keen to do some work now, classroom's just arn't for me.

• Haven't got conformation on this, but they reckon the majority of above ground haul truck drivers at MIM are women at the moment
• Mt Isa is regarded as one of the best mines to get a start in the industry. Alot of people move here for 6-12 months, get as many tickets at possible then use that experience to get a FIFO job elsewhere paying double what is offered here (or so they say)
• Getting paid to sit at a pub, enjoy beautiful food and drink beer is not a bad way to spend a weekend!

Day 5 - Down We Go

A mucker filling a haul truck

Well what a day today turned out to be. I am slowly getting used to the “hurry up and wait” attitude around here. I normally don’t like just sitting and doing nothing but I keep telling myself “remember how much I am being paid to do so” and that makes it that much easier. This morning I was back in the classroom, for a Generic Underground Induction. It was actually fairly interesting and I have a whole new respect for the people who work in underground mining now (I suppose that kinda includes me now to). It is a very dangerous place to be, and I almost feel like you need to constantly watch over your shoulder. But in reality this is why there is so much training, to properly equip me with the knowledge to safely look after myself and my workmates. It is mostly “common sense” but understanding the dangers has made me that much more aware of avoiding them.

A cap lamp with built in PED

Even with what seemed like a break every 15min, we finished up this morning lesson early. Which gave us plenty of time to don some overalls and boots, and ensure our hardhats and belts fit. This was it, I finally was getting a miners helmet, yes, most of my excitement came from this. I didn’t actually realise until today just how heavy the gear you had to wear is, and how hot it becomes. Overalls, steel cap gumboots, hardhat, cap lamp (yep it has it’s own special name), safety glasses, PED (Personal Emergency Device, ill come back to this), Self Rescue (another I’ll get to), miner’s belt (which holds everything) and a respirator. Now, time for a quick lesson, but it’s interesting I promise you. PED, this device is actually two devices, first, it is the battery for you cap lamp. Secondly, it has a built in messaging system, like a pager. Each unit is specific to it’s owner, and mine control can send a character message to any unit to alert that person about something. For example, in an evacuation emergency, every PED would receive a message warning them to evacuate. To alert the user to a new message, the lamp on your head will flash 3 times, and the unit beeps. Told you if was cool. Self Rescue, this is another cool device, once you open the canister you find inside a bag with a snorkel mouth piece attached. It uses your breath to activate the chemical which releases oxygen. You can get between 1-2hrs if you have calm slow breathing they reckon. Both these items to add a bit of weight to your belt, but you only tend to notice it initially, and when you remove it. You can’t enter the mine without these either.

So off I went, down the mine. Down the portal (God I love that word, how many people say, went down the portal today to get to work, like something out of Stargate) We drove down in a Toyota Troop Carrier (one of the smallest vehicles down there) and we drove down, and down, and down, and down. As you go down, the level number goes up. We drove to 12L (the mine goes to 12L I believe), each level is 60m, therefore we were 720m below ground. Firstly, I have flown lots, and seen amazing things from the sky, and I have dived a bit, and seen some pretty amazing stuff down there, but never have I seen anything like this. TV, photos etc just don’t capture it. It is so strange and alien down there. And hot, quite hot actually. Every 100m adds a degree they reckon, it was 38 degrees on the surface when we went down, making it45 degrees at 12L. Warm. And to top off the actual beauty of these man made tunnels stretching in every direction as far as you can see (which is 0cm if you turn your lights off), the feelings caused when a 65 tonne haul truck appears ahead of you with two bright spot lights, and a diesel engine rumbling causing vibrations right through you, and you realise you have to reverse down hill in the pitch black until you find a bay to pull over, well, that certainly is the most comforting thing I have ever felt. These trucks are so large, that if one was to back over you, the driver probably wouldn’t notice. Above ground, they may not look like much compared to their bigger above ground brothers, but down there, when there is lucky to be a foot clearance around the entire truck the tunnel, and they appear out of nowhere, they are huge!

A self rescue oxygen system.

So yes, today was in one word, amazing. Something I am so glad to have had the chance to experience, and particularly glad that I will get to see more of it in the coming weeks and months. With no way of telling whether it is day, night, raining, snowing, hot, cold, it is just so different to life above. They have all the standard things down there, crib rooms with water, toilets (porta-loos mind you, only 1 flushing toilet down there), aircon, tv’s, fridges and workshops. There is even a fuel depot to fill up on 12L. We came across one bloke, on a big leather recliner, with two big 22” monitors in front of him. Attached to his chair, were two joysticks with some buttons on each. His job, believe it or not, was to remotely control to “muckers” (front end loaders basically) which were 4 levels below him, and pick up “muck” and transport it where necessary. It is really like a big video game. They set up virtual walls etc and the machines can use these to avoid hitting things etc, as well as in some areas full autopilot to other areas when the operator takes over again and dumps or picks up a load. Way to cool. The only thing that concerned me though was it was running on Windows XP. I just want to know what happens when he gets a virus, or a blue screen of death!!

And once again another day is gone (my book is awfully close to, I should have bought another), we had a few power outages this evening which made it hot and dark. I lose track of time in my room due to not being able to see out at all, no idea if it is day or night etc. Still, it’s back on now so all good. Also thanks to everyone who is reading and for your feedback. Nice to know others are interested.

• GFM has 1200km of underground tunnels
• The coppermine in Isa is 2km deep
• The term “crib” comes from the older days when the miners would play cards at lunch, in particular cribbage
• Although I haven’t seen any canaries yet (nor any bird feed), I did discover that modern gas detectors are nicknamed canaries
• It rains underground. Ground water seeps through the rocks and can create the effect of rain whilst driving

Day 4 - On Solid Ground

The main "head" at GFM.

So I’ve discovered getting an extra hour sleep in doesn’t actually count for much, since most others aren’t getting that hour the various small noises you hear tend to wake you, defeating the purpose. Anyway, all good, as excitement was high due to today being the first day I could step foot onto the mine itself.

Headed off from camp at 7:40 and walked the 500m down the road to the main gate of George Fisher Mine. As it turns out, my dreams of giant haul trucks rumbling past didn’t happen, but I saw the Admin areas and the Clean In Clean Out rooms. The idea behind Clean In Clean Out is like this. Lead is pretty darn bad for you right, too much, and it causes all sorts of problems. In fact, even Admin staff are tested for lead content in their blood every 6 months. I will be more often than that (not sure exactly how often) due to being in higher exposure levels of it. When you are covered in dust etc that can contain lead in a mineral form, you want to minimise that going anywhere else. So you rock up to the mine in your civies etc, and place them in a locker assigned to you. You walk through the shower area to another set of lockers at the far end, in here is your work gear. Everything you need but undies basically (yes that includes socks). You change into your work gear and proceed off to work. At the end of the day it’s the reverse, however, you shower in the middle part (yep, football style showers, how fun) and get changed back into your civies. Thus, lead exposure outside of work should be pretty well minimized.

Underground trucks all lined up.

After a brief tour it was more classroom time. This was a site specific (ie: George Fisher as compared to Black Star Open Cut) induction. Covered various topics, pretty boring, not a lot to it. Following this I did a course in Driving on the Lease. This covered road rules etc for driving on the mine site. Everything is very very procedure driven around here. You can’t enter any vehicle without doing a pre-start inspection (incl’s oil etc). Even if the bloke before you just got out. It’s all about safety etc so you really can’t fault them, but it certainly takes a long time to get a simple job done. I can see my days of “just getting into it” are long gone. Spoke with a gentleman this morning who I believe will be working in the same area as me, and he said the same. You just need the mentality of sitting back and waiting.

What I believe to be my workshop.

After all the theory we did do a small drive around the top. Saw the “portal”, it’s the drive down entry into the mine (and I would assume it’s my most common entry point) and also a very large workshop full of Underground Loaders. Most likely going to be my mine area from now on. The place is huge, about 5 Bunning’s style shed’s tacked together I reckon but about twice the height as well.

Other than that, my still no Haul Trucks, and still no canaries. But I’m sure we will get there. Hump day is over now, and every day is bringing brand new things.

• The ore bodies at George Fisher were discovered in 1946
• They were developed for mining in 1969
• Currently there are approx 1000 people incl contractors at George Fisher
• The main ore bodies equate to 4.5million tonnes
• To remove said bodies is at an estimated cost of $274 million.

Day 3 - The End of the Begining

Well, another day, another 5am start. Today started with another bowl of Nutri Grain, followed by making my crib, and off in the bus back to town. We started this morning with a Fire Course then CPR and First Aid. I have to say, I struggled to stay awake, aside from not long completing very similar courses, again it was spoon fed, and again I was astounded with how many still struggled. Not sure what is going on here, I can see why the spoon feeding is there, the pass rate would be about 5% otherwise.

After that we were off to the Corestaff office, meet our local contact, and had all our certificates copied onto our files. Then off to manual handling. I was surprised here, I had prepared myself for another snooze session, and was greatly surprised. This course was not only delivered very well, but I learnt a lot. Seriously, most people are aware that lifting incorrectly could cause potential harm, but I never realised how seriously easy it was to do this, plus all the non manual tasks (for those of you who sit in a chair all day) and how badly they can cause the same problems!

So that came and went, without to much trouble and another course passed, another certificate issued. Smashing them out now. Finally I got my first closer look at the main Mt Isa Mine. Visited the Kinetic Health Centre and did another drug, alcohol and Blood Lead Level test. Flying colours once again (even if I did have to pee whilst a security camera watched, seriously, that’s difficult no matter how bad you need to go) and FINALLY got my Mt Isa Mines security card. Now for the serious stuff, I can finally enter the mines!

Yes, I feel like a little kid at Christmas, tomorrow I finally step foot into the biggest sandpit I’ve ever seen, complete with real life Tonka Trucks and Dozers, that weigh over 400 tonne! Mostly everything about this trip stills feels surreal and hasn’t quite sunk in yet, but I think being on site and seeing some of this stuff up close will truly help that. From the quick views I have seen of things driving around, the enormity of everything is amazing. I have my sites set on a photo of me on top of the large Haul Trucks that I can frame and put in the trophy room (Note to self: Build trophy room). Anyway, tomorrow is above ground only, got more inductions to do before I can go below. Also my last day with Paul as he starts work on Thursday. Will be navigating solo underground (aside from the other 1000 people working below there anyway).

And so we come to tonight, again, food was amazing, I have had roast for 3 nights now, my wife would kill me if she knew. Such a selection, really need to start working to work it all off. I have heard it is a lot hotter underground (I think George Fisher Mine goes 1.5km down? Will get confirmation soon) and also more humid so that will probably help, not to mention not sitting in a chair all day, it was driving me nuts after only 2 days. Finally gave in and bought a beer from the wet mess to enjoy whilst writing this. I really don’t need it, think I drank enough on my last day of work to last me quite a while. FYI, the beer comes from the "Wet Mess", it is open from 7-8am, and 7-9pm. It sells beer (and spirits), as well as smokes, basic items like toothpaste, sunscreen etc, and also softdrink. There are two pool table as well as a big screen in there. Next door is the Rec Room, it has a big screen, lounges, coffee and tea facilities, and a full gym setup. It's open all the time. Also, I apologise for the lack of pictures today, unless you wanted to see a classroom nothing really interesting happened. Hopefully tomorrow will make up for this.

So once again I leave you with some interesting facts of the day:

• Cheapest beer in QLD at camp, $2 cans of XXXX Gold.
• 25L/sec on water is pumped into GFM, 70L/sec are pumped out, the extra water is ground water
• The Mayor of Mt Isa just lost his licence for DUI.
• 3500 current opportunities exist in QLD mines due to the boom, there are another 38,000 expected to open in the coming years. Visit opportunities.qld.gov.au (I just saw the ad on TV alright)
• There is 1 TV station here (can’t remember which), that instead of ads, just shows footage of Isa and the local area. Weird.

Day 2 - First Day of Training

Camp at 5:30.

5am start, had worse, also had better. I didn’t sleep too good, I think a combination of nerves, excitement and unfamiliarity brought that on. The aircon is nice and cold, and if you pretend it sounds like waves crashing it isn’t so bad. As I listen to it know it sounds nothing like that, maybe someone spiked my food.

As I still hadn’t located a cup or a bottle I took to drinking from the tap again, and yes, even at 5am when the sun hasn’t even shown up it is still quite warm water. After eventually getting organised I headed up the path to the mess. I will get around to taking a photo of it at some point, for now, I’m more worried about drawing unwanted attention to myself and being eaten. Literally, some of these guys look like they would regularly consume smallish humans like myself. Pretty amazing spread on, bacon, eggs (3 types), hash browns, porridge, tomatoes, sausages, cereals, muffins, danishs etc etc. The list went on, so I thought I would spoil myself, and opted for a bowl of Nutri Grain. After finally locating the milk thanks so a nice woman (she could tell I was completely lost) I sat down and tucked in. 

After this it was time to make “crib”. Crib is the mine term for lunch, you get an hour long lunch break once a day, which is when you consume your crib that you have packed that morning/night (depending on your shift). My wife would go mental if she saw the rows and rows of Chines containers, finally I know where all of ours at home have disappeared to, they joined the mining boom! So once again I splashed out and ended up with 2 ham, cheese and tomato sandwiches (minus mayo because I couldn’t locate it), 2 biscuits, and an apple. Not bad really. You can basically “crib” anything that is on offer day or night. I can see why these guys put on weight up here.

The main Mt Isa Mine.

After breakfast, I got myself organised and met up with Paul and Matty to catch the bus. Matty informed us he had to head back to the Gold Coast due to his eldest boy winding up in hospital the night before. Of course, none of us had any idea how this would be achieved. When the bus showed we dropped Matty at the airport on our way and wished him well to find a flight. He couldn’t even contact our company due to them not opening until 8am. (We later found out they had booked him on an 11am flight back to Brisbane, not bad going really, hopefully will see him again out here in the future)

Today was Generic Surface Induction. Let me tell you, I wanted to say if you can tie your shoelaces you can pass this, but there were a few people there who blew that theory out of the water (that, or someone else ties there shoes, I didn’t ask) The induction consisted of basic safety and risk management principles. Its designed to cover all aspects of the mine without going into any specific site areas. That comes later and you do an induction for every specific site you work in (above ground, below ground, copper, zinc, lead etc). This now explains why I have to do 2 weeks of inductions compared to Paul (a plumber) who starts work Thursday!

The main stack can be seen from everywhere you go.

Crib came at 12, which I enjoyed. Also went for a walk and saw a little of Isa. Found a shop and located a water bottle, which is now sitting in my fridge (by itself) keeping cool water around the place which is nice. Isa is an interesting place, there is honestly about 15 degrees difference between the sun and shade, my it’s a very dry heat which makes it more tolerable. The streets are very country town feel, from what I have seen it seems quite run down, which I found strange due to Emerald being very flash. Maybe I was just in the slums.

And now here we are, day 2 drawing to a close, (or is it day 1?), not to bad all in all, hopefully tomorrows course is a tad more interesting.

Interesting facts for the day:

• ·         Over 6000 people incl contractors (that’s me) are employed at George Fisher Mine where I shall be working.
• ·         Mt Isa Mines (MIM) produce copper in 400kg anode blocks, and lead in 4,000kg blocks.
• ·         The MIM’s also produce zinc and silver, one of only a few mines in the world to produce all 4 elements in such close proximity
• ·         Being able to read and write isn’t a requirement to get a job up here apparently.
• ·         When an instructor tells you to write something down because there is a question about that, that’s helping you, when he finds out you didn’t write that answer on your test because you “didn’t know”, he will tell you again, thats ridiculous, and Darwin’s Theory should be practiced
• ·         I still haven’t seen anyone with a miner’s helmet, but I did see a photo, so there is still hope
• When you buy water in Isa, it comes from the Gold Coast. Not sure how I didnt notice this before.

Nu water from Burleigh Heads