I studied at UNSW from 1993 to 1997 in Mining Engineering. My time at UNSW was great, and included trips to such far flung areas as Broken Hill, Japan, South Africa and Sweden.

We went to Japan on an industry tour to see the Japanese coalmines, limestone quarries and one of the riches gold mines in the world, the Hishikari gold mine. We followed this up with a trip to the South African mines, including the deepest mine in the world at the time, Western Deep Levels, at 3,578 m. I then took the plunge and went to Sweden for a year on the Exchange program and studied at Lulea University, which is close to the Arctic Circle. While over there I worked at LKAB’s Kiruna mine, which is one of the largest underground mines in the world.

Since graduating I have worked in Kalgoorlie at the Kanowna Belle underground gold mine, and at Northparkes mines near Parkes in NSW. These mines provided a good grounding in mining engineering.

At Kanowna Belle I was mainly doing my underground time, which involved drilling and charging development faces, truck driving, and operating various pieces of equipment. This was all aimed at providing a practical basis for the engineering work to come. At Northparkes I was involved in the operational side of the Lift 1 block cave, Australia’s first block cave, and then in the planning and development of the Lift 2 block cave.