Report Writing for Mining
Course commences 28 October 2024
AusIMM courses rated 4.9/5 (4.5k+ reviews)
Report writing training for mining professionals - open to individuals and groups
Ensure your team can deliver clear, accurate and persuasive mining reports, so you are best placed to make informed business decisions, secure approvals, funding and stakeholder buy-in.
Quick facts
 Duration |
 Delivery |
 Course Type |
 Next intake |
 PD Hours |
 Language |
20 hours
|
100% online |
Associate Certificate |
28 October |
Up to 20 |
English |
Course overview
In an industry where lives, livelihoods and billions of dollars can be at stake, individuals and organisations need high level writing skills to communicate detailed and complex technical information, contribute to overall safety and organisational success while reinforcing their expertise as professionals in the field.
Accurate and persuasive reports are essential for securing approvals, funding, and stakeholder buy-in. Yet many mining professionals struggle to communicate their knowledge and recommendations. Skilled report writers can effectively advocate for their projects and ideas, influence key decision-makers and help their organisations succeed.
Reports are often used to make critical decisions; well-written reports contribute to better decision-making and, ultimately, the success of organisations and mining projects. This course will help you communicate, and demonstrate, your expertise to key/senior readers inside, and outside of, your organisation.
How is this report-writing course specific to mining?
This course is designed and delivered specifically for and by mining professionals and integrates a deep knowledge of the mining industry and its expectations and opportunities.
In addition to providing a solid foundation of the rules, conventions, and guidelines that govern usage and style in effective report-writing, it also provides advice on putting these skills into practice, including the production of industry-specific reports, such as mining studies, Competent Person reports, and ASX announcements.
The course provides:
- Hands-on techniques for actionable skills that can be immediately applied in their roles
- Real-world applications, using industry-specific examples and scenarios to illustrate key points.
- Sustained learning, providing access to resources that support ongoing development beyond the course.
- Feedback mechanisms for participants to continually improve through feedback and peer reviews.
It also provides an entry into real-world use of AI and referencing, as well as a curated library of industry-specific writing tools, templates, and guides.
By equipping their teams with high-level writing skills through this course, managers can expect:
- Improved organisational success: Better-written reports translate into more effective communication of technical knowledge, leading to informed and timely decisions that can make or break a project.
- Increased influence and credibility: Teams that can articulate their expertise and recommendations persuasively are more likely to sway key decision-makers and external stakeholders.
- Enhanced safety and compliance: Clear communication is vital for maintaining safety standards and ensuring that all stakeholders understand and adhere to critical protocols.
- Operational efficiency: Precise and unambiguous reports save time and reduce the risk of costly misunderstandings or errors.
Companies and individuals should consider undertaking this course when:
- New employees are appointed.
- Experienced mining professionals are looking to refresh their writing skills.
- A conceptual, option, pre-feasibility, or feasibility study is about to commence.
Course pricing
Earn digital credentials
Showcase your studies, validate your knowledge
Verify your new skills and knowledge with a digital badge that you can add to your LinkedIn profile, email signature, intranet, or any other online account.
Your badge links to a detailed outline of the course, showcasing and validating your new skills in a format that employers and colleagues can easily access and trust.
Who should attend?
Professionals responsible for writing reports to Code
Mining engineers
Metallurgists
Mineral processing engineers
Geoscientists (including geologists, hydrogeologists, hydrologists)
Environmental scientists
Technical staff responsible for reviewing reports
Support staff responsible for reviewing and editing reports
Mining consultants of all specialisations and levels
Senior managers
Enrolments now open
Course commences 28 October 2024
Module 1 - Explore report writing in the mining sector
In the first module, you will learn:
- The importance of effective report-writing to your work and career
- Key expectations of report writing in the mining sector
- Common report types in the mining industry
This includes:
- Benefits of good report-writing for companies, consultancies and individuals
- Different report types and their structure
- Report and communication structures and when to use each
- Specialist mining reports, such as feasibility studies and public reports, their purpose, goals, and prescribed content
- For each report type, how to structure, sequence information and ensure technical completeness
Module 2 - Meet your audience’s needs
In the second module, you will learn how to meet your audience’s needs by:
- Choosing the level of detail that is appropriate for your intended audience
- Structuring your argument logically at every level of the document
- Ordering information to ensure it is effectively communicated
This includes:
- The importance of selecting the correct level of detail, structure and order of information
- Understanding the essential components of a technical report and their order
- Establishing the purpose, objectives, and key messages
- Creating an outline
- Checking and addressing logic gaps
- Ensuring the purpose and objectives are met
- Ordering information in topics, paragraphs, and sentences
Module 3 - Make your report effective and impactful
In the third module, you will learn how to clearly communicate your argument by selecting and using textual and visual elements.
This includes:
- Importance of using textual and visual elements to communicate clearly
- Choosing the most effective language (formal vs informal, jargon, idioms, accessibility, avoiding bias)
- Eliminating basic errors that distract the reader
- Using hyphens and capitalisation to make your meaning clear
- Accepted conventions for formatting reports, such as numbers, measurements, citations and references.
- Using visual elements to illustrate your ideas, including charts, tables, and other graphical elements
- Why punctuation and grammar are important
- How to address common causes of ambiguity and misreading
- Eliminating wordiness
Module 4 - Put it into practice
In the final module, you will learn how to plan and apply an effective writing and editing process.
This includes:
- The value of developing and using an effective writing process
- The overall process, from planning, through writing, to review and quality control
- The writing processm, use of writing tools, and effective use of AI
- The editing process and tools, peer review, QA, and proofreading
- How to bring these together into a final, professional document
- Avoiding common traps and errors
- Using your report-writing skills to advance your career
Course facilitators
All programs have been developed in consultation with leading organisations in the mining industry, subject matter experts and community leaders to ensure you gain the latest knowledge and develop relevant skills to accelerate your career.
Tim McAuley
Tim specialises in the production of technical reports for large mining studies. "My job as report editor," Tim says, "is to take the contributions of 20 or more authors, each with their own individual writing style, and create a consistently professional final product that clearly conveys the key messages, while reading as if it were written by a single, accomplished author."
Prior to becoming a professional writer, Tim worked as a mining engineer on ore reserves, geotechnical, mine design, mine production, and long-term planning studies for both open-pit and underground mines in Australia, South Africa, North America, and South America producing precious metals, diamonds, copper, lead-zinc, bauxite, coal, and limestone.
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