Celebrating AusIMM member milestones 2020

Every year, AusIMM celebrates our members who have reached important membership milestones.

In 2020 we had a significant number of members reaching milestones of 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 or 75 years of membership. Congratulations to all members listed below who have reached their membership milestones during 2020.

The fantastic number of long-standing AusIMM members celebrating milestones in 2020 reflects the strength of our global mining community, and the unique affinity our members have to AusIMM and our industry.

What can an AusIMM membership do for you?

We asked long-standing members Graeme Marlow and Stephen Hancock about their careers, involvement with AusIMM, and advice for professionals starting out.

Graeme started his career in 1961 with the then newly-formed exploration arm (CEC Pty Ltd) of Mount Isa Mines Limited, and his decision to join was on the advice of his employer. “The company strongly recommended AusIMM membership for its professional staff. I’ve never regretted the decision to join 60 years ago!”

Stephen Hancock joined AusIMM in 1958 while still a student. “[I wanted to] identify myself as a serious entrant into the mining industry, and to improve my potential employment options with a leading mining company [to] gain experience and quality mentorship.”

For Graeme, the main benefit of his long-standing membership has been professional development opportunities. “[AusIMM’s] technical publications and conferences have incorporated numerous useful case histories etc, which greatly assist the hands-on practical geologist.”

Stephen says his decision to join as a student did help him in his application for a job with BHP, but he found as his career progressed the most value came from Branch engagement – not always possible when he was assigned to remote locations.

However, in 1969 he found his career helped along by being invited to give the first talk at the Tom Price AusIMM Branch on groundwater exploration in the Pilbara. “My consultancy went on to undertake all the water supply and management developments within the Pilbara, the Eastern Goldfields and other developing mining centres in Australia and overseas for several decades thereafter.”

When it comes to advice for new members, Graeme and Stephen emphasise the importance of mentorship and training. “Hopefully, all new members will go to employers with good staff training records,” says Graeme. “Graduates have much to learn… as a Senior/Supervising Geologist in later years, I always made every effort to mentor and train my junior staff to return the favour.”

Stephen says tapping into the networks provided by AusIMM is important. “Use AusIMM communities of interest (Branches, Networks, Societies, Student Chapters) to learn and develop networks. And observe, listen and learn from other industry practices.”

Congratulations to the below members and thank you for your ongoing support of AusIMM.