Student journal - A mining engineering student's take on vacation work - University of Wollongong/Rio Tinto

On 18 February I finished my vacation program with Rio Tinto in Weipa (Cape York) where I lived residentially for 12 weeks.

What an experience it was! I worked mainly with the mine planning team and a Mining Engineering Vacation student in Amrun, which is Rio Tinto’s newest Bauxite mine.

To say the experience was amazing is an understatement.

During my time in mine planning I developed a progress tracker in the form of a GANT chart using VBA and conditional formatting in Excel, created a process map for a 3D recon in Deswik, liaised with stakeholders regularly, completed a brief feasibility study.

The 3 months I was in Weipa coincided with wet season, which led to some interesting scenarios but I got to see how Rio tackled these issues which was insightful.

I also had the opportunity to work with cultural heritage, water and tailings, environmental, and asset management.

Everything I experienced in Weipa was a highlight, but having the opportunity to learn about Indigenous culture in Weipa through the cultural heritage team was definitely my favourite part of the program.

I recommend everyone to go out of their comfort zones and apply for vac work in remote areas, it might be hard at first but you’ll find that the experience and environment make it worth it.