Student Journal - Tasmania Student Chapter - Geology Students Vacation Work
Bio
It was three years ago now that I decided to make the transition from my previous roles as a technical writer to becoming a geologist, and with every adventure, and every wonderful person I have met along the way, I realise what a great decision it was.
Before going back to study, I worked in the IT industry with a significant amount of that work being documentation for mining software packages. I continued to move closer and closer to the mining industry and eventually got the opportunity to work on a series of mining project feasibility studies as a report editor, which is where I became truly fascinated with the architecture of projects and specifically, their geology.
I have loved my time at UTAS and will graduate in June before embarking on an honours project with CODES at a Cu-Au breccia complex near Tongling, China.
Article
One afternoon mid-way through second semester, I had a phone call from Tim Ireland at First Quantum Minerals. He had a project in Perth over summer for a geology student and after a little coordination from one of my lecturers, wanted to know if I was interested. I jumped at the opportunity and two months or so later, I was on a flight to Perth with a full suitcase and, ever the optimist, my golf clubs in tow.
The project was to describe, catalogue, and photograph an economic rock collection collected over the past 60+ years from deposits around the world. The collection was acquired through the purchase of INMET and from the generous donations of Trevor Ireland FAusIMM (ex North Flinders and Normandy).
As may geologists will tell you, you are only as good as the rocks you have seen. And that is where the value lay in this collection, and in this task for me. The collection covers every famous deposit a geologist (or aspiring geologist) could dream of. From 50 g/t Wittswatersrand conglomerate, to the extraordinary skarns of Ertsberg, to the invisible gold of Carlin and many more. Analysing the 300 samples has felt like packing a career into two months and I already feel like a better (almost) geologist for it.
I was also lucky enough to be at FQM at a time when they were experimenting with the next generation of short-wave-infrared spectroscopy for use in mineral identification. Over the past week I have been able to explore the science, new and old technology, and attempt to identify ways to progress their use in the exploration industry.
In my final week (my god, time flies) I will be heading off to Southern WA for a mapping project. Again for me, something new and I can’t wait to see another part of Australia and learn some new skills.
All that aside, it has also been a wonderful introduction to the geological community in Perth, and of course my new friends at FQM. I couldn’t possibly have felt more welcome. Many a cheeky beer has been disposed of after work, or with the Freo Geos, or fish and chips in hand at Cottesloe. I even managed to get the golf clubs out in anger over the weekends.
For anyone on the fence about applying for a similar role, I could not be more emphatic – do it. I have now spent nearly a year in geology internships and have grown immensely because of it. Not only, have I learnt a lot but I have clarity about what I want to pursue, and what working as a geologist in the mining industry entails.
Thank you very much to Tim Ireland, Matt Hope and the guys at First Quantum Minerals for having me. And if anyone out there is curious about my role, or another are considering, please feel free to reach out.
Bonus question.. Tim and I would be very impressed if anyone managed to ID this rock photo below.
