First 100 Days as a Graduate on Site

Your first 100 days as a graduate mining engineer on a new mine site is crucial. Like any other role or profession, it is important to get an understanding on how to make the maximum impact in your new role. If you get it right from the beginning, you can continue to enjoy accelerated success in your career ambitions. The first 100 days or first three months is usually seen as ‘the settling in’ period. It is the time to demonstrate early actions, wins and tangible deliverables to relevant stakeholders. 

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Thinking of being a mining engineer? Here’s what to expect

You have read every prospectus for every engineering course in the country and in theory the job looks ok. You have looked into the various roles throughout the entire mining process from exploration and feasibility studies through to build, production and even mine closure and land rehabilitation.  But what is life actually like as a mining engineer? What should you realistically expect? 

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Being a resilient leader in the wake of COVID-19

Written by MEC Mining’s Technical Services Manager, Erin Sweeney

The human brain is an amazing thing, it is the central control of our bodies keeping us alive. It stores our memories and uses them helps us navigate and assign meaning to the complex world of interacting with other humans, things and events by linking emotions to the myriad of data coming in from our sensors all in an effort to keep us safe and alive. If we leave this process on auto-control our lives can quickly get overwhelming when we face times that are Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous.

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VUCA Planning: what does a resilient mine plan look like?

Many of us have entered 2020 with a great deal of trepidation. It seems the only thing we can rely on this year is taxes and death (too soon?). The world is becoming increasingly volatile and uncertainty reigns supreme, as such it is probably time we started to accept this as the new normal. If it isn’t the Coronavirus it will be a long drought, a flood, a supply chain disruption or a tech disruption that will cause us to have to suddenly change tack. But how do you plan for disruption when you have no idea what will cause it in the future.

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How can organisations learn from failure?

Ever heard of Chris Argyris? He spent most of his professional life contemplating how organisations could learn from failure.

An American business theorist, Chris Argyris (1923-2013) made a significant contribution to thinking about organisational learning and how people relate to organisations. The theories of single-loop and double-loop learning that he developed with Donald Schön back in the 1970s remain relevant – particularly as organisations globally are increasingly challenged by fast-paced and complex market forces.

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Scaffolding the ‘new normal’; how to support virtual teams

What seemed like a radical change to our way of working only a few months ago has very quickly become familiar. Social distancing means more people working from home, fewer opportunities for ad hoc team engagement and more chances to feel disengaged from workmates.

It’s important to recognise the impact of this change, not only on your team but yourself as their leader – to ensure everyone is supported to work safely and efficiently.

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Safety culture in mining: why it matters and how to improve it

How would you describe your organisation’s safety culture? And how important is it to the safety and profitability of your mining operations?

We all know that mining businesses have to be vigilant and work hard to comply with legislative safety standards. Regulations are extensive because of the high level of risk and complexity associated with mining operations. Mining companies are responsible for the safety of the people working on their sites. At MEC Mining, ensuring that all workers return home safely is at the core of what we do.

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