Andy the spark

Hi,

I am a 35 year old Electrician living in North Wales, U.K. I have dual Australian & U.K passports as I was born in Australia. I am interested in working in the mining industry on the West coast.

I have full U.K qualifications, and have done allsorts of Electrical work over the last 16 years.

However, I have never worked on any BIG heavy industrial sites like these mines, so I am unsure what the employers are expecting you to know, or expecting you to able to do. Does anyone know what kind of Electrical work goes on in the mines?

Is it mainly maintenence on heavy duty machinary, conveyor belts and motors? That sort of thing?
Or is it more common areas like temp supplies, SWA feeds, 3 phase boards for power and lighting etc...

Sorry for all the shop talk, if anyone could shed some light on the subject that would be great!

Thanks, Andrew.

Deyan

All depends of demand at the particular time, sometimes they just need A grade electrician with no mines experience sometimes don't.

Have a look at http://www.fifobids.com.au/ so let companies bid for your skills.

lee mccardle

hey there andy. i currently work in the mines and have done for the last 4 years. am originally from the uk with bacround in idustrial electrical work.

there is a lot of work over here at the moment and the first thing you would have to do is get an electrical licence here as you wont get work otherwise.
this is a fairly involved process but doable.

first you have to submit all you city and guilds quals to whats calle tra trades recognition australia then they will issue you a trade cert that will allow you to go to college and do some practical and theory assesments which enables you to get a licence. sounds involved but as i say doable. as for the work the best paying jobs are construction based and will involve nothing that you havent done befroe im sure.

hope all this helps and let me know if you require further info . lee

Andy the spark

Hi Lee,

Thanks for the response mate. I am currently just putting all my paperwork together to apply for an ARTC. Lots to do!

When submitting your Electrical quals to the TRA, do you also need to have and submit a JIB approved card with them? Or is that not necccesary.

Do you also need the NVQ level 3 certificate too?

Thanks mate sorry for all the questions!

Andy.

lee mccardle

think the tra is now called artc when i did mine nearly seven years ago had to submit all trade papers and college certs and jib card. the more evidence you provide them the easier it is for them to assess your trade. apparently it also matters how you present it too extra points for things being in the correct order.and all supporting docs from employers references and periods you have worked for them too.

hope this helps let me know if you need any more info.

lee.

Diesel Jockey

Depends on what you want to do surface or underground.
I have been Underground for the past 7 years and have really enjoyed it. The work conditions are not too everyones taste as you could be repairing a jumbo (drill rig) in a heading where there is bugger all vent and you sweat your arse off which is all the more reason to be good at what you do, fix the problem and get out of there!!
Drill rigs, pumps / stations are all 1000volt.
Underground is a very dirty and dangerous enviroment but if you keep a level head and an eye on your surroundings its ok
If you are more instrument then a mill sparkie job would be more suited

GunnersCandy

Hi guys we are in a similar position and also from North Wales. My husband is a spark and interested in working in the mines. We have already been out to Perth for 3 weeks.

Will be keeping an eye on this thread for information.

GunnersCandy

Also I heard it was difficult to get in the mines?

Deyan

Southern Cross Electrical is looking forward for electricians, leading hand electricians, TA's and supervisors, FIFO work in Pilbara WA and Queensland.

Interested in a career in mines?

It worth to look at Downer Engineering website sometimes!

Deyan

Gorgon project jobs

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