Macmahon Holdings, AngloGold Ashanti Australia, Independance Group NL and Carey Mining celebrated the milestone of eight young Aboriginal trainees at the Tropicana Gold Mine in November.
In a formal ceremony at the Tropicana site, located 330 kilometres east-northeast of Kalgoorlie-Boulder in Western Australia’s Goldfields, the trainees were each presented with certificates and traineeship offers after successfully completing the eight-week Get Into Mining training programme.
Graduates: Lucas Evans, Ashdyn Sceghi, Clinton Sambo, Simon Minus, Shekerah Van Zonneveld, Tegan Van Zonneveld, Kyarah Lowah and Sian Harris.
Get Into Mining is a collaborative programme run by Aboriginal-owned mining and civil contracting company Carey Mining, with the support of mining contractor Macmahon Holdings, and Tropicana Joint Venture partners AngloGold Ashanti Australia (70% and manager) and Independence Group NL (30%). Macmahon Holdings and Carey Mining are also both contractors at Tropicana.
Macmahon Holdings Chief Executive Officer, Mick Finnegan, said he was proud to successfully collaborate on this important programme to provide more young Indigenous Australians with access to full-time employment and long term prospects in the mining industry.
“Macmahon has a long history designing traineeships and development programs for Indigenous people through our Doorn Djil Yoordaning business and we are pleased to provide our support to this alliance driven programme to deliver such positive and meaningful outcomes to all involved,” Mr Finnegan said.
At the graduation ceremony the programme participants also presented Tropicana with a set of paintings they had completed, which captured their journey from Kalgoorlie to working at the mine, with honey ants depicting the haul trucks.
AngloGold Ashanti Australia Senior Vice President Michael Erickson, said the programme was the culmination of considerable planning and preparation by the training teams at Carey and Macmahon, and AngloGold Ashanti Australia’s community team.
“We’re delighted to see all of the participants graduate and now join the Tropicana workforce. By collaborating with our long term business partners Carey Mining and Macmahon, we’ve jointly been able to deliver a positive outcome for these young Kalgoorlie-based trainees,” said Mr Erickson.
Carey Mining Managing Director, Daniel Tucker, said he was pleased to be a part of this initiative to successfully bring Indigenous people into the Mining Industry. Carey Mining has a wealth of experience in design, development and delivery of tailored training programs with a focus on creating new horizons for Indigenous people through business.
“It’s not what we do, anyone can do that! It’s how we do it that makes us different,” said Mr Tucker.
Get Into Mining comprises a blended delivery of training in the classroom, at a simulated work site and via practical activities at Tropicana. The programme is structured to enable a phased transition into the fly-in, fly-out working environment.
This is the second time the programme has been conducted at the site. More than 60 applications for the programme were received after information sessions were held in Kalgoorlie-Boulder.
All eight of the successful applicants completed the full programme, qualifying for a Certificate II in Surface Extraction Operations. They have now accepted traineeships across the mining and exploration departments at the Tropicana Joint Venture.
About Macmahon Holdings
Macmahon is a company that has been offering mining and construction services to clients for more than 50 years, with capabilities in surface and underground mining, civil design and construction, and mine site maintenance and rehabilitation services, making it a trusted partner on resources projects throughout Australia and Southeast Asia.
About AngloGold Ashanti Australia
AngloGold Ashanti Ltd is a global gold company with 14 operations in nine countries. In Australia it operates the Sunrise Dam Gold Mine, 55 km south of Laverton, and Tropicana (70% JV). The company has been a long-term active supporter of communities in the Eastern Goldfields through a range of initiatives covering youth engagement, education and health and well-being.
About Independence Group NL
Independence Group NL is a leading exploration and mining company with a strategic focus on high quality assets of scale and longevity, and an evolving strategy to align the business to the structural shift to energy storage. It has 30% interest in the Tropicana Gold Mine, a Joint Venture with AngloGold Ashanti, and its portfolio of beltscale exploration projects in Western Australia and the Northern Territory.