well done, page-54

Hi Allday
Started underground when i was 16 on The Great Boulder mines in Kal. From there Moved to Kambalda to the nickel mines for 16 years. Jobs included trucking, skipman, airleg miner, then shiftboss. From kambalda, Shaft sinking at Mt Magnet onto Golden Grove putting in the decline. Spent a year and a half up in the Kimberley teaching all of the crews Underground mining as they were all hired from the local shires. Have mined all over W.A.gold nickel copper lead & zinc.Did a stint at the Granites and worked on a goldmine in the Phillipines, once again teaching the local workforce in modern mining methods.How has mining changed.Everything for the first 20 years was physical, (after a 7,1/2 hour shift you did not have to go to the gym). Today its all big machinery so apart from service crews and airleg mining thats all gone. 12hour shifts are now the norm and safety has improved out of site to what it used to be. The industry has improved out of site