In April 2024, long-time AIMS member Jason Gray was awarded a prize for the most outstanding mining surveying candidate at the annual NSW BOSSI awards ceremony in Sydney.
As a continuous member of AIMS since his early student days, we decided to ask Jason about his mine surveying career so far, in order to gain insight into his personal experiences and his pathway to registration, with a view to inspiring other young people that may also be interested in pursuing a career in mine surveying.
Q: What is your work history in mine surveying (years experience, work locations etc)?
Jason: I first started in mining on the Glencore Vacation Program in 2015 where I spent 3 months at Ulan No. 3 Underground near Mudgee. I then completed another vacation program placement in 2016 at Oaky North up in Queensland.
After completing university at the end of 2017, I started on the Glencore Graduate Program with my first placement being at Ravensworth Open Cut in the Hunter Valley where I worked for about 12 months before being allowed off the program to take up the position of Assistant Surveyor just up the road at Liddell Coal in early 2019.
I spent the next 4 years at Liddell Coal and remained there up until mining ceased and the site moved into closure. During my time at Liddell I worked towards my registration, which I received in March 2023.
In August 2023 around the time that Liddell wrapped up, I took up my current position as the Nominated Mining Surveyor at Mangoola Open Cut.
Q: What does your current role involve?
Jason: Mangoola is a relatively smaller site with only two surveyors, so my role as the Mine Surveyor is still very hands on, with a wide variety of tasks including:
- UAV surveys
- GPS surveys
- Infrastructure monitoring
- Highwall monitoring
- Plan drawing
- Coal stockpile surveys and volume calculations
- Pit compliance to design checks
- End of month reconciliation
- Rehabilitation and disturbance tracking
- Dam inspections
Q:Why did you choose to become a mine surveyor?
Jason: After doing two vacation placements while at university, I decided mine surveying was for me, and it was what I really wanted to do. I really enjoyed the work and the mining environment.
Q:When/how did you become aware of mine surveying as a career?
Jason: I only became aware of mine surveying about halfway through my uni degree when a friend of mine told me about the Glencore Vacation program, before that I had never really heard of or even considered a career in mine surveying.
Q:What was the most challenging part of the registration process?
Jason: For me, the most challenging part was the oral exam. I found it harder to prepare for than the projects and exams, which had very focused topics, whereas the oral is very open, the examiners can ask you almost anything. I’m also not the best at verbalising my ideas, although I may know the answer, I’m often not good at explaining it, especially in a stressful situation such as an exam.
Q: What advice would you give to other surveyors starting out with the registration process?
Jason: The hardest part is getting started. Focus on just one project to begin with, then worry about the rest. You’ll find once you finish your first project, it’s not as hard as you might think. I found that work well for me, it took me 12 months to complete my first engineering project, then after that I got on a roll, and finished all the rest of my exams and project in that same amount of time. I would also recommend reaching out to other surveyors, most surveyors are happy to help with sharing their projects and offering any other guidance they can. Reviewing a wide range of projects can help you develop ideas for your own projects and to understand what the standard is.
Q: What is the best part of mine surveying as a career?
Jason: The best part of mine surveying is the wide variety of tasks and environments we have exposure to on a daily basis. Mining is such a dynamic environment, there’s always something new happening. It’s also the perfect mix of office and field based work, and as mine surveyors we often have access to some of the latest and greatest equipment and technology.
Q: What is your favourite thing to do out of work, hobbies/sport etc?
Jason: Outside of work I try to stay fairly active, my two biggest hobbies are CrossFit and mountain biking. Other than that, I spend most of my time hanging out with my partner Carla and our two dogs Link and Millie.
Thank you to Jason for providing these insights into his mine surveying career so far and we wish him all the best in the future.
