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Mining in Australia is one of the largest industries on the continent. Australia is the second largest producer of gold in the world. Many other major minerals are mined in Australia such as bauxite, zircon, iron ore, lead and uranium as well as coal. Trained workers are currently needed to staff the many mining companies located in this part of the world.
Professionals, managers of mining facilities, maintenance workers and operators of heavy equipment will find job openings available in all parts of the country. Training is available for qualified applicants who wish to pursue a career in the mining industry. Read more

Confined spaces are enclosed areas that subject workers to hazardous circumstances. Although the properties, such as the location, size and shape, may vary significantly, they are equally dangerous and impose similar outcomes. More recently, the incidence of injuries occurring while operating in confined spaces has risen. Read more

A3 laser printers are capable of printing onto larger paper than a standard printer. While most printers max out at letter sized paper, A3 printers can accommodate sizes of up to 420 by 297 cm (or 16.5 by 11.7 inches). This makes them valuable devices suitable for a variety of specialized uses.

Office printers that use the A3 size are often used for physical presentations. Large paper can be better for displaying spreadsheets and other documents to a board room full of people. Many presenters make a small copy of a certain document to hand out, but use a large copy printed by an A3 printer for an easy visual reference. Many multifunction printers in offices are capable of printing in A3 sizes, even if they’re typically used with standard letter paper.

Artists can use A3 laser printers for high-quality, large printouts of artwork, and they’re specifically valuable when creating large pieces. Many universities and school art programs use A3 printer for rasterbation projects. These laser printers are often very expensive, and print in exceptionally high quality. Most A3 printers designed for artists and photographers are colour laser printers, and ink for these pritners can be very expensive compared to more common ink cartridges.

A3 printers can also be useful for home computer users, as they’re good for planning home improvement projects or printing out posters and large photograph portraits. As A3 printers are often somewhat expensive and large, they’re sometimes considered unrealistic for a typical home computer owner. However, they’re far less expensive than they were in the late 1990s, and are becoming popular.

Ultimately, A3 printers will probably never achieve the widespread, mainstream acceptance of letter sized laser printers, but they’re an important alternative. Businesses, artists, and even home users can get fantastic prints from A3 laser printers.

An abundance of journals highlighting many French sailors of the seventeenth and eighteenth century have indicated that coal had been stripped from cliffs among the shores, simply by digging at the bottom with crowbars. And these methods progressed very little until the late eighteenth century.

Since early civilization, people utilized ceramics, stone, and metals found on the earth’s surface. Most of these findings were utilized for the purposes of creating weaponry, e.g., flint found in France and England designed for making tools and weapons. In addition, flint mines have also been discovered in many chalk areas, in the location where many seams had been seen in galleries and shafts. At the Grimes Graves, the mines are quite well known, and have a Neolithic origin, while additional hard rocks are picked for axes, namely for the Langdale axe industry. It may be interesting to note that the oldest known mine is the “Lion Cave,” whereby radiocarbon dating shows the mine to be almost 43,000 years of age.

Typically, mining falls into two different methods for excavation: sub-surface and surface mining, while the ladder is far more common in the US, the sub-surface method is perfect for removing vegetation on the surface in search of ore deposits. Under the sub-surface method, open-pit mining, quarrying, and strip mining are common methods. Again, surface mining is used much more frequently, and its targets are divided into two basic categories, namely placer deposits and lode deposits. Whether it’s lode or placer, both of which are mined by underground and surface methods.

Much of the machinery utilized in mining consists of drills, bulldozers, as well as explosives, and for placer mining, gravel and alluvium is given to machinery that consists of a hopper or a trommel, which removes minerals from gravel. At which point, the minerals become synthesized for jigs or sluices. In addition, big drills are used for shafts to help collect samples for potential analysis. Many trams can be used to move minors, waste, and materials from one location to the next. For surface mining, large trucks, shovels, and cranes are utilized for those purposes.

Australian Mining History

Mining in Australia probably started with the arrival of Aborigines some 40,000 years ago when they fossicked for stones suitable for tools and weapons, and dug for ochre which they used for decorative use.

“Modern” Australian mining followed the arrival of European settlers on the eastern seaboard in 1788, with the quarrying and shaping of Hawkesbury sandstone for early buildings at Sydney Cove. The first discovery of coal was made by escaped convicts in the Newcastle area in 1791. Over the next few years coal was reported at many other centres to the north and south of Sydney.

The coal industry began in 1798 when ship owners gathered surface coal at Newcastle and brought it to Sydney for sale. Export of Newcastle coal began in 1799 with a shipment to India.

Traces of metallic minerals, particularly gold, were found in the early part of the 19th century, mainly by shepherds and convicts. However, there was no concerted effort towards mining because an archaic English law demanded that all gold and silver remained the property of the Crown. In fact, Britain did not encourage people in the young colony to explore for minerals. The colony was first and foremost a penal settlement, and most of its inhabitants in the early years were preoccupied with learning how to feed themselves.

Lead was the first metal mined in Australia from the Glen Osmond hills on the outskirts of Adelaide in 1841. This was followed by the commemcement of copper mining at Kapunda in the same general area in 1842. Copper was also discovered at Burra Burra (SA) in 1845.

When many Australians migrated to the United States in 1849 following reports of rich gold discoveries in California, the New South Wales Government realised that if the wave of migration was to be reversed, it needed to provide incentives for Australians to find gold in their own country. Accordingly, rewards were offered for the discovery of “payable” gold.
In April 1851 the first reported discovery of payable gold was made by John Lister and William Tom at the junction of Lewis Ponds and Summer Hill Creeks, Ophir. Edward Hargraves, an associate of Lister and Tom, took their gold to the Colonial Secretary and then claimed the reward which included 5,000 pounds to Hargraves; and 500 pounds each to Lister, Tom and the Rev. W.B. Clarke. However, recently-discovered evidence in letters addressed to William Tipple Smith from the Government acknowledged the existence of gold at Ophir in 1848.

articele source: http://www.readyed.com.au/Sites/minehist.htm
A Chronology of Australian Mining

Coal Mining Technology

Germany’s coal mining industry is all but finished as viable coal seams are worked out. Following an earthquake, mines in the Saarland will close in 2012 and mining in North Rhine-Westphalia’s will end in 10 years at most.

But German mining equipment is still in demand; more than a hundred mostly medium-sized businesses have found customers in countries where mining is booming. One such company is Eickhoff, in Bochum, which produces milling and cutting equipment for coal mining. Now Eickhoff exports 95% of its mining equipment, mainly to China and Russia. Robert Donauer went to a mine in the Ruhr Valley and paid a visit to Eickhoff.

Working in Australia can be a very rewarding experience especially in the Outback. With excellent climate, low population, and diverse exciting opportunities, this is the place for the ambitious, skilled adventurous individual looking for a lucrative lifelong career.

One of the most sought after highest paying careers in Australia is mining. A person with little or no experience can earn a very comfortable living in mining. Most miners earn $70,000 AUD or more working in the industry.

The Australian mining industry is one of the safest in the world due to the stringent safety rules and laws strictly enforced. Australia is one of the leading producers of many different types of minerals including: buaxite, zircon, coal, gold, iron ore, uranium, diamonds, zinc, silver and nickel. Miners employed in the mining industry number over 130,000 (not including the oil and gas industry) making mining one of the largest employers in Australia.

Some of the different mining jobs (careers) include:

Geoscience- This career encompasses a number of unique job duties such as: Geogolist (discovers where minerals can be found and mined), Geophysicist (studies the makeup of the Earth to locate minerals), Mine Geologist (maps, locates, and defines different grades of ore), Resource Geologist analyzes ore bodies)(, and GIS Technician which is a support positionin finding samples of minerals and ore bodies)
Operator- Underground Operator (excavates, loads, and transports minerals, Open Cut operator (miner excavates loads and transports minerals)), Bogger (transports waste rock and ore to other areas of the mining operation), Driller (operates the drilling rig in the mine), and Jumbo Operator (interprets and reads mine survey plans)
Engineer- Chemical, Civil, Electrical, Mechanical, Surveyor, and Mining Engineer
Mechanical/Metal Trades- Specialists in mechanical disciplines including: Auto Mechanic, Diesel Mechanic, Heavy Vehicle Mechanic, Boilermaker, Maintenance Technician (maintains specialized equipment used in the mining operation, and Welder.

The above are just some of the diverse challenging exciting career positions available in the mining industry of Australia. Total number of different positions available are over 150 career possibilities. As mining becomes more high tech who knows how many new positions will be created in the future.

The Mining Induction Course

Video of my mining days in Western Australia. Want info about getting a job? Visit http://www.getajobinthemine…

Victoria is home to mines that collect both oil and natural gas. Gippsland in the eastern portion of Victoria is where the petroleum and gas mines are concentrated. Gas production in the area provides 18% of the total natural gas production nationwide, with demand growing by an average of 2% each year. The petroleum from Victoria represents over 19% of the total oil production in Australia. Petroleum production has declined slightly in the past few years, but Victoria remains a key part of Australia’s oil production efforts.

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Mining has been an important industry in Australia and has impacted not only the national economy but immigration patterns as well. Silver and copper began to be mined as early as the 1840s, followed by the discovery of gold in 1851 in New South Wales and Victoria, transforming Victoria into the richest colony in Australia. Australia is also a leading supplier of iron, nickel, uranium, zinc, and coal. In addition to its ores, Australian mines also produce diamonds and opals.

The bounty hidden below ground was not extracted without a price, however. During the nineteenth century and into the early twentieth century, Australia, like most countries, had few safety regulations for miners. This resulted in numerous mining disasters across the nation.

The worst occurred in 1902 in New South Wales, near Mount Kembla. An explosion claimed the lives of 96 men who were either working in the mine or who died attempting to rescue the others. No family in town was spared the loss of a relative.

In March, 1900, five men were killed while being lowered down Birthday shaft at the Balmain Colliery. The bucket in which they were contained tipped, spilling them into the shaft. This accident led to new regulations requiring mine owners to install guide rails to prevent the buckets from tipping or swinging in the shaft.

The Birthday shaft claimed three more lives when it was being sealed in 1945. A test caused natural gas to explode beneath the seal. In addition to the fatalities, two more men were injured in the blast.

A fire claimed the lives of 42 men at the North Mount Lyell site in October, 1912. The cause of the fire was never positively determined.

In Far North Queensland, 75 men were killed in 1921 at Mount Mulligan. The official report stated that the explosions were caused by the use of open flames for lighting.

In March of 1887, an explosion killed 81 men at Bulli. The investigating commission ruled that it was caused by an accumulation of carbonic hydrate or marsh gas at the face, and that the ignition was probably provided by an overcharged shot that a miner fired.

As grim as these disasters may be, they are far from the worst mining accidents in history. In the United States, at least 361 miners died in 1907 at a Consolidated Coal mine in West Virginia, and another 239 died four days later at a different mine in Pennsylvania. An explosion at a mine in France killed 1,100 men in 1906, and 447 miners lost their lives in a 1963 explosion at a mine in Japan. A 1942 accident in Manchuria claimed an astonishing 1,549 lives and is likely the world’s worst mining disaster ever.