AIMS Notice Board

The AIMS 2017 Mt Isa Interactive Session was held on 9^th June 2017 and was well attended by well over 20 registrants.

After an evening of networking at one of Brisbane's top 'pubs' the Queensland subcommittee members spent the Saturday discussing keys issues confronting mine surveyors in Queensland. Each of the six members were given a highlighted topic to investigate before the meeting.

Another successful Technology Day was held in Moranbah in 2017 on 10th May with 50 attendees from a majority of the surrounding mines.

A Notice from the Board of Surveyors in 1983 still rings true. While getting prepared for his move to his new office in the McKell Building near Central Station, David Job, Director of Cadastral Integrity in the Office of the Registrar General, found the following notice from the Board of Surveyors issued in November 1983.

The 2017 Mudgee Seminar kicked off on the Friday night (17th March) with a fabulous dinner at Mudgee Brewing Company - a fantastic start - with the presentations commencing on the following day.

David McLean, Chief Inspector published an order in the Government Gazette on the provision, preparation and supply of mine survey plans in NSW.

One of the issues identified as a concern to mining surveyors in NSW last year was a lack of certainty in whether a person qualified to be a “survey assistant” as defined under the Board’s Combined Determination.

The inaugural AIMS 2016 Awards winners were announced and presented at the annual AIMS Annual Conference Gala dinner during the ISM2016 Congress.

The XVI International Mine Surveying Congress (ISM2016) held on 12 - 16 September 2016 in Brisbane, Australia was deemed a great success. The Congress was proudly hosted by AIMS and the International Society for Mine Surveying (ISM) and was well attended by industry delegates from around the world.

Due to queries regarding storage and archiving of field notes, BOSSI is considering developing guidelines for the preparation, storage and archiving of field notes and invites the profession to make submissions.

Once again Mount Isa turned it up for the 2016 AIMS regional seminar held at the ‘Outback at Isa’. The day consisted of six 1 hour sessions which saw sponsors show off their premium equipment.

As previously reported, there are changes afoot with regards to the WA mining regulations and how that in particular, affects mining surveyors in Western Australia.

SEE UPDATE/COMMUNIQUE HERE - Recently, for a variety of reasons, the Western Australian Department of Mines and Petroleum (DMP) have embarked down the road of reviewing the Western Australian Mine Safety and Inspection Act (1994) and Regulations (1995).

Review of AIMS Moranbah Technology Day 2016

Our first AIMS Technology Day was held on Wednesday the 18th May. We trialled a new format of rotating workshops and hands-on sessions, instead of our normal format of technical presentations.

The 2016 Australian Institute of Mine Surveyors Curtin University Scholarship has been awarded to Jhobie Verdejo.

Congratulations to AIMS Member James Sherritt for receiving the Clarence Smith Jeffries award for Best Mine Surveying Candidate for the 2015 assessments, as well as the inaugural Surveyor General's award for the best overall Candidate for 2015. Well done James!

The AIMS Mine Surveying Scholarships continue for three years for full-time surveying students.

The AIMS 2016 Mudgee Seminar was held in March and was a great success. The event began with a candidates session held at Club Mudgee, followed by dinner at Roth's Wine Bar on the Friday. The seminar itself was then held on the Saturday.

So you are considering Mine Surveying as a career option, a challenging and rewarding career with great opportunities. The following information is a brief introduction on how to become qualified as a surveyor and progress towards recognition as a Registered or Authorised Mining surveyor.

The survey manning at a typical mine site includes a qualified mining surveyor who in New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia is also required to be Registered/Authorised by the statutory surveying authority in that state (more on that later); An assistant or assistants who may be progressing towards achieving registration/authorisation and a trainee or graduate who is studying or training to later become a mining surveyor. Each position requires a higher level of educational and practical experience.

There are many avenues to commencing a career in mining surveying. Traineeships for school leavers or young relatively inexperienced surveyors, entry level jobs requiring surveying but not necessarily mining experience and Graduate programs offered by many of the larger mining companies. Positions are typically advertised in local, regional and national newspapers and range in locations from major regional centres to remote operations where access is primarily by aircraft (fly in, fly out). Salary packages for surveyors are generally more attractive when compared to non mining disciplines and are dependent upon qualifications, experience and the location of the operation.

STUDYING SURVEYING

Tertiary surveying education often covers a diverse range of surveying specialties however graduates from TAFE collages and Universities who choose mining surveying as a career typically gain mining surveying knowledge from practical exposure at a mine, adapting the techniques learnt from TAFE/university to the mine environment. Although some educational institutions offer mine surveying elective subjects in addition to core mining surveying subject, while others offer well rounded Mine Surveying courses.

Get the latest news about surveying careers, course changes, STEM resources and info on free surveying events on the following website:

•  A Life Without Limits (www.alifewithoutlimits.com.au/)
  
  

Achieving Registration/Authorisation as a Mining Surveyor

Mining takes place in every State and Territory in Australia by open cut and underground mining methods, extracting resources ranging from mineral sands, rock for road base, coal, tin, copper, zinc, gold, uranium and many others. Each state is responsible for regulating the mining which takes place and for setting the standards to which mining must occur. This includes the surveying and drafting standards for mining surveys and for the preparation of mine plans. In New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia, the supervising surveyor at each mine must be assessed as competent to fulfill this role by holding a recognised tertiary qualification, meeting the specified minimum amount of experience in the mining industry, completing project assessments and in some cases, passing written examinations. Successful completion of this process enables the surveyor to be registered/authorised as a Mining Surveyor in that state.

The process for gaining the statutory qualification

Although mining is conducted in every state and territory of Australia, not all states require mining surveyors to have statutory qualifications ie Registration/Authorisation

New South Wales

In New South Wales, mines are required to use a Registered Mining Surveyor to carry out surveys and prepare plans of the mine. The process to become a Registered Mining Surveyor, firstly requires a surveyor to meet a number of criteria including holding an approved educational Qualification (Minimum of 3 year degree), minimum mining surveying experience and pass a number of assessments some of which include the completion of a specified project. These assessments are carried out by the Board of Surveying and Spatial Information (BOSSI) and the successful candidate will be granted a certificate of Competency as either 'unrestricted' for opencut and underground surveying or 'Opencut' for opencut surveying only. Registration of the Surveyor is the final step and is again granted by BOSSI under the Surveying Act 2002, however registration is required to be renewed annually by paying the prescribed fee and meeting the necessary Continuing Professional Development (CPD) requirement.

For further information visit the Board of Surveying and Spatial Information website:

• BOSSI (www.bossi.nsw.gov.au)

Queensland

Queensland has similar requirements to NSW, where individuals are required to obtain a certain level of training and practical assessment of a project they have developed. Surveyors are to register with the Surveyors Board of Queensland (SBQ) as a graduate after completing the course of study (a minimum 3 year university course). After registration as a Graduate Surveyor, the surveyor applies to the SBQ to enter a Competency Training Agreement (CTA), between himself/herself, a supervising surveyor (generally their supervisor at work), and the SBQ. During this CTA (approx. 2 years), the surveyor gathers a portfolio of evidence in the form of Career Episode Reports (CERs), that prove he/she has gained competence in the elements of each unit of the competency framework.

Additionally a Professional Assessment Project (PAP) is required to be submitted to the SBQ for assessment. A PAP is to be decided upon and an application and a project proposal is to be submitted to the Board for approval. Once approval has been granted the Graduate surveyor can start the PAP as detailed in the proposal. Upon completion of the PAP by the Graduate Surveyor the report is submitted to the Board for assessment.
Final assessment is completed through an interview process with the SBQ.

Similarly to NSW, QLD registrations are renewed annually and a fee payable. CPD is not a requirement in QLD but a system of auditing exists whereby 10% of all surveyors are randomly audited each year, are asked to prove that they have maintained experience and knowledge as per the elements identified by the board. This is done so by means of the CERs.

For further information visit the Surveyors Board of Queensland website for more details.

Western Australia

Western Australia requires surveyors who make and draw surveys to be 'Authorised Mine Surveyors' this authority is granted by the Mines Survey Board under the Mines Safety and Inspection Act 1994 to candidates who hold a recognised Degree or Diploma and who have met the mine surveying experience requirements. Authorised Mine Surveyor’s certificates are granted as either Grade 1, allowing surveyors to supervise work in underground and opencut mines or as Grade 2 allowing surveyors to supervise work in open cut mines only.

Further Information on Authorised Mine Surveyors can be found on the Department of Mines and Petroleum website: http://www.dmp.wa.gov.au

WA Central TAFE – Work Based Training Mine Surveying program

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• Courses available

AIMS Scholarship - Curtin University

An annual scholarship at Curtin University is usually offered by AIMS - keep watching this site for details.

WA Mines Survey Board

Details here: http://www.dmp.wa.gov.au/Safety/What-is-the-Mines-Survey-Board-8547.aspx

THE ROLE OF AIMS - The Australian Institute of Mining Surveyors

AIMS is a professional body representing the interests of Mining Surveyors and strives to support each mining surveyor in maintaining their competency by providing opportunities to learn of advances and development in technologies and legislation through seminars, workshops and an annual conference.

AIMS is also involved in providing input into how mining surveying is regulated, through consultation with government and mining industry bodies. AIMS does not however, assess surveyors for professional competence, but provides a representative/s to the panel of examiners in some states.

The NSW Survey & Drafting Directions for Mine Surveyors were gazetted on Friday 2nd October 2015.