OceanaGold welcomes the opportunity to work with students at our mining operations and in 2019, interns from the University of Queensland Mining School joined our teams at the Macraes and Waihi Operations, and in the Brisbane Projects Office to undertake our internship program. While providing the students with an opportunity to apply their knowledge in a practical setting, we also benefit from the presence of these budding mining engineers, gaining lots of fresh ideas and perspectives.
Dylan Grbavac was the first intern to join our Brisbane Projects Office. At the time he was undertaking the internship, Dylan was in his third year, studying a Bachelor of Engineering (honours) with a major in Chemical Engineering, as well as a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry. He is expecting to graduate in 2021.
Dylan’s dream career is being a chartered process engineer, and designing and optimising processes from the mining and petrochemical industries.
“OceanaGold offered an internship in the closest form to my dream career and it was initially coupled with the potential for work in New Zealand”, Dylan said.
“This internship was great for industry experience and exposure to the work that I want to do once I graduate. I got first-hand experience around what the project execution team in the mining industry does on a day-to-day basis.”
“I gained more practical skills in a few days than I have throughout any semester of study. My favourite aspect is seeing how the different engineering disciplines work together within a singular team”.
Dylan’s supervisor Marc Reid is Project Manager in the Project Execution Group in Brisbane. He has more than 29 years of experience in the mining industry, so Dylan was in expert hands to learn about the industry.
Marc said the internship program was important for students looking at potential careers in mining because it provided them with a first-hand look at the type of work they could expect to undertake after graduation. “It lets them know whether this is really the career path they want to take,” Marc said.
The program is also a good ‘trial employment period’ and allows both parties to see if they would be a good fit for each other. This can provide savings in recruitment costs and effort by pre-recruiting and pre-training potential employees.
“The program provides a competitive advantage for the company, by securing some of the best young talent before they hit the ‘open market’,” Marc said. “The interns are also always seen as a welcome helping hand”.
After the completion of his internship, Dylan was offered a part-time position working in the Brisbane Projects team one day a week while he completes his studies.
