Bulk recruitment starts for Dugald River

MMG's Dugald River mine has launched its bulk recruitment with a focus on local employment as the project ramps up towards commissioning in the latter part of 2017. The north-west Queensland zinc operation is expected to employ up to 400 site-based staff when fully operational. Following almost 12 months of construction, the first bulk recruitment campaign for the new mining operation will see more than 40 positions being advertised in areas including maintenance, paste plant operations, process operators, and service crews. MMG Dugald River operations manager Sam Rodda said this was an important milestone for the project and that MMG would continue to advertise positions over the coming months. “These roles are essential to the next step of our operations and will support bringing the newly constructed mine infrastructure online,” Mr Rodda said. Dugald River’s employment strategy has focused on ensuring local talent from the Cloncurry and Mount Isa region, where there is a significant pool of potential candidates with experience in the mining sector, have the opportunity to apply for and be considered for roles at the Dugald River mine. Where candidates already reside in the Cloncurry or Mount Isa region and their skills and experience determine that they are the preferred candidate for the role then they will be appointed on the basis that it is MMG’s preference to recruit from the local communities. However, where candidates are not available locally and the preferred candidates indicate they are unwilling to relocate to Cloncurry or Mount Isa, MMG’s preferred FIFO base for the Dugald River mine will be Townsville. “MMG’s preference is to recruit local personnel from Cloncurry and Mount Isa, with Townsville identified as the FIFO commute base for additional workforce requirements,” Mr Rodda Said. “MMG has maintained ongoing engagement with local councils and peak industry bodies in Cloncurry, Mount Isa, and Townsville during the development of our recruitment and employment strategy which has focussed on attracting the best possible talent to the operation. “The demonstrated capacity of these communities and the strong advocacy by their representatives supports our preference for local recruitment, with support from a well-regarded mining hub in Townsville.” Mount Isa Mayor Joyce McCulloch described the Dugald River recruitment as a major step forward on the road to economic recovery for Mount Isa and the North West Mineral province. “Mount Isa welcomes the ongoing investment in our community, our area, and our people and we look forward to continuing to build and strengthen our relationship with MMG,” Cr McCulloch said. Townsville Enterprise chief executive officer Patricia O'Callaghan said that the region’s leaders have been putting a strong case forward to secure this FIFO opportunity for Townsville North Queensland. “Townsville has a proud history as one of Australia’s prime FIFO hubs and MMG’s announcement is welcome news for jobs, business and overall confidence. We look forward to working with the company on this exciting project,” Mrs O'Callaghan said. The first recruitment campaign for MMG Dugald River will be advertised on www.mmg.com/careers and www.seek.com.au Dugald River is positioned to be within the world’s top 10 zinc mines when operational, with an expected mine life of about 25 years. The optimised mine plan will support a 1.7 Mtpa operation with annual production of about 170,000 tonnes of zinc in zinc concentrate, plus by-products.

Bulk recruitment starts for Dugald River

Industry Queensland

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