August 2008

Employee profile - Tim Oliphant

A career in mining has its perks, just ask Clermont Mine Superintendent Mine Planning Tim Oliphant, whose work with Rio Tinto saw him spend two years in California.

Originally from Kingaroy in Queensland, Tim's first encounter with Rio Tinto Coal Australia was through vacation work at Tarong Mine while studying at The University of Queensland.

From there, Tim landed a job as a Graduate Mining Engineer at Blair Athol Mine.

"Blair Athol gave me broad exposure to the industry, as I worked as an equipment operator, supervised a dragline crew and worked as a mining engineer in short term mine planning and drill and blast," Tim said.

He then spent 18 months at Hunter Valley Operations as a production engineer before the US beckoned, where Tim began working as a medium term mine planner with Rio Tinto Minerals (formerly US Borax) in California.

"Working there was a great opportunity from both a work and a personal standpoint," Tim said.

"It was interesting to be involved in an operation that deals with such a rare type of mineral (borate) and I got some excellent experience in mine planning.

"I was also working with a multinational team, including two Aussies, a Dutchman, an Argentinean, a Canadian and a few Americans from across the country."

Living just an hour and a half from Los Angeles, Tim and his wife Julie enjoyed being close to the beach and made the most of the chance to travel.

"While we were based in the US we went to Hawaii, New York and the New England area, Canada and the Rockies and travelled around California.

"I also visited the old Luzenac talc site in Vermont, the Iron Ore Company of Canada in Labrador and Bingham Canyon outside Salt Lake City."

In September 2007, Tim returned to Australia and has been working at the new Clermont Mine as a Mine Planning Superintendent.

"The best thing about working at Clermont Mine is the people. Everyone is enthusiastic and keen to get the job done and helps each other out wherever they can," Tim said.

"It's certainly been a learning curve for all of us and a unique chance to experience a project from the start."

When he's not on site, Tim's four month old daughter, Maggie keeps him and Julie busy.

"We moved to Clermont eight days after Maggie was born. She certainly keeps us on our toes," Tim said.

ON THE SPOT

• Name? Tim Oliphant
• What does your job entail? A member of a team that provides direction and assistance to the mining operation using the technical information we have at hand.
• What do you do for fun? Try to get my daughter to laugh and smile as much as possible.
• What movie/cartoon character are you most like and why? Gil Grissom from CSI - a deep thinker with a quirky side.
• What is one interesting thing about you your colleagues don't know? I became a mining engineer after I failed the coordination test to become a fighter pilot.