A father and son are among the indigenous families to have joined Rio Tinto’s Kestrel mine in Queensland.

Malcolm Brown and his son Brody Cochrane joined the mine as the operation works to increase its indigenous workforce.

Malcolm has completed a warehouse traineeship and currently works at the mine in supply and logistics. Brody isn’t far behind him, having started a surveyor traineeship earlier this year.

“It’s a good feeling to know that dad is around to ask questions or get advice from if I need to,” Brody said.

“Prior to this I was working at a hospital but I didn’t see it as a long-term career. After talking to dad I decided to apply for this traineeship.

“Since securing the role, I haven’t looked back. I like working in a challenging and diverse environment and I currently get to work both underground and on the surface.

“My underground role involves me helping put the pins in the roof to direct the continuous miner so it runs in a straight line.

“On the surface I help with digging permits and making sure that we avoid water pipes or other bits of infrastructure.”

Malcolm said he was proud to be working alongside his son.

“Like my son, I had no mining experience prior to securing my traineeship,” he said.

“It’s not only been a great career move, but coming to (the town of) Emerald has allowed me to reconnect with my cultural heritage,” he said. “I was born in Cherbourg and grew up in Mundubbera, so I never really asked my parents about our Western Kangoulu (indigenous) history.

“However, since moving to Emerald and working for the mine I’ve really taken an interest in learning more about my ancestors, which has been a great journey.”

The Western Kangoulu people, the traditional occupiers of the area around Kestrel mine, have welcomed the continuing relationship with Rio Tinto.

Western Kangoulu elder and spokesman Patrick Malone said: “I’m pleased that our agreement and relationship with Kestrel mine is supporting an increase in indigenous training and employment opportunities at the site.

“It’s great to see these career pathways offered to indigenous people, particularly members of our own traditional owners group.

“Through our relationship, the site has also attracted a number of indigenous families as workers, which is a positive outcome. This will assist these families in taking up full advantage of economic and social opportunities in the region and help build the capacity of the local indigenous community.”

Kestrel mine general manager operations John Coughlan said the growth in indigenous employment contributed to Rio Tinto’s reconciliation action plan target of 5% indigenous employment across all of Rio Tinto Coal Australia’s operations.

“It’s great to see employees’ relatives being encouraged to consider mining pathways with us and we will continue to work hard to encourage more of this in the future,” he said.

“This is particularly important as we gain opportunities through our mine extension plan, which will extend the life of Kestrel mine by 20 years and increase capacity to 5.7 million tonnes per annum.”

This article first appeared in the December issue of Australia’s Mining Monthly magazine.