Since my last post a few weeks ago, a lot has been happening at KCGM. I've been making good progress on my projects for the Mt. Charlotte 50th anniversary so far and I thankfully haven't had too many struggles. I've definitely been kept on my toes and being at the forefront of organising logisitics, interviews and meetings has kept me busy.
The tours and the DVD I mentioned I was a part of are still underway and are still a major working progress, however things are going well and I felt like I really accomplished something today at work (which sounds like a silly thing to mention, but being on a large mine site, safety is #1 priority and last Friday I spent about 4 hours of my day in meetings and felt like I hadn't achieved much that day!). It has been difficult to get the ball rolling in regards to my projects as certain procedures were absolutely necessary before too much work was commenced, however after today's TBRA and visit to the Eastern Goldfields Historical Society, I definitely have plenty to do in the next couple of days.
One thing I have found interesting - and is something I wouldn't normally get to experience - is how my organisation is responding to the gold price plummet. Some people might have heard of the plummet in the price of gold earlier this year which sent the gold mining industry into dismay. As a result, KCGM has been reviewing budgets, however, this has sent the local media into a frenzy. I've now experienced firsthand how easy it can be to take advantage of these kinds of situations for a story. There have been some, shall we say, not so friendly articles produced over the past couple of weeks, however it's great to see how KCGM is dealing with the negative portrayal of the gold mining industry in general lately (mentions of possible redunancies etc). In addition to community engagement and employee relations, issue management is another topic I've found incredibly interesting during my studies. As budget is currently under review, there are currently no definite yes or no answers so nothing can be confirmed to the media, but whilst there has been a big focus on the low gold price at the moment (it's slowly starting to rise again - yay!) and how significant the impact on mining in WA, it's been relatively good timing as last weekend was the annual KBULG tree-planting day in which KCGM is a major sponsor. In addition to this lovely bit of positive media, KCGM has also had great coverage nation wide thanks to an article which was published in the Sydney Morning Herald earlier this week which reflects the journalist's experience of the Super Pit Tour.
Once again, I'm still enjoying my internship and I really don't want it to end in two weeks. I love it too much!
I'll be back soon with another update and I'll let you know how my projects are coming along.
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