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The Low-Down On Finding Work In Australia For Mechanical Engineering Graduates

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engineering jobs australia

An extremely diverse field, mechanical engineering includes the design, management, construction, maintenance, organisation and operation of mechanical equipment and machinery. In the past five years, the demand for mechanical engineers has increased greatly and there has been a considerable growth in employment. The primary job of mechanical engineers is designing and building large-scale mechanical and industrial processing plants and facilities. Additionally, they take on administrative tasks such as ensuring the smooth and efficient running of programs and drawing up budgets. So, how can you find a mechanical engineering job in Australia? Let’s take a look.

Statistics show that mechanical engineers in Australia are able to find a job within four months of graduating. Moreover, the average starting salary of mechanical engineers in Australia is between $55000 and $60,000 per year. The states where mechanical engineering graduates find a job easily include Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. While finding a mechanical engineering job in Australia is not that difficult, you need to follow certain steps to guarantee employment and build a mechanical engineering career.

Contrary to the popular belief, being good at maths and science isn’t sufficient to find a job in mechanical engineering or build a career in it. If you are a recent mechanical engineering graduate then there are certain things you need to do to find a job and advance your career. Here are some tips you can follow to find a mechanical engineering job in Australia and take your career to the next level.

Look for graduate programs

Want to get your career off to a flying start? If yes then look for and try to get into a graduate training program. Offered by a number of companies today, mechanical engineering graduate programs are the perfect way to start your career. The duration of these programs is one to two years and you can apply for them by visiting job boards or attending university career expos. Also, a good resource for graduates is the Engineers Australia website.

Think outside of the box

While you went to university to study mechanical engineering, you should be ready and willing to take on job responsibilities that aren’t your forte. Knowledge of certain software and electronic components is an unstated prerequisite for landing a mechanical engineering job today. For this reason, you should find out about and learn the basics of disciplines related to mechanical engineering.

Stay in touch with your Alma matter

Your Alma matter i.e. the university you attended can help you to increase your networking reach and find a ‘decent-paying’ job. Therefore, keeping in touch with the faculty and staff at your university even after you graduate is important.

Finding a mechanical engineering job in Australia is easy but only if you follow the steps that guarantee employment. By following the aforementioned tips, you’ll be able to find a mechanical engineering job in Australia and take your career to the next level.

Are the wealthy taking over Australia ?

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Australia is losing its “fair go” culture  and is under threat  from a elite and rich group of wealthy business people – including Andrew forest, Gina Rinehart and Clive Palmer – who are using their riches  to undermine good Policy and threaten our democracy –says Treasurer Wayne Swan . Mr swan has steered most businesses in Australia through the GFC with much less impact  than has been felt throughout other economies.

wealthy oppose tax Mr wayne swan speech

Image Reference: The Monthly – Full Article 

Mr Swan said Australians should be concerned  about the excessive and increasing power of vested interests  with power and wealth to back up their agenda to their own benefit.

This was evident  when major Mining companies said they were cutting down expansions and staff due to the Mining tax  and GFC and other factors, but soon as the Rudd led cabinet was shafted in favour of  Julia Gillard  they went ahead with their million dollar project expansions.

There was bitterness after the mineral  resource rent tax  and carbon price was introduced  with the purses of  the wealthy being hit. The big miners Invested millions of dollars in opposing  these taxes and policies by advertising in TV and print media  , saying it would hit the common man in Australia. It is unusual that this direct method was used by the wealthy corporations rather than politicians being influenced and lobbying being done which is often the case at times.

Mr swan has urged Politicians to cater to and look after the common mans benefit , and supporting the workers rather than succumbing to the lobbying of the wealthy  and  to give Australia  the sense of fairness and decency it deserves.

The government is said to be in the midst of considering a report on media law reform. This could be the result of Gina Rinehart  taking a large shareholding in The seven news media network , making her even more powerful which could be a cause for concern for many only not only  within the media industry but also outside  the media industry.

Radio , TV and Newspapers due to the power they wield have often have been claimed to support and make and break governments in other countries , deciding on who they decide to favour.

Mr swan goes on to write that  the mining campaigns brought out by the wealthy people against the tax damaged  the government , brought on instability and resulted in prime minister Mr Rudd being toppled. With this proposed Mining tax not going through, the government will be short of $110 Billion to use towards taxpayers benefit.

Mr swan said "It is the tiny 1 precent, or even 0.1 per cent (you know who they are) who are trying to drown out the others, who are blind to the national interest and pour their considerable personal fortune into advertising ,armies of lobbyist, dodgy modelling,and corporate and commercial manoeuvring designed to influence editorial decisions.

Coal prices set to soar with australian and african floods and rains

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Coal Flooding News: As the australian floods  and devastation news in the eastern states hits the world news all over , another  event  in africa is adding to the pain of coal importing countries. To add to the coal export worries in australia, now africa  us having heavy rains impairing thier  coal exports as well.

This chain of event can mean only one thing  higher coal prices  due to this shortage in coal in australia and africa  which are one of teh bigger coal exporting countries. China and INDIA  which  have substantial coal imports from these countries will certainly be affected , even though china has its own coal producing mines.

africa coal exports australia

Three big coal miners BHP Billiton Ltd., Xstrata Plc and Anglo American Plc, already facing delays in coal shipments from flooding in Australia, said their South African operations are also being hit by unusually high rainfall.

South Africa  Heavy rains effect coal exports

South Africa raised the flood-warning level for its central Orange River area today as water levels in places were expected to reach the highest since 1996. The country’s biggest dam, Gariepdam, is at 113 percent of “full” levels and the second- biggest, Vanderkloof, is 107 percent full, according to figures on the website of the government’s water department.

Coal for delivery to Amsterdam, Rotterdam or Antwerp with settlement next year rose $2.85, or 2.4 percent, to $119.75 a metric ton at 12:28 p.m. in London. Prices rose as high as $120 earlier yesterday.

Australia Flooding effects coal exports

One of Queensland’s largest coal terminals has stopped exports and the largest in the state is at just 60 per cent capacity, ripping nearly two million tonnes of coal a week from the global supply. About 40 mines in Queensland have been affected by flooding and several have said they cannot meet their contracts.

Australia’s coal exports will probably take a few months to recover after the floods, Barclays Capital said in a report. That means further upward pressure on prices in the near term, Barclays analyst Yingxi Yu said in a report e-mailed today.

Potash Mining and Australia

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Is potash the next big mining commodity in Australia ?

Potash is a group of potassium minerals (oxides, chlorides, sulphates, nitrates and carbonates) used for fertilizer production with the most commonly extracted being potassium chloride salts deposited as sedimentary salt beds formed by the evaporation of ancient seas.

BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s largest mining company, said in recent days it agreed to acquire Athabasca Potash Inc. for about C$341 million ($322 million) to add to assets in Canada containing the crop nutrient potash.

Australian potash mining

Potash is far from the most glamorous product of the global mining industry, it is  however, one of the most important commodities mining provides to the world.

Mining  Growth in Australian & Global potash sector

Athabasca has one of the largest potash exploration permit areas in the so-called Saskatchewan basin, covering approximately 6,900 square kilometres (2,664 square miles), BHP said in a separate statement.

 

The Athabasca deal will give BHP access to a total exploration area of more than 14,000 square kilometres in the so-called Saskatchewan potash basin, BHP said. Saskatchewan represents approximately one-third of the world’s potash production capacity and has approximately 53% of global potash reserves. It is big business. Potash Corp of Saskatchewan is worth more than Barrick Gold – the market caps are $US39 billion and $US33 billion respectively.

Potash is the common name for potassium carbonate and various mined and manufactured salts that contain the element potassium in water-soluble form. In some rare cases, potash can be formed with traces of organic materials such as plant remains.

minerals and commodity miningpotaqsh

POTASH TECHNICAL INFO

The main potash mineral of potential economic interest on the Colorado project is sylvite – a high-potassium chloride salt (KCl) containing 63% potassium (K2O) by weight.  Sylvite is water soluble and the most favoured salt mineral for potash solution mining.

The sylvite-bearing rock is called sylvinite and typically contains about 10-50% sylvite mixed with halite, minor shale beds and other salts.  The main saleable product after mining and processing of the sylvinite is muriate of potassium (MOP) a sylvite and halite mix containing greater than 95% sylvite.

 

Potash and mining in australia

Potash is a source of potassium which, in fertilisers, raises yields and disease resistance for plants. The potash price has doubled in the past three years. Potash production rates are related to demand projections whilst salt output is roughly determined by the development required to achieve the potash target.

Potash is a general term covering several types of potassium salts, of which the most important is potassium chloride, the mineral sylvite.

Potash is a nutrient essential for plant growth, and is a cornerstone of modern agricultural fertilizers. Roughly 95 per cent of world potash production goes into fertilizer, while the other five per cent is used in commercial and industrial products – everything from soap to television tubes.

 

It is well-known that Australian soils are low in phosphorus. What is not so well-known is that many of our soils are also low in potassium. As a result, the animal manures that we increasingly use on our gardens in place of chemical fertilizers are also low in potassium. This has led to an increase in the incidence of plant diseases.

Australia now imports all its potash, but Reward is hoping to fill a large part of that demand. There’s just that native title barrier and, of course, further drilling before Reward can cross the production bridge. Although potash could never be described as a fungicide, its correct use can certainly minimize diseases such as blackspot, rust and powdery mildew. These appear most visibly on the leaves and fruit of affected plants, but can affect any part.

In 2005, these three emerging countries (China, India and Brazil ) consumed just 42% of the level of potash scientifically recommended for them. Now these three countries, “require a combined 25-million more potash tons annually to meet scientifically recommended application levels.”  On existing farmland, China should increase its potash consumption by more than 100%, while India should increase its consumption by more than 6-million tons, and Brazil by 5-million tons, annually.

The top producing country is Canada, followed by Russia, Belarus, Germany, and the US, while other important potash producers are Israel, Jordan, Brazil, and China.

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In fact, there are just 13 global competitors in the sector. They are (from biggest to smallest): Potash Corporation (PotashCorp) of Canada, Belaruskali (Belarus), Mosaic (Canada, US), Silvinit (Russia), Uralkali (Russia), ICL (Israel, Spain, UK), Kali+Salz (Germany), Sinofert (China), APC (Jordan), Agrium (Canada), Intrepid (US), Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (Brazil), and SQM (Chile).

DRILLING FOR POTASH

Solution mining costs are directly related to drilling cost and the quantity of potash produced from each well.  A variety of production well configurations for solution mining are available dependent upon the geology of the deposit.  Most solution mining has involved extracting potash-bearing solutions from flooded underground mines or used well designs which access the potash with vertical drill holes (technique recommended for the Colorado Potash Project).

These extraction techniques are the lowest cost solution mining operations and enable large tonnages to be mined.  With improved controlled drilling methods horizontal well designs are being employed that enable thinner, high-grade beds to be cost effectively extracted but these are generally higher cost, lower tonnage operations compared to the vertical well configurations.

And, it must be noted, PotashCorp holds 32% of SQM, 28% of APC, 22% of Sinofert, and 11% of ICL. All told, PotashCorp controls 22% of global potash capacity. The first ten of the companies listed above jointly hold more than 95% of global capacity

Other potash projects

Caldera Resources In

(Caldera is engaged in diamond exploration in Australia. Three projects are located in the Pilbara region of northern Western Australia, one of which is joint ventured with Mr. Ronald Winston. The Company also has one project located adjacent to the Ellendale Lamproite Field in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Caldera also has three base metal/gold projects in South Australia.)

 

Potasio Rio Colorado (PRC) potash project in Argentina

AusPotash

Aus Potash is now a wholly owned subsidiary Sirius Exploration Plc. For further information, please go to: www.siriusexploration.com …
www.auspotash.com

Corumbá iron ore mine in Brazil

Passport Metals Inc

Talon Metals Corp

Sainik Coal Mining Pvt. Ltd., an India Company

Asia Pacific Potash Corporation’s Udon Potash Project in north-eastern Thailand

Australian Potash Company Pty Ltd

( Carnarvon Basin Project, an exploration property covering approximately 4,280 square kilometers of prospective potash horizons in an extensive evaporate basin known as the Southern Carnarvon Basin in Western Australia. Previous drilling, consisting of three widely spaced oil and gas wells over a distance of 25 kilometers, has indicated the potential for significant potash and other sodium and magnesium salts)

Boulby Potash Mine, United Kingdom

In the 1960s, with fertiliser demand growing and the UK reliant on imported potash, ICI decided to develop reserves 40km from its Cleveland facilities in north-east England. The 200ha mine site is at Boulby, half-way between the Tees estuary and the port of Whitby. The design capacity is now over 1.0Mt/y of potassium chloride (KCl) product, sufficient to maintain a 55% UK market share and substantial export sales

Fertilizers Related to potash which could see some interest at some stage :
Nitrogen (urea, ammonium nitrate, ammonium sulphate), phosphate fertilizers (superphospahte, dap, map) ,potassium (muriate of potash, sulfate of potash) , compound fertilizers (npk granulated, bulk blended)