Careers Day
It's August - well into the second half of the year. We are making plans for next year and for some of us there are big decisions to be made that may affect the next few years or even the rest of our lives.
In schools everywhere senior students are seeking guidance about career paths and training providers. Often, with little or no experience in the workplace, it is difficult for some students to gain an understanding of what actually happens in places like maintenance or engineering workshops, supply warehouses or even clerical offices.
Help is at hand. Students in Years 11, 12 and 13 and careers advisory staff from six secondary schools in the region have been invited to visit Newmont Waihi Gold's operations and get a first hand look at a range of work areas and some of the diverse careers that make up the workforce. Newmont's Careers Day 2007 is to be held during the first week in September.
Participants will be taken on a site tour and then will be involved in short seminar-type presentations given by mine staff from various different departments or career disciplines. Students who wish to find out more about a particular field of interest or a specific occupation will then have the opportunity to spend further time on site on another day to work alongside someone in that area.
Waihi College senior students have participated in an annual Careers Day at the mine for several years now. This year the invitation has been extended to other schools in the area as well. The format of the day has been revised to give the students more of an overview of the range of careers available and then allow them to hone in on an area of interest.
It is not only students who benefit from participating in this event. Newmont Waihi Gold has signed on apprentices and summer vacation students as a result of interest sparked at previous careers days. Newmont Waihi Gold's senior maintenance supervisor, Bruce Schollum says that these students are more motivated and show a better understanding of workplace practices as a result of the previous knowledge they have gained.
'We have actively encouraged local students to take up careers with Newmont. The Careers Day is an excellent medium to raise awareness of what is available to them. And they are not restricted to this area. The skills they learn can be applied at other Newmont sites or in a range of other industries.'
Welding at NWG's maintenance workshop:
Supervisor Bruce Schollum with apprentices James Petich (left) and Nick Tarver (right).
And yet another move is about to happen...
Work has been progressing well at the new Waihi Visitor Centre at the top of Seddon Street, opposite the Cornish Pumphouse.
The new centre features a copycat facade over the entranceway imitating the profile of the pumphouse. Waihi Information Centre volunteers and staff are keen to start the shift into the new building and they expect to be operating from there before the end of August. They will occupy the area at street level and the move provides a great opportunity to further enhance the visitor experience.
Offices for GO Waihi and Vision Waihi Trust will be housed in the lower level in the new building. These offices can be reached by a short flight of stairs from the information centre area and wheelchair access will also be available from Mueller Street through the rear of the building.
Sharing the lower level will be a new Newmont Waihi Gold visitor centre. This will take the place of the Golden Legacy Centre that is currently situated near the western viewing platform at Moresby Avenue/Savage Road. This new centre is moving here to be close to the pumphouse, the pit rim walkway and the open pit. In addition, it will enable Newmont personnel to work more closely with Waihi Information Centre, GO Waihi and Vision Waihi Trust. Fresh interactive displays and exhibitions are being designed and assembled to help to tell the story of the life of the mine in Waihi. Staff are looking forward to working at this location later this year.
