Michael Short

How did you get your start in the mineral industry?

I was working with an engineering firm whose area was "design and construction of industrial facilities" and they assigned me to work on an expansion project at a Zn-Pb-Cu mineral processing plant on the West Coast of Tasmania.

What advice would you give to someone who is considering a career in the mineral industry?

For engineers like me, get "involved" at the work face, take on the hard jobs out at the mine sites, work hard and smart, think for yourself about solutions to problems, change employer every 3 years to experience the change and locations away from home country. After Bachelor's degree, undertake a technical Master's degree (or two) and not an MBA until much later. Private studies - technical magazines, books, conferences (especially PDAC!), learn useful foreign languages (French, Spanish, Russian); make the brain work. Make many friends - in this industry you will be dealing with the same people you meet now in 40 years' time. I am.