Rio Tinto scoops up at MRAEL awards night

Rio Tinto Coal Australia took out several awards at the annual MRAEL Awards Presentation overnight, including the prestigious Tim Mulherin Perpetual Shield.

Kestrel Mine took home the shield for its apprentice programme, with Tammy Powell winning the Trainee Award for Certificate II, Stuart Tighe winning the 2nd Year Apprentice Award and Alastair Hazlewood winning the Industry Award for Mechanical.

Hail Creek Mine's Janai Giles was named winner of the Individual High Achievement Award. Blair Athol Mine's Michael Ede won the 2nd Year Apprentice Award, while Benjamin Hoch won the High Achiever Award.

Kestrel Mine Extension Integration and Community manager Simon Cupper said Kestrel Mine employs 17 apprentices who are supported by the tradespeople, supervisors and the superintendents they work with everyday.

"This award is to recognise our provision of training to these apprentices, that are spread through the electrical, mechanical and boiler making trades," Mr Cupper said.

Hail Creek Mine general manager operations Andrew Woodley congratulated Ms Giles on her achievement, saying he was not surprised by the outcome of the awards night.

"Janai has certainly honed her administration skills while working with us and taken full advantage of the opportunity to learn from experienced colleagues," Mr Woodley said.

"The traineeships are a great opportunity for personal growth and an important aspect of our focus on capability building."

Ms Giles started working with Hail Creek Mine, Mackay office while completing a certificate two in business administration, and proved so valuable the mine was happy for her to return to do a certificate three.

In her traineeship, Janai completed tasks such as coordinating the Maintenance Services team's contractor induction paperwork, coordinating business travel and processing travel accounts.

Rio Tinto Coal Australia is a firm supporter of training provider MRAEL, with three of its Queensland mines sponsoring award categories. It has also provided more than $93,000 to MRAEL this year through the Blair Athol Mine and Kestrel Mine community development funds.

These are just some of the many ways Rio Tinto Coal Australia is building capacity in the communities surrounding its operations, helping locals improve their career prospects and assisting communities to retain those with skills in areas where there are skills shortages.

Media Enquiries:

Alison Smith
07 3361 4223 / 0438 787 038

Media release - Rio Tinto scoops up at MRAEL awards night [PDF: 18 KB]