Ellie Hawkins announced as finalist for NSW Mining Awards
Ellie Hawkins announced as finalist for NSW Mining Awards
Ellie Hawkins, Scheduling Engineer at CMOC-Northparkes Mines (Northparkes), has been named as a finalist at the upcoming NSW Mining Industry and Suppliers Awards. Ellie is a finalist in the “NSW Mining Young Achiever of the Year” category. “I started my career at Northparkes in 2017 as a Graduate Mining Engineer. It was the transition that a ‘country kid’ needed after four years in Wollongong, allowing me to pursue my profession in the bush.
“In my first year, I completed time working underground on crew, as the only female member. This practical learning component of my program provided me with the confidence to commence a business case into wireless blasting technology and the practical component for the NSW Mining Engineering Manager competency,” said Ellie.
Within her first 12 months at Northparkes, Ellie transitioned from being a Graduate Mining Engineer to a Drill and Blast Engineer with a concurrent role as Project Team Leader for the Wireless Detonation Trial. “This was an extremely challenging role but very rewarding, with the successful trial and full implementation achieved within one year of commencement,” said Ellie.
Ellie was promoted to Scheduling Engineer in mid-2019. “Whilst working full time at Northparkes, I am also completing a Master of Research at the University Wollongong on the blast optimisation of the drill and blast practices of the E26 Sub Level Cave (SLC) at Northparkes,”
Ellie is also an active member of the Northparkes Emergency Response Team (ERT). “I am a trained responder with skills ranging from road crash rescue, compartment fire and underground search and rescue. I have found the leadership style required is situational, which can be difficult particularly having developed a democratic leadership style,” said Ellie.
In 2019, Ellie competed with the Northparkes ERT competition team at the Victorian Mine Rescue Competition, where the team was announced as the overall winners of the competition.
Ellie has big plans for the future – “I plan to continue being innovative by implementing technological improvements. The continuation of innovation in mining will retain the industry’s importance in the world,” added Ellie.
The winners will be announced at a dinner and ceremony held at NSW Parliament House in Sydney on Thursday 2 April. Hubert Lehman, Northparkes Managing Director, said, “Congratulations Ellie on your nomination – we are extremely proud of you and we wish you all the best”.
About CMOC-Northparkes Mines
Northparkes is a copper and gold mine located 27 kilometres north-west of Parkes, in the Central West of New South Wales, Australia. Since 1993 Northparkes has been celebrated for our high-quality copper deposits, low cost operations and loyal, committed people. Northparkes is a joint venture between China Molybdenum Co., Ltd (CMOC) (80%) and the Sumitomo Groups (20%).
ENDS
Media enquiries:
Ali Standen
Northparkes Mines
02 6861 3621
