WEEKEND AT PAP'S

People from mining rival BHP have been coming to site over the last few years, big talk that they were going to buy it.

Part of Nicole's job involves registering these guys to site when they visit, so she knows who they work for and what they do etc. They were BHP CEOS and their financial people etc.

They last came to site only a few months ago, perhaps they made their decision not to purchase the business.

In our meeting with our CEO the other day, he said basically there is nothing left to sell which is why no one wants it lol

We used to be a 6M ton mine, then we slowed down to 5M tons, then 4M tons and now we are at around 1M ton mine. That means we pull 1M gross tons of dirt out from underground and we make 100,000 metal tons out of all that.

100,000 metal tons x US $8000 per ton still makes a lot of money, but not enough to keep us going apparently lol. You can only imagine how much money they were making when we were extracting 6M tons of dirt out of the ground, copper prices have been around US $7000+ a ton for the last 10+ years. Billions and billions of dollars annually over the last 20 years I have been there.

We don't pull as much dirt out of the ground like we used to, we all knew that. But this also doesn't mean that a smaller mining company still can't come in and buy the place for cheap as they are happy to dig out 1M tons of dirt annually and make a smaller profit if you know what I mean.

BHP and RIO are big players, they wouldn't want a small underground mine like us, but there might be someone out there that does. So we will see what happens, but unlikely at this point IMO.

 

If Greg dips into his Super, he should be able to buy it I reckon.

 

The good old days! My Dad worked 43 years underground and loved every minute of it.

 

Almost time...............almost time to move on.

 

Hey mate,

Around 12 months ago there was a mass exodus on my crew.

4 fellas left and went across town to work for a CAT dealership, Hastings Deering for nearly $20K pa more and day shifts only.

I almost went with them lol, they were my 4x best men .

They are still working there and they love it.

At that same time, there was around 12 other blokes that left all the other crews also. More money elsewhere, FIFO etc.

They went to contracting companies, then returned to the same role getting paid the same money, but FIFO from the coast with free flights and accommodation etc lol

I don't want to do that just yet, my kids are young and I love seeing them every day as I have mentioned a million times as they will be grown up and out of home before I know it and I will miss them.

I said to my left over guys and the guys that left, we are still all good mates. I should start up my own contracting company and put them all on, because I know they are the best and I know what they can do.

These guys that work under me are the best! All in their late 20's and 30's, but myself and some of the older tradesmen have taught them well and they are killing it and can make A LOT more money that what they are making now.

So, I thought maybe I should start my own business, recruit these guys and FIFO them from wherever they want to live and pay them $100 p/h. The most I have seen contractors being paid for a Diesel Fitter/Auto-Electrician/Boilermaker is $85 p/h.

These guys are worth that money all day, so if I FIFO, pay them $100 p/h plus holidays, super, sick leave, flights, accom etc, I can still make money off them for the labour rate they charge on site. We pay the low end contracting companies $140 p/h for the new starters whom are called "trade ups", mechanics just learning the mining game. We pay Sandvik, Hastings and other companies $160 to $180 p/h for their guys onsite.

So if Pappy pays his good hard men $100 p/h and bills them out at $160 p/h, there is some money to be made. We worked it out all a few times already.

Another fella used to work for us, an Auto-Electrician left us and started his own business doing the same. He has around 10 people working for him now and he doesn't do anything now but take his $300K boat fishing in Cairns and takes trips to Bali lol

He's only 30 years old and took a chance on it, started with himself working, then put on another Auto-Elect, then diesel fitters, boilermakers etc, so he's doing OK.

Another diesel fitter that used to work for me, Steven his name was, mad little fella. He moved up to the Tablelands, North QLD because his Father-in-law got cancer and his Wife wanted to spend time with her Dad. He left us, moved there, worked for some dealership working on farming equipment.

When his Father-in-law passed away two years ago, Steven applied for some licences, started his own business and he called me to tell me he has 4 people working for him and wants to come back out here contracting his men out. They are all diesel fitters.

So it's doable, I just need to see if it's worth the effort now at my age to bother with it, or do I just work another 10 more years or less in the game and retire and live off my investments and do **** all lol, stress free lol

Here is the king of what I am talking about, Luke Mader. Read his story, I think everyone wants to follow in his foot steps and I think with the team of friends that I know we can do the same.

This is the story of how what started with one man, grew into a group of mates - MiningMonthly.com

 

That's last resort lol lol lol

 

I reckon that sounds like a good idea!

Malaka Motori working out of Sydney.

 

Holy **** mate, you jinxed me!

Woke up at 3am this morning to a strange noise outside, had a quick look and some of the voice voters stole my Wife's Prado and my Hilux.

My front fence is like fort knox with an electric garage panel lift door.

They jumped the 7ft fence, tore the security screen, reached inside and unlocked it, then they use Stilson's on the round door knob and they twist it and it breaks, letting them in.

I purposely leave my car keys inside the front door on a little table, because if these little ****s break in I would rather they take the keys and steal the cars and run, rather than walk around my house looking for them. Wife's work mate said they broke into her house and snuck into her bedroom and took car keys beside her bedside table only a few weeks ago. Bugger that, I've left my keys in the same spot for the 20 years I have been living here and never had a problem until now.

My wallet, Ferrari key and garage remote all there also, but they only took Hilux and Prado keys the maggots. They wouldn't know how to open the Ferrari door anyway the dogs. They also used the emergency release pull tab on the panel lift door to get out. They are smart, they normally push cars out onto the road and don't use garage remotes etc because it wakes the owners up. I only heard my Hilux start up out front which got my attention. Prado and Ferrari are around 4m away from my bedroom window under the carport. I got up and looked out saw Prado gone and garage door was up. All happens so quickly.

Lucky both cars were running on empty, so they had a short joy ride around town before cops spiked the tyres on both cars and they stopped and ran. Cops gave chase but didn't catch them of course. If these guys had full tanks of juice in my cars then they would driven around for days as they have done so in the past. Cops have only been spiking the tyres in the last 6 months or less.

Now the **** part, i've been up since 3am and only just finished changing front and rear door knobs to dead bolts, fit window locks etc. New garage remotes programmed and now I have to make an insurance claim on one car.

The Hilux is all good, keys still in it, front 2x tyres blown, but they were 90% worn anyway and I have a brand new set of 2023 SR5 Hilux rims and tyres to fit which I was going to do next week or the week after when I have time. I have to pay $390 for the tow fee, but the insurance excess is $600 so it's best to just pay the tow fee of $390. I am not really out of pocket with the 2x front tyres as I was going to fit the wheels and tyres soon anyway.

I will fit the spare Hilux tyres I have onto the front to get it going as I need those SR5 rims to go straight onto the Prado. They left my $1000 Blackvue Camera intact on the Hilux also which was good, but I saw one of my Nike shoes in the back floor also.

The Prado didn't fair as well. They bumped the front bar and damaged it, will need new front bar with paint. They kept the garage remote and key FOB, which is the worst part. They may as well toss that garage remote as it won't work, but they have that key which will start the car. All I can do is remove the start relay every night here at home until I get new keys programmed. I've already contacted the dealer and they are ordering a new key now, they can re-use my new spare key I have here, just re-program it.

Prado needs 4x new tyres, they were only 10,000 kms old the dogs! So I will order 4x new Dunlop Grandtrek tyres again for it and my $1000 Blackvue dash came was torn off the windscreen as well and it's long gone. They even opened the sunroof the dogs! They also left a phone behind on the back passenger floor, battery is flat and I left it there for the Cops, but wouldn't mind going to get it to see what I can see. It's probably stolen also but.

Shannons will charge me a $600 excess for the Prado, so in total with my $600 excess claim, my $390 Hilux tow fee, my $400 in door locks I purchased from the locksmith this morning, I will be around $1500 out of pocket the dogs.

Shannons will cover $1200 for tyres, $1000+ for Blackvue Camera, $1500+ for front bar and paint, $1000 for key programming, $390 for tow fee. $5000 worth of claim for 1hr of joy riding around. What a crock!!

The Cops told me they know who it is, they just got out of Juvie and they are back in town now since last Thursday as these kids are the only ones that go around using stilsons to twist and break door knobs to break into homes. Cops dusted house for prints, nothing. They are dusting for prints on both cars now and I have to go down and fit those wheels on them when they are done so I can get my cars back.

I have the "free rental car" option with my Shannons, but I don't like to waste more money than needed with insurance as I have access to friends with multiple cars and currently a mate is loaning me his eldest daughters 2020 Toyota Corolla and I grabbed my mates 2012 Holden Barina for myself for the day or tow. Plenty of other cars available if I need them over the next few days, but I should have my cars back today and I will borrow my mates car again when the front bumper is going to be get fitted and painted in the next few months.

HUGE pain the backside, but again I am glad they never came in and attacked myself, Mrs or kids, so it's all good.

Poncho was inside the house sleeping in the lounge room when this happened and I am glad she was as who knows what these ****s may have done to her. They could have bashed her on the head with those stilsons, so I am glad she is safe and happy also.

I have always had Oscar and Poncho outside barking at anyone and at any noise through the middle of the night, they possibly know now there is no dog in the yard here so they will come back for sure. I need to find a big mean dog asap to leave it out front so if they come back they will run quick smart the ****s.

20 years and I've never had a problem, but I've had dogs here the last 15 years of that time. I have to ride it out as I don't want to get another dog until we purchase a house in Mackay.