STORY BY GEOFF VIVIAN, PICTURES SUPPLIED

From The Koori Mail

It is a quarter to five in a Pilbara mining camp. Jerry Frewen drags himself out of bed and grabs a quick shower. It is an hour before dawn. He likes to be at his desk before the day shift arrives, so he doesn’t stay long in the small single-men’s quarters. He is grinning because it is the eighth day in his roster and he will knock off several hours before sunset and be back in Perth tonight. Just as he steps into his office, the first rays of the sun hit the red Pilbara dirt of an open cut iron ore mine.

Frewen is a drill and blast engineer at BHP’s Eastern Ridge mine, and unlike most of the professional staff, he is Aboriginal. He says most of the mine’s Aboriginal staff work as samplers, road crew, machinery operators and in the workshop, and there are plenty of job opportunities.

“A lot of mining companies are taking Aboriginal workers to increase their numbers,” he says.   “Quite a few these days have commitments to maintaining a certain percentage of Indigenous workers. It’s theirs for the taking if they really want it.” Continue reading →