Outback mining jobs are on the rise with no workers to fill them

Drilling is ramping up across the internationally acclaimed North West Minerals Province in Queensland, and jobs are set to open up, but mining companies are struggling to find workers. 

The region, in the state's north-west, is one of the most minerally rich in the world and contains an estimated $680 billion worth of resources.

With about 85 critical minerals projects underway in the area, coupled with further drilling, exploration and the reopening of previously closed mines, companies are concerned a shortfall of skilled workers will hamper progress.

AIC Mines, the owner and operator of the prominent Eloise Copper Mine, 60 kilometres south-east of Cloncurry, secured a binding agreement to acquire another North West copper project, Mt Cuthbert.

Owned by Malaysian company Materra Metals Limited, the site had been in care and maintenance since 2022.

AIC Mines chairman Aaron Colleran said he "sees nothing but opportunity" regarding the Mt Cuthbert project, which AIC had been acting as caretaker of, but he said employment was an issue.

"It's not straightforward. We are having difficulty everywhere,"

Mr Colleran said.

"It is very similar to what we're facing at Eloise.

"We're very keen to have as large a percentage [of local workers] as possible, [but] we're having difficulty employing people, let alone employing people within the region."

He said hiring fly-in fly-out (FIFO) workers, based in Townsville and Brisbane, was a second preference.

"We'll look to fill those roles wherever and however we can because, at the moment, there is a scarcity of skilled personnel in mining,"

Mr Colleran said.

The Australian Resources and Energy Employer Association reported that, by 2027, the mining industry would need 24,000 new workers to uphold new projects across the country.

Like Mt Cuthbert, operations at another major copper-silver mine near Mount Isa, which once employed about 400 workers, were set to restart by the end of the year.

29Metals CEO James Palmer said employees at the Capricorn Copper Mine were mostly locals, which was essential for the region's economy.

"The workforce predominantly came from north Queensland, both north-west and Mount Isa, but we've got a lot of our current workforce from Cairns, Townsville and Brisbane," Mr Palmer said.

"A lot of the local community benefit directly, through those jobs as well as the spending."

National shortfalls

Queensland Resources Council director of workforce strategy and capability Karina Lee Jones said the skills shortage was not just statewide, but across Australia.

"One of the main reasons for it is that we have competing skill needs, and a lot of these skill needs are coming from the south-east corner [of Queensland]," Ms Lee Jones said.

"There's a lot of public infrastructure build underway [including for] the Olympic Games."

She said the largest shortages were mining engineering roles, as well as geologists, electricians and mechanical engineers.

"It's been impacting the industry … particularly for the last five years or so and we saw a drop-off of young people, particularly going into the trades and into certain mining-related careers," Ms Lee Jones said.

"Companies really have to consider this when they're either expanding their operations or starting new ones."

She said a greater push was needed to get young people interested in the industry, but the shortage would remain while new recruits were coming through the ranks.

"You need to be able to increase your apprenticeship pipeline, so that's in electrical, diesel fitting, mechanical, auto electrical and boiler making,"

she said.

"We need to be telling a really good story about what the opportunities are to relocate to these regional locations or to the FIFO camps, if that's the option that is available to them."