Michael Hartnett

Employed to work as a Shift Technician on a continuous roster for ten years in a Nickel Smelter environment, which involved troubleshooting,repair or replacement to plant equipment failures / breakdowns and planned maintenance installs in relation to entities such as a Flash Furnace, Nickel Converters,Aisle Cranes,Acid Plant,Pressure Vessels and Dust Pumps used for material conveyance.

Upon returning to a regular dayshift for the next nine years, five of those years were spent in a workshop effecting planned maintenance/outage/breakdown repairs and change outs to plant conveyor systems and ancillary equipment.

The remaining four years of my tenure was spent as Plant Crane Driver/Rigger, Storeperson and new recruit/contractor orientator to highlight and ensure newbies were made aware of plant no go zones and familiarisations and procedures to abide by to effect movements when required.

Employed to maintain plant and equipment within the pressure leach nickel extraction process. Often worked solely on the night shifts as only two fitters on duty with a quota to meet.

Employed as an operator in the newly instituted pressure leach/autoclave nickel extraction process.

My engagement was to oversee and help to install safe working procedures in the process of receiving and unloading sulphuric acid by road containers from the Kalgoorlie Nickel Smelter.

Employed as a hands on supervisor to facilitate the daily operation of filling Sulphuric Acid rail wagons on the newly installed Acid Rail Loadout at the Kalgoorlie Nickel Smelter for Chemtrans, contracted to Nickel West for removal of their byproduct by rail to Coogee in W.A. for shipping overseas by Interacid.

Duties performed within this role were to ensure that safe operating procedures were strictly adhered to at all times with area personnel movement , application to operator load arm engage/disengagements and vessel product containment for acid transfer and conveyance were satisfied on a continuous basis.

Ensuring that maintenance requests were dealt with promptly and to a high standard.

Regularly reporting in person to gazetted KNS staff meetings to inform of current status and issues to ensure continuity and compliance.

Employed as a Contract fitter(Monodelphous Engineering) with Croesus Mining at Davyhurst. After a period was invited to join its ranks,did so and crossed over to Croesus mining as a fixed plant fitter.

Employed as a Hospital Gardener and laundry hand , awaiting position within the maintenance section of the hospital.

Duties then were all types of maintenance incorporating Autoclave steriliser repairs and upkeep, copper pipe forming and install, laundry and plant equipment,Surgeon operating tool honing.

Detailed work with steam operating Boiler and piping.

Employed as sample prep preparer for a short while then maintained three sister labs with mechanical repairs and refurbishment.

Employed as a maintenance fitter with Bostich Textron in Perth W. A. repairing Pneumatic equipment and printing,nailing,stapling and packaging equipment.

Employed as a field maintenance/workshop fitter to maintain newly purchased Atlas Jumbo drill rigs underground at Otter Juan in Kambalda and Nepean Mining in Coolgardie.

Duties also included field compressor maintenance and repair on hire equipment throughout the Goldfields.

Seconded to stores receival and despatch for three months(long service fill in).

Daily Bit sharpening completed for two surrounding mining companies in the region.

Employed at various mine sites on the Golden Mile (now, The Kalgoorlie Superpit).

These mines are now defunct

I have spent considerable periods working for Paringa, Croesus, Mt. Charlotte, Oroya, North kalgoorlie Mines as a fixed plant fitter above and below ground maintaining Crushers, Boggers, trucks, skips, winders and pneumatic airlegs and associative equipment.

You may duly note missing periods of time on the timeline in regards to gazetted employment dates...the reason being that these times were anywhere and everywhere within the goldfields area with a number of contracting firms either shutdowns or placements. Namely firms being Monodelphous engineering, Workpac, Skilled engineering and others( that i have even forgotten) on numerous and repeated occasions.

Employed in an engineering workshop as a fixed plant fitter, spent most of this employment commissioning new plant at Leinster Nickel Operations near Agnew W.A.