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If you are currently working in the mines or an associated industry, hopefully you are being well paid for your efforts. I know there’s a lot of money in that market presently and will continue to be so for the next 5-10 years, failing a huge meteor destroying the earth.

There’s certainly a lot of upside to the industry, the least of which is very high salaries and conditions. But it comes at a price as we know. If you’re site is remote, that 3m x 3m donga becomes your home for 2-4 weeks of your life every shift swing. You look out the window and see red dirt, spinifex and swarming flies tapping on your window waiting for your shift to begin. Shifts are 12 hour gigs and it can be hot as hades out there. Also relationships suffer… whilst you’re away; things go on as normal without you. Kids go to school, play sport, mates go fishing, families’ meet up for barbies and parties, but you’re not there…

So there are ‘trade-offs’ for being in the industry. There’s not a lot you can do to control what happens around the country and how it affects you but there are things you can do personally and decisions to make which will define whether your time up North becomes a worthwhile exercise or not.

Let’s face it, it’s not the ideal lifestyle, things are out of balance, so it makes sense to maximise the benefits of your higher salary while you can and don’t squander the opportunity because it’s taking a lot from your life so you must make the money that you earn now, work for you and your family in the futur

I spent a decade in the mining game, having stints at an Alumina refinery and later on at a Mineral Sands Company which wasn’t fly in/fly out but involved regular time away at various other mine sites. Mineral sand deposits by nature can be in pretty remote locations, notably inland of the Great Australian Bight where the sand and bush echoes the isolation but the flies are still just as friendly. I can remember sitting in my 3x3m Donga, feeling trapped and isolated, and thinking that this is not going to be me fore ever. I made a decision there and then to use the money I was being paid to an absolute maximum, so that my financial situation improved enough so that I had choices later on.

It was over that period in the mining game I was able to make enough informed investment decisions to give me the choices I have now.

I remember when I started back in the mines things weren’t so good financially. I had spent quite a few months at home on long service from my previous job looking after young children. During that period, I ran down my reserves of cash to a point where I needed to get back to work quickly.

I quickly marched off back to work and after a period as a drilling assistant over a hot summer, ended up as a Mine Technician for a Mineral Sands company. I enjoyed mining - visiting sites collecting samples, testing flocculants, working with various experiments to improve processes. I kept my nose clean, did my job well but on the outside my spouse and I began investing in property to improve our financial position. We bought a few small properties initially just as investments but quickly became more adventurous as our appetite increased.

It was at this stage I ‘flicked off’ my Bank Manager who I’d been with since the old days of Town & Country Bank and consequently bought by ANZ. I left ANZ because I found curiously that my Bank Manager was putting obstacles in my way when I wanted to lend more money. I found out later that she was trying to keep the Bank’s position strong and limit my borrowings. So I moved on and got a Broker who could do the things I wanted.

Next we moved into unit renovation and found I was handy with my hands and could really bring to life under-priced units no one wanted. These were buy and hold type scenarios. I did a few of these but wanted more excitement and instant gains so I bought a Triplex site and engaged a builder to build 3 units. Again I provided a lot of the labour on my rostered days off, pulling down fences and erecting others, installing alarm systems, painting, landscaping.

It all culminated in a great looking development but the introduction of the GST threw a spanner in the works somewhat. Everyone was busy as hell pre-GST so it took longer to build and post GST the property market fell away, so larger profits were eroded away but it was still worthwhile financially.

I continued in Mining and as my salary increased, so did my borrowing capacity and serviceability. My next two purchases were really ‘left field purchases’, so much so, that when I showed my brother around my next purchase in central Midland Perth my brother was incredulous.

Looking around at the run down brick house with the sagging veranda that had previously been used by squatters and druggies I could kinda see his point! but my brother had obviously not done the research on the area as I had and couldn’t see any upside. Now that property is currently worth 5 times the value of my purchase and I am now developing it into a mixed residential site with townhouses and a small business centre.

My other ‘left field’ purchase involved a lottery or ballet. As they say, I have never even won a chook raffle but this time I hit the jackpot when my name was read out as the potential purchaser of land in the ‘boom’ town estate of Karratha West Australia. The land was cheap and I took off slabs of time from the mining game to source a 4x2 kit home which was assembled over the next 2 years. These properties have had massive price appreciations since that time and rents are $1200 to $2000 week.

I left mining in Dec 2009 and have followed my new passion of Finance since then. I’m still investing and always looking at new opportunities. Mining allowed me to earn a good income and use my ample time outside of work to build my wealth.

So my message is, if you’re in the mining game, don’t waste your opportunities. Learn about investing, carry out due diligence on properties and engage professionals around you so that you get things right the first time. Plan you’re exit from the fly in/fly out scenario, give yourself the chance of greater wealth and time with your family, you’ve only one chance at it!

There are many advantages of being in the mining game when it comes to finance, let me show you how you can profit from your situation. Please contact us or complete the attached inquiry form to begin your journey.

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