Dylan started with Ausdrill in 2020 after applying for an apprenticeship role through Seek and he’ll be signed off in January 2024.

As an ex-motocross rider Dylan has been on the tools since long before his apprenticeship. He’s completed multiple bike rebuilds and spends his weekends upgrading his Nissan Patrol.

Dylan says, “After I finished Year 12, I had thought about maybe being an auto sparky or heavy diesel apprenticeship, but I didn’t know much about mining or know anyone in the industry aside from one mate that worked at Komatsu. When I saw the Seek ad, I figured I had nothing to lose by applying, and after I was accepted, I hit the ground running.”

Now his weekdays are filled with even bigger equipment:

“My favourite project so far has been a complete rebuild of a DRA RC600 rig which was originally commissioned in 2009. We stripped everything down minus the base and the engine and started again from scratch.”

He describes the culture at Ausdrill as, “An awesome workplace where everyone gets along. There’s a lot of fun banter, but there is also a lot of knowledge being passed down in the workshop.”

Dylan was surprised to be named Ausdrill Apprentice of The Year for 2022 but says that, “At the same time, it’s also great to see when hard work is recognised.”

Ausdrill Workshop Manager Mick Dunsire believes that Dylan was selected as the Apprentice of the Year because of his notable commitment to the trade, and to Ausdrill.

“Dylan is highly regarded by all that work with him, and this reputation was recognised when he was named runner- up in 2021 for the Ausdrill Apprentice of the Year award.
“He displays a maturity beyond his years and has become an outstanding example to the other apprentices in the workshop, especially in the areas of safety, teamwork, efficiency and productivity,” Mick said.

Next, Dylan plans to learn even more about rigs with the Ausdrill team saying, “It’s pretty exciting as the machines and rigs are all coming into a new era, and a lot is happening with the autonomous side of things.”

He’s also looking to venture into the world of FIFO and the challenges that come with being on site, saying “I recently spent a week in Boulder and unlike here in the Canning Vale workshop, where everything is available to us, you might not have something you need to hand. So, you need to think outside the box to find different ways of solving issues.”

Dylan’s advice to anyone thinking about applying for an apprenticeship is to consider what it is you want to do:

“The work is hard, but if you’re someone that can take up the challenge, Ausdrill is the place to be.”