Mining’s old guard needs strong medicine
A new report details subpar investor returns in the mining industry over the last decade, particularly big cap diversified companies which have not adapted to new realities.
[Warning: strong language]
A roughneck can net $7,000 a month in northern Alberta, just don’t drop anything down the hole.
A question and answer session with an Albertan roughneck was conducted on the social news site Reddit. L1BR8TED, his username, works in Fort McMurray. He would not divulge what company he worked for.
L1BR8TED describes the time a worker dropped a wrench down a hole, and the boss tried to teach the worker a lesson.
“Apparently when mistakes like this happens the boss gets penalized from his pay cheque,” writes L1BR8TED.
“Obviously this made him super pissed off. After the crew came and got the wrench out of the hole a day or two later, the boss walked up to the guy who dropped the tool and started [sic] duck taping the tool to his hand.”
L1BR8TED said the boss told the worker to keep his hand duct-taped for the day.
“The guy stood there, waited until it was nice and taped up, and then proceeded to cut it free and drop it back down the well.”
The worker then left the job site in a hurry.
While work conditions can be rough, L1BR8TED says the work can be financially rewarding. His net pay after taxes is about $7,000 a month. L1BR8TED describes the work as being skilled, but he was promoted quickly from work that was relatively unskilled.
“I’ve been working since Jan 21. I was originally a lease hand which is responsible for cleaning the rig, doing laundry, lifting bags of baryte and bentonite etc and taking them to the mix shack. I was promoted to a floorhand or roughneck after about 10 days.
“I’m now responsible for operating the break floor tongs, I take samples of material falling off of the shakers and take them over to the geologists for them to analyze. I also clean and help the motorman, derrekman, driller, or push whenever needed.”
L1BR8TED, who is 28, said he got the job by going door-to-door at an industrial park outside of Edmonton and dropping off his resume.
L1BR8TED describes how dangerous the work can be.
“I’ve almost died once. Elevators almost crushed me because the driller called the derrick man down and I thought we were done and about to plug in the kelly to fill the pipe so i leaned over to clean the invert off the pipe and pulled back about a second before the elevators came down over the pipe. I almost fell in the cellar and I almost fell into the mud tanks.”
Comments
Sreese420
Good lesson to learn, don’t fall into the invert. Takes about 1-1/2 months to wear off. You can’t was it off, it has to wear off. I have to plug the Fishing business, having been a Fisherman, mid-70’s, drop all of the wrenches you can. That makes us money. Good to hear the wages have gone up, about time.