10 NOVEMBER 2023
Caelan began a Boilermaking apprenticeship at GEMCO earlier this year, but having grown up on Groote Eylandt, he has been a part of the GEMCO family for decades.
Caelan's father has worked at GEMCO for over 20 years in various departments, along with several other members of their family.
As a child, Caelan attended Alyangula Area School where he took part in the annual tour of GEMCO for local kids, which teaches them about the roles performed by people they know at the mine.
Caelan was then one of the first kids enrolled into the Polly Farmer Foundation program, which South32 is proud to support. The Foundation, which helps Aboriginal Australians to achieve their goals throughout their education journey, was instrumental to his success during his schooling on Groote Eylandt and facilitating his transition to a respected boarding school in Cairns.
While at school, Caelan completed a Certificate II in Engineering and at the completion of Grade 12, applied for an apprenticeship role, hosted by GEMCO.
In 2022, GEMCO made a commitment to fund five ongoing local indigenous trainee/apprenticeship positions aiming to nurture young talent within the operation. As part of this initiative, Caelan commenced a Boilermaking apprenticeship with the Non-Process Infrastructure (NPI) team in May 2023.
Boilermaking is crucial in maintaining and repairing equipment used in mining operations, and working as an apprentice in the team will also teach valuable skills that can be used in different roles outside of GEMCO.
Caelan’s success is a testament to his dedication and work ethic, and we hope that everyone involved in his journey so far are as proud of the roles that they played to support him as we are to have him on the team at GEMCO.
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