Young Achiever of the Year, Ellie Hawkins
The NSW Mining Industry & Suppliers Awards were held last Thursday, 18 June. The awards were due to be held earlier this year in April at NSW Parliament in Sydney, however due to the COVID-19 health pandemic, the event was cancelled. In order to still recognise and celebrate the people and companies powering the mining industry, the awards were live streamed via social media.
Ellie Hawkins, Scheduling Engineer at CMOC-Northparkes Mines (Northparkes) was announced as the joint winner of the Young Achiever of the Year award.
Ellie joined the Northparkes team in 2017 as a Graduate Mining Engineer. Within her first 12 months, she transitioned from being a Graduate Mining Engineer to a Drill and Blast Engineer with a concurrent role as Project Team Leader for the Wireless Detonation Trial.
In mid-2019, Ellie was promoted to Scheduling Engineer. Whilst working full time at Northparkes, Ellie is also completing a Master of Research at the University of Wollongong on the blast optimisation of the drill and blast practices of the E26 Sub Level Cave at Northparkes.
“I am absolutely thrilled to have received this award. At 26 years of age and only 4 years into my mining career, I know I’ve picked the right industry. The way we have held strong in the face of adversity in 2020 sings true to the great industry we are,” said Ellie. “Achieving this award would not be possible without my family at Northparkes. We are a tight knit community and the support received, with individual drives means that opportunities are boundless.”
Northparkes Managing Director Hubert Lehman said, “Congratulations Ellie on this fantastic achievement. We are extremely proud to have you on our team at Northparkes. We can’t wait to see what you achieve next!”
Ellie added, “Thank you to the NSW Minerals Council for hosting these awards and for your continued support in promoting our industry and thank you to Evolution Mining for sponsoring this award. I would also like to acknowledge all the other finalists – I feel privileged to be recognised amongst individuals who have made such significant contributions to our industry.”