Mining apprenticeship programs in Australia: who hires and when

Miners, contractors and dealers: who you'd actually work for

A miner (BHP, Rio, Glencore) owns the mine and employs you directly. You usually stay on one operation or region, and the pay and conditions come from that company's enterprise agreement. These are the most sought-after programs, so they're the hardest to get.

A contractor (Thiess, Macmahon, Monadelphous, Perenti) is paid to run the mining, maintenance or shutdown work on someone else's site. You can get moved between sites and commodities as contracts come and go. That's broader experience, but less certainty about where you'll be in year three.

An equipment dealer or manufacturer (WesTrac, Hastings Deering, Komatsu, Liebherr, Epiroc) services the gear the mines run. A lot of dealer apprentices start in a town or city workshop and get sent to sites later. If you're under 18, or you don't want to fly in and fly out straight away, dealers are often the most realistic way in.

Some miners don't employ apprentices directly at all. They host apprentices employed by a group training organisation (GTO) or labour hire firm. Peabody says its apprentices are on a four-year program run by third-party training organisations and hosted on its mine sites, and Whitehaven runs its apprenticeships with Zeal Futures. You still work on the mine, but your employer, contract and pay are the GTO's, so read that part of the ad closely.

Miners in WA: iron ore, lithium and the Pilbara

• •BHP (FutureFit Academy and WA Iron Ore): The FutureFit Academy in Perth and Mackay takes people with no mining experience into traineeships in mechanical fitting and heavy diesel, and apprenticeships in those plus fabrication and auto electrical. You train at the academy first, so you have to live close to it (past Mackay ads asked for no more than an hour's drive, with no transport or accommodation provided), then you're deployed to sites, often on a FIFO roster. BHP WA Iron Ore separately advertised a 2027 apprentice program with residential roles in Port Hedland and Newman. Apply and set alerts at careers.bhp.com.
• •Rio Tinto: Runs a yearly Pilbara apprentice intake, typically advertised around the middle of the year for a start early the following year, across trades like electrician, auto electrician, heavy duty diesel fitter, fixed plant mechanical fitter and communications technician. There are FIFO roles out of Perth and residential roles in Pilbara towns. Past ads have set rules on WA residency, a manual car licence and being 18 for FIFO, so read the current ad carefully. Check jobs.riotinto.com for the next round.
• •Fortescue: Its apprenticeship covers electricians, heavy vehicle mechanics, fixed plant mechanics, fabricators and light vehicle mechanics, with apprentices rotating around its sites. In June 2026 it opened the Power Up Training Centre in Belmont, Perth, for its electrical apprentices, and said it had doubled its electrical intake for the second year running. Fortescue's program page doesn't publish intake dates, so check careers.fortescue.com.
• •Hancock Iron Ore (Roy Hill): Hancock advertised an FY27 Apprenticeship Program with rotations through FIFO operational areas. That listing has since come down. Watch careers.hancockironore.com.au for the next one.
• •Mineral Resources (MinRes): A four-year program where you spend years one and two in a Perth metro workshop and go FIFO to site in years three and four. Trades include auto electrician, boilermaker, electrician, fitter and machinist, mechanical fitter, light vehicle mechanic, heavy diesel fitter and heavy commercial vehicle fitter. Its 2027 ads asked for Year 10 (done or underway), a C class licence (P plates accepted) and full Australian work rights, and were for new-to-industry people only. Under 18s can apply. Apply and register alerts at careers.mineralresources.com.au.

Miners in coal: Bowen Basin and Hunter Valley

Coal apprenticeships come with extra entry requirements, like coal board medicals in Queensland and site-specific inductions. See Mine site medicals, drug tests and inductions: what to expect before you apply.

• •Glencore Coal: One of the clearest programs out there. It's a four-year apprenticeship at open cut and underground mines in Central Queensland and the Hunter Valley and Mid-Western regions of NSW. You're given one home site for the whole apprenticeship. Queensland trades are mostly dual trades or dual qualifications (electrician, diesel mechanic and auto electrician, underground fitter, boilermaker). NSW offers auto electrician, electrician, underground mechanical fitter and plant mechanic. You need Year 10 done, and mature-age applicants are welcome. The 2027 intake was open from 13 April to 18 May 2026. Glencore says applications generally open each April or May, and the 2028 intake opens in April 2027. Starts are in early January.
• •Anglo American (Steelmakers Coal): As at June 2024, Moranbah North took on four mechanical and four electrical apprentices a year, and Grosvenor three of each. Both are underground mines near Moranbah. Check Anglo American's Australian careers page for current intakes.
• •Peabody: Apprentices are on a four-year program run by third-party training organisations and hosted on Peabody's mine sites in Queensland and NSW. Peabody says its apprenticeships are advertised in September each year.
• •Whitehaven Coal: Apprenticeships in electrotechnology, mechanical engineering, mobile plant technology and auto electrical at Maules Creek (open cut) and Narrabri (underground) in north-west NSW, run with Zeal Futures. No intake dates are published, so check Whitehaven's careers page.
• •Yancoal: Yancoal has advertised apprentice intakes at Premier Coal near Collie in WA (the 2026 intake closed in September 2025). For its NSW mines, including Moolarben and Mount Thorley Warkworth, check careers.yancoal.com.au.
• •BHP Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA): Has run Bowen Basin intakes through the Mackay FutureFit Academy and, in earlier years, with the GTO MRAEL. Check careers.bhp.com for current Queensland coal listings.

Miners in gold, copper and alumina

• •BHP Copper South Australia: Advertised a 2027 four-year apprentice intake across Olympic Dam, Carrapateena and Prominent Hill, plus a separate Indigenous intake, with a January 2027 start. Both are now filled. Expect a similar round next year on careers.bhp.com.
• •South32: Has advertised fitter, fabricator and electrical apprenticeships at Worsley Alumina near Collie in WA as drive-in drive-out roles, plus heavy diesel and electrical roles at its Boddington bauxite mine. Check South32's careers site for the current window.
• •Northern Star: Has run expressions of interest for apprentices in its maintenance teams, with FIFO roles out of Perth and residential roles in Kalgoorlie-Boulder. Apply through careers.nsrltd.com.
• •Evolution Mining: Its Cowal mine in central-west NSW ran a 2026-27 intake for auto electrician, electrician and mechanical fitter apprentices, now filled. For Mungari and Ernest Henry, check careers.evolutionmining.com.au.
• •Newmont: We couldn't confirm a current trade apprenticeship program at Boddington or Tanami. Check Newmont's Australian careers page.

Contractors

• •Thiess: A four-year program at Thiess mines with Certificate III trades in diesel fitting, auto electrical, boilermaking and welding, and high voltage electrical. You need Year 10 with sound maths and English, unless you're a mature-age applicant over 21, plus a current driver's licence (provisional is fine, manual preferred). Thiess says it runs two recruitment intakes a year. Its national expression of interest is open until 31 December 2026, but paid FIFO isn't offered, so you need to live near the mine. Selection includes a recruitment day with an interview, group activities and literacy and numeracy testing.
• •Macmahon: You can apply year round, and the main assessment day is usually in October, for a start early in the new year. You can start at 17 but must be 18 before you go to site, and there's no upper age limit. You spend the first 24 months in Macmahon's Perth workshop, with nights in year two to get you ready for FIFO, then do nine-month secondments at surface and underground sites across WA in years three and four.
• •Monadelphous: Trades are mechanical fitting, electrical and boilermaking and welding. Ads go up by location (recent ones include Darwin, Karratha, Kalgoorlie, Gladstone and Morwell) and often need you to live locally. A 2027 mechanical fitting ad for Darwin, posted 16 October 2026, asked for Year 10 (Year 12 preferred) and an age of 18 or turning 18 during 2026. Selection starts when you apply, so apply early on the Monadelphous jobs board.
• •Perenti (Barminco and other businesses): Its underground arm Barminco has run apprentice campaigns for its Perth workshop and sites around Australia in heavy mobile plant, auto electrical, light vehicle, heavy fabrication and electrical trades. Check Perenti's careers site for the current round.
• •NRW Holdings: Runs civil, mining and engineering businesses (NRW, Primero, DIAB, Golding). We couldn't confirm a current apprenticeship intake, so check its careers page.
• •Downer: Downer sold its contract mining businesses, finishing around 2021, and its apprenticeships are now mainly in other sectors. Check its careers page if you are interested.

Equipment dealers and manufacturers

• •WesTrac (Caterpillar, WA and NSW/ACT): One intake a year. Trades are plant mechanic, auto electrician, fabricator (boilermaker), first class machinist, mechanical fitter machinist and industrial spray painter. Plant mechanics and auto electricians train through WesTrac's own institute. Branches include Port Hedland, Tom Price, Karratha, Newman, Geraldton, Perth and Bunbury in WA, and Tomago, Mudgee, Tamworth, Dubbo, Bathurst, Wollongong, Wagga Wagga, Grafton, Casula and Canberra in NSW and the ACT. The 2027 intake has closed and the next one opens in 2027. You can register your interest on WesTrac's apprenticeship page. A 2027 Kalgoorlie ad set the minimum age at 17 by the January start.
• •Hastings Deering (Caterpillar, QLD and NT): Trades are auto electrician, diesel fitter and engine reconditioner, at most branches, depending on the year. The 2027 window ran from 18 May to 14 June 2026, with online testing closing 21 June. Recent school leavers (within five years) need Year 12 with sound maths and English, or relevant work experience. Mature-age applicants are welcome. You must be a permanent resident or hold a permanent visa when you apply.
• •Komatsu: The minimum age is 16 at commencement, with parental consent if you're under 18, and mature-age applicants are encouraged. You can apply only once per program, in one stream and one state, so pick carefully. Steps are a written application, a recorded video interview, a face-to-face interview with practical and written tests, then medical, drug and alcohol and functional checks. Komatsu says streams change each intake, so check its apprenticeship page about a month before applications open.
• •Liebherr: Advertised apprentice technician roles in its mining division at Singleton (Hunter Valley) and its earthmoving division in Perth, both starting 18 January 2027. The Singleton ad listed a 27 September 2026 close. Check Liebherr's Australian vacancies.
• •Epiroc: Advertised mobile plant apprenticeships in Perth and at Boddington in July 2026, with Year 10 as the minimum. Check its careers site for live ads.
• •Sandvik: We couldn't confirm a current Australian apprenticeship intake. Check Sandvik's careers site, filtered to Australia.

When intakes usually open

There's no single mining hiring season, but there's a pattern. Most programs start in January or February and recruit across the middle of the year before. The dates below are real past windows. Use them to plan which months to watch. Don't treat them as next year's dates.

• •April to May: Glencore Coal (2027 intake ran 13 April to 18 May 2026).
• •May to June: Hastings Deering (2027 intake ran 18 May to 14 June 2026).
• •Mid-year: Rio Tinto's Pilbara intake and WesTrac's WA and NSW intakes have recruited around the middle of the year.
• •August: Anglo American's Moranbah North flagged August as the month it advertises school-based apprentice places.
• •September: Peabody says it advertises apprenticeships every September.
• •October: Macmahon's main assessment day is usually held then.
• •Year round: Contractors like Thiess, Monadelphous and Macmahon often keep expressions of interest open for months, and advertise extra roles by location as contracts win work.

How to read a mining intake ad

Mining ads look alike, but the fine print decides whether you can even apply. Read the whole thing before you start the form.

• •FIFO, DIDO or residential: Residential and drive-in roles often need you to already live in a particular town. FIFO roles usually list fixed departure points. Read FIFO mining life for apprentices: the honest pros and cons before you tick FIFO.
• •Age: Plenty of programs take 16 or 17 year olds into a workshop, but FIFO and site work usually need you to be 18 by a certain date. Rio set its FIFO cutoff at 18 by the start date, and Macmahon needs you to be 18 before you go to site.
• •Where you have to live: Look for lines like 'must currently live in WA', 'local to Darwin' or 'within an hour of the academy', and whether relocation help is offered. Often it isn't.
• •Licence: Many ads want a C class licence, and some specify manual or a minimum P plate stage.
• •How many times you can apply: Komatsu takes one application per program, and Rio took first and second preferences only. Spraying applications at every trade can get you knocked out.
• •School results and documents: Glencore, for example, asks for a cover letter, resume, your last two years of school or TAFE results, and two referees. Have them scanned and ready before the window opens.
• •Testing: Expect online aptitude or psychometric tests, then an interview or assessment day, then a medical and drug and alcohol test. Tests often go out by email with short deadlines, so check your inbox and junk folder every day once you've applied.
• •Employer and contract type: Check whether you're employed by the miner, a contractor or a GTO, whether the contract is fixed term or permanent, and whether a job is offered at the end.
• •Scam check: Thiess, Monadelphous and Yancoal all say they never charge fees or ask for payment details. Anyone who does is not a real recruiter.

Set up job alerts so you don't miss a window

Short windows catch people out every year. If you only find out about an intake from a mate, it's often already closed.

• •Create an account and saved search on each careers site you're interested in. BHP, MinRes and WesTrac all point you to job alerts or interest registers, and Komatsu says to check its page about a month before applications open.
• •Use the keywords 'apprentice', 'apprenticeship' and 'intake', and set the location to the state or region you'd actually work in.
• •Keep a simple spreadsheet with the employer, trade, the month they usually open, your login and the status of your application.
• •Follow the companies' LinkedIn and Facebook pages. Intake openings often get posted there the day they go live.
• •Ask your local Apprentice Connect Australia provider, your school careers adviser or the regional GTO what's coming up. Some host placements never get advertised widely.
• •Apply to a mix of miners, contractors and dealers. The big miner programs are the hardest to get into, and a dealer or contractor apprenticeship gets you the same Certificate III.

Pay, allowances and what the ad won't spell out

Most mining apprentices are paid under the company's enterprise agreement, not straight off the award. An EBA can't leave you worse off than the award, and mining EBAs often sit above it. The real difference comes from allowances and loadings for shift work, nights, remote sites, FIFO travel and site rosters, which an EBA sets out in detail.

Don't compare programs on a headline number in a news story. Ask for the enterprise agreement that covers the role, or look it up on the Fair Work Commission's agreements database, and check the minimums for your age and year with the Fair Work Pay Calculator. With a GTO, you're paid under the GTO's arrangements, not necessarily the host mine's EBA, so ask which one applies.

Also ask about things that cost you money: who pays for TAFE fees, tools and travel to trade school, whether accommodation is supplied in your first years, and what roster you'd work during training compared with after it.

Where to go from here

If you're still working out which trade to chase, start with The best trades for getting on the mines. Heavy diesel (Diesel Mechanic Apprentice Hub), electrical (Electrical Apprentice Hub), auto electrical (Auto Electrician Apprentice Hub), fitting (Fitter and Turner Apprentice Hub) and boilermaking (Welding Apprentice Hub) are the trades almost every program on this page hires.

For how to put a strong application together, including pre-apprenticeships, tickets and what interview panels look for, read How to get a mining apprenticeship in Australia. For state rules on training contracts and support, see Apprenticeships in WA: incentives, fees and where to start, Apprenticeships in Queensland: incentives, free training and where to start and Apprenticeships in NSW: incentives, fee-free training and where to start.