Vantaggi
Staff were welcoming and friendly. It was a great opportunity to learn more about the mining industry in a low-commitment environment. I learned more about analytical chemistry method and technique there than I ever did at school. Compensation was competitive, especially for a summer position (though their delay in hiring meant that I worked from July - November instead of the standard May - August). Work was challenging though I was never made to feel unsafe.
Svantaggi
This is a fly-in, fly-out operation so the isolation can be grueling. The shift is 14 days on and 14 days off, where you work from 6 am to 6 pm. Time passes quickly through the week but as production slows down over the weekend the days can drag. Similarly, most of the equipment was old and obsolete. A technician from Fischer had to come to fix the XRF machine at least once a month, which made the analysis of ore samples much more difficult.