Ben Mantell‑Jolly (MSc Mining Engineering, 2022)
Mining Engineer, Advanced Mining Production Systems (AMPS) Western Australia
If you’d told fifteen-year-old me that one day I’d be living on the other side of the world working as a Mining Engineer, I probably wouldn’t have believed you. But looking back, every step makes sense.
I was lucky enough to study Geology at school, and I loved it from the start. At the same time I had a real passion for Engineering, I took Product Design at A-level alongside Geology, and I always felt like I was trying to find a way to combine the two. When I arrived at Camborne School of Mines (CSM), I originally started on the MGeol course. I loved that first year, but as I learned more about the engineering side, and got to know the mining engineers, geologists and geotechs, I realised there was a path that brought everything I enjoyed together. By my second year, I made the switch into Applied Geology, and then ultimately into Mining Engineering for my Masters. It was a leap, but one that genuinely shaped my future.
Before university, I had the same preconceived ideas about mining that most people do. But once I got stuck into the course, I realised just how fascinating and varied it is.
What drew me in was the combination of geology (understanding ore formation, the ground you’re working with) and the engineering challenge of figuring out how to safely and efficiently extract it. That practical application was exactly what I’d been searching for.
Moving to Cornwall was a big moment for me, but it honestly felt like coming home. My grandparents lived in St Ives, so I’d spent some childhood holidays there, but living and studying in Cornwall is a completely different experience. I’d visited big city universities on open days, but nothing came close to the outdoorsy, close-knit feel of the Penryn Campus. For someone who loves fieldwork and being outside, it was perfect.
The community at CSM is something truly special. Everyone knows everyone, and you’re surrounded by people who share the same interests and ambitions. Field trips, societies, and that unique CSM spirit all made a huge difference. The lecturers, the staff, and the friendships – all of it helped me work out who I wanted to be and how I wanted to get there.
CSM also opened doors through networking. I went to almost every Pint & Pasty event, I took part in the Mining Games, and through those events, conversations, and introductions, I gradually built up a picture of the different directions my career could take. Eventually, a friend put me in touch with someone who had a job opportunity overseas, and that set everything in motion.
Moving 7,000 miles from home to work in mining in Australia was huge. I was nervous about it but there’s a massive community of CSM graduates out here, so you’re never really alone. Just before Christmas I was at a CSM alumni dinner and it was a brilliant night, celebrating and networking with so many other alumni. And now I even live with former university classmates because we’ve all come to Western Australia to work.
Out here, I work as a short-term contractor focused on production and planning. Day to day, that means designing drill patterns that will turn big rocks into small rocks – literally shaping how the blasts are carried out underground. There’s a certain satisfaction in blowing things up of course! But what I love most is the optimisation. Every mine, every ore body, every commodity is different, and you’re always learning. It’s a constant process of improving, refining, and discovering better ways to do things.
Going underground still amazes me. The scale of it is something you can’t really grasp until you see it yourself. It’s like being an ant in a giant, complex ant hill with each of us playing a role in this enormous system.
The job opportunities in mining are genuinely global, and the skills you learn at CSM are valued everywhere. For me, the support I had from the university, from friends, and from the wider CSM community, gave me the confidence to go for things I might previously have talked myself out of.
If there’s one message I’d pass on, it’s this: seize every opportunity. Every big step I’ve taken has started with a bit of anxiety but then doing it anyway. From switching courses to moving countries, each decision has shaped who I am and what I get to do every day. I’m settled in Australia now, happy in my work and my life here. And I can say honestly that CSM played a massive part in getting me here.