Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Peter

The Australian Institute of Mine Surveyors (AIMS) Queensland Subcommittee is conducting a survey of members in order to gauge interest in a possible change to the way in which the Surveyors Board of Queensland (SBQ) assesses mining endorsement competencies.

This follows a change made earlier in 2022 to the way in which cadastral surveyor competency was assessed.

The Subcommittee is seeking member opinion as to whether SBQ should be asked to adopt a similar process for the three mining endorsements.

The Subcommittee has pointed to some considerations for and against the proposal:

• Generally, cadastral surveyors have found the process more streamlined and efficient than the previous CER and PAP method.
• There has been some negative feedback from mine surveyors already who feel the proposal is a ‘dumbing down’ of what is an existing robust process.
• There could be difficulty in assembling a panel of mine surveyor assessors given how geographically diverse and busy many of us are which could potentially slow the process. The panel of assessors would each need to hold the endorsement the candidate was seeking to obtain.
• A mining assessment methodology would need to be designed similar to the cadastral one.

The survey closes on 9 December 2022.