A Boy Miner: Tales from the Australian Underground

by Brett J. Jenkins

A Boy Miner is the true story of an eighteen-year-old boy thrown into the man's world of FIFO underground mining from 1996 to 2000, taking him to the Western Australian outback mine of Bronzewing, then the Silver Swan nickel mine near Kalgoorlie, and finally The Granites gold mine in the Northern Territory's Tanami Desert. A Boy Miner explores the trials of negotiating the meaning of masculinity, of mateship, and the effects that absence and isolation can have on FIFO workers and their families. At times humorous, profound, and melancholic, A Boy Miner reflects the swinging moods of the boy and the wider mining community, living by the cycle of a FIFO roster.

280 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 25, 2019

About the author

Brett J Jenkins is a Western Australian writer. He has worked as an underground miner, before gaining his PhD in English and Comparative Literature, and is now a proud stay-at-home dad—the greatest challenge of them of all.

Reviews

[Marcia Ewing · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favourite book this year!!!! Once you start and get into it you just want more! Funny and intelligently written, relatable and inspiring!!! Brilliant book
Wether you have worked in mining or not, it’s such a great read...!!!!

[Zaneta Neucom · Rating 5 out of 5]

I laughed out loud. Truly a full-spectrum of emotions as I learned what it is to become a man in the most manly of places. Thank you for your honest retelling of your own coming-of-age story. It was raw, it was funny, it was real. I enjoyed it. The pages turned themselves.

[Kathleen Morfitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Boy Miner is a funny, conversation-provoking book about the mental, physical and social struggles faced by FIFO workers. As a long-term (yes, so far defying the odds) FIFO wife, I can certainly relate to many of these situations, however it’s a rare treat to have insights into the usually tighter-than-Fort-Knox emotions of a miner. I realised as my non-reader husband lay in bed reading the opening chapters and muttering “yep, it’s all true”, that maybe he isn’t as tough as he lets on. Thank you Brett for making me laugh out loud on my boring morning commute (I’ll never be able to sit in a single cab land cruiser ute without a wry smile ever again), and for providing the means of having an open, honest conversation about the toll FIFO work can have on our loved ones.

[Tara · Rating 5 out of 5]

A rollicking read. A Boy Miner starts with writing that makes you feel the youth and unsureness of writer Brett Jenkins and matures as he does. It means the book starts brilliantly but, like a fine wine, ends even stronger. You will be captivated.

There is something particularly amazing about being able to read a book set in WA, a familiarity and connection to setting that you don't normally get.

Ultimately this books reminds me of the pain of loneliness and not fitting in, ending with a sense of hopefulness for the main character.

Do yourself a favour and put this on your must read list!

[Jenny Stuart-Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is not typically the genre that I would read but from the minute I started it, I could not put it down. Knowing very little about mining and what the miners themselves go through both emotionally and physically, I was captured by his honesty and the way in which he dealt with his emotional journey as a FIFO worker. His writing is absolutely fantastic and intelligently written. I loved his analogies and the way he explains certain things with witt yet depth. Great read!!

[Gary Boyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was enthralling- made more so by the fact that my underground mining career was peppered with a plethora of stories and people just like those in the book.
The characters felt like blokes I knew in mines that I had worked at.
I had worked At Bronzewing myself and the phone queue story is exactly what it was like!
His story is a bit like part of my story - I just never left. A good job for a driller although he got there in the end

[Toni Hodson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully written recount of a Boy finding his feet in the world. Memories told with raw honesty, humour and at times a vulnerability that I feel we can all relate to.
Not only an enjoyable read but an important insight into the emotional impact that working FIFO has on everyone involved.
Loved it!

[Per Henningsgaard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've lived in Perth, Western Australia, for about seven years. Upon arriving here, I was struck by just how much of this city revolves around servicing the mining industry. I now have lots of friends and acquaintances who work in mining, but most are engineers, geologists, human resource specialists, and so forth—in short, office workers who never get their hands dirty with the underground business of mining. I know very few people who work fly-in fly-out (FIFO), and those I've met haven't been exactly forthcoming with the details. Finally, in Brett J. Jenkins's A Boy Miner, I've found a book that sheds light on this cultural phenomenon. I've learned so much about the FIFO lifestyle and culture. In particular, Jenkins writes about his experiences working in FIFO underground mining from 1996 to 2000 across three separate mine sites (two in Western Australia and one in the Northern Territory) and a variety of roles (including driller's offsider, driller, truck driver, and service crew). But this book isn't a boring recitation of FIFO job responsibilities or anything like. It's incredibly well written—sometimes laugh-out-loud funny, other times an experience is so powerfully described that you want to linger, and other times you're compelled to turn page after page because you just need to know what happens. It's also a thoughtful examination of masculinity and what it means to become a man in this environment (Jenkins was 18–24 years old during the events he describes). I have to say, I was surprised to see this book was self-published because I really think it deserves a large audience, and it's disappointing that a publisher couldn't see that, too (or perhaps Jenkins just wanted to self-publish it). Anyway, I highly recommend this memoir to anyone who wants a great read and to learn more about what it's like for all those people who work far from family and friends in order to support Australia's enormous mining industry.

[Sharon Bruhn]

I simply loved A Boy Miner and read the whole book in one sitting. The writing flows across the page and you can't help but be taken on a journey into the world of a very young FIFO worker. The story is heartfelt, moving and will make you smile. If you have grown up children it will make you reflect on their journey when they were eighteen, the life experiences that shaped them and the adults they have become. This story will stay with you long after you read it and leave you hoping the author is hard at work writing his next book.

[Tamzin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading this book, its well written, its relatable, its funny, insightful, thought provoking & a look into the world of underground mining and the fifo lifestyle that you know of but not to this detail. Other reviewers have said it better but for me all I could think was I want to run a bookshop so I can tell everyone to read this book!

[Sally Mattner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great stories, very interesting to hear a different perspective of the FIFO mining industry.