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Comment by 9nGQluzmnq3M | Hacker News Reader

Context: these Aboriginal sites are basically caves, trees and rocks showing signs of former habitation, with the most significant artifact uncovered at the site below being a length of plaited human hair. I'm no fan of open-pit mining, but BHP is not exactly nuking the Parthenon or the Taj Mahal here.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/may/26/rio-t...

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I'm a draftsman that works for a construction company that builds a lot of the infrastructure for these mines. Recently I was looking at some maps with a civil draftee, and I asked him what all the red dots were all over the map. He said they were all Aboriginal heritage sites. There was a lot of them, scattered everywhere. It was like the map had chicken-pox.

So whilst I think it is important to protect this history, some of it can't be that important. I imagine that is what the traditional owners also thought when they signed the agreements. The article mentions "significant cumulative loss", which would become a problem when you sign away the rights to the lot.

But in the case of the cave that Rio Tinto destroyed, surely that was significant enough to protect and work around. I know that it wouldn't take long to design around such a requirement, which makes the outcome even more disappointing.

>some of it can't be that important

Why don't we go into your house and just start demolishing shit. Everything can't be that important, right?

I’m a boilermaker who isn’t getting any younger, working in Launceston operating a laser cutter, considering getting in to steel detailing / 3D modelling.

Any advice?

I started out as a steel detailer but haven't worked in that sector for over 10 years, so I've not got my finger on the pulse. But in the design sector I'm in now, it's a bit quiet at the moment and has been for a few years, and that means there are a lot of experienced draftee's out there without work - left overs from the boom times. So in that regard, it might not be the best industry to pursue at this time. But if you can leverage your existing skills and contacts etc, you might be able to get yourself into a niche, and then you would be set.

Regarding programs, Tekla Structures is the gold standard for detailing steel structures, but the price is up there (if you're looking at going it alone). Cheaper options that I haven't used are available from Autodesk for AutoCAD, and another from Bentley for Microstation. I would look at the Microstation option first, because the "core" seems to be better for 3D work than AutoCAD. However, Autodesk does a reasonably priced bundle of programs for the construction industry, which includes some BIM staples like Navisworks.

Hey mate, thanks for the response.

Yeah, our steel detailers here (seven across two sites) use Tekla Structures and have it tweaked how our workshops like, and I've got to say it produced the best drawings I've ever worked with.

Also spits out NC1 files for the laser and beam-line, so we're somewhat keeping up with the technological advances to stay competitive.

And yeah, I've worked myself in to a pretty good niche here, and it's a bit of a nice corner to be in at the moment.

I'll continue to observe the playing-field.

Thanks again.

I believe you're getting downvoted because your comment is completely unrelated.

Completely unrelated to what?

The article?

The article is about mining ore for steel.

How am I off topic?

Because I’m talking about myself?

Or because I didn’t think to mention Rust in this context?

So odd to see another HNer from my home city!

This doesn't dispute your general point, but these are different cases, in case non-Australian readers are confused. That May article was Rio Tinto blasting a much older and more significant site, this newer story is BHP: similar area and operation, but more "recent" and smaller heritage sites.

Context: the traditional owners of the land have a strong cultural connection to country. Just because there isn't a physical manifestation of history in built form, doesn't make it any less relevant or important. It just seems to make it less relevant to you.

The traditional owners already sold BHP the rights to the land.

Nuance, and some might say the truth, is the first casualty of a propaganda war.

As far as mining goes, open-pit mining in the middle of butfuck nowhere in Australia seems pretty benign.

I do work in the steel fabrication industry though, so perhaps I have an unconscious bias in favour of iron ore mining.

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