When the Warrawoona Gold Project was funded and approved in late 2020, Calidus Business Services Manager Shane Royston had to find suitably qualified and experienced people to fill 37 processing and maintenance roles ahead of commissioning. Find out more about how Mining People helped Shane & the Calidus team.
Meet Calidus Resources
Calidus Resources is an ASX-listed gold exploration and development company that controls the 1.7Mozs Warrawoona Gold Project in the East Pilbara district of WA.
The challenge Calidus faced
When the Warrawoona Gold Project was funded and approved in late 2020, Calidus Business Services Manager Shane Royston had to find suitably qualified and experienced people to fill 37 processing and maintenance roles ahead of commissioning. It was imperative that each new employee matched the culture Calidus was trying to create at Warrawoona.
In a skills shortage, with some big companies offering higher wages than Calidus could offer, that was no small task — and it was a task that carried with it significant risk. Shane decided to outsource the recruitment project to a third party. He met with five recruiters before choosing Mining People.
Why Calidus chose Mining People
Shane said the Mining People team understood Calidus was looking for more than just administrative support. He wanted “a trusted business advisor”.
“I needed a proper, engaging recruitment and resourcing strategy and I needed reassurances about the process,” Shane said. “Mining People had a willingness to actually understand what we were about and our leadership culture. They continually looked for the ‘one percenters’ — the points of differentiation. It told me they were going to take ownership of the process and of the outcome.”
The solution Mining People provided
Shane said within three weeks of engaging them, Mining People had, at their own cost, sent three recruitment experts to Warrawoona to stay overnight and interview Calidus’s key people onsite, to understand what was needed. He said it was a sign of the dedication and attention to detail he would experience throughout the recruitment task.
“The Mining People recruiters interacted with our administration team, our hiring managers, interviewing the candidates and setting everything up,” he said. “It just all ran really smoothly.”
“I got regular updates; I had access to all the information; it was just really transparent, fluid and consistent. I couldn’t have asked for anything more. I felt like I was getting a premium product.”
The results Calidus experienced
Shane said 37 out of 37 roles were filled with high-quality candidates who are “skilled, competent and work hard”. Importantly, the new employees fitted the company culture and had meshed well as a team. The employees were in post ahead of commissioning, allowing gold to be mined and the mill to start spinning on time.
“In hindsight, choosing Mining People was the best decision we have made,” Shane said. “They really have become a trusted business advisor. I’ve never had that with a recruiter before. They delivered big-time. They’ve done a fantastic job.”