ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to acknowledge the following people for the support they provided to ensure my successful internship
My Professor.
Luiz Correia, GM of Randgold, Tongon
Ibrahim Cissé, Tongon IT Superintendent
John Paul Pasion, IT specialist
I’d also like to acknowledge the help of personnel at the Loulo mine, Mali
Tidiane Komou, Loulo IT Superintendent
Chiaka Berthé, GM Loulo
Introduction
My internship lasted one month. It was a two-part internship: The first part being in Ivory Coast, and the second in Mali. Both of these I did at mines owned by Randgold group. Randgold Resources is a multinational mining company, focused in gold mining in Africa. It has listing both in the London Stock Exchange and NASDAQ. It also does some mining exploration and the main discoveries include the Morila, Yalea, Gounkoto, Tongon and Massawa deposits which had between 3 - 7.5 million ounces each. It owns over 47 affiliated companies and controls most of them. The companies are spread over 12 countries all over the world including the UK, Ivory Coast, Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa, DRC Congo and so forth.
I am glad to have gotten the opportunity to visit the two gold mines in the West African countries which both belong to Randgold. This is because of the practical skills I gained by getting involved in various hands-on tasks while I was there. I started the internship on July 1, 2013. I was at one mine for a given period of time, and handling different tasks before I moved on to a different gold mine in another location; still in West Africa, Mali. The first gold mine I visited was in a place called Tongon, Ivory Coast. While there, I was involved in many tasks including the installation of a VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal), a DSTV parabola, partitioning of computer hard drives, among other tasks which were all important in the development of my skill-set as an electrical engineer. The second part of my internship was also as important. I handled more, or less the same tasks but in a different environment and country. The following section provides a detailed description of the daily tasks I handled.
Daily Tasks
As earlier indicated, my first day was on July 1, 2013. I reported to the Tongon site and was introduced to a number of people I would be working with for that period. Among them was the GM of Tongon who introduced me to Ibrahim Cissé, who was the IT Superintendent; and therefore, my boss during my stay at the Tongon site. As the main IT officer of the company, I was reporting directly to him with any issues relating to my tasks and job responsibilities. Apart from Cissé, I was also introduced to John Paul Pasion who was a specialist on VSAT devices. He was in charge of the project I worked on and therefore I interacted with him frequently.
I noticed very early that the people I would be working with were very informed and particularly knew everything that was expected of them. We worked efficiently and fast as we installed the antenna. This was partly because a manual was provided for people like me who did not know everything so I learnt a lot and partly because my boss and others knew the exact process well. Notably, I leant that I always have to be prepared for the unexpected because unplanned events are common in the field; for instance several of our flat washers went missing and we had to improvise in order to avoid stalling. I also learnt not to trust manuals 100% because sometimes they give incorrect instructions.
One thing they stressed was the need to follow all safety regulations; there was one time when we were working and it started raining. We had to stop as a precautionary measure against lightning for our own safety and the safety of the equipment. I learnt later on in an email circulated to us that at one time in one of the mines operated by Randgold (our company), there was a tragic accident. The accident was reported to have been caused by negligence; some employees did not follow safety regulations.
On the day we were to install the VSAT antenna we encountered a major problem. There was non-compliance on the size of the bolts delivered with the antenna. This was rather unusual. My boss said that he had not seen such an occurrence for the last seven years! We could not finish the VSAT installation. I learnt the importance of influence in this case when my boss tried to slow down a plane leaving Abidjan for Tongon. This was in order to make sure that another friend of ours could take the same plane and deliver the needed bolts. Unfortunately we failed and postponed the matter. I later learnt how to configure and install windows on a new computer.
The importance of teamwork came up the next day. Sometimes we may be on time while our colleagues are not; and it is important for all responsible parties to be present. For instance, there were employees responsible for digging a trench and they had been provided with a map for guidance in order to know the lines where the water pipes passed. In this case the map was out of date and the diggers accidentally perforated a water pipe. The plumbers who were not at the site as expected had not been notified. Since we were expected to lay some cables at that same site, my boss Mr. Pasion called them up and they fixed that pipe. The rest of the cable connection to the antenna was postponed to the next day, because the necessary tools were being used at another site.
One night there was a fire which caused blackout. Amazingly the fire was contained and in an hour the blackout was corrected. There had been overheating of turbos of one of the power generators which had caused the fire. Unfortunately, the main offices of the plant were not receiving the necessary signals sent via an optic fiber cable. Our task was to get back the system working in its original condition. We did this successfully.
Finally, a few days later, we had all the necessary requirements to install the antenna for VSAT and completed the installation successfully. We had few problems to deal with though. One of which was the weak signal that we were receiving from it. We tried in vain to correct the problem. Eventually we had to accept it the way it was, at the advice of our operator. My stay at the Ivory Coast mine was finally concluded.
The second mine in Loulo, Mali was more of a repetition of the first. I met the GM Loulo, MR. Chiaka Berthe who introduced me to the IT Superintendent Mr. Tidiane Komou who would be my boss his time. He is a very resourceful professional. He led me to believe that being an electrical engineer was a very important thing and encouraged me a lot. Together with Mr. Komou, we helped in aligning the VSAT since they had changed the satellite provider.
I also leant how to install EnGenius Wi-Fi routers on another day. I found the installation of routers more technical but then I always had the support of my boss who provided me with the manual that I needed to familiarize with for efficiency and learning which, actually, was my main objective. The rest of my time at Loulo was rather uneventful as I went exploring underground mine systems, the power plant and exchanging ideas with skilled personnel.
Experience Gained
Booting up new computers
Installing an antenna for VSAT
DSTV installation
Restoring connection in a system connected by optic fiber cables.
Installing Wi-Fi routers
Inspecting Underground mining computerized systems
Working in a team in unknown environments
Relevance of My Internship to Electrical Engineering
As a student I have come to realize that knowledge is appropriate and necessary for the development of a professional. I have learnt to work in a team under pressure and supervision and at unexpected hours including nights.
I gained knowledge on quick response to emergency situations like fire breakouts and blackouts which are common problems encountered by an electrical engineer. I also improved my public relations as I interacted with numerous skilled workers at both Randgold mines.
The technical know-how that I managed to acquire on antenna installation is particularly relevant to my field since VSAT technology is currently popular. The reconnection of optic fiber cables that I did is also important because the cutting edge technology depend on the optic fiber cable due to its high speed.
