Inside out with… William (Billy) Ricketts

Life on a mine site is like no other. The people you work with are more than just colleagues, they are your friends and family. They have your back, and you have theirs. Every day you work hard to make sure the other gets home safely at the end of your shift. 

We’re fortunate to have so many incredible people working on site at Oaky Creek Coal (OCC) and we want to get to know them “Inside Out”…

Name: William (Billy) Ricketts

How long have you been with Glencore and Oaky Creek?

I started as a contractor at OCS in 2019 working in the diesel workshop, in 2020 we moved the diesel workshop too OCN and I transitioned to working for Glencore in March 2023.

What’s your current role?

I recently started with the Development Process team as a Fitter on A/B rotation.

What are you responsible for?

My role as a fitter on the Process team means we are responsible for preventative mechanical maintenance on all the equipment used at the face in our development panels. This includes continuous miners, shuttle cars, conveyor boot-ends, breaker/feeders and any other equipment used in the panel. We also carry out major component change outs on this equipment, either on the surface or underground. Our team uses the time between night shift production crews finishing and afternoon shift starting as a window to carry out our work. We communicate with our mechanical coordinator any issues that have been found, prioritise these repair tasks, schedule the repairs in and finally carry out the work.

What does a typical day look like for you? 

I tend to wake up around 4:30am to get ready for work, and I am in the car by 5am. After a quick stop at the service station for a shot of caffeine and a chilli cheese kransky, I’m on way to Oaky North. By 5:35am, I’m in the gate to get dressed for work, belt and boots on and fill up my water bottle and esky.

At 6am, we have our Prestart meeting, followed by a briefing for the day from our supervisor. Then I collect any parts and tools we may need from the stores/yard and head underground. We normally arrive at our work area sometime before 7am, we have our G-Comm and straight into work for the rest of the shift.

Knock off time is 6pm, and then at 6:30pm it’s my favourite part of the day – on week days, I pick my son up from my wife’s place of work and we go home then cook dinner and have a play while we wait for my wife to finish work. 

What do you enjoy most about your job?

I love that no matter what your role is at the mine you play a vital part in the operation and production of coal. 

But more importantly, it’s the relationships you create with the people around you. I have worked in several different industries and the underground coal industry is by the most friendly and open workplace I’ve ever seen. I guess it’s the people I love the most about my job. Everyone is always looking out for their mates and ready to lend a hand.

What’s the most challenging part?

For me I would say it’s the heat – being underground on a humid, hot day is tough. I’ve worked in hard rock quarries, middle of summer, 40 degree days that still were not as draining as most days underground, especially working in belt drive heads or at the face. Thankfully we have many resources and procedures/TARPS to help us mitigate the heat and allow us to work safely.

Have you always worked in the mining industry? 

I started my working life as an apprentice motor mechanic at a Ford, Nissan and Hyundai dealership located in Kingaroy, south east Queensland. After finishing my trade I moved to Ipswich and worked for a Bosch Franchise servicing vehicles. We also did a lot of rebuilds on older vehicles (old Fords and Holdens mainly) and also high performance modifications and tuning on newer vehicles.

After a while I got the itch for operating heavy mobile equipment. I started working with my older brother in hard rock quarries as an Operator/Fitter for a family owned mobile crushing and screening company. I mainly operated excavators and front end loaders, I did some work in dozers and haul trucks, and spent any down time as a fitter maintaining our crushing and screening equipment.

What attracted you to the mining industry, Glencore and OCC/Tieri?

My older brother Tony was employed at OCN as an Outbye Supervisor and every time I would go see him, we would talk about our work. The passion he had for the job really stood out to me and I was captivated with the entire process of longwall mining underground. I was also working 5 to 6 days a week, away from home contracting too different quarries at the time and the 7/7 roster really appealed to me. So I applied through one of the contracting companies on site and here we are today.

If you weren’t working as a Development Fitter, what would be your ideal job?

If it was still in mining, I would have to say a ERZ Controller. I have just recently begun my studies to educate myself to becoming a Deputy and I hope to achieve this within the next 4 years.

But if I wasn’t working in mining, my ideal job would be working at a golf course, maintaining the course and working with my son. My little mate loves mowing and getting the lawn looking nice just as much as I do. We spend a lot of time at the local golf course together helping out or playing golf and we love it.

What do you like to do outside of work?

My two main hobbies are playing golf and music. I was lucky enough to play in the 2025 pro-am golf competition last year and it really kicked off my love for the game. The golf club is a great part of this community. We are lucky to have such a great little course at our disposal.

Then, I have always had a passion for music and I have been lucky enough to meet a great bloke through work who has the same passion. My best mate, Geoff and I have a little duo act called “Is what it is”. I sing and play the guitar, while Geoff keeps me check on the drums. We play music from the 70s till now in most genres but with our own little spin. We have been lucky enough to receive some great support from the local communities who have booked us to play at various gigs around the area

Who do you spend your time with?

I’m lucky enough to have a beautiful little family, which is my wife, Cassie, and our son, Lucian. We spend most of our time together when we aren’t working, normally it’s spent entertaining our crazy little boy, out playing golf, working together in the yard, building something under the house or working on one of the many projects I seem to be doing at any given time. My son has a unique and beautiful little mind that seems to always be going a million miles an hour, so we spend most our time trying to keep up with him.

What’s a little known fact about you?

I am the youngest of 12 siblings, I always make sure to tell everyone that Mum and Dad saved the best till last. Christmas time growing up was almost always a week-long event. We would have family from all over camped up at our little 80 acre block in Sandy Ridges near Nanango. 

What movie have you watched and rewatched the most…and why?

The 1985 Australian series called “ANZACS” – I always feel that this series truly captures the essence of what it meant to be an ANZAC and a true blue Australian. 

What song will you always turn up louder?

It’s a tough call between “Pride and Joy” by Stevie Ray Vaughan and “Sultans of Swing” by Dire Straits.

Favourite quote? 

“The standard you walk past is the standard you accept.”