Joe Mesiti: Ten Years Strong at Ranger Drilling

It’s been just over ten years since Joe Mesiti first walked through the Ranger doors. Although a lot has changed over the years, from the odd new drill and safety innovation here and there, what hasn’t changed has been Joe’s enthusiasm for the job and his standing as one of the good guys of the Ranger team.

Starting out as a utility who, in Joe’s own words, “didn’t know what a drill rig was” and was only at the mines “to make a bit of money so he could go back to TAFE and finish my builder’s ticket”, Joe has held on, watched the industry grow and change as he grew and changed with it.

“First day on the job and I looked like a kid on his first day of school, really. I had my gear on, my bag and everything, and jumped on to this small eight-seater plane which I was not fond of. Rocked up and landed in the middle of the desert on this little dirt runway. Got to a rig, there was like 5,000 flies, and about 50 degrees, and I thought to myself, ‘what am I doing here?’” 

Now, Joe, is a Drill Supervisor with ambitions to potentially one day move up into operations (and perhaps helping Stampy from his Ranger “old ‘08 class” out at Tropicana). As for those ambitions to become a builder, “Nah, I made the decision to make a career out of drilling. We got a good reputation with the clients. Got plenty of work. So, I’ll take it day by day for now and see what the next 5-10 years hold.”

And he is excited about what these next 5-10 years hold and where the future of the industry is heading. 

His advice for those wishing to make a career in the drilling industry? To become a Joe v2.0? “I’ve always had the mentality of giving it a go. Nothing’s too hard when you give it a go. For me, it was the first couple of weeks, the first swing was hard, if you get past the first swing, you got motivation and a bit of work ethic, and if you get on with the guys and don’t mind taking a bit of stick and giving a bit of stick, then I think you’ll be fine. Everyone’s different, but if you can show you’re eager – from my point of view – then you’ve got my tick, and if you keep that up you should go alright. It’s definitely a character-building industry.”

From everyone at Ranger, we’d like to thank and congratulate Joe for ten quality years at Ranger. It’s easy to say that after all this time he’s part of the Ranger fabric, so we’ll just say after all these years he’s now definitely a part of the Ranger rigs.

We look forward to what the next ten years hold for Joe.