Hey man I don't mean to be rude but I literally just sent off a reply to OP so I'm just going to copy and paste it below! If you have any other questions ask away

Hey man. Exploration, that's cool it's what I'm doing so my advice should be relevant. I don't know much about working in the production side of things except from what I've heard from other exploration geo's which is usually biased!

Ultimately I think you have to make the move to really stand a chance of making it in WA, especially because your first few jobs in the industry are likely to be short term contracts that often get advertised with "immediate starts", meaning you have to be able to meet face-to-face within a couple of days.

I used a small recruiting firm called RPRecruitment ( that is run by this former GEO Max Frew. He's a great guy and gave me some solid advice which i'll rehash for you. Basically you're likely going to start as a field assistant. Do a couple of short contracts (2-3 weeks) helping a geo out on a rig, learning how drill programs are conducted, how sampling is performed and really just getting an understanding of whats up in exploration work - something I certainly didn't learn at Canterbury.

With this under your belt you'll then be able to apply for grad/junior geo roles. Often these will want you to have some prior experience in 'exploration' and that's where your fieldy experience comes in. How long you have to wait for your shot is all about timing and luck I reckon. Since I moved over here in August, things have certainly picked up so I would be rather optimistic in your case (so long as your a hard worker, can tolerate the often harsh conditions of working in the Australian bush and your not a complete muppet!).

Once you're here, submit your resume to all the contracting firms (Hays, MiningPeopleInternational, Workpac etc.) and try to arrange a face to face meeting with someone so that you don't just become another name on a spreadsheet. They may find you something directly, otherwise apply to everything that gets advertised on SEEK.

Once you have some experience, your best route (unless you find a perm position earlier) is to get in with DigiRock. This company has the best reputation in the industry for providing contract exploration geo's. It can be tough to get in to, but once you're in, they will have plenty of work for you that more often than not leads to permanent positions if the company dig you. I'm currently working for DigiRock and am contracted out to AngloGoldAshanti's greenfields exploration team. I'm nearly done with my first 6 month contract, this will role into a second 6 month contract and then I hope to get taken on to staff. This is the route that their two most recent staff members took, 1 yr contracting through digirock.

My advice here is not to jump the gun. Save your digirock application until you have done at least 1 or 2 jobs as a fieldy as this will seriously help your chances. Also, get your RedCross/StJohn first aid cert before you come over. This is req for all jobs. Also, you need to know how to drive a manual.

Sorry for rambling but this is essentially what I did, and what I advised a mate of mine who moved over from chch more recently in Dec. If you have specific questions or anything else to ask please fire away.

Also its worth noting that min wage in Perth is high! So if you land a part time bar job or something while hunting for geo work you're going to be able to keep yourself alive without the need for massive savings

Cheers