By Vivien von Drehnen and Mitch Sabine

More than 1500 mining jobs in the Bowen Basin are vacant despite companies offering large sums of money to fill them.

The Queensland Resources Council says the mining industry is struggling to fill job vacancies, with more than 4000 job advertisements online for the industry in Queensland alone.

QRC Communications director Jim Devine says $100 million worth of projects are under consideration and Australia needs the resources to meet deadlines.

“’It’s very doubtful that Australia has the human resources necessary to ensure that all these projects meet their deadlines, specifically for construction,” Mr Devine said.

Mr Devine says recruitment is the number one issue and there is a genuine breadth of jobs available, particularly in the Bowen Basin.

He says there has never been a better time to fill positions that pay extremely well and take into account lifestyle factors.

“They can have the best of both worlds from their point of view, living on the coast and working in the hinterland, while earning wages that are 50 to 60 per cent above the national average,” Mr Devine said.

Devine said it was essential to fill the vacancies for the industry to reach its full potential.

“Children now in high school will fill the operating jobs after the construction phase and those operating jobs will continue for many decades to come,” he said.

Mr Devine says the mining industry in Queensland is currently worth $36 billion, and based on the projects under consideration, could be worth $90 billion by the end of the decade.