Former school captain Troy McDonald is making a name for himself in the mining industry with his work ethics earning him a hospitality award from BHP.

Executives from Melbourne assessed the nominated employees and awarded only three of these packages across the company worldwide.

The recipients had to display leadership values, integrity, honesty, drive for performance and commitment to safety.

Troy was a standout having restructured some major contracts that resulted in around a $5 million saving to the business last year.

The award was one to remember … a two-week trip to Beijing where he flew first class, stayed at Beijing’s best hotels, complimentary tickets to Olympic events and also visited areas throughout China representing BHP where he visited Chinese Mining companies to check out their latest equipment and technology.

Troy was educated at Lithgow Primary and Lithgow High School and then at Wollongong University where he gained his degree in Mechanical Engineering.

He was snapped up by BHP at Wollongong where he furthered his studies with a degree in Business Management.

He started his working life at Eloura Colliery at Wollongong as an Engineer and then moved to the Dendrobium Colliery as a Project Manager where he helped set up the coal mine at Port Kembla.

Troy’s success in the industry continued and was moved to head office last year in Port Kembla, Wollongong and is the current General Manager for Projects and Engineering at Illawarra Coal.

Troy is the son of Carol and Allan McDonald of Good Forest.