Rio Tinto has launched an aggressive recruitment drive to fill 6,000 empty mining jobs over the coming months.
The campaign is one of the largest in Australia's history, and will target tradespeople, engineers, planners, geologists, operators, and other workers.
As part of the campaign Rio has paid Olympic athletes to pose in recruitment advertisements and has set up a mining jobs hotline at 1300 MINING.
According to The West Australian around two-thirds of the 6,000 jobs on offer will be at one of Rio's 14 West Australian sites.
The West Australian reports the company is looking to fill all positions within its four month campaign, with some jobs already on offer.
Earlier this week new research showed tradespeople and labourers in WA were earning up to four times more than workers in other states and overseas.
Rio Tinto has plans for massive expansions in the Pilbara, and approved $3.1 billion worth of funding for its iron ore operations earlier this year.
The company's main Pilbara rivals BHP Billiton and Fortescue Metals Group are also desperate to fill mining jobs, and Rio's new drive is likely to spark even higher competition for workers.
Last month officials at Gina Rinehart's Roy Hill operation said their project would need 10,000 workers and many of the lucrative positions would be filled by overseas workers.