On the 5th of September, the AusIMM Southern Queensland Student Chapter (SQSC) held the chapter’s annual BHP Billiton Local Mining Games at The University of Queensland’s Experimental Mine in Indooroopilly, a suburb of Brisbane.
The event presented students with an opportunity to network with like-minded individuals while competing in historical mining technique events, including gold panning, rail setting, mucking, rock identification, air-leg drilling, blast face tie-in and timber setting.
Competing in the local mining games has become an integral part of the student experience offered by the AusIMM SQSC to its student members, drawing diverse participation from various disciplines (mining, metallurgy, geology and environmental sciences) and competing in men’s, women’s and mixed teams.
The event was a great success and was characterised by the camaraderie among students that saw opposing teams encouraging one another and experienced participants lending a helping hand to newcomers, some of whom had no prior mine site or mining games experience. In 2016 the National Mining Games will be hosted in Brisbane by the SQSC so it was a great chance for the local students to gain some vital experience in the events.
The AusIMM SQSC would like to thank BHP Billiton, Anglo American, Ernest Henry Mining, MMG, Mineral Technologies, Metso, Datamine and Sandvik for their support and sponsorship without which this event would not be possible.