Christmas is the time to celebrate and a big thankyou to our Christmas cover models, the team at Quarry Mining, for helping everyone get into the spirit of Christmas.
2022 was another big year for our industry. While we saw record coal prices, there were also many challenges including skills shortages and rising costs. But despite all this, we continued to see our industry make leaps and bounds in environmental standards and rehabilitation, innovation and technology, diversity and inclusion, and above all else, prioritising the health and safety of our workers.
As it does every year, in 2022 our industry continued to support the communities it operates in. From corporate donations in the millions, to sponsoring local sporting teams, to workers raising money for community groups, the ways in which mining gives back to regional communities is unsurpassed.
Take the Mineworkers Trust which was created to give back by supporting vital services and organisations in mining communities. It has returned millions to communities since its inception, supporting projects too numerous to name. The Trust also invests in the future of mining regions, in particular, through their annual scholarship program which is now open for applications.
We truly believe that it is an injustice that the positive and inspiring stories of our industry are not widely publicised. They deserve to be recognised. In 2023, we will continue to do our best to make those stories heard.
From all of us @ The Coalface, it’s been an absolute pleasure and a privilege to bring you the community and industry stories of the North West for another year. Have a Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!