Carrying the hopes of miners and Knights fans alike, the Newcastle Knights rumbled over the South Sydney Rabbitohs in a thundering charge of hi-vis orange at the recent Voice for Mining Family Day at McDonald Jones Stadium on August 20.

Smashing through to almost certainly secure a spot in the top eight, the Knights took to the field in their now famous hi-vis jerseys in front of a capacity crowd of over 29,000 miners and fans.

Thanks to everyone who made the game, especially those who wore their own hi-vis to show their support.

The win on Voice for Mining Family Day was not only a boost for the Knights as they approach the finals. It was also great for our NSW mining communities across NSW that have had some things to celebrate in 2023.

We’ve had three metals mines approved in NSW this year. Aurelia’s Federation Project, a zinc, lead, copper and gold mining operation south of Cobar was approved early in 2023. This approval was closely followed by approval for Regis Resources’ McPhillamys Gold Project located east of Blayney and in April, Bowdens Silver also secured approval for one of the largest silver mines in Australia to be located east of Mudgee.

These new mines will mean more job opportunities for local communities, and increased spending in these regions over the coming years.

There’s also been good job news for our coal mining communities. The latest data from Coal Services has shown at the end of the last financial year, there were almost 25,000 people working in coal mining production in NSW, the highest result since June 2012.

This growth in the number of people in coal mining jobs, and the approval of more metals mines across NSW, shows that the mining industry remains critical to the NSW economy. It also highlights the need to ensure mining communities are supported by our governments at all levels.

Stephen Galilee, CEO, NSW Minerals Council