The popular Upper Hunter Mining Dialogue School Mine Tours returned in May with 38 Year Five students from Denman Public and Sandy Hollow Public Schools visiting Bengalla Mine.

The students chatted with mine staff including geologists, mining engineers and environmental scientists. They enjoyed a drone tour of the mine and had a first-hand experience of the truck and excavator simulators.

Since then, the tours have continued with students from Singleton High School visiting Wambo United where they toured the maintenance workshop and were able to climb onto and sit in the driver’s seat of a truck.

Students from Muswellbrook Public enjoyed a highly interactive tour of Bengalla Mine, and Year 5 and Year 6 students from St Joseph’s Primary School in Denman enjoyed a guided walk through some of the award-winning rehabilitation at Mangoola Mine.

Most recently, students from Broke and Jerry’s Plains Public Schools visited Mount Thorley Warkworth where they had unique views of the operating mine and visited the dispatch team.

Now in its 5th year of full operation, the tours demystify the mining process through a fact-based, firsthand educational experience. Students and teachers learn about the impacts of mining and the practical benefits to our everyday lives. 

The 2024 program is scheduled to deliver 19 tours to 9 mine sites for approximately 700 students from primary and secondary schools across the Upper Hunter.