The Upper Hunter Mining Dialogue’s School Mine Tours Program is underway for 2023.

The program started its busy 2023 schedule with more than 70 students in Year 5 and Year 9 visiting mining operations in the Upper Hunter over recent weeks.

Bengalla Mine hosted 27 students from Muswellbrook High School, while 28 students from Aberdeen Public visited BHP Mt Arthur Coal and 15 students from Scone High School visited Mangoola Coal. These are the first of 22 tours scheduled for the year.

The mine tours are offered by the Dialogue to all Year 5 and Year 9 students in the Upper Hunter and give students and their teachers a first-hand look and interactive experiences at a working mine, while learning about the benefits and impacts of mining in the Upper Hunter.

The school tours program was established in 2017 in response to calls from community representatives at the 2016 Community Forum. A Dialogue working group made up of local teachers, community representatives, local government and mining industry representatives developed the messaging and educational materials, which provide fact-based information and support the learning outcomes for the students.

The tours are free and are offered to all schools in the Upper Hunter region. Schools from the Singleton, Muswellbrook and Scone catchments are participating again in the 2023 program.

The Dialogue thanks all the mining operations who are supporting the tour program this year.