GFG Foundation students get experience of a lifetime Down Under

First group tour of Tahmoor operation in Australia

Tahmoor Coking Coal has broken more new ground in the GFG Foundation’s first year at the SIMEC Mining colliery in New South Wales.

To help wrap up the first GFG Foundation intake from Wollondilly Anglican College and Picton High School, the Year 9 and 10 students were taken underground at the Tahmoor mine for an eye-opening and, in some cases, life-changing experience.

The students, two teachers and program coordinator Axel Steigler-Russell from the CSIRO, were first given an induction and explained all the safety procedures before being kitted out in white PPE and heading down Number 3 Shaft in a PJB underground transport.

It blew their minds (the college students) that they were 400m underneath their school and was a great insight into what goes on down there without them ever knowing on the surfac
Tahmoor WHS Manager Phil Jones

READY TO DESCEND: The GFG Foundation students at Tahmoor.

Tahmoor WHS Manager, Phil Jones said it was the first time a group of students had been collectively taken down to the working areas of the mine with the experience ‘truly amazing’ for all involved. The 23 students spent two hours underground watching the coal cutting and transporting process before surfacing for a barbecue lunch.

“These students had done a surface tour of the mine and had seen presentations on what happens underground but I don’t think that fully prepared them for this experience,” Phil said.

“They were all surprised how big it was … I think they were all expecting to be crawling along a little shaft.

“Even the workforce down there were amazed at having these students, all dressed in white overalls and vests, watching them work for the first time which added to the overall experience.

“The students came out raving about the adventure and were quite excited to be bringing up lumps of coal when they returned to the surface.”

Phil said the underground tour was a great way to wrap up the program before the students’ graduation and gave them valuable context on the work they have done with the GFG Foundation stem-based program.

“The underground tour really brought it home to the students what the operation is all about,” Phil said.

“To explain the magnitude of the mine, we took them to the end of the last longwall South 1A which is directly under the Wollondilly Anglican College.

“It blew their minds (the college students) that they were 400m underneath their school and was a great insight into what goes on down there without them ever knowing on the surface.”

The introduction of the GFG Foundation has also led to an uptake of work experience students at Tahmoor. During the program there were seven students that took up the offer of work experience with another four already signing up for next year.