Brisbane students get taste for resources careers

AN EXPANDING resources sector, combined with limited knowledge amongst young people of the many and varied careers it offers, is the stuff of a perfect storm for skills shortages. 

However, students from Villanova College, San Sisto College and Mount Gravatt State High School today had the inside running on these career choices when an industry specialist from Glencore Zinc visits the school. 

They’ll be taking part in a Beakers.Bots.Build workshop at Villanova College run by the Queensland Minerals and Energy Academy (QMEA), which highlights the high-tech nature of the modern resources sector. 

"The students will see their classroom learning come to life as we help them navigate a hands-on simulated gas extraction technique using perforated well casings," said director of skills, education, diversity for QRC, Katrina-Lee Jones. 

"The students will also program a Lego robot, representing an autonomous truck, to move ‘ore’ around a mine site and construct a device to remove unwanted materials 'from a conveyor belt'.

“We are very excited to be hosting this event, as it is the first time all three schools have been involved in QMEA activities,” said the principal of Villanova Mark Stower. 

“It will be great for the students to speak to the industry people and understand how their studies relate to the real world of work."

A recent study by the Minerals Council of Australia demonstrated that 59 percent of young people knew nothing about resources sector careers. 

The QMEA is a partnership between the Queensland Resources Council (QRC) and the Queensland Government under its Gateway to Industry Schools program. It has 74 schools throughout Queensland. 

QRC is the peak representative body for Queensland ‘s resource sector. The Queensland resources sector provides one in every five dollars in the Queensland economy, sustains one in seven Queensland jobs, and supports more than 14,400 businesses and community organisations across the state, all from 0.1 percent of Queensland’s land mass. 

www.qrc.org.au

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