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Almost 150 students from Queensland’s Western Downs and Warrego regions will participate in a new Queensland’s Minerals and Energy Academy (QMEA) workshop Water: Ours, Yours, Mine this week (16 – 19 March).

Students from Taroom State School P-10, Wandoan State School P-10, Saint John’s Catholic School, and Roma State College will gain the skills needed to safeguard our precious water resources when the QMEA tour hits their district, thanks to the invaluable support offered to the QMEA program by Glencore Wandoan Coal Project in Taroom and Wandoan and Senex in Roma.

“Water is a fundamental and vital resource for the prosperity and wellbeing of all Queenslanders now and into the future,” said Queensland Resources Council (QRC)’s Director of Skills, Education and Diversity Katrina-Lee Jones.

“Under the tutelage of QMEA, students will carry out hands-on experiments to demonstrate different methods of water treatment to minimise water use and wastage,” she said

“It’s vital for students living locally and across the state to gain an understanding of how water is treated and re-used to deliver prosperity and sustainability for the regions,” said Glencore Wandoan Coal Project’s Land and Property Coordinator, Rick Matthews.

“Senex is proud to help provide hands-on learning experiences for students and demonstrate the variety of highly skilled career options for young people in natural gas,” Senex Community Relations Manager Trevor Robertson said.

The academy’s purpose is to encourage a talent pipeline of employees into VET and STEM-related careers, with a strong focus on female and indigenous student participation. The QMEA engages with 80 schools throughout Queensland and is a partnership between the QRC and the Queensland Government under its Gateway to Industry Schools program.

The QRC is Queensland’s peak representative body for coal, metal and gas explorers, producers and suppliers across the resources sector. It contributes one in every five dollars to the Queensland economy, sustains one in six Queensland jobs, supports more than 15,000 businesses and contributes to more than 1200 community organisations across the state – all from 0.1 percent of Queensland’s land mass.

Media contact: Ellie Blumel – 0448122948 or ellieb@qrc.org.au