Pupils from Pioneer State High School will be the first school students to visit the MyneSight simulated underground mine facility when they don their hard hats and hi-viz for the full experience today.

The Year-10 students will be exploring careers as tradies, technicians and operators as they get a taste of the underground mining environment.

The event is being run by the Queensland Minerals and Energy Academy (QMEA).

It’ll then be off to the Hastings Deering workshop where they’ll get up close and personal with huge mining machinery.

Throughout the day, the students will be mentored by BHP Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) apprentices and Hastings Deering staff who will share insights into their careers and what it takes to carve out a trade or operator pathway.

BMA Asset President James Palmer says it’s important young people understand the variety of careers open to them in the resources sector.

“It’s really useful for people considering a future in resources to experience a simulated operating environment of what they will encounter working in the sector.”

“Our people really enjoy encouraging the next generation of workers, who’ll see lots of changes as roles increasingly become more technology based,” he said.

“At Hastings Deering we see the benefit directly of the QMEA programs with QMEA school students ending up in our ranks,” said Hastings Deering’s General Manager People and External Affairs Vincent Cosgrove.

“These careers not only provide well paid and satisfying work, but they also enable young people to remain in and contribute to their home communities.”