Central Queensland teachers will down their text books in favour of hard hats today as they take a tour of BMA’s Goonyella Riverside Mine.

The teachers, from Moranbah, Dysart and Pioneer state high schools will learn about the latest technologies used on mine sites, and how they correlate to teaching of science technology engineering and maths (STEM) subjects.

It’s the first time a group of teachers from Queensland Minerals and Energy Academy schools (QMEA) has visited the mine.

After a tour of the site, teachers will visit the helipad and learn how drones and unmanned aerial vehicles are used to collect data. They’ll also learn how data is used for the efficient operation of the mine.

“BMA is thrilled to help facilitate the study tour by educators from central Queensland where many of our mining operations are based,” said BMA Asset President James Palmer.

“We hope that they’ll return to their classrooms inspired by what they have learnt about how we are using innovation and technology in the mining sector and will pass on to students how critical it is to developing careers now and into the future,” he said.

Katrina-Lee Jones, Director of Skills Education and Diversity with the Queensland Resources Council (QRC) said such events helped to put some real-world context around the classroom teaching of STEM, which helped both the students and the teachers.

“We very much appreciate the support of our QMEA sponsor BHP in enabling the teachers to go on site,” she said.