Thirty-five Year 11 and 12 students from the wider North West region are taking part in the camps run by Queensland Minerals and Energy Academy (QMEA).

Working side by side with Glencore employees, engineering students have been challenged with solving real problems on-site at Mount Isa Mines.

In the trade camp, students had an opportunity to get greasy at Spinifex Trade Training Centre and refurbish push bikes from Mount Isa Police. 

Indigenous and female students make up almost half of participating students.

Crissa De Sagun from Good Shepherd Catholic College, and Ainsley Cooper from Tannum Sands State School in Gladstone were enthusiastic about the program and the possibilities for future work in the industry.

“I did the Girls for Mining mentoring program last year which was a really good experience, and made me consider joining in,” Crissa said.

Ainsley said QMEA has partnered with her school, and there are many women in engineering programs in Gladstone.

"I’ve been to a lot of those and I really enjoy them. Family and friends living in remote mining towns has also helped my exposure to the industry. There’s a lot of opportunities available,” Ainsley said.

Before starting their assignments the students had a nine hour induction to Glencore’s Mount Isa Mines including safety briefings, policies, and compliance procedures.

With engineers to help them as mentors, the four groups of students will be working on their projects until late on Thursday before presenting to mine management on Friday.

Leading the camp is Dan Rea from QMEA, who says the students’ solutions may have practical applications.

“Each of the engineers have come up with something they’re currently working on or want to investigate. Based on previous camps, some of those solutions have actually been adopted, so it really is real-life learning.”