Queensland’s economic recovery from Covid-19 received a boost today, with the news the state’s minerals exploration sector is on the verge of a significant new era of investment.

An intensive 12-month focus on attracting more Queensland school students to work in the state’s resources sector is starting to reap results, Queensland Resources Council (QRC) Chief Executive Ian Macfarlane said.

The latest exploration data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is out, and it’s great news for Queensland. Exploration expenditure in the Sunshine State for the September 2021 quarter has risen by 7 percent on the previous quarter to reach $196 million.

A Queenslander has taken out the top honours at prestigious BHP 2021 Women in Resources National Awards, presented by the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA). Maryann Wipaki, General Manager of Health, Safety, Environment, Community at Glencore Queensland Metals in North Queensland has been awarded the 2021 Dyno Nobel Exceptional Woman in Australian Resources Award.

About 80 Everton Park State High School students will be surprised to learn about the minerals contained in everyday items today when they take part in a Hunting Minerals, Metals and More workshop run by the Queensland Minerals and Energy Academy (QMEA), the education arm of the Queensland Resources Council (QRC).

It’s clean, it’s green and can’t be seen, but students at Gladstone State High School will learn today that hydrogen, the new kid on the block of low-emissions energy, is likely to play an important role in powering homes and industry in the years ahead. 

With hydrogen touted as an important low-emissions energy source of the future, and the possibilities for Queensland on everyone’s lips, Toowoomba students will have a head start on the potential new industry when they attend a Future HyWay workshop today. 

The announcement by Mitsubishi Development (MDP) of a three-year, $750,000 partnership with The University of Queensland (UQ) to establish a new, hi-tech program for mining engineering students has been welcomed by the Queensland Resources Council (QRC).

Bundamba State Secondary College gains insight into the jobs of the future in the technologically advanced resources sector as they program an autonomous vehicle to navigate a simulated mine site.

The Queensland Resources Council (QRC) has welcomed the addition of a new asset for Queensland’s diverse resources and energy sector, with the announcement of plans for one of the world's largest hydrogen-equipment manufacturing facilities in Gladstone, in partnership between the Queensland Government and Fortescue Future Industries (FFI).

The Queensland Resources Council (QRC) has welcomed the released of Senex Energy’s Decarbonisation Action Plan and its company ambition to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across its operational footprint to net zero by 2040.

A new program to encourage people into engineering careers has been welcomed by the Queensland Resources Council (QRC).

The Queensland Resources Council (QRC) supports the statement by the Mineral Council of Australia regarding the industry’s ambition to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

Two scholarships worth up to $35,000 a year are up for grabs for students working on innovative ways to improve land rehabilitation at Queensland coal mines.

The Coal Minesite Rehabilitation Trust Fund, hosted by the Queensland Resources Council (QRC), is calling for student applications for its 2022 postgraduate scholarship program.
 
The Fund supports up to two students a year to pursue postgraduate studies in environmental management at any university in Queensland.
 
QRC Chief Executive Ian Macfarlane said today the industry needs more world-class mine rehabilitation experts to help innovate and lead the resources sector’s practices on an ongoing basis.
 
“Responsible land rehabilitation is central to the business of sustainable mining in Queensland,” Mr Macfarlane said.
 
“While mine rehabilitation is highly regulated, better implemented and more accountable than ever before, we need ongoing research to fill knowledge gaps and identify future issues to give stakeholders the confidence that our industry can effectively manage and reduce our impacts on the environment.”
 
Mr Macfarlane said resources companies understand the critical importance of maintaining leading practice environmental standards.
 
“These industry-funded, mine rehabilitation scholarships benefit individual students but also benefit our industry because we need innovation and fresh thinking to help us continually improve our practices,” he said.
 
“The resources sector is in fact one of the biggest supporters of research in this area in the country.”
 
Central Queensland University (CQU) student, and 2014 scholarship recipient Leigh Stitz, now Executive Officer of the Fitzroy Partnership for River Health, dedicated her postgraduate project to investigating the importance of Macroinvertebrates in freshwater tropical systems, with a particular focus on the Fitzroy catchment.
 
“My studies concluded that the existing biological indicators used to measure waterway health require the development of locally derived water quality guidelines and trigger values,” Ms Stitz said.
 
“The QRC scholarship allowed me to take my research to another level with a particular view to improving regional waterway monitoring, enabling me to support Central Queensland industry and the community.
 
“Using the knowledge I gained during my studies continues to benefit the industry in my current position managing the Fitzroy Partnership for River Health.”
 
Mr Macfarlane said the resources industry works hard to minimise the impacts of its activities on the environment, from the planning stages of a project right through to well beyond its actual mine life.
 
"Managed well, land can be used after the completion of mining for a range of uses such as agriculture, native ecosystems and community development,” he said.
 
“We hope the research conducted by postgraduate students involved in this program will make a significant contribution to the further understanding, and achievement, of sustainable land management outcomes.”
 
Applications close Friday, 10 December 2021. Further information on the 2022 Coal Minesite Rehabilitation Scholarships is available here.

About QRC

The QRC is Queensland’s peak body for coal, metal and gas explorers, producers and suppliers across the resources sector. It contributes one in every five dollars to the state economy, supports one in six Queensland jobs, supports more than 15,000 businesses and contributes to more than 1,200 community organisations – all from 0.1 percent of Queensland’s land mass.

Students from throughout Queensland are in Mount Isa this week for the Oresome Minds Camp run by the Queensland Minerals and Energy Academy (QMEA), the education arm of the Queensland Resources Council (QRC).

The number one threat to the future viability of Queensland’s resources sector has been identified, and it’s not what you’d think.

Vital conversations on maximising Queensland’s investment potential through development of Queensland’s burgeoning critical minerals industry are on the agenda today at an inaugural mining and exploration event run by the Queensland Exploration Council (QEC) - QE Connect Lunch Series. 

QRCA career in the resources sector is firmly in the sights of 20 female Year 12 students from throughout the state who graduated from the highly successful Girls In Resources Life Skills (GIRLS) Mentoring Program.

The resources sector will continue to follow strict Covid-19 protocols in the wake of the lockdown of 11 LGA’s in Queensland to protect employees and regional communities from the virus.

The Queensland Resources Council (QRC) today welcomed the State Government’s decision to approve an $82 million extension to the Isaac Plains metallurgical coal mine near Moranbah, calling it a huge vote of confidence in Queensland’s high quality coking coal industry.