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NSW Mining Road and Rail Tour breaks in Bathurst: $5000 funding announced for CSU remote teacher placements
NSW Minerals Council CEO Stephen Galilee visited Bathurst today to meet with the Council and discuss mining issues as part of the
2013 NSW Mining Road and Rail Tour
.
The ten day journey by road and rail started in Broken Hill in Far Western NSW last week and will continue by train tomorrow up over the Blue Mountains and onto its final stop at Blacktown in western Sydney, home to many mining manufacturing and supplier businesses.
“We’ve been travelling right across western and central NSW including Bathurst today, a city central to NSW mining history and still an important mining services centre,” Mr Galilee said.
It was at Ophir near Bathurst that the great gold rushes began, and near here that Bernard Otto Holtermann discovered the largest single gold nugget of reef gold found anywhere in the world.
The nugget measures over four feet in height, had an average thickness of four inches and was worth 12,000 pounds – more than $1 million dollars in equivalent value today.
The town was the western headquarters of the famous Cobb and Co coaches for around fifty years, regularly running trips from Bathurst to the gold mining centres of Sofala and Hill End, carrying passengers, supplies and mail to these thriving settlements.
“Fast forward to today and mining still contributes significantly to the region, providing jobs and economic prosperity alongside other industries like tourism and agriculture,” Mr Galilee said.
“The NSW Minerals Council’s economic survey of its members found that mining companies directly spent nearly $50 million in the Bathurst Regional Council area in 2011/12.
“The research showed that mining companies directly provided $12 million in wages to 282 full time employees over this period and spent nearly $38 million on goods and services. The estimated flow-on effect of this economic stimulus in terms of additional spending was $64 million,” Mr Galilee said.
“I am also pleased to announce in Bathurst that NSW Mining will be supporting local education provider
Charles Sturt University’s Remote Professional Experience Placement Program
.
“The NSW Minerals Council will provide $5,000 to support ten teacher education students studying here in Bathurst to undertake their professional experience in the Far Western region of Menindee and Broken Hill in November 2013.
“This financial support helps develop skilled and competent teachers for the region and at the same time helps teacher education students to develop a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities they will meet in more remote communities.”
The NSW Minerals Council also brought its Voice for Mining initiative to Bathurst to help give a greater grassroots voice to those in the community who support local mining.
“The new website,
, is a platform for those in Bathurst and throughout NSW who want to have their voice heard. They can visit the website and indicate what they might be prepared to do to support the industry,” Mr Galilee said.
“It might be writing a letter to a local newspaper, sending an email to local council or their local Member of Parliament, or simply be following us on
and getting involved in the online conversation using the hashtag
#NSWMining
.”
Contact: Lindsay Hermes I
I 0409 758 734