More than 100 local high school students attended the dinner last Thursday at The Entrance to hear more about the opportunities working in the mining industry would offer.

Guest speakers at the dinner included mining professors, students from the University of New South Wales and the University of Newcastle and representatives from Centennial Coal and Xstrata Coal.

NSW Minerals Council chief executive officer Stephen Galilee said the event was a good opportunity for students and their families to learn more about the career options available in the expanding mining sector.

“According to the [Australian Bureau of Statistics], the number of people directly employed in mining has more than doubled over the past four years from 22,041 to 47,582 and the federal government conservatively estimates over 4 per cent annual growth in direct mining employment out to 2015,” Galilee said.

“We’re clearly going to need to attract and retain more skilled workers, including more women, to be able to meet the global demand for our minerals in the years to come.

Currently, women make up 13% of the state’s mining workforce.

“Our industry can offer women opportunities to become anything they want to be, from engineers to electricians, geologists to drillers, as well as the option of pursuing a professional career in regional NSW,” Galilee added.

All interested women will be supported by WIMIN_NSW – the Women in Mining Network NSW – which aims to break the perception that mining is an industry reserved for males.

The NSWMC will be hosting a regional forum in the state’s Central West this week to discuss new methods of attracting more women into the sector.