According to Rio Tinto Coal Australia's Mine Matters newsletter, four second-year mining engineering students were awarded scholarships in June, which will provide assistance for their remaining years at university.

RTCA Business Improvement general manager Nick Barlow said it was important to foster relationships at an early stage with mining students who were working hard to break into the industry.

He said scholarship winners will also be offered vacation positions and the opportunity to apply for a role within the RTCA Graduate Development Program.

At a time when the industry is experiencing severe skills shortages, Barlow said the scholarships were an important part of RTCA’s employee attraction program, aimed at securing highly skilled workers for the future.