GROUP of North-East sixth formers have been finding out how mining in the region is alive and well and offering possible job opportunities.

Liz Shaw, a former student at Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College, in Darlington, who now works as a senior geologist for Durham-based Banks Mining, helped show 23 students from her old college around the Shotton surface mine, in Northumberland.

The students were investigating possible future career options by taking a tour of the large surface mine, west of Cramlington, and finding out more about how a modern mineral mining operation works.

The students, who will shortly be taking their Alevel exams, made the visit to find out how geologists investigate the composition of a site, and what they can do to meet the environmental responsibilities which are a part of obtaining planning permission for such a site.

They toured the surface mine in 4x4 vehicles to see for themselves how it operates, and to hear from Ms Shaw and Banks’ environment and sustainability co-ordinator, Chris Rush, about the different methods employed to minimise the environmental impact of the site’s operations.

They also had a close-up view of the new Northumberlandia landform, which is being built next to the Shotton site from about 1.5 million tonnes of compacted stone, clay and soil that has been taken from the mine.

Sue Massey, head of earth sciences at Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College, said: “Adhering to prescribed standards around noise emissions, traffic movements and air quality are a core part of any mineral mining operation, and very much forms part of the remit of the geologists working on the site.

“Giving our students a first-hand opportunity to see how this is done on a live site not only adds greatly to the work that we do in the classroom, but also means they get a practical idea of how they might use their academic knowledge after they move into the world of work.

“We got a great deal of extremely useful information from our visit to Shotton, and it was a real pleasure to see how Liz has gone on from our college to build a successful career for herself with Banks.”

Banks Mining employs about 150 people on its Shotton surface mine, along with a further 50 staff at the nearby Brenkley Lane site, and its mining operations in the area contribute about £20m to the regional economy every year.