The Cobar trip to Central New South Wales exposed those of us in 3rd Year to towns that have a long and proud history of mining, continuing today with a number of new, highly productive and highly profitable mines operating in the region. We were fortunate enough to visit the CSA Mine, the Peak Mine, Mineral Hill, Peak Hill and look at the unique environmental issues associated with the New Cobar mine in its rehabilitation phase.

These mines were a mixture of gold and copper mines, both operating and closed, some of which had a fascinating display of old workings that date back to the turn of the century.

The trip itself was a great compliment to our lectures and definitely provided an insight into a number facets associated with current mining operations ranging from day to day operational issues to life of mine plans.

The trip itself would not have been possible without the generosity of the staff and personnel at all the sites we visited. We are very grateful for the time and enthusiasm they invested in our visit, it was greatly appreciated.

We would also like to thank our lecturer Associate Professor David Laurence for his part in organising the trip together with our sponsor companies and individuals:

• AMC Consultants
• Atlas Copco
• Caterpillar
• Mr. Malcolm Turnbull.