Dawson mine family and community day

Anglo American Dawson mine in Moura, Queensland held its first family and community day on January 15, 2025.

Across the state, it hosted over 900 general community members and families of its workers to experience first-hand some of the labour conducted on site and to witness how the mine is investing in the future.

Loved ones in matching high-vis vests were bussed in to explore massive dump trucks, a dozer and other equipment in the workshop. Visitors also got to travel to the mine’s lookout to view the pits and draglines in action.

Along with being fed and watered, tents were set up for family-friendly fun activities such as kicking soccer balls through nets, operating mini diggers and scavenging for sweets.

Brandon Davies from Moura says being here with family is the great part.

“I get to show my oldest and me youngest what I get to do. For Anglo to do this is pretty amazing and I hope it continues on,” he said.

Dawson mine general manager Matt Stevens says its people and community are the most important thing at Dawson.

“You get a bit immune to the size and scale of what we do when you work in it day-to-day. However, seeing some of the kids walk into the workshop, see a 797 for the first time and actually being able to climb up to it, you really see that wow factor and the audible gasps as people walk in. It’s been really, really exciting,” he said.

“We really saw the interest and people actually starting to consider a career in mining for the first time when they didn’t previously really understand what we did here.

“Hopefully out of today, we’ve got some little coal miners of the future coming through our pipeline and it was great to see all the smiling faces.”

The family and community day was initiated by team members asking if they could bring their families to work and from the general community querying if they could access the site.

Moura resident, Quentin Dales,17, says he’s grown up with mining with his dad talking about it.

“I thought I’d come out here and take a look at the mining. I’ve been here a few times doing my cert three … everybody was so friendly,” he said.

“It’s like another world out here. I love being able to see the draglines, trucks and the little cars.”

Anglo American hopes the young people who visited the mine site will be the coal miners of tomorrow whether it’s future engineers, safety officers or environmental specialists.

A successful day was had all round with visitors gaining a deeper understanding of their relations home-away-from-home and future prospects for a career in mining.