CSM students bring home the gold from International Mining Games.

Two teams from the mining school, the Men’s A team and the Co-ed team, secured top spot in the ‘mucking’ event at the recent International Mining Games, held in the Midwestern US state of Missouri.

The mucking event involves competing teams running a one ton ore wagon down a 75’ track and filling it as quickly as possible.

In total, three teams from CSM - the only representatives from the UK taking part – competed in the illustrious contest, earning a host of podium places.

As well as gold in the mucking, the Men’s A team also secured silver in both the saw and the hand steel events, while the Co-ed team, who were sponsored by engineering group Sandvik, won silver in the sawing, surveying, track and gold panning events. The Men’s B team enjoyed success in the surveying event, also winning silver.

Professor Ken Evans, Dean of the College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences which includes CSM, congratulated the teams on their success, saying: “We are all extremely proud of the achievements of the students taking part in this year’s Mining Games, they are not only a credit to themselves but everyone associated with CSM, and they very much deserve all their successes.”

A record number of CSM students had put themselves forward to compete in the Games, which attracts competitors from as far afield as Australia, Germany, Holland and Indonesia.

Speaking before the Games Brodie Leggett, a Mining Engineering student at CSM, said the teams had followed a dedicated training schedule in the run up to the event. Camborne School of Mines is located on the University of Exeter’s Penryn Campus, in Cornwall.

The 36^th International Mining Games took place from April 2-5. They were first held in 1978 in honour of miners killed after fire broke out at the Sunshine mine near Kellogg, Idaho, USA, as well as all miners who have perished in the line of duty.  The competition seeks to keep the old-fashioned mining techniques alive, as well as strengthen the camaraderie of the mining students of today.