Digging Deeper with @ The Coalface

After Jess sat down with Joe Clayton in Episode 18, Joe reached out with a hundred more stories. Stories about witch doctors, how he dealt with illegal miners, and run-ins with natives.

Joe has worked in Australia and overseas in gold mines. You would be fooled into thinking Joe was retired now though, watching the coal ships go past in the Port of Newcastle from his verandah.

But he's still very active in the mining space and the ...

Joe Clayton started working underground in the 1970s. He's been buried up to his neck, had his ear just about cut off, been in charge of mining operations in Australia, Papua New Guinea, and Indonesia, and hired mercenaries with semi-automatics to keep a strike at bay.

He has about a thousand stories, so enjoy Part 1 of our chat with Joe.

Don't forget to leave us a rating and a review, and if you've got a story or want to dob a mate...

Courtney Taylor spent more than ten years working as a geologist before moving into operations management and project delivery for major mining companies. Now Courtney is the Managing Director of Yari Resources, an emerging resources company exploring the Bowen Basin for coal resources that could support more than 70 years of mining.

Courtney has had a hugely successful career, and she is a big believer in industry professionals gi...

Minister for Natural Resources and Mines, Minister for Manufacturing and Minister for Regional and Rural Development Dale Last joined Jess on this episode of Digging Deeper with @ The Coalface.

Dale joins Jess fresh after a Coal Industry Event in Brisbane, a report earlier this year from Future Coal showing the international demand for our coal, and Coal Australia releasing their very first annual Coal Report breaking down the data...

The International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC) is returning to the ICC in Sydney this October 27-29.

IMARC brings together not only the mining sector here in Australia, but a huge international contingent as well. This year it's not just about the C-suite coming along, everyone is being encouraged to get to IMARC, including engineers, operators, students and more.

Sherene Asnasyous and Paul Phelan are IMARC's Event Direct...

We are LIVE at the NSW Mining HSEC Conference for another year…

HSEC is where people from across the industry come together to share ideas, challenge thinking and learn from each other. It’s one of the few opportunities each year were operators, contractors, regulators and experts are in the same room with a common goal – making our workplaces safer and healthier.

For this episode of Digging Deeper with @ The Coal...

Daniel Rockhouse was one of only two men to survive the fatal Pike River Mine disaster in New Zealand on November 19, 2010.

He lost his brother and his crew.

Daniel and Russell Smith were the only two to make it out alive that day, and to this day, their crew is still underground.

The disaster and the months after the disaster have recently been played out in a film which delves into that fateful day and what happened afterwards.

Jess ...

Fishing has always been part of Ken Bayley's life, but it was during some of his toughest periods that he realised it was far more than just a hobby.

Ken has worked in the mining industry for the last eight years after returning home from the military. Whatever job Ken as has had, or wherever he has lived, fishing has always remained a constant. Something he did to settle his mind and find peace in the craziness of the world.

After ...

Craig Semple was a career detective in the New South Wales Police Force for twenty-five years, investigating homicides, outlaw motorcycle gangs and hundreds of other serious crimes. Medically retired from law enforcement in 2013 due to psychological injuries, Craig is now a sought-after keynote speaker and mental health advocate.

Craig is the founding director of Mentality Plus delivering mental health, wellbeing and resilience educ...

Sharon Bushby is the Policy Manager: Industry Skills and Education with NSW Mining. There are a few miners across the industry who would have come across Sharon during her six years at Zeal Futures, five in recruitment at Centennial, and now through the various outreach and school programs she's part of with NSW Mining.

Jess sat down with Sharon to find out about all the programs and events NSW Mining is doing to encourage students...

You wouldn’t meet anyone more approachable and humble than Rae O’Brien. Starting out as a mining engineer, she has spent 30 years quietly lifting the sustainability standards of mine sites across NSW and Queensland, while breaking quite a few records along the way.

Rae got engaged to a fellow mining engineer in the final year of her university degree, and they began their life together in Middlemount. Fast forward, and t...

Levi Grima grew up in Mackay on his family's sugarcane farm. He joined the army and was deployed overseas, thinking that was what he wanted.

Turns out being deployed overseas made Levi miss Mackay and his home, so he came back and found himself a job in mining. Levi started as a coal technician and has climbed up the chain at SGS to become the Natural Resources Operations Manager.

Levi is also part of the Australia Pacific Carbon C...

Hannah Legg is the CEO and Founder of HER Engineering. She has three trade qualifications and a certificate to her name, all because she was curious, determined to know how everything worked and determined to be the best she could be.

The 32-year-old from the Hunter Valley has a few firsts to her name, including being the first tradeswoman in more than 90 years to be employed at Kings Engineering, Hannah started HER Engineering in ...

Chris Uhlmann is a veteran Australian journalist. He's been a political reporter for many years and these days is a freelance political contributor for Sky News and The Australian.

Chris presented at the recent Asia Pacific Carbon Connect conference in Newcastle, talking about the wealth generated by fossil fuels and the simple fact we wouldn't be where we are today without coal, gas and oil and without it we won't move much further...

The Australian Coal Preparation Society is celebrating 60 years in 2026. 60 years of education and connection for the coal preparation part of the coal supply chain.

Their annual conference was held in Pokolbin in March and Jess went along to chat to a few of the suppliers, innovators, and people working to get the best value and quality coal out to buyers.

In the second episode Jess caught up with five of the businesses who were at...

The Australian Coal Preparation Society (ACPS) is celebrating 60 years of connection and education this year.

In March the ACPD get together for their conference, an opportunity to network, meet new people, learn about the innovation going on in the industry and get some insight into what is happening on the ground at various sites.

Jess had the opportunity to catch up with a few people at the conference. In this episode she sits d...

It was an accident that Richard Campbell ended up in mining over in New Zealand. He was enrolled to become a mechanial engineer, went to an open day at university and came out signed up for geology instead.

From that accident, some mining work in New Zealand, and then working in mines over the ditch in Australia, he was sitting in Bunbury WA with a couple of mates having a beer, and they came up with the name Blackrock, and the res...

NSW Mining has some of the best social media content around, promoting the critical mineral and coal mining industry across NSW. Everything from 'day in the life' videos, to underground, open cut, the lesser known jobs, and tips from everyone you can think of about how to get into the industry or how it works.

That positive messaging is making a real impact on social media and spreading the word that not only is mining here to stay...