Driftrunner a dream gift for TAFE students
CQUniversity TAFE students have inherited a heavy-duty people-mover, thanks to a donation from Mackay's Resource Centre of Excellence (RCOE).
The RCOE re-gifted their PT007 Driftrunner to CQUniversity's Ooralea Trade Training Centre to be used as part of the University’s curricular and training modules.
The Driftrunner, usually used on mine sites, was first gifted to the RCOE in 2020 by Mastermyne. Used in the facility’s underground mine simulator, the Driftrunner provided real-life practical and theoretical experiences to groups undertaking site-readiness training.
The vehicle will now provide the same opportunities to the Trade Training Centre, something CQUniversity’s Associate Vice-President (Mackay and Whitsunday) Professor Rob Brown was extremely grateful for.
“This is a great opportunity for our students to interact with a mine-site vehicle in a training setting, increasing their exposure to real-life scenarios and preparing them for the workplace,” Professor Brown said.
“CQU is grateful to have a strong relationship with the Resources Centre of Excellence to facilitate these types of industry initiatives for our students.”
RCOE CEO Steven Boxall said re-gifting the Driftrunner was a terrific example of circularity, a key focus of the centre.
“We have been working on several circular economy projects with our stakeholders and it makes sense for us to implement circularity into our business practices by reusing our equipment wherever possible,” Mr Boxall said.
“Keeping resources in use, sharing assets and upcycling are all crucial to the implementation of a circular economy.”
The RCOE recently received a new MineCruiser people-mover from Coalroc Contractors, a donation that increased the facility’s training capabilities and the reason for retiring the Driftrunner.
