Penrice Academy students awestruck on Imerys tour
One hundred year nine students from St Austell’s Penrice Academy recently enjoyed a careers event at the Littlejohns kaolin mine in the UK.
First up was a bus tour around Clay Country, where the students learnt about the local mining history - such as the old clay tips. They then visited Littlejohns kaolin mine just outside of Roche. This is the largest kaolin mine in the world - with a perimeter of 7 miles - it would fit 300 football pitches! The groups were met by a mining engineer and geologist for a talk in wild and windy conditions!
They then travelled onwards to Rocks drying site, just outside of Bugle. Work had shut down for the day and the entire team pulled together to create a mini-exhibition. Students enjoyed talks focused around sustainability in different areas of the business, and what career opportunities are available. This touched on environment, health and safety, science and technology, energy and engineering, lithium production with Imerys British Lithium, plus mining and processing of kaolin.
Watch a quick overview of their visit below!
What a fantastic day! The thing that I noticed the most was how awestruck the students were with the scale of operations at Imerys. From £20,000 truck tyres to enormous quarry pits which are 400 metres wide and deep; the scale is hard to comprehend.
It was great to hear about the skills and career journeys of the employees we met, and how their roles have evolved over time. There were lots of questions from curious students and lots of smiles throughout the day. All in all, it was a resounding success!
We were delighted to host this group. Supporting local education is crucial for Imerys in the UK, as we work to attract the next generation of Imerys employees. We offer an incredible range of career opportunities for people of all ages - from those starting out to anyone looking for a new challenge.
We have partnered with inland shipping company NPRC to use renewable fuel powered barges for the transport of our minerals from our Antwerp terminal in Belgium to our customers in Northern Europe.
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