The metal will live on

Sponsored by Rio Tinto, the Extracting Talent for Metallurgy sessions involved pupils from years 10 to 12 performing experiments in Murdoch's laboratories, attending lectures and meeting key members of staff.

Not only did they learn about the importance of metallurgy to them as an applied science, but also how it could contribute to the Australian economy.

Organiser and PhD student from the School of Engineering and Informational Technology Graeme Thompson said he hoped the attendees would seriously consider metallurgy as a career.

"Even when the industry is not in boom, the mining companies still need to add between 60 and 100 highly paid new extractive metallurgists each year," he said.

�Universities Australia-wide are graduating about 50, so there is still good demand for this career. The undergraduate students will also get the opportunity to apply for government and industry scholarships, participate in international mining games and obtain vacation employment during summer holidays to enrich their experience.

�Not only are we hoping to educate pupils about the opportunities available to them in this field but also inform their accompanying teachers and laboratory technicians.

"Their visits to campus also give the pupils an invaluable taster of university life, whether they decide to pursue metallurgy or not."