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On Monday, 27th October 2025, BOHOGS and BBUGS co-hosted the Rock Laboratory Testing Workshop at The University of Queensland, St Lucia. This technical event provided a practical introduction to key laboratory testing methods for rocks, with a strong focus on coal measures rocks and their application in coal mine geotechnical engineering. The workshop featured: Theory sessions led by Dr Kai Koosmen (PSM), covering how to scope and interpret rock and defect tests for mining applications. A laboratory visit guided by Mr Sebastian Quintero Olaya and Dr Chenming Zhang (UQ Geomechanics Engineering Centre), showcasing advanced geomechanical testing and monitoring techniques. Attendance Highlights: [...]

A big thank you to the GroundProbe team for hosting the twenty two BOHOGS members (and 25 or so members online) at the GroundProbe office Brisbane on 17/10/2025. It is a huge effort to put together such an event and the BOHOGS members and committee appreciate it. We value GroundProbe's continued support of BOHOGS!

BOHOGS are seeking Expressions of Interest for the following committee positions for 2026: Chair Vice Chair General Members If you would like to join to BOHOGS committee, please contact Jiwoo Ahn (Jiwoo.Ahn (at) rocscience.com). BOHOGS Committee 2026 BOHOGS Committee Chair: VACANT Past Chair: Jiwoo Ahn Vice Chair: VACANT Secretary: Kathryn Young (Saduni Wijeweera currently filling in) Treasurer: Paul Davies Webmaster: Leigh Bergin QLD Representative: Peter Mackin NSW Representative: Will Norie Sponsor Coordinator: Gurshaan Virk Young Member Representative: Saduni Wijeweera, Gadha Vrinda Gopan General: Lewis Harmsworth, Marcus Jones, Sache Aumua, VACANCIES

GROUNDPROBE GEOTECHNICAL SCHOLARSHIP Applications are now open! Are you a 2nd, 3rd or 4th year geotechnical, civil engineering, or mining student? If yes, apply today! What is the GroundProbe Geotechnical Scholarship? The Scholarship is a fully funded program for 2nd, 3rd and 4th year Engineering students from Australia and Papua New Guinea with an interest in Geotechnical Engineering. This year, six students will take part in two weeks of full-time training at GroundProbe’s largest Geotechnical Monitoring Centre in Balikpapan, Indonesia from 17–28 November, including cultural experiences. The program is followed by nine site visits to locations close to students, including sites [...]

BOHOGS committee members, Lewis Harmsworth (Stanmore), Jiwoo Ahn (RocScience) and Leigh Bergin represented BOHOGS at the QUT CESS Companies and Canapes Industry Networking Evening on the 4/9/2025. The aim of attending the event was to promote open cut geotechnical engineering as a career for civil engineers in the mining industry. There were plenty of conversations with students who were keen to know more about mining and the career of mine geotechnical engineers.

Dr Davide Guccione from the University of Newcastle is looking to create a database of material characterization from different rock types and strengths. This will support his rockfall fragmentation project and is also relevant to an ACARP rockfall project at UoN. Please reach out to davide.guccione (at) newcastle.edu.au if you would like to be involved. Davide is looking to gather information from borehole and subsequent lab characterization, including: Rock type and condition (fresh, weathered, slightly weathered, etc.) From Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS) tests: UCS Secant Elastic Modulus (at failure) Tangent Elastic Modulus From Brazilian Tests (Indirect Tensile Tests): Tensile strength Specimen dimensions [...]

Save the date for the Resource Operators Conference (ROC) 2026, the premier event for the mining industry, taking place on the 5th and 6th of February in Springfield, QLD. Formerly the Underground Coal Operators Conference, ROC has expanded its scope to include topics related to surface mining. This makes it a must-attend event for BOHOGS (Bowen Basin & Hunter Valley Open Cut Geotechnical Society) members. We encourage you to participate and share your expertise. Abstracts are due on 30 October 2026. Hosted by the Sustainable and Geomechanics Mining Group at the University of Southern Queensland, ROC 2026 will feature technical presentations, [...]

BOHOGS recently hosted a technical meeting in Brisbane, bringing together open cut geotechnical engineers for an afternoon of knowledge sharing and CPD. The event featured a series of technical presentations from Lewis Harmsworth (Stanmore), Greg Kennedy (PSM), Marc Elmouttie (CSIRO) and Kobi Song (Red Earth Engineering). The day concluded with a networking event on the terrace at the Sebel Hotel. As always, we extend our gratitude to our BOHOGS sponsors - your continued support makes events like this possible! The technical presentations that were able to be shared will be uploaded to the BOHOGS website over the coming weeks > https://bohogs.org.au/past-meetings/ [...]

BOHOGS hosted a technical meeting and site tour at Saraji mine this week. Along with a series of technical presentations and a site tour, it was a great opportunity for open cut geotechnical engineers to share experiences and liaise with like minded professionals. The day finished with social networking event at the Moranbah Golf Club. Thanks to the BMA Geotechnical Services team for organising and hosting the event!

Dear BOHOGS Member, You are invited to complete the BOHOGS Member Survey for 2025. If you could please provide feedback at your earliest convenience, the survey results will be used by the committee to improve BOHOGS and to plan for future events. All survey responses are anonymous. To complete the survey: Please find the Survey Link in your email sent from BOHOGS, or Goto the BOHOGS Linkedin group post here -> https://www.linkedin.com/BOHOGS BOHOGS Committee