Teams were from Australia (Western Australia, Queensland, NSW), USA (Missouri,Arizona, Montana, Nevada, Colorado, South Dakota), Canada (British Columbia), Germany (Freiberg, Bochum).  There were many local Cornish teams including four from Camborne School of Mines and King Edward Mine's own young team of volunteers (KEM Kids). 

A total of 45 teams of 6 took part in a fiercely competitive event.  Hundreds of spectators came along to view and photograph the event despite appalling rain and wind. 

Congratulations are due to the universities who were taking part in the competition for the first time and had travelled so far for the week. Thank you to the German teams from TU Bergakademie Freiberg and Technische Hochschule Georg Agricola in Bochum and the team from University of British Columbia. 

The drilling drew the biggest crowds of spectators to see how far these young people could drill into concrete in three minutes using a Holman 303 drill. 

The first day was for the women’s and co-ed teams. Despite strong teams from both Montana and Colorado mining schools, the home women’s team from Camborne School of Mines (CSM) won the women’s event.  They had put in a staggering amount of training over the winter. Their experience at CSM made the accuracy of their surveying the outstanding best of the whole competition. All the early morning starts, aching legs and frozen hands paid off in this fantastic result for Cornwall. 

The co-ed competition was also fiercely fought and in the end the leader board was dominated by teams from North America. South Dakota won this part of the competition and showed off their experience in the airleg drilling event. They drilled further than any of the men (over 5 meters in three minutes), showing all how much practice and good training pays off. 

The second day of the competition saw 23 mens and alumni teams face each other for the physically demanding events. The alumni event was won by the team from South Dakota. Two CSM alumni teams, Anchored by Britannia and Cousin Jacks succeeded in taking second and third places. 

The CSM mens team showed their speed, strength and coordination at the best time for the track stand of the whole competition of under 4 minutes. They also took first prize in the mucking and the surveying. So CSM took the overall mens first prize, showing how great teamwork, leadership and dedication leads to success. 

The WASM Wombats mens team from Western Australia showed the spectators how to saw through wood, with their powerful performance of under a minute for five men each to saw through 6 by 6 inch timber. That took them into second place. The Mackay Muckers (from Nevada USA), took third place. 

So it can be said that CSM, KEM and Cornwall were both the hosts and the overall winners of the International Mining Games. 

Here are the 2025 results;

Here are the events;

• Jackleg Drilling – Drill into vertical concrete with a Holmans 303 airleg drill
  Track Laying – Set up and tear down a section of track, including sleepers, rail, connecting plates and bolts 
• Hand Mucking – Run a 1 ton ore wagon down a 75 foot section of track and fill it
• Swede Saw – Saw through a 6’’x6’’ piece of timber with a 36’’ bow saw
  Gold Panning – Find five flattened ball bearings in a pan full of dirt and rock
• Hand Drilling – Drill into concrete using a 3 -4lb hammer and a 7/8’’ chisel
  Surveying – Teams are given a starting point and expected to report the coordinates of a finishing point using an old fashioned vernier transit

Photo Credit Media Memories Photography https://www.facebook.com/AimeeJohn.Memories.Photography

The international student games were the original inspiration for the Cornwall Schools Mining Games that will be held at KEM for the fifth time on 19th June 2025 - see our events page  for details.

The competition was started in 1978 in honour of the 91 miners that died in the Sunshine Mine disaster, USA in 1972, as well as miners that have since died in the line of duty.

The primary aim of the competition is to keep the “old-fashioned” mining techniques alive, many of which were developed in Cornwall.    In many villages in the 20th century, men could be seem competing in hand-steeling competitions. Below is a photo taken at King Edward Mine, Cornwall in 1910.