Thiess announces recipient of the inaugural Tori Cowburn Scholarship

We are proud to share the inaugural Tori Cowburn Scholarship has been awarded to Lluka Moffitt.

Tori Cowburn was a treasured Thiess employee when she tragically passed away in a bus accident in Greta in 2023.

Lluka is a Muswellbrook local and has completed her first year of a four-year Paramedicine Degree at Charles Sturt University, fulfilling her dream of helping people during times of need.

The Thiess scholarship, created in memory of Tori Cowburn will fund Lluka’s final three years of study while she works three days per week at a Thiess NSW site to gain on the job mining experience to compliment her study.

Lluka said: “It’s a bittersweet feeling to have been given this scholarship, knowing how loved Tori was by her colleagues. I’m very grateful to Thiess for this opportunity.”

In addition, we will support Louise Passlow, a current Thiess employee who applied as part of the scholarship program. Louise will be partnered with a mentor and will continue to work for Thiess full-time as a truck operator while she studies Geoscience part-time.

Thiess Group Executive Australia East Operations, Rae O’Brien said: “We received a high calibre of applicants for the scholarship. The Thiess family in the Hunter Valley is very close knit and honouring Tori’s memory through this program is something Thiess is proud to offer the community.”

Each year, the successful scholarship recipient will receive $8,000 per annum to assist with the costs of completing the associated degree, for a maximum duration of three years.

The scholarship is open to female students residing in the Hunter Valley interested in studying a mining related discipline at university.