At the beginning of the vacation programme, the students were each given a project applicable to their field of study. In order to complete her project, Buhle had to work with the underground production team, as well as mine management, and Sasol Mining’s Business Improvement and Geology departments. According to Buhle, this meant that she had to work with different people, realistically plan out her project objectives and go underground to understand how the cutting sequence works, as well as the relevant machines, to which she had never been exposed before.

At the end of the programme, the students each delivered a presentation on their individual projects to members of management, their supervisors and fellow students. The presentations were used to evaluate the participants in terms of presentation skills, content understanding, analysis and presentation, and to determine whether they had successfully learned from their vacation work experience. Buhle delivered the winning presentation in the category for third-year students in Mining for her project: “A critical analysis into the cutting sequence of the Voest Alpine-Bolter Miner (ABM) sections”.