In early 1998, the WASM Wombats Mining Team, based at the Western Australian School of Mines in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, was formed. This team of students, with the help of some generous companies and individuals, constructed a training field, and put together a team of nine students to travel to the 21st Annual International Collegiate Mining Games in Reno, Nevada, April 1999. This team, the first ever from WASM to attend the competition, returned with third place overall in the open division. This was the first time in the event's history that an international team had placed in the top three.

After achieving such a good result in 1999, and with several keen new recruits, the WASM Wombats began training in August 1999, with sights set on the 22nd Annual International Collegiate Mining Games, in Butte, Montana. Eleven students, constituting one open and one co-ed team, traveled to Butte and returned proud winners of both divisions entered.

In April 2001, the competition was again held in Reno Nevada. The WASM Wombats entered two men's teams, placing 1st and 4th in the open division. Competition was extremely fierce as other schools attempted to beat the invading Aussies and it was a three-way tie for first place. The title was won through a tiebreaker event.

Having won the competition for two years in a row, the Wombats had also won the right to host the event. After strong lobbying of the US based schools, the decision was made to hold the 24th Annual International Collegiate Mining Competition in Kalgoorlie, Australia. It was held at the Australian Prospectors and Miners Hall of Fame on the 22nd and 23rd March 2002.

The competition was a huge success, with over 20 teams competing from ten universities across Australia and North America. Feedback from competitors, sponsors and spectators was very positive and everyone involved expressed their interest in returning to Kalgoorlie for the competition in the future.

Hosting the competition was a huge challenge for the WASM Wombats. Things to be considered were constructing the competition field, providing accommodation for over 70 international and interstate travellers, trophies, presentation evenings and transport and tours of local mines for the visiting students. Not only did the WASM Wombats host the competition successfully, they also competed extremely well. Three open teams and one women's team were entered. The Wombats placed 1st and 2nd in the Open division, completing a hat trick of championships. The women's team placed 1st in their division with the first attempt WASM has had at the women's division.

The success of the 24th International Collegiate Mining Competition, and the success of the teams themselves, would not have been possible without the help of our many sponsors. The teams were proud to recognise these sponsors throughout the competition and for the remainder of the year.

In March 2003, the competition was held in Rolla, Missouri. The WASM Wombats entered a men's teams, and a co-ed team, both placing 1st in their respective divisions. The Co-ed team received first place in all but two events, mucking and airlegging, receiving second place in both. Competition was at its best and it came down to only a one point difference between first and second. The title was won for the fourth time, in extremely cold and difficult conditions by the defending world champions.

2003 was a rebuilding year when almost all of the wombats graduated and moved on, leaving a large void to be filled by new recruits for the 2004 Competition. The wombats eventually managed to scrape together a men's team consisting of two females. Because of this fact the other American teams didn't regard us as a threat, until about lunchtime on the competition day when they all looked very worried. The team did well to acclimatise to Montana's 4°C temperatures, high elevation and overcome flus and colds. We did extremely well and finished up with a few firsts, seconds, thirds and an overall second placing. We held our heads high as the competition was the best it has been for the past few years.

Two teams from the WASM Wombats competed in the 27th International Collegiate Mining Competition in Reno, Nevada. All up 15 teams congregated to battle for the coveted winners' trophies. Both teams performed well, with the coed and men's teams placing 1st and 3rd respectively in their divisions. The men's team placed 1st in the handsteel and swede saw events. The mucking was a close second due to a penalty. The coed competition was a hard-fought win. A win in the final event, mucking, carried the team to victory against competitors Virginia Tech. The coed team placed first in muck, handsteel, saw and goldpan.

2006 saw the return of the games to our Home Soil and an opportunity to host the biggest and best games yet. We were determined to give the Americans a run for their money in every division and with the wombats fielding their biggest team to date we managed this in style winning every division and securing our World Champion Status once again. The 28th International Collegiate Mining Competition was held at the Prospectors and Miners Hall of Fame once again, over the Easter weekend 13-15th of April.

We decided that due to the large number of teams, about 33 teams, we would have to host the games over three days, one day for training and two days for competing, splitting the divisions between the days. The Womens and Co-ed Division were first up and put up a stellar performance with a first in each division and a very close second in the Co-ed Division. The competition has certainly stepped up in these divisions over the past few years, with some very tight finishes between the teams.

The Saturday saw the Mens and Alumni teams fight it out with some very competitive teams putting all the hard training into good use. With most of the BHP Billiton WASM Wombats Mens team in the organising committee there wasn't much training done in the weeks preceding the games but this seemed to make no difference as they took out the Surveying, Mucking and for the first time the Trackstand. We lost second in 3 events by only a minute margin, i.e. 1 cm in Hand Steel, 1 second in Swede Saw and 5 seconds in Gold Panning. Very close indeed. Competing Alumni teams were made up of ex-competitors who had heaps to prove that they still had what it takes. It was a fierce battle with a draw between the two WASM Wombat teams locking them into a tie-breaking event, which turned out to be Airlegging. The big guns from both teams were pulled out to see who reigned supreme. Wes and Steve managed to marginally beat Muz and Choda to take out the championship.

Overall the games went really well, I mean hosting the biggest games plus taking out every division, what more do you want??? Thanks to everyone who helped achieve such a great result!!!!