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How one association is tackling the global shortage of mine employees
by Patrick Whiteway
Nickel Magazine, June 2007 -- The Ontario Mining Association (OMA) in
Canada has developed a 15-minute animated tour of an underground nickel mine and processing plant that can be
downloaded over the Internet.
Click Here to View >>
Called NickelQuest, this teaching tool is introducing students aged 13-14 to the many high-tech
job opportunities available in the mining industry. Even the producers of the video became excited to learn
the breath of high-tech careers paths that are available within the mining industry and set out to share the
excitement of that discovery with young teens.
“Gone are the days when mining was a labour-intensive industry based on old technology,” says Karen
Mayfield, managing director of eSolutions Group, the Waterloo, Ontario-based digital media company that
produced the video for the OMA.
“In working on this project we discovered how closely the technology used in mining reflects what
companies like ours use everyday, and we gained an appreciation for how mining fosters innovations. For
example, we learned how mining uses cutting-edge software for 3-D visualization of orebodies, geographic
information systems, mine planning, virtual modeling, exploration, safety, science and management.
“With this shared background and shared goals, we’re sure NickelQuest will open doors for
students, who can now combine a career in technology with leading-edge mining techniques and practices.”
The video made its debut before an audience of 150 at the new Atlas Copco Theatre, noted for the quality
of its digital image projection. The theatre is located at the tourist attraction called Dynamic Earth in the
Ontario city of Sudbury. Attending were 80 grade-8 schoolchildren, Sudbury Mayor John Rodriguez, and
representatives of local mining companies CVRD Inco, Xstrata Nickel and FNX Mining, the Sudbury educational
community and the provincial Ministry of Northern Development and Mines.
The OMA plans to distribute the video on DVD to grade 8 students throughout the province at the beginning
of the school year in September, 2007. In addition, the Nickel Institute will be streaming the video from its
website beginning in August.
“This project sprang from the realization that it is logistically impossible to take all Ontario students
on a tour of an underground mine,” says OMA President Chris Hodgson. “We decided the next best thing would be
to use technology to create a ‘virtual’ tour; if you can’t take the students to the mine, why not take the
mine to the students?”
Mining experts, educators, students and government all collaborated on this animation project that is
designed to be amusing and interesting to a young audience while at the same time giving them a lot of
educational information.
In Canada alone, the mining industry is looking to hire 80,000 skilled individuals in the next 10 years.
“There are different theories about when young people start thinking about careers,” says Peter McBride,
manager of communications for the OMA, “but grade 8 is a good place to start.”
“We hope NickelQuest will inform students of the more than 400 career possibilities the industry
offers,” says Hodgson, adding that he hopes it will promote earth sciences and mineral education in the eyes
of curriculum co-ordinators, teachers, school boards and government.
This video is freely available and could help both parents and educators introduce their 13 and
14-year-olds to careers related to nickel and to mining.
Patrick Whiteway is Editor of Nickel Magazine.
Photos: Ontario Mining Association (OMA)
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