Book Review: ‘Why Mining?’ takes a populist approach

DONALD WORTH – Why Mining?

David McKay was born and raised near mines in British Columbia’s interior, where his grandfather ran a small placer operation. Nevertheless, he enrolled in civil engineering in the University of British Columbia. By his third year, the mining bug had bitten and he switched his major. When asked “Why mining?” by one of his professors, he answered, “I like the people.”

This populist attitude is evident throughout MacKay’s book Why Mining, in which he describes various mining folk with whom he came into contact. They range from Nick Starric, once a worker at the Paradise mine, near Invermere, B.C., to Richard Mollison, a former senior vice-president of Texasgulf. In these descriptions, MacKay leaves no doubt as to who are his favourites and who are not.

The depth and breadth of his career, spanning more than 50 years, are extensive: base metals in British Columbia, gold in northwestern Quebec, iron ore and base metals in northwestern Ontario, and potash in Saskatchewan. He was also a salesman, peddling such items as rock bolts and yielding arches. He later wrapped up his career as a consultant travelling throughout Canada and as far away as Kazakhstan and China.

The details he retains from his experiences in various mines speak of a great love for his profession. He must have kept detailed notes and journals to be able to list production rates, the horsepower of drill rigs, scram drift dimensions, and the like.

The period of his career he seems to have enjoyed the least was when he was transferred to Texasgulf’s sales office in Toronto, though he does admit that free theatre and sports tickets made it bearable.

The book’s index lists the names of 543 people, which should help book sales as many interested readers will want to find out what McKay has to say about them.

This is a book that should be especially valuable to students thinking about a career in mining. As the author concludes, Where else would one be able to meet such a variety of characters and make a good living?

— The reviewer is a director of the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame.