Mining matters in Nunavut

The weather reports say that it’s minus 42 in Cambridge Bay, but that won’t keep Patricia Dillon and Patricia Meyer from teaching mining to students in chilly, far-northern Nunavut.

Both women are part of a one-week youth training program that will see them take the Mining Matters curriculum to 18 grade-six students from Cambridge Bay and outlying areas.

Mining Matters is a creation of the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada.

The Nunavut initiative, which coincides with a mining symposium in Cambridge Bay, is being funded by the Kitikmeot Economic Development Commission and organized by the Kitikmeot Employment and Training Partners (KETP). It is designed to encourage local children to take an interest in mining.

“We want to target kids at a young age to look at possible careers in mining,” says Sean Peterson, manager of KETP.

A dedicated classroom has been set aside, and students will be flown in from outlying communities and billeted with local families. The course will follow an amended version of the Mining Matters curriculum taught in Ontario schools. The curriculum was amended in order to make it more mining-oriented and less slanted toward earth sciences.

Students will be tested and graduate with certificates in a ceremony that includes a video dance party open to local youth.

Both Meyer and Dillon are enthusiastic about the teaching opportunity.

“I’m a little apprehensive about the weather, but other than that I’m really excited,” says Meyer, who has a master’s degree in hydro geology from McMaster University.

Dillon, who manages corporate relations for Teck Cominco, has recruited students for the Lassonde Institute at the University of Toronto and taught in a secondary school in Mississauga, Ont. She says the Kitikmeot Economic Development Commission wanted to expose students to geology and show them that there are opportunities in the minerals industry.

The Mining Matters program, which began in 1993, uses a curriculum written by grade-school teachers. To date, the program has distributed 5,600 resource kits, which contain mineral samples, equipment, posters and literature.

The program cannot keep up with demand, according to Mining Matters co-ordinator Jennifer Amy, and funding is in short supply. A registered charitable organization, the program relies heavily on donations from government and the private sector.