Mining ... touching every aspect of our lives

Grade 5 students from St. Gregory's School in Powassan get into the spirit of Mining Week Tuesday at J.S. Redpath Limited on McKeown Avenue.

The North Bay Mining Association (NBMA), with the support of the local branch of the Canadian Institute of Mining (CIM) hosted 200 area school students at J.S. Redpath Limited on McKeown Avenue Tuesday in celebration of Mining Week in North Bay.

The students were introduced to various activities that can be found in the mining industry on any given day including panning for gold to operating shaft sinking equipment models.

With over 65 mining related companies in North Bay offering good paying jobs and with an annual injection of over $15 million into the local economy each year, the students quickly discovered that mining is a vital industry here.

Jason Michaud Grade 5 teacher at St. Gregory’s in Powassan says the interactive mining day is a huge benefit to the learning unit in his class.

“It’s important for my students to come down here because they get to do hands on activities,” he says.

“It’s interactive and the children enjoy listening to all the presentations.”

He says the kids learn that mining touches just about every aspect of their young lives already from their MP3 players to, to Wii games, to their TVs and that they bring what they learn at the expo back to the class room for discussion.

“Mining is a very important industry in Canada and that the north has a lot to offer for the industry.”