NEWS RELEASE: Noront Resources Workshops help students gear up for the SYTYKM high school video competition

This article was provided by the Ontario Mining Association (OMA), an organization that was established in 1920 to represent the mining industry of the province.

Ontario Mining Association member Noront Resources has taken another step to expand the geographic scope and awareness of the high school video competition So You Think You Know Mining. Noront, DAREarts, Engage Learn and the OMA partnered forces to stage three Mining Movie Making Youth Camps (MMMYC) this year.

The camps, which combine geology and mining with visual arts and film making were held in Webequie, Marten Falls and Long Lake #58 First Nation. The teaching team included a mining and geology teacher from Noront, an art teacher from DAREarts and two film and photography teachers from Engage Learn.

The MMMYCs are hands-on, three-day community based programs, which invite and encourage Aboriginal youth to share their stories and viewpoints on mining, the environment and traditional territories in Ontario. Students in Webequie, Marten Falls and Long Lake #58 First Nation worked with the MMMYC teaching team to produce a video from each community, which will be submitted to the OMA’s So You Think Know Mining video competition.

This was the second year Noront has provided leadership for the MMMYC program. In each community, new participants eagerly showed up along with teenage filmmakers with a year’s experience under their belts. Without giving away too much, let’s just say the videos that will become SYTYKM entries from these communities deal with mining and hockey, environmental careers and how to run a mining company.

The Best Overall video winner for the 2012-2013 SYTYKM season was “Mining in My Community,” which was produced by a team led by Christian Peters, from Marten Falls. The group enjoyed a trip to Toronto to accept its $5,000 first prize and trophy at the So You Think You Know Mining Awards ceremony in June, which was held at the Royal Ontario Museum.

“Through MMMYC, Noront is helping to spread an awareness of mining to communities in the Ring of Fire region,” said OMA President Chris Hodgson. “This work is helping to expand the scope of the OMA’s So You Think You Know Mining program and make it a truly province-wide video competition.”

Engage Learn provided the technology and coaching for these camps. DAREarts is a non-profit organization, which aims to empower Canadian children who are challenged by life circumstances to unlock their potential through the arts and build leadership skills.

Noront Resources is focused on developing the high-grade Eagle’s Nest nickel-copper-platinum-palladium deposit, the exploration and development of the Blackbird chromite discovery and regional exploration for additional deposits. The company holds a large land position in the Ring of Fire, an emerging multi-metals camp located in the James Bay Lowlands.

Season six of So You Think You Know Mining will be launched soon. When the new contest is open to receive entries, the expert judging panel knows films produced in Webequie, Marten Falls and Long Lake #58 First Nation will be ready for viewing.