The Sudbury Star is the City of Greater Sudbury’s daily newspaper.
Claudine Beausoleil is a woman of her convictions. The vice-chair of Modern Mining and Technology Week can’t think of a better career for a young person than mining.
The co-ordinator at the Bharti School of Engineering at Laurentian University says becoming a mine engineer will allow a young person to get a good-paying job and work at locations all around the world. There are plenty of other opportunities in mining whether in computers, robotics, construction, maintenance or human resources.
Beausoleil and several other people staffed booths at the New Sudbury Centre on Saturday at the MMTS Showcase to kick off Modern Mining and Technology Week. The purpose of the week is to educate young people about mining, said Beausoleil.
That is done with fun activities such as Mine Opportunity Mining Games April Monday and Tuesday at Dynamic Earth, where 300 students will be engaged in a game that’s a combination of Monopoly and a scavenger hunt.
On Wednesday and Thursday, 600 Grade 4 students and their teachers are expected to participate in Mining Matters workshops at Dynamic Earth. Grade 4 is a good age to interest students in mining as a career, said Beausoleil.
Frank Ingham, a professor in mining at Cambrian College, teaches students in the two-year mining technician program. They can study a third year and get a diploma in mining technology.
Graduates work under mining engineers as surveyors, ventilation technicians, mine planners and layout people, said Ingham.
“For people who are technically bent, this is the program of choice,” said Ingham.
The job market is tight now because of a poor economy but future prospects look good.
People interested in the program should be good in maths and sciences becuase it’s a technical program, not a “how-to-be-a-miner” program, he said.
For more about Modern Mining and Technology Week events, go to www.modernmining.ca.
For the original version of this article, click here: http://www.thesudburystar.com/2014/04/27/kids-eye-career-in-mining