WorldWide Drilling Resource

48 MAY 2014 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® Education is Key to Changing the Perception of the Mining Industry Adapted from Information by the Women in Mining Education Foundation Our country has an abundance of natural resources, and our ability to uti- lize them in an environmentally-sound way is essential to providing people with the necessities of life, as well as many innovations to make life easier for every- one. The public’s lack of knowledge about the mining industry has lead to many peo- ple not understanding everything they use comes from a natural resource. We all need and use minerals/rocks in one way or another. The Women in Mining Education Foundation (WIMEF), a nonprofit organ- ization, strongly believes this lack of basic science knowledge stems largely from the lack of earth science being a required subject in our schools for many years. Earth science imparts the knowledge of where things come from, how minerals and rocks are formed, and their proper- ties which determine their uses and how these raw materials form the basic ingre- dients of what we use each day. From the toothpaste we use to brush our teeth, to the materials used for the automobiles we drive, as well as our roads, buildings, cell phones, televisions, computers, etc., requireminerals from the ground. Even the food we eat requires minerals present in the ground, or those added to the soil for better yields each year. We all know education makes a dif- ference, otherwise we’d still be carving out pictures on rocks to communicate and document history. Early education opens the possibility of “what if?”. Informing stu- dents about the importance of minerals and mining opens their minds and allows them to explore the many possibilities of finding new ways to better mankind. For over twenty years, WIMEF has been offering teacher workshops, class- room visits, and service groups, introduc- ing the facts about minerals and rocks to large numbers of people. They are not the only group doing this; many state mining associations, nonprofit organizations, and individual mining personnel have realized education is the best way to help change the perception of the mining industry. By the time attendees have completed these sessions, the majority of them tell us they did not realize why we mine. Their first re- sponse before the class was mining is bad, it destroys the earth, and we can do without the raw materials from mining. The mining companies of today are a far cry from what they were decades ago, with strict environmental protections in place and reclamation of mining sites. Many companies are going further by spending considerable time and money in reclaiming old mining sites from the late 1800s through the mid 1950s. Old mine sites are reclaimed with native plants, wildlife has returned in large numbers, resort areas with golf courses, lakes, and hiking trails have been developed for people to enjoy. Education of our younger generation is the key to changing the perception peo- ple have about the mining industry. Im- parting factual information about the industry will go a long way in changing how people react to proposed new mines and processing plants, as well as oil and gas exploration. Decisions can then be determined by an informed citizenry rather than by emotion. The WIMEF Web site opens the door for educators to discover easy, fun, and inexpensive mineral education activities for their students. We encourage every mining company or supplier to become an active proponent of early mineral edu- cation in the schools in their areas. Encourage your employees to visit a local school to talk to students or even present one of the activities to the stu- dents. Most of the activities do not re- quire a specialist to lead them, but they could easily be the spark to a student or two in a class to decide to look into pur- suing a degree in science or engineering and join the mining industry as a career. Take a moment to browse through their Web site womeninmining.org and remember, WIMEF representatives are eager to provide continuing education workshops for our nation’s teachers dur- ing professional development seminars and conferences for FREE . Educators at the West Virginia Science Teachers Association convention learned how WIMEF activities can be used to teach students math, science, geography, and much more! WWDR photos.