If it Can't Be Grown it has to Be Mined
My freshman year of college I took an introduction to agriculture class and the professor told us that the average American is three generations removed from agriculutre and farming. In my experience in mining and conversing with people outside the industry I've thought about this statistic a lot and have the belief that the average American is at least five generations removed from mining. A lot of people, especially my family, don't understand why I would ever want to work in the mining industry. For me, it's simple. I absolutely love mining. I love getting to see things everyday that most people never get to see in their lifetime. To me the milling and metallurgical processes are like magic for adults. Mining is like my own grown up version of Fraggle Rock. I get to work with equipment that's bigger than the house I grew up in and it's still completely acceptable to collect pretty rocks I find no matter how old I get. As if all that wasn't good enough, I get to work in an industry that provides for everyone else and serves as a foundation to every other industry.
The first mine I interned with was just outside Tucson, Arizona. It was an open pit copper and molybdenum mine. I don't really know what I thought mining was when I started but I kind of imagined the mine like a giant geode where you cracked the rock open and the good stuff was inside in the middle. Obviously it was nothing like that. That whole summer everything amazed me. The only way I know to describe the pit is that it reminded me of the Grand Canyon. It was absolutely the most amazing and gorgeous thing I've ever seen in the morning when the sun rose above it and you could see all the colors of the rock. The more time I spent learning about mining the more I realized that it really is an art form. The rock is blasted in a pattern that creates benches in the rock that is used as ground support to maintain the integrity of the mine. It's also really neat looking. From the mine the ore is hauled in enormous haul trucks that are bigger than many houses. At five feet tall, I can stand up straight inside one of the tires. Even more amazing, one tire for the largest haul trucks costs around $30,000 and the company I was with bought 14 a month. From the mine the ore goes to the crusher where the rock is crushed into smaller pieces before being conveyed to the mill. In the mill the rock goes into ball mills where they are spun around in the mill with metal balls that crush the rock into a dust. The ore then goes through several chemical processes to separate the waste rock from the metals. My favorite process is floatation where the ore is mixed with chemicals and the metals float at the top in bubble form. It's one of the neatest things I've ever seen.
Most people when I mention I work in mining usually bring up the Spike series Coal or the Discovery series Gold Rush Alaska. Real mining is nothing like that. Those shows give mining a bad name. The last two internships I have done have both been underground. I've worked the lead mines in Missouri and the gold mines in Nevada. I really wish everyone had the opportunity to go underground and see what it's really like. Not every mine is cramped and tiny. The mines I've worked had trucks and large jumbo drills driving around underground. Underground mines are like small cities. They house shops and warehouses and in some places have electricity and internet. Miners are not cavemen and have highly technical jobs that require a lot of skill. It is truely an honor to work with them and keep them safe.
If there's one thing I wish everyone knew and understood about mining it's that without it we would have nothing. I've seen a lot of bumper stickers that say "If it can't be grown it has to be mined" and I have to disagree. The way we farm today we have to have mining. We wouldn't have the tractors and combines we need to farm without mining. Everything we touch is either directly or indirectly a result of mining. As long as their is human life there will be mining and I think it is our duty to educate ourselves about it instead of jumping to conclusions and trying to shut down every mine there is. Watch this video to learn more about the Contributions of the American Miner.
Crystal from Fletcher Mine, Bunker, Missouri
The first mine I interned with was just outside Tucson, Arizona. It was an open pit copper and molybdenum mine. I don't really know what I thought mining was when I started but I kind of imagined the mine like a giant geode where you cracked the rock open and the good stuff was inside in the middle. Obviously it was nothing like that. That whole summer everything amazed me. The only way I know to describe the pit is that it reminded me of the Grand Canyon. It was absolutely the most amazing and gorgeous thing I've ever seen in the morning when the sun rose above it and you could see all the colors of the rock. The more time I spent learning about mining the more I realized that it really is an art form. The rock is blasted in a pattern that creates benches in the rock that is used as ground support to maintain the integrity of the mine. It's also really neat looking. From the mine the ore is hauled in enormous haul trucks that are bigger than many houses. At five feet tall, I can stand up straight inside one of the tires. Even more amazing, one tire for the largest haul trucks costs around $30,000 and the company I was with bought 14 a month. From the mine the ore goes to the crusher where the rock is crushed into smaller pieces before being conveyed to the mill. In the mill the rock goes into ball mills where they are spun around in the mill with metal balls that crush the rock into a dust. The ore then goes through several chemical processes to separate the waste rock from the metals. My favorite process is floatation where the ore is mixed with chemicals and the metals float at the top in bubble form. It's one of the neatest things I've ever seen.
Haul truck tire off a CAT 793
Most people when I mention I work in mining usually bring up the Spike series Coal or the Discovery series Gold Rush Alaska. Real mining is nothing like that. Those shows give mining a bad name. The last two internships I have done have both been underground. I've worked the lead mines in Missouri and the gold mines in Nevada. I really wish everyone had the opportunity to go underground and see what it's really like. Not every mine is cramped and tiny. The mines I've worked had trucks and large jumbo drills driving around underground. Underground mines are like small cities. They house shops and warehouses and in some places have electricity and internet. Miners are not cavemen and have highly technical jobs that require a lot of skill. It is truely an honor to work with them and keep them safe.
If there's one thing I wish everyone knew and understood about mining it's that without it we would have nothing. I've seen a lot of bumper stickers that say "If it can't be grown it has to be mined" and I have to disagree. The way we farm today we have to have mining. We wouldn't have the tractors and combines we need to farm without mining. Everything we touch is either directly or indirectly a result of mining. As long as their is human life there will be mining and I think it is our duty to educate ourselves about it instead of jumping to conclusions and trying to shut down every mine there is. Watch this video to learn more about the Contributions of the American Miner.
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