Hundreds of Sudbury-area secondary school students got a hands-on opportunity Wednesday to find out how the mining industry is an economic driver for Northeastern Ontario, as well as being a source of job opportunities.
The event was the MineOpportunity Games which were held as part of Modern Mining and Technology Sudbury (MMTS) week.
The games event has been part of mining week activities for the past 18 years, but this was the first time it was held at Laurentian University’s Goodman School of Mines.
Nicole Tardif, the program co-ordinator at the Goodman School, is the game inventor and main organizer of Wednesday's event. She explained what the students had to do.
"So they're playing a board game that is very similar to Monopoly. And when they pick question cards or research cards, they're required to go visit company booths that are volunteering their time, or go to a department at Laurentian University where staff is volunteering time, and find answers to the questions that are on the cards or complete hands-on activities."
Once the students complete the research, they win Monopoly money and at the end of the day, the school team with the most money wins the game.
Tardif said the game gives the students an idea of the many facets of the mining industry and the job opportunities out there.
"I think the thing they learn about the most is the variety of careers that are available. And when you think about careers in the mining industry, it's not just geology or engineering or underground miner. There are careers in business. There are careers in Indigenous relations, or in other sciences, in architecture, in health and safety, in all sorts of different roles."
Tardif said one of the best things about the event is that it creates excitement and interest among the students for the wider mining industry.
She said the game was taken on the road last year to Thunder Bay, Timmins and North Bay, and proved popular.
Another organizer of the event was Dr. Nadia Mykytczuk, executive director at MIRARCO (Mining Innovation Rehabilitation and Applied Research Corporation), who said she was so impressed by the students who had prepared for the game ahead of time.
"I was really encouraged today that they were already coming in this morning, having thought about the game, they already had strategies, they had thought of really unique names related to mining. So I think it bodes well for the teams if they come away with nothing more than understanding or learning something new about the mining industry, then we've really done something right."
She added that the industry is changing significantly and it is essential for students to see that.
"I think when we look at and we talk about the incredible transition that we're seeing in our lives globally today. We're doing electrification, we're divesting from fossil fuels, and we're electrifying everything in our lives. That has to come with mining. And I think the the youth still see mining as a dirty old industry. And that really isn't the case anymore. And so we're trying to find new ways to engage and educate the next generation of the workforce to see that there's lots of opportunities to do mining differently," she said.
Teacher Brent Coulas of Lockerby Composite School said he brought a group of students, many who were part of the Specialist High School Major in mining. Coulas said the specialist programs are set up in Ontario high schools to inspire students in a specific field of interest; things like arts, or aviation or the automotive industry.
He said it only made sense to have a mining specialty for Sudbury.
"So students learn about that sector and all pathways. So workplace, college, apprenticeship, university pathways, and then get exposed to the opportunities in that sector of the economy. And hopefully they find something they like," said Coulas.
On the flip side of the coin, Coulas said it could also be helpful for students to learn about things they might not like.
"It's also a success for high school students that they find or they realize that they don't like certain things before they finish high school," said Coulas.
Len Gillis covers mining and health care for Sudbury.com.
