Exhibit tours north
Terry Halifax
Northern News Services
Hay River (Apr 23/01) - Northerners got a chance to see the world through the underground view of a miner's lamp, at an exhibition on wheels that just wrapped-up in Hay River.
The Great Canadian Mine Show is product of the Elliot Lake Centre in Elliot Lake, Ont. The centre was founded in 1965, by then-Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson, as a home for the performing and fine arts. Since Elliot Lake was also the centre of Canadian uranium mining, the centre also developed the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame.
Project director Lisa Murray said the show is aimed at all ages.
"It's aimed at big kids and little kids," Murray said. "We wanted to introduce kids and adults to the process of mining and how it works."
Visitors learned the stages of the process, economic and environmental impacts, culture and the history of mining in Canada.
"It's been such a big part of Canada and always will be," she said. "It's certainly opened up the North."
There are 400,000 Canadians employed in mining, 600,000 to 800,000 indirectly employed, 50 per cent of rail traffic and 70 per cent of port volumes.
"It's huge," Murray said. "Mining was worth about $44 billion last year."
The business of mining has changed dramatically from the days of the Klondike gold rush and Murray said it's important for people to understand the industry advances.
"We wanted people to know more about mining than what they see in old Hollywood movies or on the front page of a newspaper," she said. "Generally, if something is on the front page, something bad has happened."
"We wanted people to know about environmental responsibility, we don't use picks and shovels and canaries anymore; the scope and the scale of the equipment and how we process the ore -- it's all very interesting," she said.
One of the most popular features of the exhibition is the helicopter simulator that flies across tundra, scoping the geology below for diamond-bearing kimberlite pipes.
"It's been a big hit up here," she said. "We could have done lead mining in Northern Quebec, but we thought diamonds in the Northwest Territories was a little more exciting."
Nine-year-old Kyle Biggard enjoyed the flight and thought exploration would be a great job.
"I like the helicopter, it's pretty cool," Biggard said. "I think it would be pretty cool to try for real."
Cole Miltenberger also enjoyed the exhibition and is considering mining as a second career choice.
"If I don't get the job I want, I might try mining," Miltenberger said, adding, "I want to try to be a movie actor or try mining."
Nathan Magtibay thought the rides and rocks were cool and also learned about land reclamation.
"I learned that a place called Sudbury used to be a rotten place and then after they mined it, they made it all good and stuff," Magtibay said.
