Letter to the Editor

I have been a geologist in the classroom teaching from kindergarten to grade 7. I always begin with the question “what have you done today that did not involve a mineral?” Ice is a mineral. Even oxygen owes its existence to minerals. Soil (B and C horizons) is made up of minerals which release various elements (K, Mn, Ca, Mg, etc.) that a plant needs to grow. Also, microbes need some similar elements. Plants and trees generate oxygen via photosynthesis. After many discussions, the students understand that minerals are involved in everyday life. I rarely discuss mining per se.

Most mining and exploration companies extol their virtues but fail to engage students and the public. Companies should send their geoscientists into a classroom to engage students in the art of rock and mineral collecting and what they are used for, not spend money on advertising.

Tell a person, they forget. Show a person, they remember. Engage or involve a person, they learn. Minerals are in everything we do; they are the basis of our planet. Mining industry is very poor at public relations. The public is more related to everyday life of what mineral extraction brings and does, not necessarily the number of jobs. What does mining do for the whole community is very important. If you use a cellphone, then you are pro-mining. 

—Bruce Downing, MSc, PGeo, FGC, FEC (hon)