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Mining industry advocates have kicked off a week-long awareness campaign to raise the profile of the sector among Sudbury's youth.
Now in its third decade, Modern Mining & Technology Sudbury (MMTS) annually hosts a series of activities that engage local high school students in learning about the benefits of mining to contemporary society.
Ultimately, the aim is to pique their interest in exploring a career in the industry.
“MMTS is really about looking forward and ensuring we have a sustainable industry that has the people required to match the need,” said Nicole Tardif, MMTS committee co-chair, in a May 10 news release.
“Mining earned a reputation from its past that, while not necessarily unfair, is no longer reflective of where the industry finds itself today. We see part of MMTS’s job to be telling that story in order to move us all forward.”
In decades past, mining was labour-intensive and carried with it abysmal safety and environmental legacies.
Today it's a modern, technologically advanced industry that's drastically improved in the areas of worker safety and the environment, while also producing metals that are essential to everyday life, Tardif noted.
That includes extracting metals used in smartphones, computers, batteries and vehicles.
“We need mining – it cannot go away,” Tardif said. “But we also recognize that it has to be socially and environmentally responsible in order to attract the people who will keep the industry growing, innovating, and continuously improving its record.”
Taking a digital format in respect of the ongoing COVID pandemic, this year the campaign will centre on MineOpportunity, a game that challenges students’ knowledge and understanding of the industry.
The top three winning teams will be eligible to take home cash prizes of $5,000, $3,000, and $2,000, respectively.
Full details about MMTS and this year's events are available at the organization's social media sites on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram.