THUNDER BAY — The city will celebrate its 10th Mining Day will celebrate this Saturday as well as the 50th anniversary of naming amethyst as its mineral emblem.
Organizers of the event held a flag-raising ceremony at city hall on Tuesday to commemorate the event.
In his preamble before proclaiming June 14 as Mining Day in Thunder Bay, Mayor Ken Boshcoff said that mining in Northwestern Ontario isn’t the future for the region, but that “mining is now.”
“We can see the transformation immediately as they convert buildings, offices, and the number of people who are moving here, not just renting houses but buying them. The influx of business in the supply industries. All of this, this is the beginning. This is only going to get better for not only Thunder Bay, but the entire Northwest and all the communities that you can name will be beneficiaries,” Boshcoff said in an interview with Newswatch.
Pam Coles, chair of the Mining Day committee, said the event’s theme will be centred on the rich history of the amethyst mining in the district.
“We have a lot of exhibits, games and prizes around the idea of amethyst. We have some digging for amethyst like mining for amethyst. We have an amethyst cookie decorating station. We have all kinds of prizes and giveaways that are kind of centred around amethyst as well,” Coles said.
There will be a total of 65 exhibits for patrons to take in, as well as giveaways and prizes.
The grand prize is a trip to Silver Islet Mineshaft and Porphyry Point Lighthouse.
Being one of the economic drivers of the district since the 1800s, acknowledging the history of mining is important, Coles said.
“There are so many exploration and mining companies here. We have lots of mines in the near vicinity of Thunder Bay. We have Orla Musselwhite, we have Impala Lac des Iles, we have New Gold's Rainy River, and then we have the Greenstone gold mine. There's lot of exploration going on. There are a ton of exploration companies in town, so it's very, very important to our economy,” Coles said.
However, Mining Day isn’t just for mining enthusiasts and history buffs.
Coles said they also gear parts of the Mining Day activities as a career fair for high school students.
“We advertise to the high school students, come down and talk to the different people at these booths. It's everything there, from mining to engineering. There are environmental firms, there is heavy equipment, there are drills, there's basically A to Z that's in the mining industry. This is very important because we're going to need more people to become interested and work in the mining industry going forward, a lot more than what we currently have,” Coles said.
Advocacy group Women in Mining Northwestern Ontario will be holding a fundraising barbecue at the event.
Women in Mining NWO promotes career-driven women to get into the mineral and mining sector.
Tracy Kitchkeesick, chair of Women in Mining, said the fundraising barbecue goes directly to a scholarship program, in which this year alone, enabled the group to give $21,000 to seven students across the region.
“Women's positions within the mines started, maybe like in the accounting department and that kind of thing. Now, we actually are in the trades. I'm a mining engineer, so I'm in the engineering department. We have women underground working on the various pieces of equipment," Kitchkeesick said.
“There's money in this great industry. There are a lot of jobs. There's a lot of opportunity and women are finally able to kind of get their piece of the pie, so to speak, and be a part of that; it's wonderful.”
Mining Day in Thunder Bay will be held on Saturday, June 14, at Marina Park from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
