Summer work term

This past summer I worked at the Goldcorp Inc. Red Lake Mining Division as a Geological Assistant. I ran a re-logging program. This involved checking over 10,000 feet of core. I also supervised and interpreted deviation tests on recently drilled boreholes. All boreholes tend to curve away from the direction drilling was started. I obtained underground experience, and an understanding of the processes involved in the formation of sulphide ores, specifically gold and silver deposition through hydrothermal processes.

My duties also included the maintenance of the geology and engineering computer networks. This included setting up new systems on the network and upgrading older computers. I also became familiar with the Gemcom mining packages and Autocad in an underground setting.

It was a great geological experience; I managed to meet lots of interesting people, fine tuned my fishing and golfing skills, and learned lots about the mining industry. I think my favourite part of summer was the underground work. It is only through seeing what happens that you can begin to understand the complexity of the problems which mining geologists and engineers are faced with.

Chris Phillips, third year Earth Sciences with a Computer Science Minor, University of Waterloo.