I have had a personal connection with the mining industry for some time now. Growing up in Utah, the Bingham Canyon Mine was always a part of my landscape. I remember looking down into the pit and thinking, “Wow, that’s a long way down.” My dad worked as an analytical chemist for Phelps Dodge, later Freeport-McMorran, in Safford, Arizona, from 1996 until his retirement in 2021. When traveling through Arizona, you see a lot of active and abandoned mines. I’ve always been interested in mining history, but I never truly understood the importance of mining until I came to work for Burgex Mining Consultants in 2020.
As I’ve immersed myself in the industry, I’ve learned how important mining is for our everyday lives. I had never heard the saying, “If it isn’t grown, it’s mined,” but that really puts mining into perspective. At Burgex, we believe in a better, more sustainable future and exist to advance the synergy between nature and humanity. One way we do this is through outreach and advocacy.
I recently had the opportunity to speak with senior students from Valley High School. Even though construction aggregates are the most mined materials worldwide, and we have numerous quarries that can easily be seen throughout the valley, only 1% of the students or teachers that I asked even knew what a construction aggregate was. When I asked what they thought the most mined material in the world was, the most common response I got was iron. This is a great answer, but I think most of their knowledge came from the video game Minecraft.
It is my goal to advocate and educate about the necessity of mining, how safety and environmental issues have been and continue to be at the forefront of the mining community, as well as all the opportunities that working in the mining industry offers. It really is a great industry. There are a lot of exciting things going on, like underground exploration, the amazing people that we meet, and we even get to blow things up! I continue to learn every day, and I believe that it is a great industry to be in. I want people to understand the importance of local mining and sustainability.
