‘If it’s not grown, it’s mined’: CCSD teachers get crash course on mining

Look around at the Las Vegas Valley’s ever-sprawling buildings and booming resort sector, and you’ll see the end product of open-pit mines across the world.

But few residents of Southern Nevada know anything at all about the multimillion-dollar industry that makes modern life possible and gives the Silver State its nickname. In 2023 alone, mines brought in nearly $410 million of tax revenue.

“If you go down the Strip, that’s all minerals,” said Becky Hall, the Nevada Mining Association’s community engagement manager. “The bright lights, the infrastructure — that’s all mining. If it’s not grown, it’s mined.”

For four decades, the state mining association has hosted roughly 120 K-12 teachers, giving them a crash course on earth science and the dominance of Nevada’s mining industry. Mostly Clark County School District teachers, the group will spend two days this week taking classes at Faith Lutheran Middle and High School, as well as touring a local mine of their choosing.

Less awareness in Southern Nevada

On Tuesday, the courses ranged from the basics about tectonic plates and energy to a gold panning exercise. Instructors came from mining companies and academic backgrounds, like a professor from the University of Nevada, Reno.

Garrett Wake, deputy administrator for the Nevada Division of Minerals, said he’s noticed a knowledge disparity about the industry between a city like Las Vegas and one like Elko, where gold mines are a major employer.

“The general public isn’t as aware as they are in other parts of the state,” Wake said. “We try to make that connection.”

Most educators have never seen a mine in action, he said.

“Las Vegas is a big city, and a lot of our residents don’t get outside of it too much. And when they do, it’s probably not to see a mine,” Wake said. “We bring them there to show them that there’s so much going on outside of the city that gives us all the things that we have here. It’s really important and eye-opening.”

Teachers bring back lessons

One of those teachers who hadn’t gotten that chance before this week was Kerri Cannady, a seventh grade science teacher at Cadwallader Middle School in Las Vegas.

Cannady, originally from Washington, said she learned much more about minerals than she’d ever been taught. Each teacher will bring home a bright yellow box with mineral samples they can show their students — something Cannady believes will resonate.

It’s not well known among students in Southern Nevada that jobs exist within the mining field, she added.

“I don’t think they realize that this could be their future,” Cannady said.

Victoria Gonder, who has taught science and math at Guinn Middle School STEM Academy in Las Vegas, said it was her second year attending the workshop. On Wednesday, she and other teachers will get an up-close tour of a gold mine in Beatty, a Nye County town more than 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

Before hearing the mining industry’s pitch for why students may want to seek careers in Nevada, Gonder said she hadn’t fully considered it as a pathway for her middle schoolers.

“I brought back some career choices where you don’t necessarily have to go to college, but there’s really good pay,” Gonder said. “The kids were interested in that.”

Contact Alan Halaly at ahalaly@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlanHalaly on X.