Environment and Communities

• Main Authors: Silvana Costa, Sara Bose, Tim Munson
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2008
• Subjects: Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC; British Columbia; Canada; Smithers; First Nations
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.621.1425; http://www.infomine.com/library/publications/docs/mining.com/apr2008b.pdf

D awn breaks around 4:00 a.m. in August, so it’s al-ready warm and bright outside when the students are awakened by a horn blast just before 7:30, which is when breakfast is served. A total of 35 people are living in close quarters this summer at the Ganokwa Camp, located about 30 minutes east of Smithers, British Columbia. After a hearty morning meal, the 25 Reclamation and Prospecting Program students at this camp have until 8:30 to get ready to leave for a day’s work in the field. While they spend some days at camp in the learning tent, today the group will get to put their knowledge and skills to use at a nearby historic mine site selected by the Crown Contaminated Sites Branch of the B.C. Ministry of Agriculture and Lands (MAL). The site data the students collect today and throughout the summer will be used to help MAL in evaluating the environmental status of (and ultimately cleaning up historic mine sites. The Reclamation and Prospecting (RAP) Program is a 3-year pilot project that provides rural B.C. First Nations youth with comprehensive educational and training experience in min-eral exploration and mining. The project aims to increase First Nations communities ’ understanding of the mineral explora-tion and mining industry and the opportunities it can provide. Students learn about the industry firsthand and take their know-ledge back to their communities. The project initially focussed