Are mining people creative? Part Deux.

Ok, so it seems that my post about creativity in mining generated quite a few comments when linked to a discussion in one of the mining groups on linkedin.com, here, if you're a member.

The discussion seemed to swing around three types of comments: 1, yes they are creative and here is some background; 2, of course they are creative and taking a bit of umbrage at raising any question that they possibly could not be; 3, mining people are creative, but they are constantly waging a battle to stop their creativity being stifled by more risk averse upper management - aren't managers people too? I will leave that for you to decide, it could be subjective!

If there is any doubt, I too weigh heavily on the side that mining people are creative and speaking from my own background with engineer types, it is almost a default setting for problem solving. I also agree upper management needs convincing, that is one of the reasons they are there, to be gatekeepers for decisions. In fact, sometimes the way you try to get support for your idea can involve some creative strategies too. As I mentioned in the initial blog post, over the years I have also noticed that engineers very often have an interest in photography, but maybe that just appeals to a suppressed geeky stereotype of engineers tinkering with gadgets wearing pocket protectors?

My favorite comments though were those that loosely said: "Geologists are the most creative as they work with intangibles to believe in an orebody they cannot see. They have to believe."  Creative? Belief? Delusion? Not to knock geologists, but there is a fine line between belief with persistence and being wrong.

The discussion then went on to discuss the green challenges mining faces, which is a very good example of where we need creative solutions AND creative ways to propose new schemes and technologies.

What do you think?

Giant steps are what you take, walking on the moon...

(photocredit: The Sudbury Star)

This article underlines some of the creativity that mining people can demonstrate.


NORCAT (Northern Centre for Advanced Technology) is involved in testing rovers for lunar (or Martian?) missions in the crater of a volcano in Hawaii - yes, I imagine that was a tough project to attract people to work away on!

Commendably the team even used a student chef to help prepare meals, which seems quite a fair way to assign plum roles, rather than the usual cronies.

One of the things I found most impressive was the modular multi-tasking of the rovers. I wasn't surprised they can be equipped with a scoop or drill or ground penetrating radar. What surpised me the most as a cute adaptation to the expected environment was the scoop can be used to transport material for transport to a solar concentrator (think magnifiying glasses and ants - yes, I know, it's terrible, but own up, you've done it) where water and oxygen is cooked out of the rock.

In-situ resource utilization (ISRU) is where its at apparently. Think of it as extreme sustainability. The article estimates that to "land one litre of water on the moon would cost a space agency $100,000 a bottle".

Now mentioning ants was intentional above as the rovers are programmed to work in groups in a collaborative manner like ants do. They adapt to problems or mission issues as a team and if one rover is immobilized, the others will push it out of the way.

Oh yes and if anyone is in the market for it, NORCAT even makes and sells its own lunar regolith (moon dust) substitute, although like the real thing with dangers if inhaled and retailing for $40,000 per ton it may only be found in the most discerning sand lots...

What did IKB do for you?

IKB, Isambard Kingdom Brunel,

the diminuitive Victorian engineer who was a giant among giants.


I saw a newspaper report about a proposed statue of IKB in Rotherhithe, London, UK, where IKB distinguished himself by completing the first tunnel underneath the River Thames in 1843 - surviving at least one inrush along the way.


What was quite telling was one comment from a resident: "Barry Duckett, chairman of the nearby Canada Estate Tenants’ and Residents’ Association, said: “It’s too big and it’s not in keeping with the area. It’s just a load of wire thrown together. It’s our council flats that are going to look at it – nobody around here will be able to miss it. A lot of local people say it’s a waste of money. He [Brunel] never did much for us."




Oh dear, send in the crack troops from the BTS and ITA to enlighten the fellow!

(photocredit: Forge Architects)

Now personally, I think the statute looks as ok as many others. It actually does a pretty good job of representing the top hatted, frock coated, engineering multi-tasker as he juggles projects as diverse as tunnels, railways, steamships and bridges.



This is really related to my post about creativity in mining. Engineers working in mining or underground construction all provide a great service to society, whether it be material resources or infrastructure and it seems from Duckett's comment (and many experiences of my own) that this point is not really getting across to people.


Poor old IKB, what did he do for us?

Well among his list of achievements we can count:

• the Thames Tunnel
• Clifton Suspension Bridge
• the Great Western Railway (GWR) with all the associated tunnels, bridges and viaducts - it was wider gauge than standard for faster, more comfortable journeys, but was eventually narrowed to standardise rolling stock with the rest of the rail network
• the world's first iron-hulled, screw propellor (previously had been paddle steamers), steam powered passenger liner
• the first trans-atlantic steamship
• at the time the biggest ship ever built
• a prefabricated hospital for the Crimea

and if there is still any doubt, take a look at this, this and this.


"Get a big top hat if you want to get ahead."

Get your cameras at the ready!

The Snowden Mining photo competition is on again.

The standard of the photos has always been very good and often by the engineers etc. themselves. Actually, photography seems to be quite a popular hobby amongst engineers, maybe it appeals to their creative flair for problem solving, or maybe they're just geeks?

I saw a presentation yesterday in fact on the Canadian mining industry for CEMI (Centre of Excellence for Mining Innovation) that described the importance of mining to civilisation. It showed an interesting graph produced by an agency in the south of Ontario which demonstrated that "creatives" were found in high numbers around the major southern urban centres, but Sudbury ranked amongst the lowest for creative talent.

Now those of you who have been to Sudbury may be nodding your heads in agreement at this point, but the presenter made a good point that it all depends how you define creativity. If you choose cultural creativity, i.e. arts, then you are aligning yourself with the study, but if instead you take it to include innovative problem solving and the adoption and refinement of new techniques and processes, then the case for Sudbury's ranking to be improved becomes a little more reasonable.

I remember an applied geology professor opening a series of lectures on structural geology with the phrase, roughly recalled as best I can: "We are all artists and rock is the medium through which you have chosen to express your creativity."