Location: Williams Lake, BC
Where he is now: Mining Engineer, Taesko Mines: Gibralter

“When I first started at Queen’s University, it was really cool because I already finished a lot of the first-year courses in my program through Meadowridge’s IB Diploma Programme; this gave me more time to focus on adjusting to living on my own, in a dormitory, and not have to worry so much about navigating the academic side, which I was already comfortable with.”

When Colin Gill first set foot at Queen’s University in Kingston Ontario, he fell in love with the limestone buildings, the town and its close-knit community, and its proximity to the outdoors; he knew then and there that he would be attending this school for its undergraduate in Mining Engineering program. We had the opportunity to sit down with the 2016 graduate to speak about what he’s been up to, how his education at Meadowridge shaped his university experience, and what life is like as a mining engineer.

Could you tell us what it’s like to be a mining engineer?
I am the Drill and Blast Engineer for Gibraltar in Williams Lake, B.C. We mine copper and molybdenum (used to make steel). I design drill blasting plans (create plans to blow things up!) and then execute the plans at the mining sites. We mine over 300,000 pounds of minerals a day!

What inspired you to follow this career path?
My dad works in mining, so I’ve always been around it. We travelled and moved around a lot, and I was around it all the time. Because of my dad’s mining career, I was born in Venezuela, lived in South Africa, Peru, Guatemala, the US, and Canada and travelled around the world. I love this lifestyle, so I also wanted to get into mining.

How did your education at Meadowridge prepare you for university and for work?
Meadowridge taught me how to work collaboratively, and how to think and solve problems. When I first started at Queen’s University, it was really cool because I already finished a lot of the first-year courses in my program through Meadowridge’s IB Diploma Programme; this gave me more time to focus on adjusting to living on my own, in a dormitory, and not have to worry so much about navigating the academic side, which I was already comfortable with.

What’s the most enjoyable part of working on the mine sites?  
It’s really cool being able to design blasts, assess how much explosives go into the ground, and then go out the next day and actually watch all of it come to life.

I also got certified and trained to be a part of the Mine Rescue Team – we work in remote places in Canada, so we need our own emergency response team.  We’ll fight fires on-site, attend to gas leaks, administer first aid, and perform rope rescues – if someone falls off the side of a cliff, we’ll have to go down and rescue them.

What’s the most challenging part of your role?
Ensuring the surrounding equipment isn’t damaged when designing blasts. When planning a blast, we must be conscious of the shock waves that go through the rocks and make sure it doesn’t damage our high-end equipment.

What’s something surprising no one would think you do in your current role?
Managing mining sites and machinery that are massive. It’s shocking how large of a scale our mine is at Gibraltar. The mine produces an average of 135 million pounds of copper per year and 2.5 million pounds of molybdenum. The mine can mill 85,000 tons per day of material and each one of our haul trucks has a capacity of 320 tons (almost 71,000 pounds!) and is the size of a small house.

What do you like to do for fun when you’re not at the sites managing explosives? 
Living in Williams Lake and surrounded by nature, I’ve really gotten into outdoor sports like fishing, off-roading, camping, skiing, and long hikes.

Any words of advice to this year’s Meadowridge graduates?
Always try new things and be open to trying new things! Have an open mind when approaching new challenges and opportunities. You never know what opportunities you might encounter when you are willing to leave your comfort zone.