One year ago today, I began my tenure as President of the Nevada Mining Association. Looking back, I can see that it’s been an amazing 12 months!
I’ve spent a lot of that time on the road, logging over 18,000 miles driving around Nevada from my home base in Reno. To paraphrase that great Johnny Cash song, I’ve been everywhere, man, from Winnemucca to Carlin to Kingston to Henderson. I’ve been to meetings in Elko, Las Vegas, and Carson City; dined in Lovelock, Tonopah, and Hadley; and cruised 40 miles of dirt from Tuscarora to Midas. Of course, I stopped for the pair of sage grouse who sauntered across that road on a hot July day.
One of the great joys of this job is that it takes me all over the state. I’ve spent most of my life in Nevada, and nothing compares to setting off on a drive across the Great Basin. Regardless of the direction or the duration, the journey is always an adventure.
Many of these journeys have taken me to locations where I proudly represented Nevada mining, the state’s first and most enduring STEM industry. I’ve presented to many different kinds of organizations, including women’s groups in southern Nevada and men’s groups in northern Nevada. I’ve had the privilege of meeting with our state’s leaders in Carson City and Washington, D.C. I’ve written columns for newspapers and appeared in televised interviews. Through all of these opportunities, I’ve focused on Nevada’s sophisticated mining industry, which consists of good corporate citizens of this state producing the nation’s essential minerals in an environmentally responsible and highly-regulated manner. With Nevada’s new interest in developing an advanced manufacturing sector, which requires metals and minerals, the Association’s messages resonate in every corner of our state.
The most delightful journeys, however, have taken me to adventures at the mines. Our bylaws mandate that I regularly visit mining operations throughout the state, a task I’m happy to perform! During the past year, I’ve ridden hoists down shafts and a tractor down a decline to visit a number of underground mines where I’ve admired clean machine shops, marveled at a bolter working on the face, and slogged through knee-high water to get close to a stope. I’ve felt the earth move under my feet at a surface blast and the heat on my face from a gold pour. I loved riding in the hydraulic shovel as it moved tons of rock into massive haul trucks, and I learned details about different processes, such as roasting, heap leaching, and jigging. I visited nearly a dozen operations in 2015, and I expect to visit at least that many in 2016.
Most of all, I’ve been delighted to meet the men and women who do good work safely every single day. My husband is a third-generation miner who worked surface and underground mining for 23 years, so he provides keen insight about what it means to be a Nevada miner. The mining workforce is the finest workforce in the state, and I’m fortunate to be able to serve this iconic and important industry.