Feeling a little over whelmed about where to start?

In the slideshow below we have put together some general information about mining and why this industry is important and matters. Find more ideas and suggestions in our section Planning Your Video.

Mining Matters.... Really Really Matters

Without mining you wouldn’t have iPods, cellphones, or laptops! In fact, mining and quarrying affects every aspect of your daily life.

Watch this short video about how mining contributes to everything in our daily lives or watch this slideshow for more examples of why mining matters.

Hidden in Plain View!

Reclaimed mines and quarries are often hidden in plain view. For example, you would never know that this beautiful golf course was once a coal mine.

Take our “Find the Mine” challenge – it’s harder than you think!

MINING HAS A RICH HISTORY

Did you know that coal was the first material mined in Nova Scotia? We first mined it in Sydney, Cape Breton, in 1672. The first commercial coal mining venture in Canada was established by the French in 1720 in Cow Bay, Cape Breton, to supply the Fortress of Louisbourg.

Jobs! Jobs! Jobs!

Nova Scotia’s mining and quarrying industry is a key creator of jobs and prosperity for Nova Scotians. Mining is the highest-paying natural resource industry and one of the highest-paying of all industries in the province – the average salary is over $50,000 a year.

GREEN TECHNOLOGY

Mining and quarrying provides the minerals that make green energy possible for our future.

WE NEED ROCKS... AND LOTS OF THEM!

We need 10-15 million tonnes of aggregate each year to keep Nova Scotia running. For example, building a typical single family home requires about 160 tonnes of gravel (that's about 11 truckloads). Building a school or hospital requires about 15,000 tonnes of aggregate.

For more interesting facts visit our educational website at NotYourGrandfathersMining.ca and browse our Did You Know? page!

MIning is full of interesting and Fun Facts

For example did you know there is rock in your toothpaste? Most toothpastes contain powdered limestone which is used as an abrasive to clean off plaque. Limestone quarried in Nova Scotia is also used to make cement, a key ingredient in concrete. Concrete is the second most widely used product on the planet after water.

For more fun facts visit our educational website at NotYourGrandfathersMining.ca and browse our Did You Know? page!

Planning Your 1-3 Minute Video

Your video can explore a range of aspects about the industry, including economic importance, employment opportunities, environment and reclamation, historical facts, beneficial end-uses of mining products or pretty much anything else that you find interesting about the industry.

There are endless topics or themes you could explore. Here are a few examples to get you thinking:

  • This will rock your world … mining and quarrying affects EVERYTHING in your daily life. Your house, school, toothpaste, ipod, laptop, jewellery, mountain bike, food production and the roads you drive on every day would not exist without mining and quarrying. Crazy, right?
  • Do you live in a community where there is a mine or quarry? Then you might know someone who works there. Mining and quarrying provides over 5,500 jobs, mostly in rural areas, and contributes $420 million dollars to the province’s economy each year. Mining is the highest-paying natural resource industry and one of the highest-paying of all industries in Nova Scotia.
  • Here’s a riddle – what is hidden in plain view? Reclaimed mines and quarries! Mining is an environmentally-responsible industry that makes temporary use of land, and then reclaims it for other purposes, such as natural space, recreational areas and commercial and residential development. Get this … Point Pleasant Park, one of Nova Scotia’s most beautiful natural spaces, contains over 50 former quarries! And one of the best shopping centres around, Dartmouth Crossing, was built where several quarries used to operate.
  • Impress your history teacher with this little tidbit: did you know that coal was the first material mined in Nova Scotia? We first mined it in Sydney, Cape Breton, in 1672. The first commercial coal mining venture in Canada was established by the French in 1720 in Cow Bay, Cape Breton, to supply the Fortress of Louisbourg.
  • The humanitarian in you might want to explore how important mining is to the health of people in developing countries. In fact, zinc supplements are saving hundreds of thousands of lives each year. Nearly a third of the world’s population suffers from zinc-related malnutrition so mining companies and UNICEF are working together to provide millions of zinc supplements to children in places like Africa.
  • We all want to leave a cleaner, more sustainable environment for future generations. But you can’t do it without mining and quarrying. Wind turbines, solar energy, smart homes and nanotechnology all require the minerals and materials that lie beneath us.
  • You may even think of something that we haven’t – go for it. Don’t just copy the material on our website or regurgitate something you think we’d like to hear. Have fun with it. Most of all, be inspired, creative, edgy, funny, serious, musical, dramatic, weird, silly or anything else you want. Make your video stand out from the crowd!

    Need more inspiration? Check out these cool videos from last year’s competition and the 2017 contest winners. A big shout out to the Ontario Mining Association, which started its “So You Think You Know Mining” Video Contest in 2009. Truth be told, it’s kinda where we got the idea!”