mining mongolia
SKY TEAM
One of two field crews with Nevada,s Abandoned Mine Lands Program: (l-r) Mackay School students Drew Jones, Orgil Norov, Kelly Elloyan and Kate Schnoor. Photo by John Byrne.
Abandoned mines present Nevada students a unique learning opportunity Across the state of Nevada there are an estimated 200,000 abandoned mines, remnants of historic mining operations. Of those, an estimated 50,000 present a safety hazard. Through a unique, summer internship program, these mine sites also present a learning and employment opportunity for students from the University of Nevada, Reno's Mackay School of Earth Sciences and Engineering in the College of Science.
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Although the numbers are daunting, eight University interns have been extending the reach of the Nevada Abandoned Mine Lands Program safety program. The internship program, now in its third year, begins with training and supervised field work. The interns are then separated into two field crews and dispatched to locations across Nevada. Each field crew includes a second-year intern who serves as a field-crew leader.