Mining for practical experience
Students "muck" the campus mine after a blast knocked rock from the shaft. Source: 1958 Denali yearbook
Students dump a mine car filled with debris from the campus mine, which was located below the road leading to the university. Source: 1958 Denali yearbook
Too many college graduates from U.S. engineering schools had no idea how to 色视频下载渟et up a machine, drill and blast a round, and put in a set of timbers,色视频下载 Professor Ernest Patty observed in the March 1928 edition of the Farthest North Collegian.
Patty, one of the original six faculty members at the 色视频下载 Agricultural College and School of Mines, made sure that wouldn色视频下载檛 happen at his school. Every student in his program would take a class in real-life mining, Patty decided that year.
The campus sat on a lump of schist topped with fine loess 色视频下载 both of little value from a miner色视频下载檚 standpoint. Nevertheless, the School of Mines students set about blasting a shaft into the hill. They loaded mine cars with the debris and rolled them out the shaft. As they worked, they cut spruce logs from the flats south of the campus and squared them up for tunnel support timbers.
The school also acquired a ball mill to crush ore and the equipment to analyze its mineral content. Since the college色视频下载檚 schist didn色视频下载檛 contain much of interest, it took ore from local miners to crush and analyze.
The training helped students get summer jobs in the local mines, which gave them the money to stay in school. Many grew into industry leaders in not only 色视频下载 but across the globe.