Rock-Solid Education Silver Kid Mine Lets Young Students Get Firsthand Look At Mining Industry

(From Business page, March 31, 1999): The number for the Silver Kid Mine was incorrect in Tuesday’s Spokesman-Review. It is (509) 354-8057.

Mysterious shadows scurried across the walls of the Silver Kid Mine, chased by a single beam of light from a miner’s hat.

Rocks crunched underfoot, and the air carried the pungent, chemical smell of explosives.

A dozen wide-eyed fifth- and sixth-graders tagged behind “Miner Mike,” asking questions about jackleg drills, dynamite and mucking ore.

But the students weren’t in the bowels of the earth. They were in the basement of the Spokane Research Laboratory at 315 E. Montgomery.

Seven years ago, the lab turned basement storage space into a 50-foot-long replica mine to teach students about mineral extraction.

The Silver Kid Mine receives 1,500 visitors annually. Most are elementary school students or Cub Scouts who come as part of an earth science class unit.

The replica mine is fashioned after underground mines in the Idaho’s Silver Valley.

“It’s noisy, it’s dark, it’s smelly, it’s greasy - and there’s lots of things that can get you!” Miner Mike, played by engineer Eric Zahl, told a class from Spokane’s St. Francis Catholic School last week.

The fifth- and sixth-graders shivered in anticipation, promising to keep their hands to themselves in the Silver Kid.

“Are we going to go down that, or are we going down stairs?” student Jacob Wissink asked a bit anxiously, pointing to a make-believe “hoist” - the elevator that takes miners below the surface.

The students actually entered the mine through an air compression door, which is used to regulate the flow of fresh air into operating mines.

Fresh air and air conditioning are both very important in deep, underground mines, Zahl told the students.

Without air conditioning, it would be too hot to work in the Silver Valley’s mines, he said.

At 7,900 feet, the rock walls of a mine are 110 to 115 degrees. “It’s like a sauna,” Zahl said.

The Silver Kid Mine is the brainchild of Bob McKibbin and Mike Jones, two employees at the laboratory.

Eighty mining researchers at the government lab work on a variety of health and safety issues.

Though the lab attracted frequent field trips, McKibbin found it challenging to explain technical research to elementary school students. Most had a hard time picturing what a real mine was like.

Since safety laws prohibit anyone under 18 from entering an operating mine, McKibbin and Jones designed the prototype for students. About two dozen lab employees take turns playing “Miner Mike” or “Miner Michelle” during tours.

McKibbin hopes students gain more than a sense of what mining is like.

“I hope they develop an appreciation of the importance of mining, not only to the economy of the country, but to their every day lives,” McKibbin said.

Elaine Cullen, the lab’s public affairs chief, challenges students to name products that don’t contain minerals.

“You eat rocks and wear rocks,” she likes to tell tour groups.

When students groan and snicker, Cullen rattles off a list of minerals found in everyday products.

Big salt chunks on potato chips and pretzels are the mineral “halite.” Baking soda is made from a rock called trona.

Titanium dioxide is the whitener in powdered sugar and Twinkie fillings. Lipstick is petroleum jelly with a red, iron-oxide dye.

A mineral called antimony is used to make children’s pajamas fire-resistent. Even nylon soccer shorts are made of rock - a petroleum derivative from coal.

A telephone contains 19 types of minerals; a computer contains 37.

Most students never think about the minerals they use, Cullen said. “Neither do most adults,” she added.

This sidebar appeared with the story: TOURS Bringing kids to the mine To arrange a group tour of the Silver Kid Mine, contact Elaine Cullen at 509-352-8809. Students must be in fourth grade or older. The Spokane Research Laboratory cannot accommodate drop-in visitors.