Beneteau, Milne and Potvin (2016) published a paper about the hands-on teaching of applied rock mechanics.  In this paper, they discuss how engineers access data. Young (2014) determined that “reliance on journal literature is becoming more prominent”. Anyone using the model provided in this course to access information on mining operations is going to find that practical information can be very difficult to find about mining operations, unless they are fortunate enough to have found a well detailed NI 43-101 report.

More practical case histories are needed from mining operations and the best way to do this is through conference proceedings. Organizers should be encouraged to ensure that these are stored in a digital format that will be accessible so that they become a permanent historical record for the mining industry. One way to do this is to partner with organizations such as CIM as they have the means to store these proceedings in databases accessible to at least the membership. A side benefit of doing this is that those presenting will have the opportunity to interact and connect with their peers.

Finally, companies are challenged to take the checklists and use these as guides to develop Wiki pages or books about their operations. This could be an internal mechanism for training, where young engineers help to teach the communications personnel about the mining industry. The knowledge base that is documented can then help in the training of both current and future mining professionals.