South Dakota School of Mines and Technology Team Wins World Championship
The coed team from South Dakota School of Mines (above) won the world championship in Cornwall, England.
The South Dakota School (SD) of Mines &
Technology Mining and Mucking Team are
world champions, taking home first place
in the coed/mixed division at the International
Collegiate Mining Games held
March 29-April 1, in Cornwall, England.
The team, named Hammerslagen, took home the championship by placing in
every competition category, mucking and
surveying, hand steel and jackleg, swede
saw and gold panning.
This year’s team was made up of metallurgical
engineering majors Heath Pirkey
from Berthoud, Colorado, and Kathryn
Weyeneth from Dunlap, Illinois; mechanical
engineering major Weston Shutts from
Divide, Colorado; geological engineering
major Max Southbloom from North Branch,
Minnesota; and mining engineering and
management majors Torger Henckel from
Viroqua, Wisconsin, and Rahel A. Dean-Pelikan
from Santa Clara, California.
The mining games incorporate historical
mining methods and practices, many
of which were employed in the Black Hills
following the gold rush of 1876. Skills
demonstrated at the annual games include
operating a pneumatic drill called
a jackleg, a hammer-and-chisel type drill
called a single jack or hand steel and the
swede saw, commonly called the bow saw;
mucking, which is also known as shoveling,
plus mine surveying, gold panning
and track standing, which requires contestants
to erect a section of railroad track.
The International Collegiate Mining
Games also serve to commemorate fallen
miners. The first games were held in 1978
to honor 91 miners who died in the 1972
Sunshine Mine Fire in Kellogg, Idaho.
In the 2017 games, the SD Mines
coed team placed first in the hand
steel competition and fifth overall. The
men’s team placed first in mucking and
fourth overall.
At SD Mines, students receive handson
experience with industry-grade equipment,
management training, and the opportunity
to survey and work underground
with officials at the Sanford Underground
Research Facility. Mining engineering
and management students also train with
professional mine rescue teams, intern at
major companies across the mining industry,
and interact with a wide variety of
national and international mining experts.
As featured in Womp 2018 Vol 04 - www.womp-int.com