Pit & Quarry, October 2015
LABOR SHORTAGE Scouting the future Boy Scouts of America offers two merit badges to educate kids on mining BY MEGAN WILKINSON which may encourage some to make it a career S couting and mining always seem to find their way into Frank McAl listers life McAllister chairman of the board for the National Mining Hall of Fame Museum says his father was a scoutmaster when he was a kid He recalls sitting at a campfire with his father and his Boy Scout troop when he was 4 years old I concluded there that Scouting was fun he says Thats when I decided I would be a Scout And I stayed involved with Boy Scouts my whole life Mining also became a part of McAllisters life when halfway through college he was offered a job at a mining controllers office Over the years he worked his way up in the mining industry until he became CEO of Stillwater Mining Co in Billings Mont Although McAllister retired from the mining industry in 2013 his interests in mining and Scouting have never waned The past few years he was one of several people who helped persuade Boy Scouts of America to release the Mining in Society merit badge for Boy Scouts Ive been in mining my whole life and Ive been a Boy Scout my whole life McAllister says It wasnt enough for just my boys to understand mining but also for youth in general I want them to know mining is not about pillaging mountaintops Rather its about creating stuff you need Boy Scouts of America officially released the Mining in Society merit badge for all Boy Scouts in February 2014 at the Society for Mining Metallurgy Exploration SME conference in Salt Lake City McAllister says 49 boys earned the badge the day it launched by attending several courses and meeting with professional miners at the event To date SME reports more than 3500 Scouts have received Mining in Society merit badges Quarry operator roles While boys do not need to visit a quarry or mine to earn the Mining in Society merit badge McAllister says it is more fun for them to go on a quarry or mine 56 PIT QUARRY October 2015 www pitandquarry com
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