Donovan Symonds, a Park Metropolis Museum docent who occurs to be a mining engineer from England, is able to excavate the historical past of the native mining historical past, with out digging too deep in specifics.
His free lecture, aptly titled, “Historic Park Metropolis Mining 101,” set for five p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 3, on the Park Metropolis Museum’s Schooling and Collections Heart, 2079 Sidewinder Drive, will nonetheless cowl quite a lot of space — from 1871 to 1982 — however will function introductory-level details about the mines, the minerals and metals and what the circumstances had been like on the town throughout that time-frame.
“I don’t wish to get an excessive amount of concerned within the kinds of personnel who began the mines as a result of that is extra in regards to the mining facet — how secure these mines had been, the place the miners got here from and what they needed to be careful for within the mine,” he mentioned. “I can even speak about how these mines began, what had been folks on the lookout for and the way did they do surveys.”
Symonds can even speak about what the mines actually excavated.
“We all the time speak about mining silver, however once I dig into it, I’ll speak about how we truly actually mined quite a lot of gold and definitely quite a lot of lead,” he mentioned.
Lastly, the lecture will cowl the principle mines within the space and the way vital they had been.
“There are lots of mines talked about in our historical past and there may be some confusion,” Symonds mentioned. “For instance, there have been two Mayflower Mines, and that all the time confuses folks.”
Symonds, who holds a B.S. in mining engineering from Newcastle College and a Ph.D. in mineral processing from Nottingham College, believes it’s vital to provide an outline of Park Metropolis’s mining historical past throughout this presentation.
“I obtained concerned initially on this lecture collection about 10 years in the past, and what we’ve carried out is offered lectures on particular matters — folks like Thomas Kearns and the Silver Queen, in addition to the Daly West Mine Explosion — however we’ve not had one thing that covers the general introduction to what (the miners) had been doing,” he mentioned. “There are quite a lot of new individuals who have moved to Park Metropolis who don’t know lots about mining.”
Symonds can even add a few of his private experiences when giving the presentation.
“In faculty I studied mining engineering in England, and we had been anticipated to work in mines throughout our summer time trip,” he mentioned.
One of many jobs Symonds landed was in a mine in British Columbia.
“I utilized to all types of jobs and obtained two affords — one in South Dakota and one in Vermeer, British Columbia,” he mentioned. “I flew from London to New York, spent an evening in New York after which boarded a Greyhound bus and traveled three days throughout North America and obtained to B.C.”
Upon arrival, Symonds didn’t see a mine headframe, so he requested the place the mine was.
“I discovered it was 40 miles within the mountains,” he mentioned with amusing.
Symonds lived in a bunkhouse for 3 months and labored within the mine that yielded silver, lead and zinc.
“It was the identical because the mines in Park Metropolis,” he mentioned. “This was in 1967, and the mine was already previous, however there have been quite a lot of similarities with Park Metropolis.”
Throughout his time on the mine, Symonds, who was 21 on the time, obtained to drill and earned his blasting certificates.
“It was an actual hands-on expertise,” he mentioned. “I used to work on the mine throughout the week, after which we’d get our paycheck and drive into city 40 miles away and go to the bars. Good factor I used to be of age, as a result of the ingesting age in England is eighteen.”
Whereas making ready for Wednesday’s presentation, Symonds needed to preserve reminding himself to not get too particular.
“My spouse additionally retains telling me to cease happening rabbit holes, which is my drawback precisely,” he mentioned with amusing. “I’ve obtained the presentation nearly put collectively, and it’s already too massive. So I’ve obtained to go in and chop it some as a result of I wish to make it attention-grabbing for folks.”
‘Historic Park Metropolis Mining 101’ by Donovan Symonds
