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A trip to Gahcho Kué Mine has helped bring education to life for four recipients of De Beers Group scholarships for women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields.
The students are among six scholarship recipients who are all in their first year of STEM studies at the University of Calgary in the Faculty of Science or at the Schulich School of Engineering.
Brianna Gwilliam, Thao (Emily) Tran, Nadia Khan and Hanan Anam spent nearly three days at the world’s largest new diamond mine, job shadowing De Beers Canada employees to see what it is like to work at the mine in engineering or geology. They flew to Gahcho Kué, located 280 km northeast of Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories, on a De Beers Canada employee charter out of Calgary, Alberta.
“It was good for me because it helped me see that I’m definitely not confined to the first thing that comes to mind with my degree,” said Gwilliam, who is studying engineering. “We met with lots of engineers and geologists; it was awesome to get to see what they do, and to learn that it’s almost different every day.”
Upon arrival at Gahcho Kué, the students began with a Safety Orientation, which is required for all employees and visitors. They then toured the mining operation, including two active mine pits, followed by visits to the process plant, truck shop and accommodations facility. They also met with members of the mine management team, and were able to take a ride in one of the mine’s 830E Komatsu 200-tonne haul trucks.
The trip was made possible thanks to an invitation from De Beers Canada CEO Kim Truter, when he met the students for a luncheon at the University of Calgary last October.
“These young women could be our engineers and geologists of the future, so we see the visit to the mine as part of our company’s investment in their education,” said Truter. “We hope the visit to the mine helped them better understand the variety of roles and great working culture that is available on a working mine site and the many opportunities that their education will provide.”
In addition to the scholarships at the University of Calgary, De Beers Group scholarships for women in STEM were also awarded to two female students from northern Ontario at the University of Waterloo last fall.
The scholarships are part of a De Beers Group USD$3,000,000 contribution to UN Women to support women and girls in our diamond producing countries. In Canada, a USD$600,000 contribution is funding 67 years of education for women in STEM and STEM-like fields, where female participation is traditionally low. In addition to six US $7,000 annual scholarships at the University of Calgary through 2021, there are six $7,000 entrance scholarships at Waterloo for the fall 2019 term and four more in each of 2020 and 2021. Another nine entrance scholarships worth US $4,800 each are now open for applications through debeersgroup.scholarshipscanada.com.
De Beers Group funding through UN Women is also committed to sending ten Grade 7 and 8 girls from the communities close to De Beers Canada mines to a summer IMPACT science camp for girls at the University of Waterloo. This funding will also continue annually year through 2021.
Gahcho Kué Mine is a joint venture between De Beers Canada (51% - the Operator) and Mountain Province Diamonds (49%). De Beers Group also owns and operates the Victor Mine in northern Ontario.