The Haileybury School of Mining

Haileybury is a small Northeastern Ontario town located on the west shore of Lake Temiskaming, approximately 150 kilometres north of North Bay and about 250 kilometres south of Timmins.

It’s a quiet town, about 10 kilometres off the beaten path of Ontario’s Highway 11 and like many other mining communities in the area, it became an even ‘quieter’ place in 1962, when Highway 11 was realigned and moved farther west to better serve the mining industry north in the Timmins area and beyond.

Places like Cobalt, Haileybury, and New Liskeard became somewhat isolated thanks to the “new” Highway 11 route that once went straight through the heart of those downtowns and supplied a steady flow of traffic and customers for the gas stations, restaurants and motels along the way.

Understandably, however (with the new highway diversion), small businesses eventually started to suffer and today, many of the once-busy towns east of the “new” route are hurting and in some cases, have almost “Gone out of Business.”

The Town of Haileybury (amalgamated into the City of Temiskaming Shores in 2004), however, is a survivor and its 4,500 residents still proudly call the picturesque hillside town ‘home’ as they continue to work at various commercial, government and institutional jobs to maintain a stable environment with a healthy local economy.

In addition to also becoming a popular retirement and recreational destination, the town has maintained its status as a judicial seat and site of a provincial court for the Ontario Provincial Police.

A new city hall (built in 2007) houses the city’s municipal and various other department offices and is appropriately located in the town’s business section, adjacent to Lake Temiskaming.

Also located in the community is the Haileybury School of Mines (HSM), the internationally know institution that has been training and educating some of the world’s best miners and technicians for more than a century.

Founded in 1912 as a vision of local high school principal, Asbury Wilson, the Haileybury School of Mines was born out of the need to meet the ever-increasing demand for technically trained miners for the legendary silver camp in Cobalt, eight kilometres to the south.

Silver was discovered in 1903, and the community quickly became world famous for its riches, far exceeding Klondike gold towns. According to a “100th Anniversary” article in The Temiskaming Speaker (a local newspaper published in New Liskeard), Cobalt became known as the “Cradle of Canadian Mining.”

With more than 100 mines scattered throughout the region at the peak of the rush, investors, managers, and engineers quickly recognized the sudden need to find individuals who could offer expertise, not only in typical mining methods but also in milling, metallurgy, surveying, and engineering aspects of mining.

The Haileybury School of Mines filled that need and now more than 100 years later it’s still providing highly trained technicians that continue to be in demand by mining companies across Canada, and throughout the world.

Under the direction of Northern College professors, about 75 students are currently working towards a Mining Engineering Technician diploma. In its present online, modular format, students take more than 30 courses (including a field school component) to compete the two-year diploma. Their studies include everything from mineralogy and geology, to mineral processing and mining physics, to surface and underground mining techniques, to communications and naturally, occupational health and safety where the basic causes of accidents and/or injuries are studied.

Program Co-ordinator Brian Dobbs says that when the students leave, they’re well equipped to handle just about any aspect of working in or around a mine and he credits much of the success of the school’s graduates to a very pertinent program, plus a curriculum that goes beyond “chalk and talk.”

“Unlike some certificate courses that focus mainly on theory, students at HSM get their hands dirty, and just about everything else,” says Professor Dobbs. “We believe there’s nothing more educational than first-hand experience and when it comes to mining, that initial taste of reality quickly determines who is cut out for that way of life, or not.”

As already mentioned, the diploma program at HSM is well respected by potential employers in the mining industry and it’s been designed so that students can continue working in an actual mine setting while taking certain courses online.

Again, this gets back to Professor Dobbs’ “chalk and talk” theory where he believes that an academic course of this nature works better when the students are given an opportunity to practise what they learn in a classroom or from a text book.

Perhaps one of the things that sets HSM apart from some other mining schools is that its training programs focus on specific “in demand” skills.

Through input from equipment manufacturers, mining companies and associations alike, Professor Dobbs says the school keeps in touch with what the industry needs in terms of tomorrow’s mining technicians and through the industry’s input, HSM is able to design a curriculum that is good for everyone.

“By knowing exactly what the industry needs and expects from our student not only helps the students get out into the business world, but it also keeps our instructors fresh and up-to-date with the latest in technology so they, too, remain enthusiastic about mining.”

The Haileybury School of Mines is a school like few others. Its name may tell you where it’s located, and what it’s all about, but what sets the school apart from others is the “feeling of family” between students and teachers alike.

“Open door” is a term often used to describe a business policy but at the Haileybury School of Mines, it’s a way of life and everyone at the school is proud to be associated with an institution that has “opened doors” for so many over the past 100 years.