Visiting the Mines of Colombia

Students from Virginia Tech’s department of mining and minerals engineering recently participated in a week-long visit to Colombia learn about its mining health and safety practices. Part of the visit included meeting fellow engineering students from the Faculty of Mines program at the National University of Colombia (NUC) at Medellin.

The group was led by Dr. Nino Ripepi, department associate professor and instructor for the department’s Mining Health and Safety course. “The goal of the visit was to allow students to observe mining health and safety practices up close in a different country and to consider ways to improve safety practices based on their own knowledge and studies,” explained Ripepi.

The VT group consisted of seniors Luke Farinholt, Mattias Marquez, Zoe Scopa, and Hedvig Unander-Scharin. Also joining them was Melissa Ripepi and Juan Jose Monsalve Valencia, a department master’s student working with Dr. Ripepi and also a graduate of NUC’s Faculty of Mines.

Making the excursion to Colombia was a logical choice for Ripepi. Thanks to coordination between US companies, state resources and the National University, in the last four years a number of Colombian students have completed their graduate degrees at Virginia Tech. "The mining engineering students from the National University of Colombia have done a great job in our program,” said Ripepi, “and that's why we want to continue working them.”

First to the National University of Colombia.

The trip marked the first time that department students got to see NUC’s engineering program up close. One highlight of the trip was the opportunity for Virginia Tech students to spend time with mining engineering undergrads from the National University. “The students at NU were all very open and inviting,” said Hedvig Unander Scharin, a department senior from Clifton, Virginia. “They seemed excited to meet us and to learn about the VT mining department as well as what we thought of Colombia.”

While spending time at the university’s Faculty of Mines, the group got to meet the university’s mining faculty and students as well as tour its laboratory facilities. “The NU mining department was very comparable to ours in terms of resources and classes,” recalled Luke Farinholt a senior undergraduate and native of Stephenson, Virginia. “Their rock mechanics and processing laboratories were very state-of-the-art.” The students also shared similarities in basic courses such as physics, calculus, mineral processing and rock mechanics. A big difference between the two universities, Hedvig noted, is that while Virginia Tech boasts an active internship and summer job program, “it seemed very difficult for students at NU to obtain an internship or a coop during their undergraduate years.”

Mine Tours and Understanding Health and Safety.

Extensive tours of area mines were also on the itinerary, including a gold operation in Marmato and the Carbones San Fernando coal mine. The group also got to see a Mine Rescue Center and a small-scale “artisanal” mining operation.

One goal of the trip was to examine how cultural differences affect health and safety practices. Hedvig noted how technology had an impact on a culture of safety. “It seemed like Colombian companies and their employees were trying their best when it came to safety; the part that was holding them back was the engineering advancements required to develop a safer work environment.”

Despite the lack of some technology, senior Matias Marquez was impressed by the safety culture in the regulated Colombian mining industry. “The riskiest mines were the artisanal, or illegal unregulated mines,” explained Matias of Solana Beach, California. “These mines differed greatly from the regulated mines, which not only had an actual safety culture in place, but also operated in a much more environmentally friendly way, while promoting the community.”

Strengthening a Partnership.

In addition to touring the university and mining operations, the trip offered an opportunity for Virginia Tech’s faculty and students to further its relationship with the Colombian program. "We call ourselves the best university in Colombia and, and in that sense, we have to measure ourselves with other universities abroad,” said Professor Néstor Ricardo Rojas, research professor at the National University of Colombia’s Faculty of Mines. “So this is an opportunity for us to get to know Virginia Tech better and leave the possibility for future academic mobility between our two campuses.”

The trip was a big hit with the students and Ripepi plans to continue the Health and Safety abroad program for the next academic year. According to Luke, “getting to actually go into the Colombian mines helped me understand a lot more about the history of mining and health and safety, especially one where mining is such a huge part of their history.”