BUTTE — Over 200 college kids from all over the US and as far away as the United Kingdom and Australia, including 30 Orediggers, are gathered on Montana Tech's campus this weekend for the 46th Annual Intercollegiate Mining Competition.
"So it’s just old school mining techniques. Teams of six compete and it’s great camaraderie. It’s good competition and a lot of these guys will end up working with each other, so it’s a great networking opportunity as well," says Associate Professor Scott Rosenthal.
Rosenthal is the department head of the Mining Engineering program at Montana Tech, but today he’s overseeing five teams of Orediggers, including the first all-female team the school has had in a long time.
"I'm pretty excited that we have a great group of women here today. I came because I wanted to do something that was kind of labor-intensive but also fun at the same time," says Skyler Fox, a freshman in Tech's geological engineering program.
Fox is one of several women competing in the seven events that include surveying and gold panning, as well as some extremely physical skills like sawing, mucking, and running a jack-leg drill that weighs over 100 pounds.
Does she think women can do this kind of intense labor?
"Of course!" says Fox. "Is that even a question? Of course we can. We’re all out here, we're doing great. I haven’t even broken a sweat yet."
Another freshman, however, says the event is a grind with getting up really early and giving it your all in events like mucking that require fast work with dirt and a shovel while also pushing an ore cart—a job that was sometimes done by donkeys back in the day.
"You gotta, you know, you gotta get your hands dirty but it’s all for good fun," says Dozick Zablocki, a freshman mining engineering student at Tech.
And it does seem like it's all for fun as competitiors cheer on their fellow classmates. But it's also all for the bragging rights, and Professor Rosenthal hopes one of his Oredigger teams can capture this year’s title over the next two days.
He thinks a little help from the community will encourage the Tech kids.
"Come out and view it; it’s free and it’s open to the public. We’d love to have half of Butte up here and come see what’s going on. It’s a good time," says Rosenthal.
The events start around 9 a.m. on March 22-23 in an area on campus located next to the Big Butte Recreation Area at Tech.
