Public Education

Kamloops Geotour Guide

For some fun and exciting rockhounding adventure ideas right here in Kamloops, please click the link below to download your copy of the Kamloops Geotour Guide

Kamloops_Geotour.pdf

Lecture Series

2010 Lectures Series Dates and Topics:

January 13th- The Early History of Mining Around Kamloops with speaker Ken Favrholdt of Thompson Rivers University
January 28th- Spanish Mountain with speaker Brian Groves, President of Spanish Mountain Gold Ltd.- The Spanish Mountain Project
February 11th- Geology of Gem Deposits with speaker Lee Groat of the University of British Columbia
February 25th- Diamonds- They Are Just Carbon After All with speaker Bruce Madu, Senior Regional Geologist of the Ministry of Energy Mines and Petroleum Resources NOTE: a display of remarkable diamond-bearing rocks will precede this talk. Arrive early if you'd like to view them and learn about kimberlites!
March 4th- Extinction Events and the Death of the Dinosaurs with speaker Stuart Sutherland of the University of British Columbia
March 25th- Trawling the North Coast for Salmon, Showings, and Schists from Scandinavia with speaker JoAnne Nelson MSc. P.Geo., Senior Mineral Geologist, Mapping, Northwest B.C. with the Ministry of Energy, Mines, and Petroleum Resources
April 7th- The History and Geology of the Anyox Copper Camp, British Columbia with speaker Ross Sherlock, Exploration Manager of Gold Fields, Canada - NOTE: this talk will be given on a WEDNESDAY
April 29th- Oil Sands: Setting the Record Straight with speaker Don Thompson from Syncrude Canada Ltd. (please note this is a CIM South-Central Branch and KEG Co-hosted event. NOTE: this talk is being held at TRU, in the Panorama Room of the International Building, doors open at 6:30pm, talk starts at 7:15

The Community Lecture Series runs from January through April, on Thursday evenings about twice per month (note: our April 7th talk is on a WEDNESDAY). They take place at the Kamloops Towne Lodge, 1250 Rogers Way, in Salon A/B. Lectures begin at 7:00pm and end roughly at 8:00pm.

These free, interesting, and educational talks began in 2003 and are designed for the general public to improve understanding of earth sciences and mineral exploration. These are popular lectures, with attendance ranging from 75 to 200+ persons each event. Watch for our Ads in Kamloops's local newspapers and check the website for more information!

The Kamloops Exploration Group and the CIM South Central BC Branch are please to co-present the final talk of the KEG 2010 Lecture Series:

Thursday, April 29th, 2010, 7:15pm (doors open at 6:30pm), TRU, International Building, Panorama Room

(Oil Sands) Setting the Record Straight

Presented by Mr. Don Thompson, CIM distinguished lecturer and President of The Oils Sands Developers Group (OSDG)

Don Thompson is president of The Oil Sands Developers Group (OSDG). His extensive experience with the oil sands industry, in combination with his educational background in forestry, zoology, executive and financial management, has earned him a reputation as a trusted and reliable source to lead and speak on behalf of OSDG. Its mission is to ensure information dissemination to government, key stakeholders and other interested parties about industry perspectives, while bringing forward issues and challenges for the orderly development of Alberta’s oil sands deposits.

In 1979, Thompson joined Syncrude Canada Ltd. becoming corporate secretary and officer in 1998 — a position he held until 2007. Over this period, he was responsible for ensuring the governance of both Syncrude and its housing affiliate, Northward Developments Ltd. Thompson is now focused on Syncrude’s regulatory and external affairs, particularly on responding to the large number of environmental and external relationship challenges facing Syncrude — a position directly related to his work with The Oil Sands Developers Group — and on mentoring the “next generation” of Syncrude expertise.

As Distinguished Lecturer Don Thompson will present:
Setting the Record Straight

Canada’s oil sands are a controversial topic and virtually every newsmaker and layperson seems to have an opinion about this 179 billion barrel resource. The oil sands represent 97 per cent of Canada’s remaining oil reserves, but misinterpretation and misrepresentation of the facts are threatening development of a resource that generates significant employment and tax revenue for Canadians. Join Don Thompson, president of the Oil Sands Developers Group, as he dispels the top ten myths about Canada’s oil sands and presents an alternative perspective on an industry that can play a critical role in North America’s economic recovery.

Everyone is welcome! Complimentary coffee and tea.

KEG - Kamloops Museum & Archives project

Sid and Rhona Baker were local Kamloops Rockhounds who collected for many, many years. About 5+ years ago, the Baker’s donated their extensive collection to the Kamloops Museum & Archives. Through initial contact with the museum about 4 years ago, KEG developed a working relationship with the Kamloops Museum & Archives. Since then, KEG has been involved with cataloguing the samples and offering technical expertise.

This past KEG year saw several KEG members involved in working with the museum on the Sid & Rhona Baker mineral collection. They continue to catalogue samples, an ongoing process, and aided in the selection of the better samples for the new display cases. As well, KEG provided assistance with mineral write-ups for these displays. KEG continues to work with the Kamloops Museum & Archives on the public mineral display and cataloguing of backroom samples.

Ask-A-Geologist

In May and November 2008 and again in May 2009, KEG hosted “Ask-A-Geologist” sessions at the Kamloops Museum & Archives. These sessions are opportunities for the general public to bring their rocks in for identification by KEG volunteer geologists. The popularity of this event has increased and this was demonstrated at the past two sessions. At Novembers' and Mays' events, just prior to “opening”, there were line-ups of people waiting to have their rocks identified. We also used this opportunity to educate the public about our industry with a display about geology, mineral exploration and mining.

Junior Delegates

KEG 2009 saw the 5^th year of our Junior Delegates program. Preparation work for this program begins many months, if not a year, prior to the ‘big day”. The coordinator works with the selected teachers and his/her class, to ensure that their experience at the KEG conference is a positive learning experience. The KEG program provides the attending classes with an exciting day program highlighting our industry.

This Junior Delegates program is offered at the KEG conference on day 1. The program involves two to three elementary school classes, many KEG volunteers, and a set of four educational activities. One activity is spending time with Yukon Dan learning how to gold pan and the many interesting facts about gold. Another activity is with a local rockhounding club, where students participate in interactive activities and look at local rocks. Another activity is “Stump-the-Geologist”, where students bring a rock from home and the geologist identifies the rocks for them. Finally, a walk through the trade show on a “Treasure Hunt” for knowledge. The Junior Delegate program is an excellent means to expose children and teachers to our industry, and to-date, KEG has hosted 10 elementary school classes at the conference.

Educational Displays

KEG’s educational displays are a great opportunity for the public to interact with specialists in our industry and an avenue for “gentle” education of the public about our industry. KEG continues to provide displays at different community functions. This year, KEG was invited and participated in providing educational displays for the Big Little Science Centre’s Open House (Kamloops), the BC Lapidary Society’s annual rockhounding extravaganza, Rendezvous (Chase), the Logan Lake Community Days (Logan Lake), as well as our local Ask-A-Geologist events.

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