Exploration Geologist

Christina, 28
Exploration Geologist since 2005
@ Agnico-Eagle USA Ltd.

What is your educational background?
Bachelor of Science in geology from Eastern Washington University.

Why did you become a geologist?
I have a passion for rocks.

What are your job responsibilities?
I am assigned to projects where I might be responsible for sampling outcrops and drill core, mapping, logging core and chips, and drafting cross-sections based on drill and surface data.

In layman’s terms?
I tell my young nieces and nephews that I am a kind of treasure hunter. In other words, I explore for minerals.

What’s a cross section?
A cross-section is a 2-D slice of the earth. My job has me draft cross-sections based on drill and map data, where I try to piece together data that may tell a story of what the rocks and mineralization are doing. I try to answer questions such as, “What rocks are host to mineralization and what structures might have displaced, confined, or helped expand the mineralization in the rock?”

What is the best part of your job?
You must use science, and sometimes a little imagination, to pull together a working hypothesis. You will later drill it and find out if you were right or wrong and that to me is the best part.

What’s the most challenging part of your job?
Geology is a science with many shades of gray. In other words, there are many potentially right answers when it comes to interpreting and modeling data. The more experience a geologist has the better they might be at interpreting data.

What is the best part of working in the mining industry?
The best part of working in the mining industry is having the ability to help find mineral resources that contribute to supporting technology that helps us live happy, comfortable, and healthy lives.

Read more at The More You Dig