When I was growing up, my younger sister and I spent virtually all of our time together. We are only 11 1/2 months apart, so we were as close to being twins as one could get without being twins. We had a big backyard and we were always imagining all sorts of adventures. We had three older brothers who would hang out with us occasionally. They would bring their dump trucks and cars and would play in the dirt. More often than not, my sister would be right there with them. She had a fascination for rocks. So much so that she asked for a rock tumbler for Christmas when she was seven or eight. Mom would joke that my sister would end up a geologist one day.
Thinking back to those days in the dirt reminds me of a woman I recently learned of. Her name is Dana Sue Kimbal, and she is a Miner and Environmental Manager at the Coeur Rochester Mine (Nevada Mining Association). In just one day, Dana and her team can move 70,000 tons of ore! And at the Coeur Rochester mine, mining is a huge, 24/7/365 operation. The site Dana works at mines mostly silver, but they also mine some gold. This fun fact will blow your mind! One truck with 100 tons of ore = just 26 oz of silver! Can you believe that? Since the operation began, they have produced 144 million ounces of silver (with an average of 4 million ounces of silver each year.)
One thing Dana Sue loves about her job is seeing the fruits of her efforts. The mined silver and gold is heated up to 2,00 degrees so it can be poured into molds. These molds will become bars of 98% silver, and 1-2% gold. The end result will be sold for coins, jewelry, the solar industry, or any other products that require pure silver. If you want to be a miner like Dana Sue, you better like working outdoors, wearing boots and jeans. She has worked in Nevada Mining most of her life, when a job opportunity presented itself and brought her to Northern Nevada. Dana Sue will tell you about an industry saying: “If it isn’t grown, it has to be mined”
You can learn all about Dana Sue and see her video, which is part of the 1 in 100 million series from Kronos, the leader in workforce management solutions. Kronos is a company who has your workforce in mind. Kronos can help you manage your employees time, attendance and absence records, schedules, HR , payroll, hiring and more. The “1 in one hundred million” Web Series brings stories like Dana Sue’s out to people like you and me. It is a way to show people the important jobs of the American worker that often go unrecognized. The series celebrates these hard working and passionate people, and highlights their character, commitment and passion. The “1 in one hundred million” Web Series highlights a new story each month, so to stay up to date, please subscribe and celebrate these men and women and get a behind the scenes look at what they do.
Katherine G says
This is a great story. I love stories like these. It reminds you of other important jobs other than the ones we usually heart about.
Angela Bethea says
Thank you for sharing this amazing story. I totally agree that we need to celebrate our hard working workers and much more often if possible. It is well deserved.
Melisa says
This sounds like a really amazing series! I wish Kronos was available here.
Peachy @ The Peach Kitchen says
I hope Kronos gets to be available here so I can watch inspiring stories of our everyday heroes,
Lynndee says
The series is a must-see, I believe. I have to check that out. I love watching shows that inspire.
Eloise says
It’s nice to hear about hardworking individuals! what a great way to give someone recognition for their work : )
Claudia Krusch says
This is an interesting story. I don’t know any miners personally, but loved reading about it!
Bonnie @wemake7 says
This is so neat! What an amazing women! I think my dad and grandfather did some mining work when I was a little girl.
Up Run For Life says
This is an interesting story. I don’t know any miners personally. But miners bring us the minerals for jewelry.
Jamie says
These stories are so amazing. I love hearing about the experiences of others.
Heather Lawrence says
Love reading stories about real jobs, especially ones that members of my family may have done years ago. They need to use these stories to help high school students to figure out what they want to do when they are older.
brianna says
Mining seems like such a difficult job. is amazing that it is still people that are mining and not machines.
Rebecca Swenor says
Kronos sound like they have a great web series for the workforce I will have to check out. Kudos for Dana Sue for being in a job for so many years that is done by most men. Thanks for sharing the information.
ricci says
This is such a great post in a great series. I am looking forward to reading more!!
Kathy says
I don’t know any miners at all, but I think it’s amazing what they do. That’s a lot of hard work and they deserve tons of credit for it. It can be so dangerous working the mines too.
Terri Beavers says
I’ve never known a miner before as we don’t have them around here. It was so cool to learn of this one and I think it’s great to give recognition of work efforts.
Miles L. says
I sure do believe that every has their own great story to tell. I love hearing stories about miners.
Miles L. says
*everyone
Kelly Hutchinson says
What a great series. I love to hear about the hard work people put into making this country work!
Stephanie Pass says
I have been enjoying this campaign. I love learning about regular people and their jobs.
Jeanette says
So much to learn from the series is just amazing! It is very inspiring to see how people got where they are.
Annemarie LeBlanc says
The key to keeping the same job for a long time is that you have to really love what you do. Then it is not called a “job” anymore. I admire Dana Sue. She is one strong woman to be doing this kind of job that is dangerous!
Christy Maurer says
That is just so amazing, and she is so amazing! It is so fascinating to read different people’s stories. That fact about the silver is wild! I had no idea it took that much to get so little product!
Stacie @ Divine Lifestyle says
I absolutely love this series. There are so many people out there who never get any recognition for jobs that most of us never even think about. Even if those jobs keep this entire thing going.
Vera Sweeney says
What an amazing series!! I love learning about different careers and the path’s people took to get to where they are now