My association with the mining industry began when I was born in URANIUM CITY, SASKATCHEWAN. This town was founded to provide a base for the numerous mines that operated around Uranium City which was close to the North Shore of Lake Athabasca. Near Uranium City was was the company town for Eldorado Nuclear, Eldorado, where we lived for the first years of my life. My Dad worked in mining in Canada while I was growing up . We lived in a few places in Canada before settling in Saskatoon in the Canadian Prairies. I consider Saskatoon to be where I lived during my formative years. I still identify with the Prairies. Back to mining, my first job was after I finished high school. I worked for two weeks at a uranium mine in Northern Saskatchewan. I then went to university in Montréal to study mining engineering. During my studies for both my undergraduate and graduate degrees, I worked in underground and open pit mines as well as in researching. While I was finishing my graduate degree, I received a job as a Mines Inspector in Saskatchewan. I worked there for 18 years before leaving to move to Britain. Not too many mines there but there is a mining community where one can be involved and work in mining which I continue to do.