ESTEVAN - A woman who was born and raised in Estevan has been recognized for her commitment to mining.
Emily Jepson (nee Clauson) was one of four people presented with the CIM-Bedford Canadian Young Mining Leaders Award by the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM).
“This award highlights the exceptional achievement and potential of young Canadian mining leaders,” states the letter that she received.
Her bio for the award states that she is the manager of environment and regulatory affairs at Westmoreland Mining Holdings LLC. She has 16 years of experience working at a coal mine and has had a variety of responsibilities, including regulatory reporting, environmental monitoring and reclamation planning. In recent years, she has been focused on carbon policy regulations and compliance.
“Jepson grew up in a coal mining family in southern Saskatchewan and developed a passion for mining early in her career,” states the bio. “She enjoys being part of the reclamation activities and day-to-day operations at site.”
Jepson said it was definitely a surprise to be selected. She was nominated by a senior employee in human resources. Her nomination package included nomination letters from senior executives in the company and personal references.
“Most of the questions for the nomination were about your work within the mining industry, how you’ve helped mentor people, how you’ve been involved in the community, and just different things,” said Jepson.
She’s been heavily involved with the Saskatchewan Mining Association and has helped educate teachers about the mining sector.
Her father Randy worked at the coal mines in Estevan for more than 40 years and recently retired. She had her first taste of the mining industry as a summer student. Her job at the time was a tire tech attendant, and she was exposed to the different areas of the mine site – the pits, the equipment and everything else that went on.
“It was something that was really very different, and something that appealed to me,” said Jepson.
She studied environmental systems engineering at the University of Regina, which directed her towards the environment field in mining.
“That applies to all of the regulatory reporting that I do, and then to some of the reclaim design work and to the water and soil and all of that kind of stuff,” said Jepson.
She spent two summers working at the local mines and completed her first work term.
“Through university I did a co-op program, and it was four months,” said Jepson. “The very first one I did was being a surveyor and data-entry clerk at the Estevan mine.”
Shortly after graduating university, she was working in Estevan and saw a job posting for an environmental planner at the Poplar River mine. Her application was successful.
“I was already familiar with the coal mines and how they work. The sites are very different but the basis is similar, so it was an easy adjustment there.”
Working at the mines has created a lot of different opportunities.
“I’ve seen lots of things, and it’s definitely one of those jobs you never get bored with. Especially now with the changes in regulations that are coming out with the carbon tax, I’m dealing a lot with that.”
The federal and provincial standards are always being updated and changed, and so she needs to stay on top of them.
Jepson believes her family connections to mining helped her get the opportunity to be a summer student, and it’s been great over the years to have the common ground and conversations with her father.
“As I got older and was in the mining industry, then we found more common ground, but it was the opportunity that I had as a summer student.”
Her husband is the operations manager at the Poplar River mine site, too.
“I’m surrounded by lots of mining people in my life,” she said.
Living in two communities where mining plays such a big role allows her to find people who are impacted by the mine in some way.
The Saskatchewan mining community is very tight knit, and it’s a good group to be part of, she said. Coal mining remains vital to southern Saskatchewan.
“It’s definitely provided solid, reliable income for many families within southern Saskatchewan, especially within Estevan and Coronach, and it continues to provide reliable jobs.”
There is also a significant economic spinoff in both communities.
“The two towns have the power plants involved as well, too, so the number of people affected is doubled or sometimes even tripled.”
The awards ceremony was held in person on May 2.
