The Alaska Miner Spring 2025 20 What is your role and how did you get into the industry? I am the Senior Mine Engineer at Usibelli Coal Mine. I started working for Usibelli as an intern in 2015 on the reclamation crew and got full-time employment after graduating in 2017 as a mining engineer. I currently work on exploration drilling, geology modeling, and the 2–7-year mine plan. I wanted to go to school for petroleum or mining engineering, with the opportunity to play college football at South Dakota School of Mines and Technology all they had was a mining program, so I enrolled. During my freshmen year, my passion grew for the mining industry, and I knew this was what I wanted to do. Who was your mentor in this industry and what did they teach you that remains true today? My mentor in this industry is my boss Fred Wallis, he is the VP of Engineering at Usibelli Coal Mine. Fred comes from a mining engineering family as his dad is also a mining engineer. As my boss and good friend, he has taught me so much over the last 9 years about engineering and professionalism. He has pushed me to be where I am today. More importantly, he has taught me how to navigate the work-life balance which is crucial for everyone. Today, I oversee the reclamation crew at Usibelli. I emulate the way Fred treated me by making work fun, challenging, and rewarding. Fred demonstrated what a special place Usibelli Coal Mine is, and I hope I am leading by the same example. What lessons have you learned that you want to share with new miners? A lesson that I have learned is that mining happens: not everything is going to go as planned. There are so many factors that go into a mining operation. With that, plans change and for some, it’s hard to adjust. I learned that a good plan has options for potential setbacks, and those options are just as important as the original plan. This way when mining happens you can adjust quickly and get back on track to accomplish the end goal. What would you do differently? I would have gotten more involved with the Alaska Miners Association and mining community earlier as a student. I didn’t get involved with the UAF chapter of Society of Mining Engineers until late spring of my junior year. I had never been to an AMA conference or the local AMA meetings until then. When I finally got involved with SME and AMA I realized I had missed almost 3 years of support from mining companies and individuals. There is a whole community within AMA who are willing to help students in the industry. My advice to students at UAF is to be involved early and often! The mining community in Alaska is special in how supportive they are to students. In each issue of The Alaska Miner, we recognize a member of our Alaska mining community. This issue we are interviewing Ethan Trickey, Senior Mining Engineer with Usibelli Coal Mine. Faces of Mining Ethan Trickey Senior Mine Engineer, Usibelli Coal Mine
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