Ken, Maintenance Superintendent
“If it can’t be grown, it must be mined.”
It’s a simple sentence, but for Ken, it captures the truth behind modern mining; an industry often misunderstood, yet essential to everyday life. Phones, power systems, medical equipment, renewable energy infrastructure, nearly everything we rely on begins with minerals pulled responsibly from the earth.
Gold, Ken notes, is prominent in places that might surprise people. It’s in aerospace - especially in spacecraft electronics, because it doesn’t corrode, oxidize, or tarnish even under extreme temperature swings. Gold is also excellent at reflecting infrared radiation, reflecting heat instead of absorbing it. Thin gold coatings on connectors, circuit boards, and contact points ensure consistent electrical conductivity over long missions. Satellite surfaces, avionics, and flight computers rely on gold-plated connectors to avoid signal loss. Ultra-thin gold films are also applied to spacecraft windows and astronaut helmet visors to protect against intense solar radiation.
Early Impact
Ken’s understanding of hard work began long before he ever stepped foot in a mine.
He grew up in Hoonah, Alaska, in a logging camp five miles outside town. His father was a logger, and the rhythm of camp life shaped Ken’s childhood. It was an incredible place for a boy who loved being outdoors, and it taught him early lessons about teamwork, accountability, and respecting complex work.
After high school, Ken attended AVTEC to study industrial electrical. He didn’t have a clear career plan, just a strong work ethic and curiosity about the trades. That openness led him to Greens Creek, where he spent two and a half years learning the fundamentals of mining.
Pursuing Opportunity
In 2005, Pogo Mine was preparing to begin operations, and Ken applied, drawn by the chance to help build something from the ground up. Twenty years later, he’s still at Pogo, proof that modern mining isn’t just about extracting resources, but about building careers.
Ken started at Pogo as an electrician. Today, he’s a superintendent for Northern Star overseeing millwrights, electricians, instrumentation, planning, and reliability teams, around 60 people in total. It’s a role he never envisioned for himself.
“I never saw myself as a leader,” he says. “But people saw something in me.”
Over the years, Ken learned not only the technical side of the operation but how to manage people, balance workloads, and prioritize critical jobs. His role has expanded significantly in recent months, bringing new opportunities every day. What excites him most is helping teams collaborate, supporting millwright and electrical crews as they work together.
That collaboration, he says, is the heart of modern mining.
Leading With Safety
“Hard rock mining isn’t what you see on TV,” Ken explains. “It’s not just machines and rock. It’s people.”
Skilled workers from many backgrounds and trades come together, relying on one another to keep operations running safely and smoothly. For Ken, safety isn’t a policy or a poster on the wall; it’s a Core Value and the foundation of every decision.
“Safety is the number one priority for every day and for every crew,” he says. “There’s no reason to do a job unsafely. There is always a safe way to do it.”
With experience in logging and mining, Ken has seen how far industrial safety has evolved. Today’s mining is built on planning, training, communication, and constant improvement. An ounce of gold, he says, is never worth the risk if it can’t be mined safely.
Teamwork Inspires
Some of Ken’s proudest moments don’t involve production milestones or equipment upgrades, but people stepping up together when it matters most. He recalls a winter when a fire damaged the site’s main substation. Power was lost across the operation with temperatures dropping to -40°F. Generators were rushed in and teams worked together as one to keep the camp running.
“Everyone did what needed to be done,” he says. “We made it through it together.”
That sense of unity is why Ken has stayed at Pogo for two decades. The work is interesting and constantly changing, but it’s the people who make it meaningful. The rotation schedule allows balance. The culture encourages accountability and growth. And the shared commitment to doing things the right way creates pride.
Asked to describe working at Pogo in three words, Ken doesn’t hesitate: Mining done right.
For those considering a career in mining, his advice is honest and encouraging, be ready for challenges. The work isn’t easy, but it’s rewarding. It demands skill, teamwork, and responsibility, and it offers something increasingly rare: the chance to be part of an industry that truly depends on people.
Modern mining, Ken’s story shows, isn’t defined by machines or ore bodies. It’s defined by trust, safety, and the people who show up every day, protecting one another and ensuring that the resources the world depends on are produced responsibly. Because if it can’t be grown, it must be mined and it must be mined right.