Cookie Mining
Name ____________________________________ Date _________ Period _________ Score _____
History of Mining in Nevada:
In Nevada, modern mining began in 1849 with the discovery of placer gold in a stream
flowing into the Carson River (near present day Dayton). The discovery of gold was first found
by Mormon 49ers that were on their way to California gold fields. This new discovery led
Mormons upstream to what is now known as the Virginia Range where most of the Comstock
Lode in 1859 was discovered. Within this time frame, nearly 200,000 people crossed through
Nevada in search of gold. Over time, gold found in Nevada has yielded more than 50 million
ounces—worth about $47 billion at current rates, which helps make Nevada responsible for 78
percent of gold produced in the U.S.
Mining provides a major source of employment for the state of Nevada. Many towns
would not even exist if not for their mining legacy. Mining will continue to have huge historic
significance as all indications point to it remaining just as important for many years to come.
However, mining today is drastically different than in the past. Most miners rarely see the gold
extract because gold in Nevada is microscopic and dispersed through tons of rock. Large
quantities of rock must be processed to yield relatively small amounts of gold. Isolating the gold
particles is extremely costly, so it makes Nevada‘s gold mines multi-million dollar operations.
Money spent on processing rock to find gold is costly in addition to money spent on
reducing the environmental impact of mining. Historically, Nevada‘s mines have lacked in the
field of environmental protection. Today mining interests have improved in order to achieve
mining industry regulations in terms of safety and environmental excellence. For example, mines
or open pits must be returned to their previous contoured state so that vegetation can resume
growth
Background Information:
Each student buys property (a cookie), equipment (toothpicks or paper clips), pays for the mining
operation and reclamation. In return, the students receive money for the ore mined (chocolate
chips).
Key Vocabulary:
Surface Mining—when materials are found near the surface of the ground or on hillsides; it involves
removing the topsoil or rock overlying the mineral and placing it aside to reach the material being
mined.
Underground Mining—when topsoil or rock overlying the mineral are left in place and the miners dig
beneath it, deep into the ground, to reach the desired material.
Land reclamation—the process by which land is protected and restored before, during, and after
mining a particular area.
Land acquisition—the act of acquiring or gaining possession of land used for mining.
Land excavation—the process by which land is taken apart to reach the material being mined.
Materials:
1. 3 types of chocolate chip cookies (take 1)
2. Flat toothpicks
3. Round toothpicks
4. Paper clips
5. Cookie Mining worksheet
6. Cookie Mining Grid worksheet
7. Cookie Mining Money
1
Cookie Mining
Name ____________________________________ Date _________ Period _________ Score _____
Cookie Mining
Directions:
1. Each player starts with $19 worth of Cookie Mining Money, a Cookie Mining worksheet,
and a sheet of the grid paper.
2. Each student must buy his/her own "mining property" or cookie.
Cookie prices:
Store brand chocolate chip - $3.00
Chips Ahoy - $5.00
Chips Deluxe - $7.00
3. After the cookies are bought, give your "mine" a name, and record it, along with the price
of your cookie on the sheet.
4. Place your cookie on the grid paper and trace the outline of the cookie. Count each
square that falls inside the circle, counting partial squares as a full square, and record that
number on the sheet.
5. Students must now buy mining equipment. You can purchase more than one piece or type
of equipment. If a mining tool breaks, it is no longer usable, and a new tool must be
purchased. Record the price of mining equipment on your sheet.
Tool Prices:
Flat toothpick - $2.00 each
Round toothpick - $4.00 each
Paper clip - $6.00 each
6. Now you can mine the chips out of the cookies. You cannot use fingers to hold a cookie.
The only things that can touch the cookie are the mining tools and the paper the cookie is
sitting on.
7. The maximum mining time is 5 minutes, at a cost of $1.00 per minute. If you can finish
mining before the 5 minutes are up, record the time spent mining on the sheet.
8. You earn $2.00 for each chocolate chip mined. Broken chips can be combined to form
one whole chip.
9. After the cookie has been mined, use the tools to "reclaim" the property, placing it back
into the circled area. No fingers or hands allowed. Draw another circle around the
reclaimed cookies. $1.00 for each square over the original count.
10. The player with the most money at the end of the game wins, and everyone gets to eat the
remainder of their cookie!
2
Cookie Mining
Name ____________________________________ Date _________ Period _________ Score _____
Mining Economics: Cookie Mining Worksheet
1. Name of cookie mine ________________________________
2. Price of cookie ______________________
3. Size of cookie squares covered_________________
4. Equipment:
Flat toothpick ____x $2.00 = ____
Round toothpick ____x $4.00 =____
5. Mining: _______ minutes x $1.00
Cost of removing chips _______
Total Cost of Mining = _______
Paper clip ___ x $6.00 = ______
Total Equipment Cost =_______
6. Chip removal:
Number of chips _______ x $2.00 = _______
6. How much did I make?
Value of chips..................... _______
Total cost of mining............... _______
Profit/Loss........................ _______
8. Reclamation: _______ squares x $1.00 = _______
Questions:
1. Did it matter which cookie you bought? Which cookies were harder or easier to mine,
and why? Which cookies were more expensive?
2. What about the mining equipment? Which tools, or combination of tools were most
effective? Did certain tools break?
3. When you tried to reclaim your cookie, what happened? Was it difficult to return this
cookie back to the same exact size that it was before mining the chips?
4. After one round of being a miner, what would you do differently and why would you
make that change?
5. Is mining always profitable? What are some factors that miners have to consider?
3
Cookie Mining
Name ____________________________________ Date _________ Period _________ Score _____
4
Cookie Mining
Name ____________________________________ Date _________ Period _________ Score _____
5
Cookie Mining
Name ____________________________________ Date _________ Period _________ Score _____
6
Cookie Mining
Name ____________________________________ Date _________ Period _________ Score _____
7