Five generations and two centuries: mining in Lime Ridge

Five generations and two centuries: mining in Lime Ridge

By Lawrence Belanger

Special to the Record

 

In operation for 200 years next year, the Graymont Mine has been a mainstay of the Lime Ridge community in Quebec for generations of workers. To understand more about how this mine works, and what it means for its community, The Record spoke with two members of the Audit family, which has worked in the mine for a total of five generations. Weston Audit, the youngest, began working in the mine after seeking a change of pace from his office job as a programmer. Marc Audit, his uncle, has been working at the site for 17 years, and currently operates the stone crushing plants.

Two months ago, Weston was working as a programmer. “I did that for about five years,” he explains over the phone. Working from home due to COVID-19, he wasn’t seeing many people, something compounded by his then-current line of work. “As a programmer, obviously it’s a very sedentary job, I would say. And I was just sick of it, honestly. And I was just looking for something else.” Knowing that his dad, Steven, and Marc were already working at the mine, he applied. “I was very persistent, let’s say and I got the job.”

Weston describes his position as a “general labourer.” This entails lots of sweeping, shoveling, cleaning, “driving little tractors,” and “[other] stuff like that.” Recently, he’s started hacking lime, putting it into the bags and using lifts to load up the trucks.

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