A $270,000 contribution from Newcrest Mining Limited is funding a new Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) lab at the University of Queensland, the UQ News site reports. The new lab will enhance UQ's ability to develop skills in fluid mechanics, thermodynamics and heat transfer.

UQ's Acting Vice-Chancellor, Professor Michael Keniger said the Newcrest HVAC Laboratory will ensure UQ's engineering graduates have advanced skills in areas critical to the future of the resources sector. “The project would not have been possible without the generosity of Newcrest, but perhaps most important of all is our joint investment in the people who will drive the Australian mining industry forwards in the next decade and beyond,” Professor Keniger said.

The new School of Mines at Laurentian University will be offering an executive MBA in mining, and hopes to develop specialized programs aimed at the industry's existing professionals, says Michael Lesher, director of mining initiatives, to the Sudbury Star.

"We've already been doing many of the things that mining schools have. We've got one of the top mineral exploration programs in the world, one of the best mining engineering programs in the world, and we do environmental restoration like nobody's business," he said. "We (also) want to develop programs in mining-related occupational health and safety and offer programs on aboriginal consultation as it relates to potential new mining communities up north."

Government and mining and agricultural companies are joining forces to offer jobseekers the opportunity to learn entry-level skills and help to meet the skills shortage in Queensland, Australia.

Under the Regional Agriculture and Mining Industry Training Project, 15 young Emerald residents will be teamed up with local training providers and businesses to obtain qualifications relevant to local industries, including Certificate Two Resources and Infrastructure Work Preparation, Certificate Two Rural Operations, BMA generic mining inductions and structured work placement.

New training tools have been released by the U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration to help miners understand their rights and responsibilities under the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act, MSHA reports.

"All miners, including supervisors and contractors, have the right to identify hazardous conditions and refuse unsafe work without fear of discrimination or retaliation," said Joseph A. Main, assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health. "Ensuring that miners understand their rights has been a priority of mine since well before I was appointed to this job in 2009. We hope these tools will help give miners the confidence to exercise those rights."

Mining businesses in Fiji have concluded that there is an urgent need for training in specific mining skills in Fiji, reports The Fiji Times Online.

"What will happen is that when the need arises, we will have to fill a lot of positions with overseas workers and pay them expatriate rates at a huge cost to our business," mining industry management said. [National Training and Productivity Centre] Lautoka manager Rupeni Lewetuitovo said the mining industry was growing and the centre would look at how it could assist in training workers.

The mining industry in Canada is now facing a shortage of skilled labour, and the severity could be as severe as in was before the economic downturn in 2008, Mining Weekly reports.

Record prices for many commodities, coupled with cheap and more easily available finance, mean that activity in the mining sector is roaring and skilled mining engineers, geologists, technicians and other key people are again hot commodities and companies are having to pay up to get hold of them.

7 News reports that a new, multi-million dollar training facility in Perth will help to address the Australian mining industry's skill shortage by shifting focus away from skilled migration and towards training.

[Minister for Workplace Relations, Chris] Evans says the $3.2 million centre will provide students with the skills needed to make a direct transition into the work force. "We don't want to focus on migration alone, we want to focus on getting young West Australians, and Australian kids more generally, chances to work in high-skilled, high-paid jobs," Senator Evans said.

In response to the recent law passed by the Mongolian government limiting the number of foreign workers used in Mongolian mining projects, mining companies have begun training Mongolians for driving positions at local mines, UB Post reports.

41 companies of Umnugobi, Dornogobi provinces took part in research that studied the number of workers needed and salary proposals. These companies employ 1,189 Mongolian and 1,500 Chinese drivers at the moment. However, they reported that with the new law they will need 1500 additional Mongolian drivers. Employers pay 800,000MNT as a salary with potential for employees to earn bonuses.

Mining Magazine reports that the Geological Society of South Africa will be hosting an advanced diamond drilling workshop July 28-30 in Rustenburg, South Africa. The workshop will be followed by a one-day field trip to a nearby mine.

The programme will include a detailed review of all aspects of diamond drilling, including directional drilling techniques, special procedures and economic and contractual aspects of drilling. Participants will receive printed course notes, plus a CD and a copy of “The Diamond Drilling Handbook” by Dr WF Heinz.

Utah News reports: industrial safety expert Thomas Hethmon has been chosen by the University of Utah to occupy the Western Mining Presidential Endowed Chair in Mine Safety, a new faculty position funded by Barrick Gold of North America and CONSOL Energy.

“The University of Utah is uniquely positioned to influence industrial safety and health management in the U.S. and abroad,” said Hethmon in a prepared statement. “The [U.] College of Mines has an international reputation for academic excellence, a long and positive relationship with the industry, and its administration is completely supportive of our plans for the chair,” says Hethman.

Unemployed people in Wilcannia, New South Wales, Australia, will be given the opportunity to train for certification in resource and infrastructure work preparation, ABC News reports. The goal is that employment in the region's new mining projects will follow.

"There's jobs there, and there's going to be lots of jobs in the near future, and fortunately we've got a lot of people interested in that industry. That was one of the main reasons why we picked this type of course to run out there."

To answer some of the community's questions about their Eagle Mine project, Kennecott Minerals has opened a new education center in downtown Marquette, Michigan.

Visitors will see models, videos and exhibits relating to the Eagle Mine operations. The goal of the center is to strengthen their relationship with the community and to provide a place where residents can learn about sustainable and responsible mining.