These are initiatives by the company to help disabuse the notion that mining communities are poor, as the companies either did little, or not factor the development of the communities into their programmes.

The course will cover major findings of the FIPR Institute's slurry pumping research projects and builds on GIW's training and industrial experience with pump systems. Topics covered in the course are applicable to mine managers, engineers, pump designers, operators and maintenance technicians, enabling them to sharpen their skills and improve their technical competence.

This is an historic event in Canadian mining because until now, unlike the trades, skilled workers in these occupations have never before been awarded an industry-recognized credential that supports mobility and retention within the mining workforce.

"The people on the courses know the company from the inside, so they can share experiences, and the programmes give them the tools to develop ideas and implement innovative solutions," says Ionova. "It’s better than hiring MBA graduates from outside."

...intensive investment in training and the use of new blasting technologies are needed if opencast mining operators are to take full advantage of the booming commodities market over the next few years. Effective blasting, probably the most crucial aspect of opencast mining, is largely being neglected as operators, accustomed to the results they are getting, do not examine the opportunities available to them to increase their outputs.

TAFE Western institute director Kate Baxter said both the Green Skills Trade Education Centre and the mining simulator would provide world-class learning facilities right here in Orange. She said the Green Skills Trade Education Centre would train tradespeople in a range of areas including plumbing, construction, electrotechnology, manufacturing and engineering, and aimed to develop sustainable building practices.

Under current arrangements, completion rates are appalling, training often poorly targeted, graduate skills under-used and skill shortages growing, the report says. Meanwhile, at least 1.5 million people are unemployed or under-employed and nearly half the population has poor language, literacy and numeracy skills.

The inclusion of nontechnical skills, which are currently being incorporated as part of the curriculum for the mining subjects, will assist students in better understanding the complexities of mining and can improve their chances of success in the industry.

Attend this... course if you are involved in the management, development or appraisal of mining projects. It covers the core Excel and Scenario skills required to efficiently and professionally analyse, communicate and update the progress of a mining project. This course is presented by Navigator’s experienced mining project modellers and is focused on how a project finance banker or external party would analyse your project. This knowledge empowers you to create sensitivity and scenario framework that will hold up to the scrutiny of these stakeholders.

At the company’s Argyle diamond mine in the Kimberley, for example, almost 25 per cent of the workforce is Aboriginal. In the booming iron ore country of the Pilbara, where 13 per cent of the population is Aboriginal, Rio aims to lift indigenous employment by 1 per cent a year.