MINING.COM

Uranium miner Mantra Tanzania sponsors mining training

IPP Media reports: Mantra Tanzania Limited has sponsored six students to complete a mine training course as part of an effort towards corporate social responsibility.

[Organizational capability manager Kevin] Flynn said the course curriculum was special for electricians, mechanics, fitters, water technicians and welders. “TCME acquired a licence from South Africa to use their curriculum at the college. This means that on completion, the students will be awarded certificates that can earn them jobs in mining companies in the country and in South Africa”, he said.

Joanna Gaskell - Education Editor | May 20, 2011 | 8:36 pm

Hecla donation to UAF supports local vocational outreach and training for mining industry

Hecla Greens Creek Mining Co. has donated $300,000 to the University of Alaska Foundation (UAF) to fund a mining career development program at the University of Alaska Southeast, Juneau Empire reports.

It will aid students in preparing for mining industry jobs through education, job shadowing and training. “We’re giving the biggest amount of money we have in our history,” said Hecla President and Chief Executive Officer Philip Baker. Baker said there is a need for qualified employees in the industry and this outreach, combined with internships, will help provide a pathway for students coming out of high school and through college to go directly into the workforce.

Joanna Gaskell - Education Editor | May 20, 2011 | 8:27 pm

Underground hardrock training program at Hoyle Pond Mine to help solve Ontario skills shortage

The Timmins Times reports Goldcorp Porcupine Gold Mines and Northern College have teamed up to offer the Basic Underground Hardrock Miner Common Core training program at Goldcorp's Holye Pond Mine. This new initiative could ease the demand for miners in hardrock underground mining and help with the current skills shortage.

"This is going to create a situation where we can train our next group of employees, our next group of miners," adding that they'll not only learn how to do their jobs, but how to do them safety so they can go home at the end of the day, said Rick Blakey, [the superintendent for Goldcorp's Hoyle Pond underground operation].

Joanna Gaskell - Education Editor | May 19, 2011 | 12:19 pm

CTV: Strategic education planning and aboriginal engagement needed for mining growth in Saskatchewan

Leanne Bellegarde, lawyer, member of the Kawacatoose First Nation in Saskatchewan, and director of aboriginal strategy for Potash Corp of Saskatchewan Ltd., argues that in order to take advantage of the large aboriginal population in Saskatchewan looking for work, mining companies must recognize the needs of their potential employees and engage them in such a way that they develop into suitable workers.

“It would be really easy to say that we have hundreds of jobs, please apply, and walk away,” says Ms. Bellegarde. “It’s another to ask, ‘How many people do you have in your communities . . . and what do we need to work with you to ensure that they will be qualified applicants?’ ... That’s the conversation we get into.”

Joanna Gaskell - Education Editor | May 18, 2011 | 2:55 pm

If we see higher interest rates in the U.S. and Eurozone, will gold and silver fall?

We all have a tendency to listen to statistics and formulae and believe that they drive the monetary system. This starts on a false basis because these numbers are driven by more fundamental realities. They should be the result of measured realities, but they can be structured in a way that ignores some of the basics.

Julian D.W. Phillips - Gold Forecaster | May 17, 2011 | 6:19 pm

John Kaiser: $1,200+ gold is new normal

What is good for the U.S. economy is good for gold. John Kaiser, editor of Kaiser Research Online, has proposed a graphic model that relates the value of all above-ground gold stock to global Gross Domestic Product (GDP), thereby explaining why higher real gold prices—even with a recovering American economy—will be the new reality. In this exclusive interview with The Gold Report, he shares his projections about where both gold prices and the U.S. economy could be going in the future.

The Gold Report | May 13, 2011 | 9:55 pm

Northwest Transmission Line receives federal approval; Explorers rejoice

Today the Association for Mineral Exploration BC (AME BC) joined the Northwest Power Line Coalition in celebrating the federal environmental approval of the Northwest Transmission Line project. This federal approval supports the decision taken by the BC Environmental Assessment Office to grant BC Hydro an environmental assessment certificate for the proposed $404 million, 344-kilometre transmission line project from the existing Skeena substation south of Terrace to a new substation near Bob Quinn Lake along Highway 37 in northwest British Columbia.

Association for Mineral Exploration BC | May 6, 2011 | 10:39 pm

Commodities outlook still strong despite dip: Scotiabank economist

Commodities took another hit today on the Toronto Stock Exchange, as declines in oil, silver, copper and gold dragged the S&P/TSX Composite Index down 128 points by mid-day trading. The declines continued a trend that started at the beginning of the week, with the Canadian stock market down 240 points on Tuesday. MINING.com asked Patricia Mohr, vice president, economics and commodity markets at Scotia Capital, to analzye what is happening with the markets and what we can expect in the near future.

Andrew Topf | May 4, 2011 | 7:02 pm

Australian treasurer Wayne Swan says first train new miners, then look to skilled migration

Wayne Swan has rejected calls for a large boost to permanent migration. Instead, he claims that his budget will create 500,000 new jobs and drive unemployment to 4.5 per cent. Short-term shortages in the mining and other industries can be met through temporary skilled migration, he argues, but permanent skilled migration is not the way to go.

"I don't see the need for a dramatic increase in permanent skilled migration," Mr Swan told The Courier-Mail. "I think what we have to do in the first instance is train Australians."

MINING.COM Staff Writer | May 3, 2011 | 1:09 pm

Dawson Creek, B.C.: the mining industry expands with provincially funded training programs

The province of B.C. will be spending $1.6 million on the Workforce Exploration Skills Training (WEST) program at Northwest Community College (NWCC).

Participants will spend seven weeks on the ground at a mining training camp located outside Smithers. They camp-based training program has seen 80 per cent of graduates successfully move on to jobs in the province’s mining sector. About three-quarters of the participants in these mining programs are Aboriginal.

Joanna Gaskell - Education Editor | April 25, 2011 | 1:49 pm