Rankin Inlet (Jan 24/05) - The ground hasn't yet been broken at Tahera Diamond Corporation's Jericho diamond mine site, but there are signs the mine is coming soon: an 1,000 metre long airstrip and 3.5 km of road.

As well, in the next few freezing months, 525 truckloads of equipment, supplies and fuel will make their long trek up the winter ice road, the same ice road used by the diamond mines in the NWT.

That progress has Peter Taptuna, president of the Kitikmeot Employment Training Partners (KETP), hopeful. He believes the Jericho mine, even though it only has a nine-year life span, could save the Kitikmeot economically.

Since the year 2000, KETP has offered important skills training to get Kitikmeot residents ready for the fast-approaching jobs - everything from camp cooking to diamond drilling.

The Jericho Diamond Project will be Nunavut's first diamond mine. It is located in the Kitikmeot region - a region that badly needs the jobs the mine will create.

Right now, 30 people have set up an advanced-stage mining exploration camp where the mine will be located.

"We have a high unemployment rate here. Any kind of job would be welcome here," said Taptuna, who lives in Cambridge Bay.

"In the past, when we spoke about it, we told the young people, 'You know there is a lot more to mine work than picks and shovels. There is accounting, environmental work.'"

Tahera and its contractors plan to hire from the Kitikmeot region, said Tahera spokesperson Greg Missal from Toronto last week.

"We're in the ramping up phase. A lot of our work will be done by contractors, a mining contractor, Nuna Logistics, which is a majority Inuit-owned company. Through our contractors and our own hiring that's how we will be utilizing workers from the Kitikmeot region," he said.

While Tahera won't be holding career fairs, the company will continue to go to the area and have a booth at the Kitikmeot Trade Fair in Cambridge Bay Feb. 14-16, he said.

"We're very energized with the progress we're making," said Missal.

"We've gone through an exhaustive process to get to where we are today. We're getting close to getting things completed, and there is good sense of accomplishment."

Tahera has sponsored educational programs in Nunavut.

The KETP has also brought teachers from the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada to Cambridge Bay to educate youth about geology, diamonds and mining.

But even last week, Taptuna was worried youth in his community aren't getting the message about how close the Jericho mine is to reality.

"We're trying to get the young people interested," said Taptuna. "We've got high school grads in training. They are not all going to be hunters and trappers. But you have to want it and take the initiative."

Richard Maksagak is one of those young people who took action back in 2001, when, at age 18, he took a diamond drilling course in Taloyoak with KETP.

He said the three-week course was interesting.

"It was very well organized," he said.

However, since he moved to Cambridge Bay, Jericho isn't on his radar screen.

"I have heard about it, but I don't know much about it, like when it's opening," said Maksagak.

Maksagak said he would like to do underground drilling if he got a chance, he said.

Jimmy Peetooloot, 35, from Taloyoak, took the diamond drilling course in 2001 because it sounded interesting and he wanted to participate in the new economy.

He doesn't know much about Jericho either, beyond coffee-shop conversation. These days Peetooloot stocks shelves and makes deliveries for the Northern store in Cambridge Bay.

But Peetooloot said he would love to work at the mine when it opens.

"I really liked the course," he said. "I wanted to get ahead."KathleenKathleen