YELLOWKNIFE - For the second time in two years, the North Slave Metis Alliance, in conjunction with De Beers Canada and BHP Billiton, is offering a mineral processing operator trainee,, pre-employment training program at Aurora College in Fort Smith.

There are 89 people employed as mineral-processing technicians in the NWT, and this number is expected to jump to 129 in September 2007 when De Beers' Snap Lake mine is commissioned, according to the NWT Bureau of Statistics.

The program is open to all Aboriginal residents of the NWT. The first intake of students will begin on June 11 and the second on June 25.

The program involves a three-month academic component and three two-week rotations of practical training in the process plants of either the Ekati or Snap Lake mines.

The target is to have 16 students in each of the intakes, said Bill Enge, president of the North Slave Metis Alliance.

De Beers has set aside eight entry-level process operator jobs for graduates of the program. The company has committed to hiring a labour force comprised of approximately 50 per cent Northern Aboriginals.

"BHP Billiton has assured us that they will be hiring some of the graduates upon completion of the program," Enge said. No specific target numbers have been set.

BHP has 60 process operators at their Ekati mine, and loses an average of six per year.

There is an expectation that when production begins at Snap Lake, experienced operators from Diavik and BHP will move there. Therefore, there will be a demand for operators at each of the three mines.

"I am confident that within a year's time, all the graduates will be employed," Enge said. Of the 16 students who began the program in 2005, 13 graduated and 11 were employed.

The total cost of running the training program is $800,000. BHP has provided $111,000 in kind and $10,000 cash. De Beers has kicked in $114,000 in kind and an additional $10,000 in cash. The Mine Training Society has contributed $120,000.

The academic component will take place at Aurora College's Thebacha Campus. There will be five courses: safety, processing operations, processing equipment, a foundation course covering math and computers, and an orientation to the industrial workplace. The final course will focus on what students can expect with a two-week in and two-week out industry cycle.

Aurora College will hire five to six specialized contract instructors from the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, said Manager of Program Development Kerry Robinson.

The skills learned in the program are transferable, according to Enge.

"It's applicable to any other mine with a processing plant, and all mines have them," he said.

Graduates could also work in processing plants in Alberta's tar sands.

"I've been told being a process plant operator is one of the best jobs working at a diamond mine," Enge said.