SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - To further increase the number of Northern and Northern aboriginal workers at the Ekati Diamond Mine, owner BHP Billiton has recently adopted a more targeted approach to recruiting Northerners to fill key roles at the mine.

Mark Steinwand, team leader of controls and communications at BHP Billiton's Ekati Diamond Mine, far right, teaches a pre-trades course in instrumentation to Darren Liske Rabesca and Cheryl Lafferty, of Behchoko. - photo courtesy of BHP Billiton

"BHP is going to be focusing more on the trades where we know that particular community has a gap," said Deana Twissell, a spokesperson for BHP Billiton. "So if they don't have a mechanic, or an electrician, that could be the trade demo that we'll be bringing into the community.

"For instance, we brought some electrical training to one community, and they said, 'We don't have the mechanics. Can you bring in small engine repairs and mechanics?' We said, 'Yes, we'll consider that.' That's the new direction for this current fiscal year."

BHP is also looking to increase the number of apprentices it takes on at the mine, which is located 310 km northeast in Yellowknife and opened in 1999.

"Last year we had 36 apprenticeships combined between BHP Billiton's and contractors," said Twissell. "Part of the reason we will be offering more apprenticeship opportunities is we recognize the need in the communities. We also want to have a Northern workforce that's available to participate in the job opportunities that we as a company have to offer."

BHP's new measures come several weeks after Diavik Diamond Mines Inc., operator of the Diavik Diamond Mine, announced it reinstated Edmonton as a paid-for pick-up point for southern-based workers, citing a lack of skilled Northerners to fill key roles at the largely-underground mine.

"We all have the same keen and very sincere interest to build a much stronger Northern workforce so that everyone can participate in the opportunities that are here," said Twissell.

Sixty-two per cent of mine employees - including those hired by contractors - are to be recruited from the North, according to the Ekati socio-economic monitoring agreement between the GNWT and BHP Billiton. Half of those workers must be aboriginal.

While BHP, as a direct employer, has met both those targets, when contractors are factored into the Northern hiring total, the number of Northerners falls short of the target, at last count.

"When you factor in the contractors, that's where we've slipped. We're no longer meeting the target of 62 per cent (Northern); we're down to 53 per cent Northern workforce."

According to Bertha Black, a career development co-ordinator with the Tlicho government, there is still an able supply of Northern workers ready to fill employment gaps at the NWT's diamond mines.

"We here have people coming through the door every day looking for work," said Black. "Just today ... I've done a lot of phone calls and follow ups and some of them have sent their resume.

"Our people can be trained and I think they have strong skills."

Following the latest meeting of the Northern Mining Workforce Initiative - a work group formed in 2008 by BHP Billiton, Diavik Diamond Mines Inc. and De Beers Canada as well as the GNWT - Diavik reiterated, via a press release, its intention to train 86 heavy trade journey persons by

2020.

Diavik - which as of mid-year was not meeting its Northern and Northern aboriginal hiring targets - also recently announced it is looking to significantly expand the number of Northern apprentices working at the mine, which, as of mid-year, numbered 14.

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