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Students graduate from mining program
Four Deh Cho grads among first to receive mine rescue certification
Roxanna Thompson Northern News Services Published Thursday, December 9, 2010
On Nov. 29 Jonathan Squirrel, Andrew Walsh and John Sanford of Fort Simpson and Wanda Sabourin of Fort Providence graduated from the Mine Training Society's Underground Miner Training Program during a ceremony in Yellowknife. The 12 members of the graduating class are expected to have an advantage over their predecessors thanks to new training. The students were the first in the program to receive mine rescue certification. The certification was made possible through a partnership between the Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission (WSCC), the Mine Training Society and Aurora College, which delivers the program. Previous graduates received some survival training at Giant Mine but the program didn't have the capacity to certify students prior to the partnership with the WSCC, said Hilary Jones, executive director of the Mine Training Society. The certification makes these students, the seventh graduating class, more marketable, Jones said. "They go to the mine site with all their safety training done," she said. Having finished a six-week introduction to mining course in their home communities and the 12-week program in Yellowknife the students must now do a 12-week paid traineeship at one of the three mines in the territory. Andrew Walsh of Fort Simpson has already been accepted at Diavik Diamond Mines Inc. Walsh entered the underground miner training program with the goal of becoming a machine operator and moving into the health and safety aspects of mining. Walsh said he appreciated receiving the mine rescue certification. "I thought it was great," he said. The certification included assembling, disassembling and using close-circuit breathing apparatuses, learning about toxic gases and studying mine rescue theory. The entire 12-week program was a great experience, Walsh said. The program also impressed Jonathan Squirrel, a Fort Simpson resident who now lives in Yellowknife. "I had some really great instructors there," he said. Squirrel said he particularly enjoyed driving some of the heavy equipment and using the underground mining simulator to practice loading and unloading equipment in a mine. Working with the breathing apparatuses for the first time was also a learning experience, he said. "It was really something," said Squirrel. The day after the graduation ceremony the students took a tour of Diavik mine. It was the first time both Walsh and Squirrel had been underground. Both said they felt safe thanks to their training. "I felt very at home underground actually," Squirrel said. -with files from Guy Quenneville
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