Yellowknife (Apr 21/03) - The mining industry in NWT is now leading the world in aboriginal employment and participation, according to a study released by the NWT & Nunavut Chamber of Mines.

The percentage of aboriginal employees at mines like BHP Billiton's Ekati (pictured) is increasing steadily, according to a recent study by the NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines. - photo courtesy BHP Billiton

That includes direct jobs and joint venture partnerships with mining and exploration companies, said chamber general manager Mike Vaydik.

"We are getting calls from mining companies and regulators from all over the world wanting to come up here and see what we are doing," said Vaydik.

"We are now seen as the world leader and a model and people are waking up to that."

Vaydik made the comments on the release of a chamber-sponsored study on aboriginal participation in the industry over the past 12 years.

The report, prepared by IER Consultants, of Toronto, charts the changes in aboriginal employment in mining for 12 years from 1990 to 2002.

In the early 1990s, Northerners accounted for about 60 per cent of full-time mining jobs, but only about 10 per cent were aboriginal.

Direct employment since then has tripled to about 30 per cent, primarily due to the aboriginal hiring and training initiatives at the Ekati and Diavik diamond mines.

At the end of 2001, 683 aboriginal employees worked for the Ekati mine or its contractors, or 30.4 per cent of the operations work force.

At the end of 2002, 36 of Diavik's 109 operating employees were aboriginal.

Diavik anticipates that aboriginal workers will account for at least 40 per cent of its Northern workforce when the mine reaches full capacity.

De Beers has committed to giving employment priority to both aboriginals and Northerners.

While the gain in direct employment has been significant, the biggest change has been the boom in community-based partnerships with mining and exploration firms.

"In the years from 1990 to 2002, the course of aboriginal participation in mining has changed significantly from passive participation as employees to a more active role played by aboriginal communities," the study found.

The communities most involved are Wha Ti, Wekweti, Gameti, Rae-Edzo, Dettah, Ndilo, and Lutsel K'e.

"What we are seeing now in terms of aboriginal entrepreneurship in the industry is phenomenal," said Vaydik.

"We estimate there are now more than 200 aboriginal-owned businesses in the territory that are now employing upwards of 1,000 people and with revenues in excess of $100 million."

In 2001, Ekati spent $105 million of its $400 million operations-support budget with aboriginal-owned firms, a 62 per cent increase in one year. At Diavik, at the end of 2001 the company had $726 million in contracts with northern companies, including $499 with aboriginal joint venture firms.

Services provided to the two mines includes pit haul operations, explosives manufacture, camp management and food services, recruiting, construction, engineering, environmental management, and diamond evaluation.

"What has changed too is that we are engaging not solely on a rights basis but because it is good business," said Vaydik.