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Arviat gets million-dollar training program
Diamond driller's training program set to start first term in SeptemberThandie Vela Northern News Services Published Friday, August 5, 2011
The Arviat Diamond Driller's Training Program, which includes hands-on training at a "state of the art" diamond drill site, is being offered to a dozen Hamlet students beginning in September, Arviat economic development officer John Main said. The program is currently funded for two 10-week courses, and it is anticipated to be offered at least twice a year. "We are pretty excited to be offering the same calibre of training you could get in the south, in Nunavut," Main said. Nunavut Arctic College will deliver the program in collaboration with Northern College, which delivers the same Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities-approved program at its Kirkland Lake Campus in Ontario, and then will eventually take over delivery in the long term. The equipment and tools needed to establish the program, including a brand new diamond drill rig being shipped to the Hamlet by sealift from Quebec, cost almost $1 million, and the cost for each class of 12 students is about $250,000. The diamond drill site will be located about one kilometre south of Arviat. The drilling program will be open to residents of other Kivalliq communities in January, when a second course is scheduled to begin. Arviat Mayor Bob Leonard announced approval of the program on July 25. "The equation seems pretty simple," Leonard said in a news release. "There is a big demand for diamond drillers to support mining exploration and development in the region. There is a huge and willing labour force in the Kivalliq. "This training course will provide the skills residents need to get these jobs." Leonard said there is already more than 50 people from Arviat working in the mining industry, and the Hamlet still has many more looking for work. When the Hamlet first came up with the training program idea over a year ago, they started by rounding up the support of exploration companies, Main said. "We took the idea to industry first because they are ultimately our bosses, when it comes to this type of thing, and they were very supportive," he said, adding the companies, including Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd., Orbit Garant Drilling Inc. and drilling products and services company Boart Longyear, have contributed in funds and kind. The advisory council formed for the program includes representatives from those companies, the colleges, the Hamlet, the Kivalliq Mine Training Society, the Contaminants Remediation Training Organization of Canada, and the Kivalliq Inuit Association. The Department of Economic Development and Transportation is also contributing funding for the diamond drilling program under its Strategic Investments Program. "This is another example of the Government of Nunavut following its mandate," department Minister Peter Tatpuna said. "We hope this funding will support community-based and sustainable economies. We want more Nunavummiut in the work force and this training is a way to do it." The companies involved in the program have committed to hiring participants in the program on a priority basis, meaning graduates of the program will be "put to the front of the line for job openings," Main said. "Basically the companies will do their best to give them jobs when they finish the program." Graduates will be qualified for surface diamond driller helpers positions upon completion of the program, typically paid $25-$55,000 for four to nine months of work per year. The registration deadline for the first class is Aug 16.
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