TerraX struggling with indigenous hiring
Company working to involve more First Nations people in gold project
Kirsten Fenn
Northern News Services
Friday, February 24, 2017
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
TerraX Minerals Inc. wants to provide more jobs to indigenous people on its gold exploration project in Yellowknife, but is having trouble.
CEO Joe Campbell and strategic engagement adviser David Connelly met with the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment on Wednesday to talk about progress on the Yellowknife City Gold Project and the economic opportunities it could bring.
TerraX is staking more than 300 square kilometres of land around Yellowknife in hopes of striking gold. The company plans to spend between $4.5 to $5 million in the next four to six months as it continues with its exploration phase, although it could be another eight to 10 years before mine development were to begin.
"We try to show a preference for local and First Nations hiring," said Campbell. "Local, we're doing quite well on that. First Nations, we're not."
Connelly said part of the challenge has been determining whether there are unemployed people who want to work, or who are working with third parties like the Mine Training Society to augment their skillsets so they can join the mining workforce.
"Longer term, I think it's been noted that in our school system we don't teach geology," said Connelly.
The subject is not introduced as leading to prospective careers in drilling, as technicians or geologists, he added.
"Making people understand that there are significant opportunities would help as a longer-term process," Connelly said.
Campbell said TerraX tends to hire outside the NWT for highly technical positions like geologists, because the capacity just doesn't exist within the territory. Most of the company's lower-end labour comes from away, he said.
There are about 50 people currently involved in the project's drilling work north of the city.
While he said a typical exploration project would be quite short - three to four months - TerraX's project would provide nine months of employment a year, with some breaks around Christmas and the spring.
"That's another advantage of the project, is we actually provide fairly steady employment for people in the long term," Campbell said.
Committee chair Cory Vanthuyne said everyone wants to make hiring aboriginal workers a priority and that TerraX is making a clear effort to do that.
The company has been trying to provide training for jobs that require on-the-land skills, and has worked with the Mine Training Society, Connelly said. It is also trying to work more closely with schools, he said.
The GNWT and willing First Nations could look at partnering with TerraX to create a database of people who want to be working and aren't gainfully employed in other fields, Connelly said, which would help the company determine if there is demand for mining work.
He said they may discover there aren't many people looking for mining-related opportunities.
Vanthuyne told Yellowknifer the company's comments that there only so many people to hire are fair.
"As they indicated, there's challenges in trying to find out: are there others who are employable and want to be working?" Vanthuyne said.
The government is trying to do its part to boost interest in mining sector opportunities, he said.
This past year, it started offering a mining curriculum program at some NWT schools. The government also works with the Mine Training Society and industry to support mining employment opportunities.
Vanthuyne said TerraX is the kind of company he would welcome back to the region.
"Yellowknife was a gold hub not long ago," Vanthuyne said. "To see a company strike up some interest in gold again in the region and potentially make Yellowknife a gold mine town ... would be promising and I think welcome by many."
