Nearly all of the newest underground hard rock miner common core graduates from Northern College are already working in the field after finishing the program less than two months ago. The class was made up of Aboriginal students from Matachewan, Kirkland Lake, Timmins and North Bay. Two thirds of the graduates are now working in the Kirkland Lake area.
This latest holding of the underground hard rock miner common core program was administered through a newly established partnership between Northern College and AuRico Gold. Students spent two weeks at Northern College, receiving training in health and safety and basic underground work practices. The students then spent 10 weeks at AuRico Gold’s Young-Davidson mine, under the direction of Northern College trainers, learning skills used in all aspects of the underground mining process.
Half of the graduating class has been hired full-time by AuRico Gold at the Young-Davidson mine site. Another student has been hired by Taurus Drilling, a contractor that works with AuRico. One graduate has decided to return to Northern College in order to study full time in the electrical engineering technician program.
“Our commitment to success for all through learning and partnerships is exemplified by our immensely successful underground hard rock miner common core program,” said Fred Gibbons, president of Northern College. “By working together with local industry, we are able to tailor our programs to fit the needs of local employers. Partnerships like the one we have with AuRico Gold benefit our students, industry, and the entirety of northeastern Ontario.”
The underground hard rock miner common core program is mandatory for all underground miners in Ontario. Program content includes drilling, mucking, blasting, scaling, rock-bolting, slushing, tramming, timbering and ventilation.
Northern College, through its Haileybury School of Mines and Apprenticeship, Community and Corporate Training division, has a long and successful history of educating and training graduates for the mining sector by creating flexible educational opportunities for learners and customized training for employers, business and industry. Northern has trained a total of 150 graduates in the underground hard rock miner common core program since it began in 2009.
