With sawmills closing permanently and the forest industry shredded by pine beetles and low market demand, mining is fast becoming a lifeline to workers in Northern B.C. seeking employment.
Existing mines in the region are expanding, one is under construction, with several more are being planned, and that has created a market for skilled workers whose services will be in demand.
Some of those workers are being trained by the College of New Caledonia through its mining certificate program, which on Friday received $30,000 in endowment funding to support students.
The money was raised by the Canadian Institute of Mining (CIM) as a result of the combined efforts of local mining operations and their suppliers.
Having served the energy, forestry and mining sectors as head of a machinery manufacturer based in Prince George, Jamie Hull says students need to be made more aware of the merits of pursuing careers in the mines.
"Mining is incredibly important for all of us, including my business, and we need something to diversify our economy from forestry," said Hull, general manager of Wolftek Industries.
"We're going to have a shortage in everything so if we can get young people interested in mining, they can get a ground base [in the CNC program] and then hopefully they can start to get into trades working in the service sector, if they're not working for the mines directly."
A total of $2,000 will be made available to students in the first year of the program. The remaining $28,000 will be used to fund future scholarships and bursaries.
The CNC mining program began teaching students in 2010 at the CNC satellite campuses in Fort St. James and Burns Lake, with 12 students in each. The 16-week course is currently being taught in Quesnel and Vanderhoof, with 16 students enrolled in each city. New classes will begin in 2012 in Vanderhoof.
"We want to grow our own [workers] and have the capability of building capacity in the region," said Christy Smith, superintendent of community affairs for the Mount Milligan gold and copper mine project, now being built 155 kilometres northwest of Prince George.
The construction phase of Mount Milligan requires 573 employees and it will create 350 permanent jobs once it begins mining ore in July 2013.
The certificate program includes 12 weeks of classroom instruction and four weeks of job shadowing and field work. Students get hands-on experience with heavy equipment excavators, human relations training, and they receive safety and skills certifications.
"The potential right now is absolutely huge for B.C. to explode, with mining at the forefront," said Jerome LaMarre, a sales representative of West Fraser Electro/Mechanical.
