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Aboriginal talent pool central for Ring of Fire success – Noront

Aboriginal talent pool central for Ring of Fire success – Noront

Photo by Reuters

2nd April 2014

By: Simon Rees

Creamer Media Correspondent

  

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TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Engaging with the growing aboriginal talent pool is increasingly critical for those operating in Canada, Noront Resources VP for human resources Leanne Hall told members of the Canadian Institute of Mining’s Management and Economics Society on March 26.

“There are around 1 200 aboriginal communities in Canada currently located within 200 km of mineral properties. It’s estimated 60% of mining activity in Canada happens on aboriginal lands,” she said. “Aboriginal Canadians are the most accessible source of talent closest to our projects, so it makes sense to look to them for developing a workforce.”

Noront is developing its flagship Eagle’s Nest project in the Ring of Fire region, in northern Ontario, which it hopes to bring into commercial production in 2017. The project has just over 11.13-million tonnes proven and probable reserves grading 1.68% nickel, 0.87% copper, 0.89 g/t platinum and 3.09 g/t palladium.

Aboriginal people also represent one of the fastest-growing demographics in Canada. “Currently there are 652 000 aboriginal people in Canada of working age. By 2020, another 400 000 aboriginal youth will come on stream. So there will be a million aboriginal people available for work,” she said.

Concurrently, the Canadian mining sector faces a pending workforce shortage. “From a labour and talent management perspective, the mining sector will be over 145 000 people short, including 20 000 in Ontario alone,” she added.

Much progress had already been made and the mining industry’s workforce now comprises 7.5% aboriginal peoples, while many First Nations businesses are mainly geared towards providing goods or service to the sector.

Meanwhile, greater workplace diversity adds to productivity. “Diversity results in innovative and more knowledgeable work teams,” Hall said.

ADDING IT UP

The need to understand the history and culture of people living around the project is essential for successful aboriginal engagement. As is the need to understand many of the embedded difficulties First Nation communities often face, such as the lack of educational opportunities.

“When we started, it was really important that we didn’t talk about Noront; we just learned from the communities about themselves,” Hall said.

“Our project is surrounded by 15 First Nations communities [the Matawa]; the majority of these communities have [experienced] 90% unemployment or more,” she added. “Here is an available talent force that we would have to [help in developing] skills for employment and training.”

Assistance includes scholarship schemes established for the Matawa, while the company also works closely with the Mining Matters organisation, providing a youth camp and youth engagement.

“On our project and within our community, children from the age of six are learning about the essential elements of rocks and minerals, and about career paths and mining. It gives them hope,” she said.

“It’s important to ensure young people have a message of hope and opportunity for the future. And this is really what the resource sector does; we provide hope and opportunity for isolated communities,” she added.

Hall recognised that many juniors may have limited resources in the sphere of consultation and so stressed the importance of working closely with service providers and contractors to pool resources and experience in engaging local communities.

“In addition, seek out some independent advice when looking at aboriginal engagement, not only for directly listening to communities [but also for] looking at best practices,” she added.

RIGHT PEOPLE, RIGHT TIMING

Noront’s workforce already comprises 27% aboriginal people from entry level to senior executive-level positions. It will have 400 direct jobs and 1 200 indirect jobs once mine construction begins and roughly the same number after Eagle’s Nest comes on stream.

It is imperative that companies embed direct training programmes early, ideally before a project enters the near-term production phase. Doing so affords aboriginal peoples the time to develop the necessary skill sets required.

“Not only do we want aboriginal people from local communities to work for us, but they have to progress at a pace that [suits them]. And they must have opportunities to advance, so we are building [this in to] our model,” she said.

Central to this has been the creation of the Ring of Fire Aboriginal Training Alliance, facilitated by Noront and several other partners, all working in coalition with the aboriginal communities themselves. Importantly, the programme has a much longer training window than similar schemes.

“Most partnerships, certainly in the skills development and employment partnership area, look at two-year or three-year windows, primarily because this is what federal or provincial government programmes mandate,” Hall said.

“But we said: ‘well we can’t look at two or three years; we have to look at a ten-year window’,” she explained, adding that it took some time working with the federal government to finalise the programme.

The Alliance was formally established in 2013, with $5.9-million in government backing. “Within the first two months we had 330 Matawa community members registered,” Hall said. “As of April 3, we will have graduated 160 community members from the first round of training.”

In addition, companies should also use local community contractors for work or services wherever possible, Hall noted.

“[For example,] our drilling company is co-owned by one of the communities. Then, through the aboriginal training alliance, we have community members who have been trained as drillers … So aboriginal people are working on their traditional lands for a company they own and which employs them. So it’s a win, win, win situation for everybody.”

The return for Noront is clear and not just in terms of diversity and strong aboriginal relations, Hall stressed.  “We are starting to brand ourselves and are being recognised for the work we are doing not only in Canada but also globally,” she said. “When you do things of integrity and heart, things start to happen.”

Edited by Creamer Media Reporter

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