Ontario is supporting skills training in Northern Ontario by helping retool diamond drilling programs offered jointly by two colleges in Kirkland Lake and Geraldton. The project is expected to create a total of 10 jobs at the two colleges. Young people launching their careers and workers seeking job retraining will benefit from enhanced surface diamond drilling programs at the Kirkland Lake campus of Northern College and at the Greenstone campus of Confederation College. The colleges are partners in the delivery of this program.
Provincial assistance of C$436,200 through the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC), will help purchase equipment and diamond drills, as well as construct buildings to house machinery. The program curriculum will also be upgraded.
“While this is a precarious time for the mining industry, long term prospects are still good and Ontario needs to be well positioned to take advantage of the next upturn by having the skilled trades-people to meet industry demand,” said Michael Gravelle, Minister of Northern Development and Mines and Chair of the NOHFC.
The NOHFC is supporting this project under the Infrastructure and Community Development Program, which helps northern communities improve critical infrastructure and develop partnerships that find effective ways to create jobs and improve economic prospects.Over the past ten years, Ontario has produced the greatest value of non-fuel minerals in Canada. In 2008, Ontario accounted for C$9.64 billion in mineral production or nearly 28 per cent of all non-fuel production in Canada.
Ontario is also supporting a North Bay company’s efforts to provide drilling services and explore new opportunities in mineral exploration. With the assistance of a C$1-million loan from the NOHFC, Foraco Canada is purchasing new diamond drilling equipment and accessories to expand its services to meet future needs. The company provides surface diamond drilling services to mining and mineral exploration companies. It currently employs 100 people.
Foraco International chose to locate in North Bay to take advantage of the strength of the local mining supply industry and the city’s transportation infrastructure, which make it easily accessible to the active mining exploration areas of Northern Ontario and Quebec.
Since 2005, the NOHFC has invested nearly C$10 million in some 30 private sector projects in the North Bay area. The 2009 Ontario budget included a commitment to provide C$2 million annually for the next four years for mining and forest product equipment and services companies and sector associations to expand their export capacity and increase sales to international markets.
