Page 10 Contd from pg 8 By Frank Giorno Canadian minin g companies are facing a labour shortage Recruiting training and hiring women in mining was a major focus at the Northern Mines Expo 2013 held in T immins May 29 and 30 Recently HD Mines in BC imported temporary work ers from China to secure suffcient employees to meet their productio n tar get The actions of HD Mines were the subject of a court action in Federal Court by the BC Federation of Labour The court ultimately allowed the use of the imported workers Most mining companies operating in Canada like Gold corp in T imm ins and De Beers V ictor Mine near At tawapisakt Ontario are looking at untapped sources of labour within Canada such as women Three women already working in mining have one thing to say to other women looking for a career If you are looking for a rewarding good paying career take a look at mining Ar manda Farr ell from T im mins On tario works as an un der ground miner with Goldcorp I wanted to work in the mining industry but was a little leery as I did not have much experience in mining Armanda said My work experience was in farming and some techni cal experience working as a summer student with Hydro One Armanda added One day I applied for a mining position with Goldcorp in T immins and I was hired she explained Candy B ouc he r another wo m a n who works as an un der ground miner with G oldcorp took the W omen in Mining T raining of fered at AurRico Gold near her hometown of Matachewan Ontario The government was of fering common core training through AuRico Gold and I got accepted into the pro gram Candy recalled When I completed my course and obtained my common core I could apply to mining companies that had jobs available she explained I found a job with Goldcorp Candy has been with Goldcorp for a year Like many women entering the predominantly male mining work force Candy Boucher s expectations were that the men would not accept her I thought the men would not accept me in the under ground mining community said Candy But when I went to work the opposite occurred they were very sup portive and helpful and were good role models Amanda Kioke origi nally from Attawapis kat First Na tion works as a Haul T ruck Oper ator at the De Beers V ictor Mine locat ed about 90 km from the community Amanda has driven a 100 tonne haul truck for the past three years providing her with operational experience in open pit surface mining Initially working with De Beers Exploration Amanda was quick to pursue her interest in pit operations where women are only now breaking through As a T rainee Amanda was trained on site at V ic tor Mine and earned her certifcation as a Haul T ruck Op erator Prior to working at De Beers I had no idea how much opportunity there was to grow Amanda recalls There are so many facets to mining there is a place for everyone here Amanda encourages other women to look at the variety of conventiona l and nonconventional careers available in mining as she is now moving into another T rainee role involving Internal Communications The mining industry is looking to employ more women and will support us in training and professional develop W omen in Mining major focus at Northern Mines Expo 2013 Contd on pg 12