Page 12 By Frank Giorno Drilling is to mining as skating is to hockey or cutting is to the forestry industry It is a skill that is essential to mini ng Every year the Northern Mines Expo showcases the region s top drillers and crowns champions in three divisions King Jackleg Queen Jackleg Driller and Mayor Jackleg Jackleg drilling is a skill that requires strength dexterity precision accu racy and speed Competitors face a massive granite boulder placed on the grounds behind the McIntyre Arena Curling Club The rock is marked by orange grid lines much like a giant X s and O s grid W ith jackleg drill in both hands over the loud water and air pumps that power the jackleg the driller attacks the boulder The boulder is the adversary The ob stacle must be drilled skillful ly Each competitor takes up the powerful Se can S250 Jackleg drill and addresses the rock face introducing the drill to the hard rock surface The drill must be place d at the correct angle with the correct amount of pressure to break the surface of the rock and penetrate deeply to the desired depth A wrong angle and the drill will skitter along the rock surface rejected by the boul der The task is clear but never easy drill two holes a metre deep in succession Once the competitor is fnished with the frst hole they must stop remove the drill bit replace it with a fresh one and proceed drilling the second hole On completion the driller must stop the drill separate the drill bit from the Jackleg and rest it against the rock face for the next competitor Moe Denis from Boart Longyear and his son Mario Denis or ganize run and adjudicate the jackleg drill competi tion Moe Denis was a driller for 25 years It s the Northern way of life up here he says with pride Denis ex plained that eac h contestant must drill two holes to a required depth Points are awarded for accuracy and time Demerit points for safety breaches After each competitor fnishes the fa ther son team approach the rock face and with the thoroughness of a crime scene investigator begin to measure probe examine calibrate and evalu ate the driller s performance and what ment Earlier this year speaking at the sixth annual W omen in Mining international reception at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada the Honourable Lisa Raitt Canada s Labour Minister outlined the importance of expanding Canada s workforce to include more women in nontraditional roles Canada s mining sector is a vital contributor to our eco nomic prosperity yet the industry faces skills and labour shortages said Minister Raitt T o remain competitive it must open the door to more women who continue to be an untapped resource En couraging employers to take full advantage of Canada s diverse workforce contribute s to the country s prosper ity For Candy Boucher the highlight in her mining career is the sense of pride she experiences when people are impressed with her working in a nontraditional job like under ground miner Y ou are proud when people ask what you do and they react positively when you answer under ground miner Candy explain s T o them it shows that females can do nontraditional workthat s a proud moment for me W omen in Mining Contd from pg 10 Contd on pg 13 Pictured left to right Moe Denis from Boart Longyear left 2013 King Jackleg winner Paul Remillard centre and Mario Denis Boart Longyear Jackleg Drill Competition New King and Queen Cr owned at 2013