First Nation surface diamond driller assistants graduate

Moose Cree’s Jocelyn Rickard is looking forward to a career in mining after completing the Surface Diamond Driller Common Core program at Northern College in Timmins.
“I got to work outside — just being outside is what I was really looking for,” said Rickard, who graduated on Oct. 25. “I’m someone who has to keep doing something; I just can’t sit there so this job was perfect.”
Although Rickard was “completely out of my element” when she started the program, she is now focused on finding work at the Detour Lake mine or at Cabo Drilling in Kirkland Lake.
“With Detour it would be closer to home,” Rickard said. “That way I could just get a good feel of the industry and then move out further. Hopefully I can just stay as a diamond driller for as long as I can.”
Chad General, a Moosonee resident originally from Six Nations, said the onsite diamond drill was one of the key elements of the program.
“We got hands-on training with a couple of great drillers,” General said. “They gave us a lot of information we could take out into the field. It was very informative.”
General earned the Atlas Copco Leadership in Drilling Award for leadership skills, respect and a positive attitude from Atlas Copco, a partner in the program that also provided assistance and donations. The award included a $500 bursary.
Other partners involved with the program were Foraco Canada, Cabo Drilling, Forage Orbit Garant Drilling, Levert Drilling, Major Drilling Group International, Boart Longyear, Kirkland Lake Gold, Osisko Mining and Canadian Driller Training.
“My future goals are to get into the industry,” General said. “I know there are a lot of opportunities once I get the job training and experience. I want to become a driller that can travel the world and go to all these places I’ve heard about from our instructors.”
Rickard and General completed the 10-week program along with six other Mushkegowuk community members who live across northern Ontario.
The students received training on working safely, operating hand and power tools, environmental protection, recovering and handling core samples and operating snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles during the program.
“Our partnerships with members of the mining and drilling industry demonstrate the positive outcomes that can be achieved when colleges and industry work together to provide training,” said Fred Gibbons, president of Northern College. “By collaborating, we are able to tailor our programs to provide the specific skills and knowledge that industry wants. These sorts of partnerships benefit students, industry, and the broader community.”
The program taught the students the skills required to work as a helper to a surface diamond drill operator.
Northern College has trained about 170 graduates in the program since 2007.