Staffing up as markets recover: renewed interest drives demand.

• Author: Stewart, Nick
• Position: MINING

As the fortunes of the mining industry begin to recover, so too are drilling firms with demand outpacing supply.

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With high gold prices turning once-marginal projects more economical and investor confidence returning to the markets, more exploration and mining firms are putting drills in the ground, according to Shawn Acton, contract manager with Cabo Drilling.

"The drilling industry is following the stock market recovery and definitely we're happy with the level of. activity and inquiries for future work," says Acton.

Cabo's business is beginning to return to levels experienced in 2008, with 22 of its 48 drills now turning worldwide, from Nunavut to McFaulds Lake, with growing numbers of requests for tender starting to roll in.

The company is already fielding inquiries from a potential client seeking to price out work for a job in Greenland for more than a year in advance, something Acton says to be a sign of economic confidence.

As such, tradesman are at a premium, though Acton says the company is always on the lookout for experienced drillers. He-is delighted to hear of a fifth run of Northern College's surface diamond driller assistant common core program, set for April 26 to June 30.

The move to open another class of 12 was all but necessary, says Rose-Lyne D'Aoust-Messier, training consultant with Northern College. Drilling firms have been calling "left, right and centre" looking for graduates to hire, with some looking to snap up as many as 30 people at once.

With this kind of frenzy and strong interest from prospective students, Messier says the government should begin to apply funding for Second Career and other related programs to-wards such needed fields as driller training.

"We're getting lots of interest and it's only going to get better as mines start investing more into exploration," says Messier. "In 20 years from now, we won't have new mines opening up because we won't have had the personnel to do the work. We have lots of people calling, but it's not everyone that has $15,000 in their back pocket for...