Production at the mine and concentrator is expected to begin in August 2005 and first concentrate shipment from Voisey’s Bay is expected in November 2005. This means a main focus of 2005 will be recruiting individuals to fill the 400 positions at the mine and concentrator site and 150 positions at the demonstration plant site. In preparation for hiring, a detailed process was put in place to identify potential candidates for both the mine and concentrator and the hydromet demonstration plant at Argentia in 2004.

For the mine and concentrator, our human resources team worked with VBNC’s Aboriginal Employment Coordinators and Labrador and Aboriginal Affairs team as well as representatives of LIA and Innu Nation to begin the process of identifying potential employees. We also made use of the Labrador Skills Inventory, a database of resumés of residents of Labrador, as well as VBNC’s master database that includes every resumé VBNC has ever received. The master database contains over 12,000 resumés.

To prepare for operation of the hydromet demonstration plant we reinforced our relationship with College of the North Atlantic (CNA), which has campuses throughout Newfoundland and Labrador, by committing $50,000 to create scholarships for technology students. Over the next two years, 25 third-year students enrolled in nine different technology programs will have a chance to receive these awards. As part of the package, recipients will be exposed to employment opportunities at the Argentia hydromet demonstration plant upon graduation. CNA President Pamela Walsh, for one, is extremely pleased with our decision to provide these awards. “We are delighted to be able to offer a significant number of students $2,000 scholarships,” she says. “To add employment opportunities on top of that extends the benefit to our students. It’s a fantastic model.”

VBNC has also been holding job information workshops, attending career fairs and developing supporting material to increase awareness of the types of positions that will be needed when the project moves into operations. To ensure that the public is aware of all opportunities that are available, we additionally supported the recruitment effort by advertising all positions on our web site and in local newspapers. (See Developing our Workforce section for additional information on preparing for operations).