Wemindji students visit Goldcorp’s Éléonore mine

As the Air Inuit plane roared to life on the morning of May 25, Jewel Blackned shared the reason she was excited to be flying out to Goldcorp’s Éléonore mine site. “To see my dad,” she said.

Asked whether she had ever considered working at the gold mine, however, Blackned shook her head. The plane was carrying 15 Wemindji youth to Éléonore, and most responded similarly, some merely shrugging at the question.

Even Thomas Mark, Community Engagement Officer for Goldcorp’s Corporate Social Responsibility and Community Relations, confessed that he never thought he would be working in the mining industry. His goal for this visit was to shine a light on career opportunities these students may not have otherwise considered.

One of Mark’s responsibilities for Goldcorp is to ensure the implementation of programs that promote the training, employment and retention of Cree workers. This initiative stems directly from the Opinagow Collaboration Agreement signed in February 2011 by Les Mines Opinaca Ltée (a subsidiary of Goldcorp), the Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee), the Cree Regional Authority and the Cree Nation of Wemindji. The trail of students kicking up dust on the mining site that morning was one of the incarnations of the agreement.

Mark explained that the Cree turnover rate at Éléonore is decreasing. But the continuing difficulty with retaining Cree employees, he believes, is largely due to the fly-in/fly-out schedule and the strain this places on family life. Although some work shifts are 7/7 or 4/3, the majority of the mine’s employees are assigned a 14-day rotation.

“One Cree told me that he has a two-year-old son. He’s been working for two years, and has practically missed half his son’s life,” Mark explained.

Not everyone views the work schedule as an inconvenience, however. Some take full advantage of their two weeks of vacation to travel. Among those who praised the work rotation schedule was Nicolas Blanchet, a young metallurgist who guided the students through the mill. “If I can give you one big piece of advice, it’s don’t slack off on your math,” he told them.

Blanchet proved his point when he was asked how much gold might typically be found in a rock the size of the room we were sitting in. With ease, he whipped out a marker and started cross-multiplying figures and converting units on the board, applying the very skills these students are learning at school. His answer was met by enthusiastic applause.

“[Goldcorp] does not hire people just like that,” stressed Mark. He said that Wemindji’s Machine Operations, Mineral and Metal Processing program is a 900-hour course that proves difficult for some because they have to do an extra 200 hours just to upgrade their math skills.

Several guides encouraged their young audience to strive for higher education. “A mine like ours is almost like a little village, a little city,” said Human Resources Manager Daniel Guay. “But the best opportunities require education.”

Not only does the mine offer jobs in the fields of engineering, metallurgy and processing, geology and operations, but there are also opportunities in administration, accounting and finance, communications, and health and safety, to name but a few.

At the end of the day, leaning against a cement block and waiting for the bus with his classmates, Jean-Claude Georgekish did not hesitate to answer when asked what he learned from the visit. “A couple of things… that you have to have education to be a miner,” he said. “It’s actually motivated me to stay in school.”

Katherine Dehm is a teacher at the Maquatua Eeyou School in Wemindji.