People in the Toowoomba area will be able to access specialist training in the State’s emerging industries at a new faculty of the Southern Queensland Institute of TAFE. Employment, Skills and Mining Minister Stirling Hinchliffe today toured the TAFE’s Faculty of Mining, Resources and Infrastructure as part of the Bligh Government’s Community Cabinet in Toowoomba. Mr Hinchliffe said SQIT introduced the new faculty this year to help meet industry demand for skilled workers.

“There is massive growth in the Queensland mining industry and it’s important we have enough skilled workers to meet those demands,” Mr Hinchliffe said. “We also want to see Queenslanders take advantage of the opportunities on offer."

April 20, 2011: Focused on mining issues in Ontario this half day seminar highlights the issues of: excess soil management, mining stewardship responsibilities, human health and ecological risk assessments and Brownfield mining site development requirements. The seminar will be held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Toronto, Ontario - early bird registration is only $199.00.

For most people, Toronto's financial district is the place where Canada's big banks make their money. That's true to a certain degree, but it tends to overlook one of the primary sources of all that money: mining.

The Faculty of Law at the University of Western Ontario has taken note, so it's setting up a program in which students can obtain both a graduate degree in geology and a law degree.

Ian Holloway, dean of Western's law school, told me about the program after I bumped into him at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada convention this week in Toronto. "Something like 60% of the world's financing deals in mining are still done in Toronto. And all of those deals need lawyers. So there's a huge shortage of a very specialized legal skill set."

Yukon Mine Training Association (YMTA) launches a second year of training partnership with their delivery agent, Northern Safety Network Yukon training Heavy […]

Newmont Mining Corporation continued its support of the College of Science’s Mackay School of Earth Sciences & Engineering with a gift of $250,000 that John Mudge, Newmont’s Vice President of Environmental & Social Responsibility, presented to University of Nevada, Reno administrators on Feb. 25. The donation will support students, faculty, research and educational outreach within the Mackay School.

Maricopa native and District 23 lawmaker Frank Pratt is fighting to allow Central Arizona College and Eastern Arizona College to offer four-year baccalaureate degrees in nursing, elementary and secondary education, business and mining technology.

“We have nearly 400,000 people in Pinal County and there is no way for them to get a four-year degree without venturing out of the county or logging onto a computer,” Pratt said.

To bring about the change at the two community colleges, Pratt has introduced HB 2277 in the Arizona Legislature. The bill would allow select four-year degrees at the two community colleges through the 2017-2018 fiscal year.

The Mesabi Range Community and Technical College is getting a boost in its mining training. Bucyrus, a leader in mining technology and equipment worldwide, is donating an electronic mining shovel simulator to the Mesabi Range College Foundation and to the college.

Students, teachers and training providers who excel in vocational education and training are being given a chance to be recognised as part of the Queensland Training Awards. Employment, Skills and Mining Minister Stirling Hinchliffe today said nominations were open in 11 categories recognising outstanding achievements of teachers, trainers and students. “The awards set the bar high and Queenslanders are rising to the challenge,” Mr Hinchliffe said.

Job creation seems to be government’s broad-based, sensible and sustainable solution to the nationalisation issue. Since the beginning of the year the South African government has placed particular emphasis on skills development and job creation. Mining, and its related industries, have been identified as particular growth areas.

During the opening of parliament, president Jacob Zuma said, “We have introduced a New Growth Path that will guide our work in achieving these goals, working within the premise that the creation of decent work is at the centre of our economic policies. We urge every sector and every business entity, regardless of size, to focus on job creation. Every contribution counts in this national effort.”