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FROM THE EDITOR Training Good People to Be Great Miners Steve Fiscor/Editor-in-Chief The mining industry has reached another fork in the road during 2012. The industry will now transition from scaling up great quantities of production capacity to optimizing the new projects they have recently brought online, while maintaining existing projects. As prices for metals soften, managers will turn their attention again to costs and prof- it margins. Labor is one of those line items on the budget that con- tinues to increase. It's also a complex consideration for most mines. Most mine managers can justify more money for quality work. Many mines outsource a great deal of work to professional mining contractors, who guarantee performance at a price. These miners either relocate or commute from other regions and return home when the "job" is done. Employing people from the surrounding communities to build a mine rather than work a job instills a sense of pride. Oftentimes, however, mines do not have the time, ability and patience to recruit and train new miners. That is one of the more interesting aspects for this month's cover story (See New Afton mine, p. 52). Engineers specializing in underground hard rock mining will review the article with great interest. But, the real success story is how a group of 40 or 50 miners worked together to construct a new mine in a region with no major underground mines. British Columbia has a rich mining history and there are a few major mines near Kamloops, but nothing like what they had planned. Kamloops is a far cry from Sudbury. The managers at this operation knew what they had to do. They hired a few key people that understood the mining technique: block cave mining. They used con- tractors to assist them in getting the mine started. They invested in a training pro- gram at a local community college. At a critical point along the mine's develop- mental path, they pulled some of the best miners away from the operation to train new recruits. It placed a strain on the operation, but they knew it was something that had to be done. They also relied on vendors to not only supply the best equip- ment, but to help train the new miners on how to use it properly. Just as important, New Gold had invested in a new mill for the site. While new recruits could grasp the mine plan and operating an LHD or a jumbo drill, chem- istry, sampling and statistics is a whole different ball game. The mine used the same approach. It invested in training and relied on the vendors to assist. When the mill moved into production mode, they had a team of new technicians overseeing all of the processes. Listening to the engineering team, walking with the mine manager underground, and touring the concentrator with the mill manager, they swelled with pride as they described the accomplishments. They used all of the tools at their disposal: experi- ence, technology and training. They relied on colleagues. At first, the road was rocky. Now that small group of 40 miners has grown to more than 500 in four short years. One generation transferred a skill set to another and the surrounding com- munity benefits in many ways. Human resources are in high demand in the mining business and it is more than just a line item on a budget. The people are what make this business great. When professionals, such as yourself, commit the time and resources to transfer the skills to others, the payoffs are much greater than those measured on the balance sheet. www.mining-media.com ENGINEERING AND Mining Media International Editorial Office 11555 Central Parkway, Suite 401 Jacksonville, Florida 32224 U.S.A. Phone: +1.904.721.2925 Fax: +1.904.721.2930 Editor-In-Chief—Steve Fiscor, sfiscor@mining-media.com Managing Editor—Russ Carter, russ.carter.emj@gmail.com European Editor—Simon Walker, simon.emj@btinternet.com Latin American Editor—Oscar Martinez, omartinez@mining-media.com South African Editor—Antonio Ruffini, aruffini@webafrica.org.za Australian Editor—John Miller, john.miller@gotalk.net.au Associate Editor—Gina M. Tverdak-Slattery, gtverdak@mining-media.com Graphic Designer—Tad Seabrook, tseabrook@mining-media.com Mining Media International Corporate Office 8751 East Hampden, Suite B1 Denver, Colorado 80231 U.S.A. Phone: +1.303.283.0640 Fax: +1.303.283.0641 President/Publisher—Peter Johnson, pjohnson@mining-media.com VP-Sales and Marketing—John Bold, jbold@mining-media.com U.S. & Canada, Sales—Victor Matteucci, vmatteucci@mining-media.com Scandinavia, UK and European Sales Manager—Colm Barry, colm.barry@telia.com German Sales Manager—Gerd Strasmann, info@strasmann-media.de Rest of World, Sales—Peter Johnson, pjohnson@mining-media.com Classified Advertising—Norm Rose, nrose@mining-media.com Classified Advertising—Tanna Holzer, tholzer@mining-media.com Ad Traffic Manager—Erica Freeman, efreeman@mining-media.com MINING JOURNAL Engineering & Mining Journal, Volume 213, Issue 9, (ISSN 0095-8948) is published month- ly except January and July by Mining Media, Inc., 10 Sedgwick Drive, Englewood, Colorado 80113 (mining-media.com). Periodicals Postage paid at Englewood, CO, and additional mailing offices. Canada Post Publications Mail Agreement No. 40845540. Canada return address: Station A, PO Box 54, Windsor ON N9A 6J5, Email: circulation@mining-media.com. Current and back issues and additional resources, including subscription request forms and an editorial calendar, are available on the World Wide Web at www.e-mj.com. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Free and controlled circulation to qualified subscribers. Non-qualified persons may subscribe at the following rates: USA and Canada, 1 year, $82.00, 2 year, $139.00. Outside the USA and Canada, 1 year, $134.00, 2 year, $249.00 sur- face mail (1 year, $191.00, 2 year, $352.00 airmail delivery). For subscriber services or to order single copies, write to E&MJ;, 8751 East Hampden, Suite B1, Denver, CO 80231 USA; call +1.303.283.0640 (USA) or visit www.mining-media.com. ARCHIVES AND MICROFORM: This magazine is available for research and retrieval of select- ed archived articles from leading electronic databases and online search services, including Factiva, LexisNexis, and Proquest. For microform availability, contact ProQuest at 800-521- 0600 or +1.734.761.4700, or search the Serials in Microform listings at www.proquest.com. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to E&MJ;, P.O. Box 1337, Skokie, IL 60076 USA. REPRINTS: Mining Media Inc, 8751 East Hampden, Suite B1, Denver, CO 80231 USA phone: +1.303.283.0640, fax: +1.303.283.0641, www.mining-media.com Steve Fiscor, E&MJEditor-in-Chief;, sfiscor@mining-media.com PHOTOCOPIES: Authorization to photocopy articles for internal corporate, personal, or instructional use may be obtained from the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) at +1.978.750.8400. Obtain further information at copyright.com. EXECUTIVE OFFICE: Mining Media, Inc., 8751 East Hampden, Suite B1, Denver, CO 80231 USA phone: +1.303.283.0640, fax: +1.303.283.0641, www.mining-media.com 4 E&MJ; • SEPTEMBER 2012 COPYRIGHT 2012: Engineering & Mining Journal, incorporating World Mining Equipment, World Mining and Mining Equipment International. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.