Prince George, B.C. – The College of New Caledonia is  one of five  post  secondary institutions to  sign on to a pilot project  to  train people for a career in  mineral exploration and mining. Under the Memorandum of Understanding,  the B.C. Centre of Training Excellence in Mining will offer students the opportunity to complete up to a full year of its mineral exploration and mining technology diploma program at the following institutions:

• The College of New Caledonia
• Northwest Community College
• Okanagan College and
• Thompson Rivers University (TRU).

Gavin Dirom, president and CEO of the Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia  says this pilot project  is a real positive for the  mining sector “What this means is it’s an opportunity for folks who are  in areas outside the Lower  Mainland,  to   essentially  get schooling   close to home for a year ,  in areas of mineral exploration and  mining skills development.   That’s a huge bonus for students  in those (rural) areas.”

Students who complete the diploma program can also apply their education toward a degree in mining and mineral resources engineering at BCIT.

“Mining exploration is a really high tech and scientifically driven industry and we need people who are innovative and creative” says Dirom.

While  resource development  is in a slump,  Dirom says this is the perfect time for this kind of program  “When things are down, and they are,  people  often go back to improve their skills or  further their training so it’s a really good  opportunity to be in the education system, so when things pick up, you are that much better suited and ready to  hit the road running.”