Unique partnership produces diamond drilling common core graduates

A unique partnership involving NPLH Drilling, Northern College and two First Nations is helping to address a labour shortage.

The group’s collaboration has produced nine graduates who are ready to work as diamond drillers.

Koda Hunter is one of the grads from the first cohort of students who took the diamond drilling common core program, developed by NPLH Drilling and Northern College.

Gabriella Desmarais, NPLH’s Indigenous relations and community engagement lead, said it’s been a true community effort that also included participation from Taykwa Tagamou Nation and Moose Cree First Nation.

"We really let it be them who chose the individuals to partake and … we just collaborated with Northern College and developed this program," said Desmarais.

"We also had our health and safety manager and project manager at NPLH Drilling partake in the program as well and, you know, introduce some of the different aspects of the diamond drilling field to the individuals."

Northern College officials said the partnership helps address labour market demands.

It also included tuition assistance.

NPLH Drilling hosted a ceremony for graduates of a diamond drilling common core program it helped develop. (Lydia Chubak/CTV News Northern Ontario)

"Having employers validate this type of training and the necessity for this training really helps support why we're doing it and continues our endeavours to provide this type of relevant training that can lead to jobs,” said Kate Quinn, the college's manager of community and business development.

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And graduates like Hunter are eager to get working.

"I've been chasing into the mining fields for about a year now … kind of started off with operating and then kind of wanted something more, you know, competitive, something more in the mine, I guess and they really offered it here," Hunter said.

NPLH Drilling said it’s hired three of the graduates with the possibility of hiring more next year, but said the skills the graduates learned in the program prepare them to work anywhere in the drilling field.