In keeping with its massive expansion plans, the Maharatna firm Coal India (CIL) will induct 1,100 management trainees by October, Steel Guru reports.

The new faces will be inducted into the parent firm and its subsidiaries in various disciplines mining, electrical, mechanical, civil and chemical/mineral. The recruitment of the white-collars is necessitated as the world's top coal producer plans huge expansions, including setting up of 20 new washeries with a combined capacity of 111.1 million tonnes at an estimated cost of INR 2,500 crore.

To support training programs and fend off a future skills shortage, Queensland will be providing up to two-million-dollar grants for industry groups and individual companies.

The Premier said the Skills Queensland Strategic Investment Fund would have A$50-million provided by the state government each year, along with the complementary funding contributed by industry. The fund was aimed at plugging skills gaps and at supporting growing industries like mining.

The Australian: Australia is facing a critical skills shortage in mining and other industries, and India seemed like the perfect place to get skilled labour. However with new projects opening in India, the question is arising as to whether India can spare that labour.

The Australian government this month announced it would fast-track 457 temporary migrant visas for mining companies seeking foreign recruits for positions they can't fill from the domestic labour pool. Austrade is championing the idea of Australian vocational training courses in Indian workplaces and institutions, and eventually an India-based Australian mining and engineering college, with the capacity to train as many as 100,000 Indian workers annually.

IPP Media reports: Mantra Tanzania Limited has sponsored six students to complete a mine training course as part of an effort towards corporate social responsibility.

[Organizational capability manager Kevin] Flynn said the course curriculum was special for electricians, mechanics, fitters, water technicians and welders. “TCME acquired a licence from South Africa to use their curriculum at the college. This means that on completion, the students will be awarded certificates that can earn them jobs in mining companies in the country and in South Africa”, he said.

Hecla Greens Creek Mining Co. has donated $300,000 to the University of Alaska Foundation (UAF) to fund a mining career development program at the University of Alaska Southeast, Juneau Empire reports.

It will aid students in preparing for mining industry jobs through education, job shadowing and training. “We’re giving the biggest amount of money we have in our history,” said Hecla President and Chief Executive Officer Philip Baker. Baker said there is a need for qualified employees in the industry and this outreach, combined with internships, will help provide a pathway for students coming out of high school and through college to go directly into the workforce.

The International Society of Sustainability Professionals (ISSP) is presenting an online workshop to introduce the emerging science of life cycle assessment (LCA). The workshop will be held once a week for four weeks in June, and will allow participants to measure the environmental impacts of a product through all stages of its life, from cradle to grave.

The interactive course will be taught by Tom Gloria, PhD, a leading authority on LCA with more than 19 years professional experience in sustainability management consulting and information technology engineering design. ... His work encompasses product innovation; environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle management (LCM); methods and policy implications regarding greenhouse gas emissions inventories; and energy efficiency feasibility analysis.

The city of Dubbo in New South Wales, Australia, has made a bid for a mining school in the area, Australian Mining reports.

The Centre for Sustainable Mining Practices would ultimately be a $20 million investment and the city’s initial $7 million bid has already been lodged with the federal government, according to the Daily Liberal. The Centre would use virtual technology to train students and John Walkom, chairman of the Orana regional Development Australia branch said the city would be an ideal location.

The Timmins Times reports Goldcorp Porcupine Gold Mines and Northern College have teamed up to offer the Basic Underground Hardrock Miner Common Core training program at Goldcorp's Holye Pond Mine. This new initiative could ease the demand for miners in hardrock underground mining and help with the current skills shortage.

"This is going to create a situation where we can train our next group of employees, our next group of miners," adding that they'll not only learn how to do their jobs, but how to do them safety so they can go home at the end of the day, said Rick Blakey, [the superintendent for Goldcorp's Hoyle Pond underground operation].

Leanne Bellegarde, lawyer, member of the Kawacatoose First Nation in Saskatchewan, and director of aboriginal strategy for Potash Corp of Saskatchewan Ltd., argues that in order to take advantage of the large aboriginal population in Saskatchewan looking for work, mining companies must recognize the needs of their potential employees and engage them in such a way that they develop into suitable workers.

“It would be really easy to say that we have hundreds of jobs, please apply, and walk away,” says Ms. Bellegarde. “It’s another to ask, ‘How many people do you have in your communities . . . and what do we need to work with you to ensure that they will be qualified applicants?’ ... That’s the conversation we get into.”