The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor Throughout northern Manitoba and Saskatchewan, First Nations increasingly view mining as part of the solution to high unemployment and the social problems it yields. So it's no surprise that reserves are taking a keen interest in ensuring aboriginals benefit from the Northern Manitoba Mining Academy due to open in Flin Flon this fall. 'Informally we've had probably four different communities that have come through and we've got another one coming next week,' Rob Penner, interim director of the academy, told the Flin Flon and District Chamber of Commerce last month. 'And all of them are saying the same thing: 'We want to be involved.'' 'Encouraging' While no formal agreements had been signed between the academy and First Nations, Penner called the ongoing discussions 'extremely encouraging.' David Harper, the highest-ranking chief in northern Manitoba, has already identified Lalor near Snow Lake as a project in which aboriginals can play an important role. With new training opportunities at the academy, that goal could be within greater reach _ and involve projects beyond Lalor. See 'Aca...' on pg. 3 Continued from pg. 1 After several delays, University College of the North's 3,500 sq. ft. Northern Manitoba Mining Academy is slated to open this September. It includes a sophisticated geological laboratory, classroom space and, for students eyeing a career below the earth's surface, an electronic simulator that mimics underground equipment. Among the courses beginning this fall is a first-year geology course in partnership with the University of Manitoba. Students who complete this course can then go to the U of M _ or other universities _ to complete their degrees. Located downtown near the Hudbay Main Gate, the academy will operate beside a new UCN regional centre focusing on instruction unrelated to mining. Since the academy is expected to attract students from outside the community, Penner told the chamber he would love to have a dorm, preferably downtown. He said academy officials have looked at 'several different properties' and called the abandoned Flin Flon Hotel 'a really attractive site.' Investment needed But all sites contemplated would require 'considerable investment' that Penner said he neither has nor foresees at this time. He described the academy as flexible in terms of instruction, with courses to be developed in response to ongoing industry needs. Penner listed the academy's three focuses as providing education and training, conducting research, and connecting people in the mining industry who might not otherwise link up.
