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The Asia Pacific Downunder Conference in Perth today was told that OceanaGold will utilise a training programme for its growing workforce at the Didipio copper-gold mine in the Philippines for a dual purpose - to train a new workforce and fill holes in its workforce in NZ.

OceanaGold's Vice President NZ Operations, John Kinyon, told Mineweb at the Perth conference that the company, like Newmont Waihi at Waihi on the North Island, was experiencing the same shortage of professional and skilled people. This, he said, had become a broad problem for the global mining sector.

(At the recent NZ Minerals Conference in Christchurch, Waihi Gold Co's resident manager Glenn Grindlay asked "how many mining engineers did it take to change a lightbulb." His answer was one, but the problem was finding one, and if you had one he was probably on his or her way to Australia).

Kinyon said advanced training of some of the Didipio workforce would need to be carried out at the New Zealand mines - Macraes and the recently commissioned Globe Progress at Reefton.

This, he said, offered a great opportunity to fill in the gaps being created at the NZ operations by labour shortages. To help stem the problem OceanaGold had also engaged an agency to recruit more Australasian professionals and skilled miners and mill operators.

He told delegates group gold production for 2007 was expected to reach 190,000 ounces and was estimated in 2008 to lift to 301,000 oz (undoubtedly through an output lift from Globe Progress and from the Frasers Underground mine). In 2009, with commissioning of Didipio group production would rise to 338,000 oz gold and 17,000 tonnes of contained copper metal.

source: mineweb.com

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