Timmins area mines seek help to overcome shortage of miners

The shortage of miners in the Timmins area is so acute that it is time for the federal and provincial governments to step in and begin funding training programs, says the secretary of the Porcupine Mine Managers Group.

Don Thompson has sent a letter to Rifky Taher, director of Employment and Immigration Canda’s employment skills directorate, asking for “more than token funds” to alleviate the problem. The mine managers group is suggesting the senior levels of government contribute anywhere from $1 million to $2 million in order to train miners and alleviate what Thompson called a “horrid” situation.

Last August, the mines of the Porcupine needed 212 underground miners. Today the need is for more than 300, as miners leave established mines for higher-paying but shorter-term jobs with contractors.

“We can’t afford to continue to do that,” he said, adding that it costs as much as $25,000 to train an underground miner.

Timmins mines are even looking to England as a source for miners — Cornish miners operate under much the same conditions as do miners in Timmins but Thompson says the federal government refuses to let the companies import miners.