The first formal on-site live-in education course at the Telfer mine designed to prepare Indigenous participants for immediate employment will start next February. The course will be available for up to 20 Martu men and women, including youth. The course, a Certificate 1 in Resource and Infrastructure Operations, will comprise two groups, each of ten trainees, in a two-week on, two-week off schedule over a four-to-six month program.

Newcrest has offered to immediately employ of the participants who successfully complete the course. The training program has been developed in consultation with Pilbara TAFE, who will provide a Telfer-based coordinator and lecturer to lead the students. The program is designed to improve participants’ competency in literacy and general skills, environmental work practices, work safety and First Aid, and in operating personal computers, light vehicles, small plant and equipment, hand-and-power tools, and forklifts. The trainees will receive direct instruction through Pilbara TAFE for one week each swing and, in the second week, participate in planned project work. “This new course is an extension of Newcrest’s commitment to employ local Indigenous people who have the necessary skills and competencies to work safely and effectively in a mine environment,” said Community Relations Superintendent Leon van Erp. It is expected the first trainees will come from Warralong, Marble Bar, Nullagine and Punmu.

For further information, please contact Colin tincknell on (mobile): 0437 872 416. Leon van Erp (left) and Telfer Administration Manager Craig Thompson to discuss course details.