Labour shortages in mining, continued

As the onslaught of negative news from miners flood the news, from Rio Tinto cutting 14,000 jobs to Sudbury losing more mines and Cameco laying off staff, closures and project cancellations are everywhere. Good, skilled workers are sent to the streets to look for more work and the lucky ones get severance or early retirement packages. These aren't average jobs or low paying wages either, the mining industry is the highest paying industry in Canada with weekly salaries at over $1000 on average.

Miners shell out big bucks to grab top talent, experienced engineers, geologist, drillers, miners, heavy equipment operators and metallurgist can easily make over $100,000 a year. Forestry workers were flooding over to mining in the last few years, students at Universities were hired before graduating and promised jobs making $300+ a day. But the sad reality is that this industry is hard on people and a lot of individuals can't cut it and quit after a few years or months. The isolation, long rotations and harsh environments can take a tole on any person.

I remember working 90 or 95 days without ever having a day off. Stuck in a shack no bigger than a living room for months on end through a northern Ontario winter. I remember pulling rods from the top of a drill tower at 2am on a cold November night and I remember getting ready for a big staking rush the very next week. I recall walking through a swamp with my map over my head for fear of getting it wet and I remember (3 hours ago) trying to map over a mile underground, with 2 scoops loading trucks and a jumbo drilling right by my side. The air was dusty and it must of been 40 degrees or more with the exhaust of the equipment running. For some, they thrive in this environment, others just can't be bothered.

Many mines or exploration projects are located in isolated areas and long rotations are a given, being away from family and friends just isn't worth it for some people. Fortescue in Australia just recently announced they wanted to reduce the amount of fly in fly out people, too many marriages and families were being broken they claimed. They are 100% right too, anyone who's worked in mining for a while knows of someone who's gone through something like this. The big mines in Sudbury or Timmins don't have a hard time getting staff, it's the ones in the Arctic or northern Saskatchewan that do.

Whatever the case, someone who works in mining has to be passionate about what they do, otherwise no amount of money will keep them working.