Donkin Mine project to hire workers at first job fair in Alberta

The company planning to open the coal mine in Donkin is holding its first job fair this week, but not in Cape Breton.

The first one, booked for Tuesday, will be held at the Days Inn in Grande Cache, Alta., where a mine in that community shut down in December.

The Donkin Coking Coal Project's managers, Kameron Coal, expects to cut the first piece of Donkin coal in late spring. Kameron Coal is a subsidiary of U.S. coal company Cline Group, which bought the mine from Australian company called Xstrata Coal last year.

The company hopes to attract experienced miners formerly from Cape Breton who want to move back home to work in Donkin, said Ed Griffith, Kameron's human resources vice president.

Hope to sell to Nova Scotia Power

A regional councillor for the Donkin area says the job fair in Alberta is great news.

"People are travelling back and forth for work," said Kevin Saccary, who is also a member of the community liaison committee on the Donkin mine project.

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"We have local stores, dairies, gas stations that certainly will benefit," he said.

"The issue with us is it's an economic breath of fresh air and we're looking forward to it."

He says he hopes Kameron can sell its coal to Nova Scotia Power to increase its domestic market.

Room and pillar mining experience wanted

The company wants people with experience in room and pillar mining, Griffith said.

A Glace Bay company called Gardiner Mining and Resources is helping manage job applications, he said. Local applicants can apply in person at the company's People's Mall location in Glace Bay, N.S.

Greenhouse gases from coal mining? Who knew?

9 years ago

Duration 2:18

Extraction of coal from the Donkin mine will produce one megatonne of greenhouse gas emissions, and burning the coal at various power plants is another matter

"I always tell people to plan on being there in the neighbourhood of 20 to 40 minutes, depending on how much history you have and how fast you can write, but it's a fairly thorough application process," Griffith said.

Kameron Coal has been working over the past number of months to get the former Cape Breton Development Corporation mine ready for production.

Griffith says it has around 30 people working at the site now and will hire a total of 120 people in several rounds over the next year.