My name is Helene Fromreide Nesheim, I graduated as a mining engineer from NTNU in the summer of 2018. The following fall, I started a two-year trainee position through the Norwegian Mining Industry. I am now in my last period here at Nordic Bulk, where I will be until September, but already in January 2021 a new trainee will be ready for more tasks here with us.
Many people haven’t heard of the trainee scheme, and I’d like to tell you a little about why it was created and how it works.
What is the Norwegian Mining Industry trainee scheme?
The Norwegian Mining Industry is a trade association for companies in the Norwegian mineral industry. Together with their member companies, they decided in 2011 to launch a trainee scheme to ensure the recruitment of new graduates to the mining industry.
Since the start, ten trainees have completed the program, four are in the middle of the program, and a new trainee has been hired and is ready to start in September. The graduates are drawn from higher education at master’s degree level, with a specialization in geology or mineral production.
The trainee scheme involves three member companies from the Norwegian Mining Industry joining forces for a two-year position. The trainee becomes a permanent employee of the individual company and has an 8-month work placement at each location.
There is a wide range of operating areas and geographical locations among the various member companies, and the scheme boasts producers from all over the country within crushed stone and construction raw materials, metals, industrial minerals, natural stone and equipment suppliers – in other words, both the trainees and the companies in the scheme are very flexible.
There are currently 13 member companies in the trainee scheme: Franzefoss Minerals, Franzefoss Pukk, Lundhs, NCC Roads, Nordic Bulk, Norsk Mineral, Norsk Stein, Norstone, Omya Hustadmarmor, The Quartz Corp, Rana Gruber, Sibelco Nordic and Titania.
Why the trainee scheme was created
There was a “flight” of graduates in geology and mineral production who opted out of the mining industry due to a lack of knowledge of the opportunities available. The trainee scheme has helped to raise awareness and introduce new graduates to the mining industry, but there is still a leakage of potential candidates to positions outside the minerals industry.
All former and current trainees have been asked what it takes to increase recruitment to the mining industry and the vast majority had “visibility” as part of their answer. Even in relevant studies such as engineering geosciences and geology, mining companies are drowning in the sea of petroleum companies and large engineering geology players and consultancies. Many students are unaware of the opportunities that exist in mining and therefore choose not to pursue it in favor of positions in other, less relevant industries.
The mining industry is a great place to be and many employees stay in the industry throughout their working lives. As a result, the average age of the workforce is increasing and many companies are approaching a generational shift in both production and administration and management.
Employees with many years of experience in the industry possess invaluable knowledge and experience, knowledge and experience that it is important to pass on to new generations in a good way so that the mining profession can survive and develop. The industry will then need competent people to take over, and companies will eventually be dependent on recruiting new graduates, both from vocational and higher education.
What a 2-year trainee program might look like
To show the great variation in the companies in the trainee scheme, I will describe the two-year course that I have just finished:
Natural stone, Lundhs, Larvik:
Here I got to lead a newly started project in environmental mapping and certification. I had to conduct a life cycle analysis (mapping all environmental impacts through production, transport and product processing) in order to use the emission results for various environmental certifications. On behalf of the company, I got to invest in the relatively recently launched EPD calculator for the Norwegian Mining Industry, where I was responsible for creating my own natural stone database.
Industrial minerals, Brønnøy Kalk, Velfjord:
Brønnøy Kalk has several ongoing improvement projects, and in one of these projects I was assigned the role of executing party. I had to create a process description of the entire operational process “from A to Z” in Brønnøy Kalk, from planning operations to the shipping of crushed stone in the harbor.
The process description had to be done in four levels of detail and required me to gain a good knowledge of the operation and the employees, so the work took place both in production and in the office.
Supplier, Nordic Bulk, Sandnes:
Here at Nordic Bulk, my main task is to create an economic operating model. The model should tell us something about the costs of producing crushed stone materials – what are the costs of uncovering, drilling, blasting, crushing, screening and washing for those who have it?
The aim is for the operating model to provide a cost estimate for the operation of the various plant options we present in our offers to new and existing customers.
Other examples of tasks that trainees have done in the past. its periods are: process optimization (e.g. in logistics, blasting, crushing plant, beneficiation and washing plant), equipment testing, operational planning, digitalization, environmental work (certifications, licence applications, quality control), geological mapping and ore modelling.
Wide variation
During my almost two years as a trainee, I have experienced many different things; I have participated in a natural stone fair in Verona (Italy), two Autumn Meetings organized by the Norwegian Mining Industry, the natural stone conference, the environmental conference and Stein i vei.
I’ve given two presentations at NTNU and have also represented the trainee scheme and the companies on two occasions during Bergdagen at the same university. I have represented the various companies at local events, including the opening of a Newton room in Brønnøysund, and have been a company representative at a school event at Thor Heyerdahl VGS in Larvik.
In addition, two trainee gatherings have been arranged in Stavanger and Oppdal, as well as a third gathering in August in Trondheim, where current trainees gather for company visits and exchange of experience.
Could a trainee be right for your company?
Do you have one or more challenges or tasks that need to be solved, but you don’t quite know how to find the time? Perhaps the challenge(s) are outside your company’s existing field of expertise? Is there a need to get a neutral opinion on something from an outsider?
If you have a smaller company and find that a full-time position for eight months is a lot to cover, perhaps there are several local companies in the area that can join forces for one trainee? Are you unsure what skills your trainee candidates have? Contact the Norwegian Mining Industry, they can help with both information and mapping needs.
To date, the scheme has resulted in the trainee companies recruiting people to positions such as mine manager, laboratory technician, process engineer, geologist and technical worker at the end of the two-year course.
After the two-year trainee period, all trainees have continued to work in the mining industry, and most of them found jobs in one of the three companies they worked for during their trainee period. The scheme is therefore a good recruitment arena for the industry.
How can the industry become more visible?
The mining profession is a proud industry with long traditions, a lot of history and, not least, the profession is highly relevant to the modern, industrial society we live in. We need to make the industry more visible and show the importance of minerals, both for the “common man”, those who make decisions and those who are choosing their path in life.
Do you have an educational institution near your business? How about offering a field trip for pupils/students, most of whom have never been in a breach before and probably find it really exciting. Talk to the schools, try to get local geology and production into the curricula in e.g. the school curriculum. science, social studies or geography.
If your company has tasks that could be a suitable topic for a bachelor’s, master’s or apprenticeship thesis, I recommend contacting educational institutions that offer relevant subjects or studies, so they can assess whether, and possibly who, they are suitable for.
Most educational institutions are interested in being able to offer work-relevant assignments to their students and would like to enter into collaborations with industry that can benefit all parties.
There has recently been a lot of focus, including in the media, on how important skilled workers are to society. The industry must know its visiting hours and help to promote vocational education, ensure that information about the opportunities available in the mining industry is easily accessible to those who are choosing an education, and contribute with apprenticeships for those who have the opportunity.
To create a bond with their local community, several companies have had great success with open days in their quarries. These open days are often held in connection with the annual “Geology Day” event organized by the Norwegian Geological Society (NGF). Everyone is welcome, young and old, to get an insight into what happens in a production area, try out machines, look at and touch rocks and learn about geology and mining.
NGF chooses an annual theme and sends out free organizer packages to everyone who organizes the visit day. The event package includes a quiz, prizes, brochures, as well as rocks and minerals that can be handed out to visitors.
The open day can help to create openness and acceptance in the local area for what has previously been a closed mineral industry in many places, as well as raising awareness of the role of minerals in society for most people who have little or no knowledge of the mining industry.
Question:
For questions about the trainee program, please contact coordinator Eli Tho Holen (eth@norskbergindustri.no / tel. 926 56 886) For more information about Geology Day/open day, check https://geologiensdag.no/