Mining company partners with Redfish Arts Society to train young welders
Participants to get placement opportunities with B2Gold Corp.
Cambridge Bay’s Redfish Arts Society Inc. and B2Gold Corp. are partnering to train a new cohort of welding arts students and get them placements at the Back River Project located south of the community. The Redfish program helps train youth like Dylan Zukiwsky, pictured, in welding and metalwork arts with the aim of securing them jobs in related industries. (File photo by Madalyn Howitt)
Youth participants in the Redfish Arts Society welding program will receive career opportunities thanks to a partnership with a mining company with a stake in the Kitikmeot region.
B2Gold Corp., which acquired the Back River gold deposit in April 2023 and aims to open the Goose gold mine there next year, and Redfish announced the initiative Monday in a news release.
The goal is to train youth in the hamlet in welding and metal fabricating, skills that could help them secure jobs in Nunavut’s mineral development sector including with B2Gold, the release said.
“This partnership will elevate the training we offer to a new level and expose Inuit youth to amazing career opportunities,” said Attima Hadlari, Redfish Arts Society Inc. chairperson, in the release.
The non-profit Red Fish Arts Society was created in 2023.
Works by the group include large-scale welded bison, wolves, the Inuit sea goddess Sedna and the popular red fish art pieces that are on display in Cambridge Bay and across Canada.
More training required… where’s your safety glasses bud?