Outgoing Mount Isa Chamber of Commerce manager Tricia O’Callaghan says developing a school of mines for the region will be a key to its future success.
O’Callaghan told The North West Star establishing the school would be another important step to solving skills shortages in the mining industry.
She said Queensland’s mines were a good asset for the community and there were “buckets of money” available to drive cooperation between private companies and the Government.
“People come from around the world to see our mines so we should feed off it,” she said.
O’Callaghan said there were great career opportunities in Mount Isa’s mining sector and a school of mines could be driven by TAFE.
She said developing mining training in the area would help the town retain young people.
Developing industry training centres has long been acknowledged by businesses and governments as an important strategy for finding workers in the mining sector.
Earlier in the year Itas Consulting director Arthur Alexander told Australian Mining companies and governments were starting to get more creative in filling jobs.
He said because of their high profits, many miners had the potential to invest in the development of training facilities.