Developing a major metal mine in Canada

Company profile

Thompson Creek Metals Company Inc. is a North American mining company with two large operating molybdenum mines, a large copper-gold metal mine under construction, a stand-alone metals roasting facility, and a number of additional metals properties in various stages of development in the United States and Canada.

One of Thompson Creek’s projects, the Mount Milligan mine in northern British Columbia, Canada, is set to become the first new large mining operation in BC in a generation. As a low grade high volume Copper-Gold project it has an estimated mine life of 22+ years, employing over 400 people from surrounding towns and communities.

Assignment background & Scope

Large scale local recruitment program for copper/gold metal mine start up

The Mount Milligan Copper-Gold project in northern British Columbia was rapidly moving toward operations with a commissioning date of August 2013. As this deadline approached, the company looked to Globe 24-7 to provide an all encompassing recruitment solution to source the remaining 200+ people required for the operation, within an eight month window.

The vacant positions ranged across the entire mining spectrum including Administration, Environment, Health & Safety, Metallurgy, Mining Operations, Maintenance and Human Resources; from entry level to department-head level.

Additionally, Globe was tasked to develop and integrate systems, processes and procedures, both during the program and at hand-over to the Mount Milligan HR team at the conclusion of the program.

Our solution

Deploy a site based RPO team

Globe was selected as the Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) partner and commenced in November 2012. A team was established immediately from its Canadian and Australian offices resulting in a dedicated Recruitment Manager and Senior Recruiter based at site supported by a team of recruiters from Globe’s Toronto office.

Globe’s RPO team worked hand-in-hand with Mount Milligan’s HR and Senior Management teams throughout the program to proactively source candidates throughout Canada using targeted sourcing techniques including online and press advertising campaigns, job fair representation and use of Globe’s extensive networks.

As candidates started to be identified, Focused Interview Techniques were implemented across the site to ensure appointments were made with the highest level of quality and fairness. Hiring Managers were coached by Globe’s Recruitment Manager in the methodology. Additionally, Focused Interview Techniques training was conducted at Mt Milligan’s Leadership Academy.

Globe also managed the implementation of an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) across the site. It is intended that the ATS will be rolled out to Thompson Creek’s other operations.

Project reporting was implemented to track the agreed KPI’s and these were presented at the weekly Managers Meeting. This provided a formal communication medium to ensure the Mount Milligan stakeholders were consistently kept up to date on the status of the RPO.

The Results

212 hires for metal mine within 5 months

In addition to the Recruitment Team successfully filling over 200 positions, the following achievements were met:

• Implemented a company-wide Applicant Tracking System
• Coached the on-site HR staff in best practice recruitment
• Developed and implemented recruitment procedure
• Assisted to develop the organisational charts for each department
• Trained the Leadership Team on HR techniques such as Focused interviews

Testimonial

A few words from Thompson Creek Metals Inc. VP HR

Having worked in the resources industry for 20+ years managing Human Resources and global recruitment strategies, I knew that we needed some help to ensure we were ready for the operational ‘go live’ date at Mount Milligan. I had been speaking to Globe’s Regional Manager for the America’s, Jaime Alvarez, who shared with me some of Globe’s RPO experience in Africa and Australia. Having seen other RPO providers fail in the past, Globe’s approach was different and creative and after engaging them, I never looked back. Not only did they put an outstanding team on the ground, but the entire Globe company got behind the RPO and I felt confident that, from the Directors to the Administration Team, things were in control. It’s not to say it wasn’t hard work, as Mount Milligan is pretty remote and the timeline was aggressive, but each challenge was met head-on and they achieved well above what we expected them to. As a VP HR looking for a recruitment and HR solution provider, I wouldn’t hesitate in recommending Globe 24-7. Their capability, people and results exceeded my expectations.