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Nunavut Mining: Lionel Quinangnaq rises through the ranks at Amaruq

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Baker Lake's Lionel Quinangnaq has been promoted to relief supervisor at the Amaruq gold deposit. He said his nieces and nephews look up to him. SA国际影视传媒淚 just tell them, 'If you want to be like me you've got to stay in school and do what your supervisor says, what your teacher says.'SA国际影视传媒 photo courtesy of Agnico Eagle

Lionel Quinangnaq has climbed the ladder from surveyor's helper to relief supervisor at Agnico Eagle's Amaruq gold deposit.

He's now responsible a crew of close to 20 mine vehicle operators.

Baker Lake's Lionel Quinangnaq has been promoted to relief supervisor at the Amaruq gold deposit. He said his nieces and nephews look up to him. SA国际影视传媒淚 just tell them, 'If you want to be like me you've got to stay in school and do what your supervisor says, what your teacher says.'SA国际影视传媒
photo courtesy of Agnico Eagle

SA国际影视传媒淚 like it,SA国际影视传媒 Quinangnaq says of his new position. SA国际影视传媒淚 tell people what machines they're going to be on.SA国际影视传媒

He's also responsible for checking that the plan is followed for the drill and rock patterns; ensuring the bulldozers are pushing materials to the designated locations, including the waste dumps; maintaining all the haul roads in and around the pit; wall scaling SA国际影视传媒 the removal of loose rock SA国际影视传媒 must be carried out for worker safety; and work cards are completed for each employee. The latter detail daily work activities and observations pertaining to health and safety and the environment.

SA国际影视传媒淗e's a busy man and he's impressing me every day,SA国际影视传媒 says Mathieu Aubin, Amaruq's general foreman and Quinangnaq's boss.

Quinangnaq, who hails from Baker Lake, got his first taste of the mining industry as a summer student doing surveying work. He became a haul truck driver in 2006, helping to construct the road between the Meadowbank mine and Baker Lake.

He was also trained to operate bulldozers, loaders and graders over the years.

Quinangnaq took some time away between 2013 and 2015, but then got behind the wheels of the colossal vehicles once again.

Safety is never far from his mind at the worksite, he says.

Click here for other stories on Nunavummiut involved in the mining industry: Nunavut Mining 2020.

SA国际影视传媒淵ou've got to be very cautious around these big machines and make sure that there's some berms that will stop the machines if there's (a problem) as they come off the pit or off the ramp,SA国际影视传媒 he says.

The pace of work at Meadowbank and Amaruq was initially quite a contrast, he adds. Meadowbank was recently winding down after nearly a decade of gold production so it wasn't nearly as active as it used to be. Meanwhile Amaruq was scaling up, meaning construction was brisk when he arrived.

SA国际影视传媒淚t was nice and busy,SA国际影视传媒 he says.

After he's done his shift for the day, he says essentially everything he needs is at the camp, including a well-equipped gym. The only thing that's lacking at Amaruq that he used to enjoy at Meadowbank was a music room, stocked with a variety of instruments like a piano, guitars, drums and accordions.

SA国际影视传媒淚 like to listen to people play them,SA国际影视传媒 he says.

The two-week in/two week-out rotations have become a routine part of Quinangnaq's life at this stage.

SA国际影视传媒淓very time I'm at work, I try to keep my personal life at home. I try not to think of home so much,SA国际影视传媒 he says.

Although he has no children of his own, he's close to his nieces and nephews and enjoys spending time with them when he's back in Baker Lake. He believes his career has been an influence on them.

SA国际影视传媒淭hey look up to me. I'm pretty sure that they want to be like me,SA国际影视传媒 he says. SA国际影视传媒淚 just tell them, 'If you want to be like me you've got to stay in school and do what your supervisor says, what your teacher says.'SA国际影视传媒

Quinangnaq isn't about to rest on his laurels, however. He says he aspires to become production supervisor in the next five years and then general foreman.



About the Author: Derek Neary

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