The story of Mendoza's first mining drillers begins
Copper prices are on the rise, and so is gold, and Malargüe and Las Heras have become the new names driving national mining, with projects that already have environmental impact approval between Distrito Minero Occidental One and Two. For years, Mendoza watched that growth from the sidelines, exporting labor to San Juan, to Catamarca, to projects at altitudes of up to 6,000 meters in other provinces. Yesterday, with the start of the Professional Training program for Mining Driller —with its preliminary stage as Drilling Assistant— the province began writing a different chapter: training, at home, the people who will operate its own deposits.
In the coming weeks, once they complete the course, the 140 students will receive their certification. But the first day already showed what this story is about: very different people, united by the same decision to take the leap.
This Thursday marked the start of the Professional Training program for Mining Drillers, as Mendoza gears up for the copper boom.
Stories that all fit in the same classroom
Karen is 30 years old and a pharmacy technician. She has spent a decade behind a counter and heard about the program “everywhere: social media, the internet, TV.” She had never worked in mining. Her husband had — he's an oil technician — and together they decided to take the leap: “It's a big jump, because with a job, two kids, an established family, saying ‘I'm going to start studying’ is a real decision.” She doesn't have the trade, but she has the drive, and today she shares a desk with those who do.
Next to her sat Orlando, 38, who has spent 17 years in the oil and mining industry, and who sums up in one sentence what this program means for hundreds of informal workers in the field: “I've drilled with different types of rigs —diamond, rotary, reverse circulation— but we never had certification.”
Two very different stories, yet the same classroom, the same first day, the same commitment. That is, at its core, what this program proposes: that there isn't just one valid path into mining. That those who studied can add a new trade, and those who already have the trade can finally add the credential.
That mix also creates some unease, especially when it comes to who can take on the altitude, the camp life, the distance. “Those are barriers I've honestly been completely removed from, but I want to put myself in those shoes to see if I can overcome them,” Karen admitted. Her classmate, with more experience, added: “Once you gain the knowledge, the fear goes away.” And he added something that sounded almost like an invitation to those still hesitating: “It's rare for someone who's already in the industry to want to leave.”
The view from the other side of the blackboard
“When we thought about training programs related to mining, we always looked elsewhere. Today we face the challenge of looking at ourselves,” summarized Pablo Aceña, president of INSUTEC 9-019, the institution behind the initiative. The process, he said, took a year of coordinated work between the government and companies in the sector, something he himself described as “very fast” for the timelines technical education is used to.
One of the biggest challenges, Aceña explained, was not just putting together the theoretical content, but making sure the hands-on practice was real: extremely expensive drilling equipment, until now reserved for already-trained personnel, is now available to students who are just starting out. And there's something else: many of these instructors are, in fact, seasoned mining workers who had never taught a class before. “They built their entire careers without ever having certification for what we're doing here,” he noted. The worker became the teacher. The trade became a credential.
Mariela Ramos, the province's director of Higher Education, provided the other key piece of this story: the possibility for people over 25 who haven't finished high school to enroll through placement exams. “This wouldn't have been possible if the Directorate of Higher Education hadn't stepped in,” she stressed, aware that this was central to making the program inclusive. In addition, thanks to a plan approved by INET, each student will graduate with two certifications: first as an assistant, then as a driller.
A story that's just beginning
Amid the noise of a courtyard improvised as an interview set and the barely contained excitement of the first day of classes, one thing became clear: this isn't just a story about mining. It's a story about 140 different ways of taking on something new, about instructors who never imagined they would be standing on the other side of the blackboard — many of them industry leaders from drilling companies — and about a province that, for the first time, has decided that in the mining boom to come, everyone —those who studied, those who already have a trade, those starting from scratch— can have a place.