NORCAT has expanded its presence all the way into South America with the opening of an office in Chile.
The Sudbury-based skilled labour training provider and innovation mill announced the new office will allow it to serve its ever-growing base of clients and partners in Latin America.
This will be the fifth global office for the institution.
The amount of work NORCAT has been doing internationally justified opening another international office and having a permanent presence in many of these locations.
"We gave this a lot of thought," said Don Duval, CEO of NORCAT. "We believe we are the global leader in all that is skilled labour training in development and mining. We've been doing this for 25 years and we get exceptional feedback from our clients."
NORCAT’s new Chilean office will be co-located in Santiago with the Lanzamiento Centro Nacional de Pilotaje, an initiative whose mission aims to provide the mining industry, specifically service providers, with services that validate new technologies, access to industrial-scale testing spaces, and advice on technology ramp-up.
The geographic proximity of the location made sense to provide quality service for customers in those emerging markets.
Latin America is its biggest market outside Canada, with a large number of current mining operations in Chile and many more future investments. Duval said they have done a lot of work in Latin America. Doing that work remotely in Canada was effective, but they knew at some point they would have to have a dedicated office.
It would also be easier to service other jurisdictions from Santiago. It has the infrastructure and airport, among other features, that make it an ideal location, he said.
All courses and services through NORCAT will be available there, along with a few specialized programs Duval said they are working on.
“The mining industry in the Latin American Andean Region is flourishing, with Chile, Peru, Ecuador and Argentina expecting $38 billion USD worth of investment over the next three years,” says Carlos Molina, NORCAT’s Latin America Manager. “NORCAT's local and international expertise provide an incredible opportunity for clients to be at the forefront of training and development to ensure their workforce is both productive and safe on the job – all day, every day.”
Chile is home to a number of existing and planned long-term precious and base metal mining operations.
NORCAT’s new office location will offer skilled labour training and development programs and strategic advisory services to mining companies, including compliance and risk management, talent and human capital, and technology, learning and innovation strategies.
