Well paid, quality livelihoods for a new generation

“We’ll need more people from a wide variety of backgrounds”

When Angela Coney joined Dalradian in early 2011 as an administrator she became one of the company’s first employees. In the past decade, Angela’s role has evolved and, thanks to the training and upskilling she’s received, she’s now Dalradian’s Human Resources Manager.

Angela’s day-to-day role keeps her in touch with all of Dalradian’s staff and it’s one that she thoroughly enjoys:

“There are a number of different elements to my job which help make it very rewarding. In particular, the health and wellbeing of our team is of paramount importance. Dalradian invests in regular health surveillance and lifestyle health assessments for our teams. These include a wide range of testing for things such as hearing, aerobics fitness, heart health, full-body compositions and more."

“We also strive to educate our teams on their own personal health and wellbeing through regular seminars with a range of experts, designed to empower people with knowledge and strategies for managing their health.”

Dalradian’s development and support of employees has been recognized with an Investors in People designation and this work has continued safely in line with COVID-19 regulations during the pandemic.

Skill development

“As well as providing basic statutory training, we’re keen to help people upgrade their skills. I’ve benefitted from this approach personally and we actively encourage colleagues to do higher education courses. Some have also completed leadership, project management and other added value courses.”

“Staff also have access to world class providers of training and education to the mining industry. We offer convenient distance learning through self-paced online courses, interactive live webcasts and/or traditional face-to-face courses.”

“Our mine manager became the first person in Northern Ireland to undertake a MPQC Mine Supervisor course, while our mine team have gained MPQC certifications in mine rescue as well as ongoing training.”

Looking to the future, Angela is upbeat about the potential the proposed mine has to benefit the local community.

“We already employ people from the local area, from Greencastle, Gortin, Loughmacrory, Carrickmore, Plumbridge, Drumquin, Kildress, Omagh and beyond, but when operational we’ll need more - c.350 in total working above and below ground. We’ll need more people from a wide range of backgrounds; those with experience in mining and those without, plus all of the office-based and other support skills that a busy company needs.”

“Those with experience in the construction and agricultural sectors will find that their skills will be particularly useful in modern mining.”

“We’ve already committed to investing £15 million in the initial three-year training package to ensure that new staff are fully up to speed. We’re also keen to hear from local people who have mining experience elsewhere in the world.”

“This is a real opportunity to build strong livelihoods for a new generation in west Tyrone.”