Staking and sampling: Students say Yellowknife prospecting course rocks

Location, location, location. That mantra is not just for realtors, it's also been drilled into the brains of students who took a two-day prospecting course in Yellowknife this past week.

Fifteenstudents came from communities across the NorthwestTerritories, including Whati, Gameti, Lutselk'e Fort Good Hope and Tulita.

Friday, they got some practice staking and taking samples at a TerraX claim just outside of Yellowknife.

Jessica Bjorkman,who taught the course, is a 20-year prospecting veteran.

"Things really come alive when people get to see them in the field and it's much easier to imagine what's going on when you have a visual," she said.

As studentswound their way through bog, swarms of mosquitoes and around patches of blooming cranberry bushes, their instructors reminded them of what they hadlearned in the classroom: stay curious,keep your eyes open for changes in the rock formation, and when you take a sample make sure you get the location down right.

Cathy Nahanni from Fort Simpson, N.W.T. saidshe wanted to know what kind of people prospect.

"I found out that a lot of Indigenous people were in this course. And I'm very pleased to see that, because I know now that I'm not the only one."

She saidshe wants to share what she's learned with people at home.

It's also a way for her to be out on her traditional Dehcho Territory.

"And I'm certain that a lot of young people that are here in this course have the same thing in mind," she said.

Nearly half of the participants in theclass were women, butthat's not unusual, according to Hilary Jones, of the Mine Training Society.

This week's courses mark the fourthtime the Mine Training Society has offered the course in a partnership with Aurora College, the Department of Industry Tourism and Investment, and mining company TerraX which is developing a gold project outside of Yellowknife.

But this is the first time it's been offered in the spring.

"This way they have the whole summer to go out and bash some rocks, and put what they've learned into practice. " Jones said.

That's exactly what Lloyd Baton intends to do when he gets back to Deline.

He saidsome elders and friends in Deline have been talking about the mineral potential around Great Bear Lake.

He has plans to take his family out on aboat for a couple of weeks for a little hunting, fishing and prospecting.

"Looking forward to it. I'd like to stake my own claim, work my own claim."

Bjorkman said past students have also optioned claims to TerraX.

"Just having people just email me and say I've staked claims, and taken a few samples, what should I do next? It's so encouraging to see people out looking at rock."

Another 20 prospective prospectors from Yellowknife went through the training over the weekend.