The presence of aboriginal people in Saskatchewan has led to several government and private sector initiatives aimed at facilitating the participation of aboriginal people in modern industrial society. A case study was performed on Cameco Corporation, the largest mining company in Northern Saskatchewan, to find out if and how government and private sector initiatives to increase the participation of aboriginal people in the northern mining industry are working. Emphasis was put on defining the status of aboriginal employees within Cameco's mining workforce with respect to job training, promotion, job position, wage rate, and job satisfaction. A simple quantitative evaluation of survey responses was used to establish the position of Cameco's aboriginal/northern employees among their non-aboriginal co-workers and among the typical population residing in the northern part of the province.<p>In 1994, 42.3% of Cameco's employees at the mine sites were of aboriginal ancestry. Based on Cameco's 1994 employee survey, it was found that relative to the typical person residing in the North, Cameco northern/aboriginal employees had a higher level of schooling, more full time work activity, and a higher employment income. Relative to their colleagues, aboriginal Cameco workers were younger, less educated, fewer years employed and more representative in low skill level/low paying jobs. Aboriginal people were provided with more job training, received more promotions, and had a slightly lower overall job satisfaction.<p>Based on these findings, OLS and Logit multiple regression analyses were performed to identify how much of the difference between aboriginal and non-aboriginal Cameco workers, regarding employment related issues, could actually be explained by aboriginal ethnicity. Results showed that, when compared to their colleagues, aboriginal people were more likely to be promoted and to receive job training. However, aboriginal people were less likely to be employed in high level job positions and to earn a high wage rate. Many results are positive indicators of successful government and private sector initiatives to improve aboriginal peoples' employability by extensive human resource development programs in accordance with recent Surface Lease Agreements. Nevertheless, as shown by this example from the mining industry, the achievement of equal opportunities and of a fully equalized job distribution between aboriginal and non-aboriginal employees will be a long-term process.

The presence of aboriginal people in Saskatchewan has led to several government and private sector initiatives aimed at facilitating the participation of aboriginal people in modern industrial society. A case study was performed on Cameco Corporation, the largest mining company in Northern Saskatchewan, to find out if and how government and private sector initiatives to increase the participation of aboriginal people in the northern mining industry are working. Emphasis was put on defining the status of aboriginal employees within Cameco's mining workforce with respect to job training, promotion, job position, wage rate, and job satisfaction. A simple quantitative evaluation of survey responses was used to establish the position of Cameco's aboriginal/northern employees among their non-aboriginal co-workers and among the typical population residing in the northern part of the province.<p>In 1994, 42.3% of Cameco's employees at the mine sites were of aboriginal ancestry. Based on Cameco's 1994 employee survey, it was found that relative to the typical person residing in the North, Cameco northern/aboriginal employees had a higher level of schooling, more full time work activity, and a higher employment income. Relative to their colleagues, aboriginal Cameco workers were younger, less educated, fewer years employed and more representative in low skill level/low paying jobs. Aboriginal people were provided with more job training, received more promotions, and had a slightly lower overall job satisfaction.<p>Based on these findings, OLS and Logit multiple regression analyses were performed to identify how much of the difference between aboriginal and non-aboriginal Cameco workers, regarding employment related issues, could actually be explained by aboriginal ethnicity. Results showed that, when compared to their colleagues, aboriginal people were more likely to be promoted and to receive job training. However, aboriginal people were less likely to be employed in high level job positions and to earn a high wage rate. Many results are positive indicators of successful government and private sector initiatives to improve aboriginal peoples' employability by extensive human resource development programs in accordance with recent Surface Lease Agreements. Nevertheless, as shown by this example from the mining industry, the achievement of equal opportunities and of a fully equalized job distribution between aboriginal and non-aboriginal employees will be a long-term process.

A novel design for an automated uranium pellet stacking system is presented. This system is designed to replace the manual method for stacking uranium pellets for CANDU fuel bundles that is currently used at Cameco Fuel Manufacturing in Port Hope, ON. The system presented is designed as a drop-in solution to the current production line at Cameco. As a result, there are constraints that prevent certain parameters from modification. The three main goals of this system are to reduce worker exposure to radiation to as low as reasonably achievable, improve product quality, and increase the productivity of the production line. The proposed system will remove the workers from a position of having to handle the uranium pellets and physically place them on the stacks. While the natural uranium currently in production is not a major health risk for short-term exposure, the possibility of production of slightly enriched uranium bundles makes this system a real need. This system also removes the random pellet placement that the manual system uses by taking precise measurements using laser triangulation sensors. These measurements are used to determine which sizes of end pellets are required to complete the stack to within the specified tolerances. A final measurement is done to ensure the stack is within tolerance. All of this information is recorded and can be traced back to the stacks during quality inspection, which is a major improvement over the existing system. This single automated system will replace two manual stations, while increasing the total output production, thus eliminating pellet stacking as a bottleneck in the fuel bundle assembly process. Current production rates can be met by this single, automated station in two shifts per day, while the current manual process requires three shifts using two stations. Test results of a proof-of-concept prototype indicate that the proposed design meets or exceeds all of the design requirements.