Jim Dufour was born in Thunder Bay, Ontario in 1945. He moved to Sudbury for work at INCO in 1964 at the Copper Cliff Iron Ore Plant. After a year in Copper Cliff, Dufour was moved to Stobie Mine where he worked for the next 34 years. At Stobie, Dufour performed a variety of tasks over the years including working underground. For the last 15 years of his career, Dufour was responsible for scheduling and training miners at Stobie. He co-ordinated the instuctors for training new employees on the history of mining, terminology, current practices, and safety. After 35 years at INCO, Jim Dufour retired in 1999.