750 jobs expected at mine
dailygleaner.canadaeast.com
By BETTY MACGILLIVRAY
For The Daily Gleaner
Published Friday April 11th, 2008
Appeared on page A1
STANLEY - The proposed development of the Sisson Brook mining project by Geodex Minerals Ltd. could create hundreds of jobs in the area.
Company officials told a public information meeting this week that 750 people would be needed to construct the mine site, beginning in the later part of 2009 and lasting 18 months. After that, about 300 jobs would be needed to mine the tungsten-molybdenum-copper deposit.
The Sisson Brook mine is located about 30 kilometres west of Stanley.
It's expected to be in production by early 2011 and will extract 20,000 tonnes of ore per day by open-pit mining.
The ore will be hauled to an on-site processing facility.
The life expectancy of the mine is at least 30 years.
"This is a significant find," said Dave Martin, regional manager for Geodex Minerals in New Brunswick.
"This company has done something phenomenal in the past two years. This is world-class."
Martin, a geologist by trade, said he considers himself fortunate to be part of such a project.
"Many geologists work all their lives and never have a find like this," he said.
"One hole we drilled was the richest hole drilled in Canada this past year."
Martin said renewed interest in mining the area is due to surging global demand for tungsten, which
can be used in wedding rings and watches.
China, the world's largest producer of tungsten, has decreased production.
Molybdenum and copper prices have also increased recently.
Most of the minerals will be exported, which will require more jobs to transport the product to ports.
"I think this is very good for the community," said Stanley Mayor Mark Foreman.
"We need the employment opportunities."
Martin said it's expected that many people will be hired from nearby communities.
The company has an office in Fredericton and many of its employees are from New Brunswick.
This week's session was the first of several public meetings to inform and engage the community.
Some concerns were raised over the environmental impact of the project.
Floyd White, a sporting camp owner, said there's more than 35 camps in the mine's general area and camp owners are concerned about noise from blasting and how the project will affect access routes to camps.
Other area residents are worried about the mining operation's effect on wildlife, as well as air and water quality.
The mining site is about 10 kilometres from the Nashwaak River.
Residents cited cases where tailings have leached into rivers and they wanted assurances from the company that this wouldn't happen.
Geodex Minerals director Jack Patterson said he knew that would be the No. 1 concern raised at the meeting.
"If we can't do it right, we should not do it at all," Patterson said. |
