http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/
Much excitement following employment information session, says deputy mayor
The deputy mayor of St. Lawrence, on Newfoundland’s Burin Peninsula, says there’s much optimism in his town now that preparation work for a new fluorspar mine is underway.
Jack Walsh told the St. John’s Morning Show that contractor Pennecon is now clearing land at the site where the open pit mine will be developed. “We’re very enthusiastic about our future here,” he said. “There’s a lot of interest from all over the peninsula.”
Once it’s up and running, the operation will mine for fluorspar — or fluorite, a mineral used for a wide range of industrial and commercial materials, including for camera and telescope lenses. Walsh said Canada Fluorspar Inc. has ordered equipment for the actual construction of the mill, and work on that site will start in June. Pennecon expects to be done clearing the land in the next 10 days.
Walsh said there’s a lot of excitement following an information session last week, where more than 400 people turned out.
“Starting off there could be 350 to 400 construction jobs. That’ll be for about two years,” he said. “And then, when the mine opens itself, when they go into production, it’s going to be 200 full-time jobs for 10 years, right now.”
Walsh said it’s expected that minerals will be coming out of the ground sometime in 2017, four years later than the developer had hoped.
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