STANLEY, N.B. – The company working to develop a tungsten and molybdenum mine north of Fredericton says they’ve received over 600 resumes from New Brunswickers looking for work.
Vancouver-based Northcliff Resources is working to develop an open-pit mine on the site of the Sisson Brook, near Stanley, N.B.
In March, the province accepted Northcliff’s Environmental Impact Assessment as complete. The company is moving forward with the promise of creating more than 500 jobs during the construction phase and 300 jobs throughout the mine’s 27-year lifetime.
“While we have been working to move the project ahead we haven’t been in the position to advertise the jobs or anything like that,” said Chris Zahovskis, the company’s CEO and president.
“Despite that we’ve had a tremendous amount of interest. This is shown through people dropping into our offices to drop off resumes.”
Zahovskis says a lot of the resumes are from New Brunswickers who currently work out west.
“We’ve been saying all along that we can staff this with New Brunswickers so when you have so many resumes it’s obviously heartening to know that is the case,” he said.
Stanley residents divided on what mine could mean
Billy’s Family Restaurant is a fixture in the village of Stanley where it plays host to many conversations among residents.
These days most of those conversations are about the Sisson Brook Mine and the future of the village.
“Having this small business in a community where most small businesses have died, we need something,” said restaurant owner Shelly Estey.
“We need something to keep going. But I’m just not sure that this is what we need.”
Estey has lived along the Nashwaak River all of her life. She says she doesn’t know how to feel about the mine.
“I know people are excited that it will bring jobs. Part of me thinks that’s great, we need something,” she said.
“But I’m really scared, environmentally. It could be a very dangerous thing we’re taking on.”
Inside her diner, there are some who wanted shovels in the ground yesterday.
“It makes work, and that’s something we don’t have,” said resident Bernard Gullison. “Our forest is gone.”
Mac MacFarlane of the Nashwaak Watershed Association has read and researched Northcliff’s plans. He says there are still too many unanswered questions.
“I’m not against development, I just think that they’ve got to be responsible,” he said. “Right now, we’re concerned because there’s probably not enough money in the pot to protect the environment down the road.”
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