G AB - The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, December 20, 2006 of the benefits to flow from ‘the planned massive Galore. ,, (Creek copper'and gold mine ’ north of here, says an official © fromthe company develop- 7 ing the property. Carl ‘Gagnier of .Van-. couver-based NovaGold Resources says the city con-. ‘ tains key businesses such as -Finning which are expected to be part of the company’s _ Supply system for the (U.S.) $1.2 billion operation ex- pected to last for 20 years. ‘His comment follows a ‘decision by NovaGold to open ‘an office in Smithers, . employing _ people for now. It’s being taken in. some local circles as. a-loss* for Terrace but the * percep- ‘tion the office will become ‘NovaGold’s _ northern ad-,. . Ministrative- headquarters is: wrong, said Gagnier. “During construction we have to establish a number of temporary construction | camps and we really needed a staging area to start from and. chose Smithers as a jumping off point,” he said. | _ “As those construction camps get into place, we’ll put people right where the. construction is.’ : Gagnier said Smithers is the logical place for the stag- ing office as it is on Hwyl6 on the way to the Hwy37 North turn off leading up to the mine location. That’ ll be the same road route for construction and other. material destined to be “used at Galore Creek which is 200km from Iskut. Gagnier said it wouldn't make a lot of sense to put a construction, management f} type. of office in Terrace if it “meant having to back track | eastward to where Hwy16 _ meets Hwy 37. North. “When it comes to Sup- pliers, I think you'll find | Terrace will be, part of the supply chain,” said Gagnier. - Once Galore Creek is up and. running, Gagnier ‘de- scribed its relationship to _ Terrace as similar to the one the city has with Alcan in Kitimat. “Terrace has a lot of the © suppliers Alcan. uses.” he said. As for employees, Gag- nier anticipates hiring as. many as possible from the northwest. “In a situation like: this, _ we'll go outin concentric cir- cles. I think Terrace, Smith-. ers, Prince Rupert, Stewart: and First Nations communi- ‘ties will be the draw points. . ‘Hopefully: we don’t, have to’ go further afield,” he said. NovaGold does have a participation agreement with the Tahitan on whose traditional territory the Ga- lore Creek mine would be located. Gagnier said the planned closure of the Barrick Gold Eskay Creek gold mine. also’ located north of here, should provide an available pool of miners looking for employ- ment. “Hopefully some of thdse people will be able to tran- sition over and we can usé those skill sets.” he added. NovaGold is now going through a combined federal- provincial environmental re- view and expects to be given environmental approval by next spring. That approval i is crucial _a Christmas tea and _ - staged. by. the United - tions throughout the “Hazel Holtom tempt’ : : also treated to tea and THIS month marked the 50th anniversary of the Knox United Church’s hosting of bazaar. The event is Church women and is an effort to raise mon- ey for church’s opera- year. Gayle Holtom, left and’ her mother visitors with presents for the sweet teeth on people's shopping list. Christmas crafts . and used. books were also being sold. Of course,. visitors were Doors open at 8:00 pm and party to 4:00 am Courtesy Shuttle Provided Christmas, carols. . DUSTIN QUEZADA PHOTO with srecial quests — a: SOUND Cold Buffet a Champagne at midnight _ Jobs, s spending from mine will benefit Terrace area “TERRACE WILL. get ashare . to the company ‘being able to line up financing for its project. . Based on a current pro- jected timeline, NovaGold wants to start construction in the middle of 2007... Construction is to. last ‘until 2011 and, at its height, will require more than 800 people. ’ The work will begin with | the construction of a road to Galore Creek stretching. west of Hwy37 North and an intensive airlift operation will be needed. oO ~ NovaGold already uses an airstrip at Bob Quinn on Hwy37. North but wants to _ build another one closer to _ the mine site. . Aside > from camp at the site, NovaGold . ‘will build a series of smaller | - ones along Hwy37 to sup- port the main operation. As it is, the company has already spent tens of mil- lions exploring and proving its ore body and in envi- ronmental and engineering work needed not only for the phase leading up to construc- tion but for various govern- ment approvals since active work began in 2004. Terrace has already ben- efitted through the flow of equipment, supplies and people being flown to the location, first in fixed wing aircraft to Bob Quinn and then by helicopter to the mine site. ',When in operation, the mine will need moré than’ 500 people working on a: two-week in and two- week out schedule. NovaGold’s participation agreement with the Tahltan _. " includes for the provision of the. main °° WELLER jobs and business opportun- ties, Spinoffs” from ‘this ar- rangement will also, be felt in Terrace because it is the pr . area’s service centre. ; an < Pamper your loved one _ this Christmas with a ‘Gift Certifi at f o Choose from our extensive menu of . 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