Northeast mining gets public funding exploration boost
Creighton and area has received a shot in the arm for future mining possibilities.
Two million dollars from the federal and provincial governments for hi-tech aerial exploration will assist small operators, also known as ‘junior companies’, on the north east border with Manitoba.
“This is exciting news,” Creighton mayor Bruce Fidler told paNOW. “It’s something we’ve been… hoping for for the last year and a half with issues around the life span of the existing mine here.”
Fidler is talking about the local Hudbay 777 operation, one of a number of mines in the Flin Flon Greenstone Belt which extract zinc, copper, gold and silver, and that provide the major employment for local communities including Creighton, Flin Flon and Denare Beach. The mine, along with the Reed operation, has a remaining shelf life not expected to go beyond the end of this decade. Fidler said that ultimately puts around 700 of the area’s 1,200 jobs in jeopardy unless new opportunities come along.