By Glenn Hicks

Proposed diamond mIne

Rio Tinto rep adds sparkle to Mayor’s Address

Jan 31, 2019 | 8:25 PM

The presence of a representative from Rio Tinto added some sparkle to the Mayor’s annual State of the City Address Thursday.

Greg Dionne invited Julia Ewing to join him at the head table for the luncheon. She is contracted as a community liaison with the mining giant’s exploratory efforts at the Star Diamond deposit at Fort a la Corne.

Ewing did not have the authority to speak on behalf of Rio Tinto, but her presence added an air of positivity regarding the potential implications for the project among the 300 attendees at the Chamber of Commerce event.

“They (Rio Tinto) didn’t have to come but they did, and they enjoyed the mayor’s speech and learned more about Prince Albert,” chamber board chair Ian Litzenberger told paNOW. “I’m excited; there’s got to be a little twinkle in the eye to enjoy the fact they’re here and they’ll be holding an open forum.”

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The company will be hosting a series of public open houses next week about their exploration plans regarding the long-discussed diamond mine that has been at least 20 years in the making. The first of those meetings happens in Prince Albert Wednesday evening at the Coronet Hotel. While hopeful about the potential for a large-scale diamond operation east of Prince Albert with as many as 700 jobs, both Rio Tinto and Star Diamond have been guarded in their comments about the future of Project Falcon. Bulk sampling of the deposit has yet to get underway.

But the presence of the Rio Tinto rep at the mayoral speech is being viewed with cautious optimism.

It’s like looking at a Christmas present … it’s very exciting _{– Chamber CEO}

“It’s always exciting to hear that someone could be coming to town,” Chamber CEO Elise Hildebrandt said. “It’s almost like a Christmas present, you look at the box and wonder about the possibilities …very exciting … but we’ll hold it under control until we know for sure.”

One of the largest employers in the room was Gord Broda, president of the Broda Group of Companies.

“I think it’s exciting to see a world-class organization like Rio Tinto getting involved … but I think we should temper that by saying they’re going to have their challenges.” He was speaking to the large amount of over-burden that would need to be cleared to access the diamond deposit.

We’d love to see them have a big presence in Prince Albert _{– Gord Broda}

But Broda was hopeful that if things did indeed happen at Project Falcon the companies involved would choose the Gateway to the North as their base.

“If Rio Tinto has the ability to turn this into a working mine, we’d love to see them have a big presence in Prince Albert,” he said.

Another attendee at the mayoral speech was also buoyed by the potential of the project.

“In terms of the activity going on at the project we certainly want to reach out to the affected Aboriginal communities in the area,” Geoff Gay, the CEO at Athabasca Basin Development said. “Our companies are certainly interested in partnering and have extended notice to those communities when the opportunity arises.”

glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @princealbertnow