AS VISTA Gold - the company which owns Mt Todd gold mine near Pine Creek - gears up to reopen the mine and create hundreds of jobs for the region, Independent candidate for Katherine, Teresa Cummings, says Katherine “is not ready to capture the opportunities” that come with a mining boom.
“The Katherine region is on the cusp of a mining boom - five or six new ore mining developments are undergoing feasibility and several are nearing construction.
“Capital expenditure for these could exceed $1.2 billion.
“And this is not taking into account the 4-5 existing mines and the oil and gas exploration activity that is happening now.
“More than 1000 jobs could be needed for construction. More than 800 jobs could be created in production - but very little is being done to identify and prepare local workers who are interested in working in either construction or production,” Ms Cumming said.
For the full story, see this week's June 20 edition of the Katherine Times.