Hudbay can operate its Lalor mine camp until the end of 2016 after Snow Lake town council narrowly agreed that both the company and the community still need the accommodations.
The 4-3 vote last month means the camp, located at the edge
of Snow Lake and subject to municipal permitting, can continue for another two and a half years as long as it does not exceed 196 beds.
The divisive motion came after town council – and nearly 100 residents – heard Hudbay official Brad Lantz argue that getting workers to move to Snow Lake is challenging and that with a lack of rental accommodations, the camp is seen as the only viable alternative at the moment.
“As beautiful a community as Snow Lake is, it is becoming increasingly difficult in today’s world to get people to relocate to a new community,” Lantz told a hearing. “So we have been using the camp as somewhat of a carrot to attract people to the community, to attract people to Hudbay and attract people to Lalor.”
Hudbay had sought a five-year extension on its license to run the camp, as the original permit ran from 2010 to 2014.
Mayor Clarence Fisher told the July 15 hearing that the original licence was for a camp to house workers constructing the Lalor mine.
Accommodate
Fisher touched on the lengths to which the town has gone to accommodate Hudbay’s Lalor workforce and then asked Lantz to speak to the requested extension.
Lantz – then vice-president, Manitoba Business Unit, who has since been named vice-president, Business Development and Technical Services – said the purpose of the camp was to assist in housing for construction of the mine.
He said construction was almost finished but there was still a need for the camp in housing new workers.
Lantz said that at present 70 of the company’s operations personnel are housed in the camp. He wondered aloud how many employees would stay with Hudbay and in Snow Lake if they were told the camp would close and they would have to find other accommodations.
He stressed the need to extend the life of the camp until the mine and (proposed) mill are fully populated with employees and the workforce is stabilized.
Noting that the Lalor deposit has an anticipated 25-to-30-year lifespan, Lantz said the company does not plan to run a camp for that duration.
He also said a new Lalor concentrator was being evaluated and that officials are undecided as to whether they will build a new facility north of Lalor or go with the refurbished Stall Lake concentrator.
If Hudbay decides to build a new concentrator – a decision around which is expected later this year – Lantz said the company would have to expand the camp to handle construction workers.
The number of workers needed to mine and mill the lower tonnage figures at the refurbished mill is very close to current figures, he said, but if new mill is built, numbers will be higher.
Commitment
When Lantz finished, the floor opened to some 20 speakers. Many quoted statements made on Hudbay’s own website with respect to its commitment to sustainable communities and dialogue with these communities.
Speakers cited the low enrollment at the local school and the past practice of supplying housing and/or mortgages and incentives to attract and retain employees.
One person in favour of the camp spoke about problems with financing projects such as condos and rental accommodations within northern mining communities.
Another spoke of the Catch 22 of not being able to address community issues until there is more population and of not being able to attract those newcomers until those very issues are deal with.
The difference between how Snow Lake workers were treated when they had to work in Flin Flon versus how Flin Flon workers are treated coming to Snow Lake was common to many presentations.
When Snow Lakers were required to leave the community and work in Flin Flon in the 1990s, they were put up in a camp for a specified period of time before being told the camp would close.
Comments at the meeting also indicated that fewer provisions were made for Snow Lakers who worked in Flin Flon during the Chisel North mine’s brief hiatus a few years ago; than are being made for Flin Flonners staying at the Lalor camp.
Most presenters at the hearing felt town council should work toward fruitful negotiation with Hudbay for the betterment of Snow Lake.
Still another stated that if Hudbay wanted to get serious about Snow Lake’s survival, upper management should live in the community.
More options
Many who spoke felt that the company should have more options than a camp to attract workers to Snow Lake.
The final speaker, Terry Turnbull, made a comment that several council members recounted later.
“When the person from Hudbay spoke, they talked about the camp being their carrot,” she said. “That shouldn’t be your carrot… Everything is about marketing these days, so if you’re marketing the camp, you’re marketing to the wrong people. The town and the company need to work together and market it to the people who want to move here. You have to find a way and use something else as your carrot… [because] the camp shouldn’t be your carrot.”
When the applause died down, Lantz was given the opportunity to address the councillors again before they began deliberations.
He acknowledged the concerns people had expressed and reiterated that about 70 of nearly 140 new people hired by Hudbay live at the camp. He felt that the rest were living in the community.
Lantz added that Hudbay does not want to negatively impact Snow Lake.
“It was good tonight to hear your concerns… and I heard them,” he said.
Fisher then closed the hearing to public comment so council could discuss the presentations.
Councillors returned to statements made during the night, but the most-cited line was how the company needed to find another carrot in order to secure anything more than a transient workforce.
There was discussion around tabling a decision in favour of further deliberation, and of paring down timelines for the camp with key conditions attached.
Amendment
Coun. Brenda Forsyth-Flamand moved an amendment to the resolution approving the camp for the first year at 196 beds and the second year at 196 beds, conditional on a new concentrator being built (only 100 beds if it wasn’t built) and a further condition to have quarterly meetings with Hudbay’s human resources department. With no seconder, the amendment died on the floor.
A second amendment to allow the camp for another 2.5 years at 196 beds was moved by Coun. Aldon Kowalchuk and seconded by Coun. Chris Samborski. It passed 4-3 with Kowalchuk, Samborski, Dave Mayer and Forsyth-Flamand in favour and Rupert Klyne, Angela Enright and Fisher opposed.
It was suggested that placing a condition to meet with Hudbay would be outside the boundaries of the hearing, but it seemed that all thought the will was there to do so.
– With files from Jonathon Naylor
