The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Cheetah uses local talent, supplies at Canada's first REE mine North of 60 Mining News – August 6, 2021
Sarah Erasmus receives a certificate from members of the Cheetah Resources team recognizing Erasmus Apparel as the 100th Northwest Territories supplier to Nechalacho.
Yellowknives Dene Drummers perform during the ceremonial commissioning of a sensor-based ore sorter at Nechalacho.
From more than 75% of its workforce and contractors being Canada's First People to sourcing goods and supplies from over 100 local suppliers, Cheetah Resources Corp. is committed to flowing benefits to Northwest Territories communities as it develops Nechalacho – Canada's first and only rare earth's mine.
"It takes a village to raise a child, and it takes a community to build a project. A community of indigenous and non-indigenous suppliers, employees, and not-for-profits," said Cheetah Resources Vice President of Strategy and Corporate Affairs David Connelly. "Without this community, the Nechalacho rare earth project could not exist, and the NWT would not host Canada's first rare earth mine."
Northwest Territories, however, does host such a mine and the partnership between community and project developer was on full display when members of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation provided prayers and traditional drumming during the July 21 ceremonial commissioning of a sensor-based ore sorter that is upgrading rare earths ore to ready-to-ship concentrates.
Yellowknives Dene First Nation's involvement in Nechalacho is more than just ceremonial. A company it owns, Nahanni Construction, was contracted by Cheetah to carry out the mining at Nechalacho.
"The Yellowknives Dene First Nation is pleased to be the first indigenous group in Canada to be responsible for mineral extraction on their traditional territory," Yellowknives Dene First Nations Chief Ernest Betsina said earlier this year.
Cheetah believes every dollar it spends on local services and goods is "sticky," because it contributes to additional benefits in the community.
Northwest Territories suppliers use these "sticky dollars" to pay their local employees, buy from other area suppliers, pay rent to local landlords, donate to community charities, and pay municipal, school, and territorial taxes and fees.
With Cheetah acquiring 90% of its goods and services from Northwest Territories businesses, excluding machinery not made or sold locally, the benefits from a relatively small mine like Nechalacho are multiplied.
"That so many NWT suppliers rose to the occasion during COVID and demonstrated that the NWT business community and their dedicated employees could build Canada's first rare earth mine gives confidence to investors considering investing in the multigenerational expansion of the Nechalacho rare earth mine. Together they demonstrate the resilience of the NWT's Indigenous and non-Indigenous business sector," said Northwest Territories Chamber of Commerce President Yanik D'Aigle.
One such local supplier is Erasmus Apparel, which was the 100th Northwest Territories company to do business with Cheetah.
Located in downtown Yellowknife, Erasmus Apparel is known for its unique designs and local production.
When Cheetah was looking for personal protective equipment for its employees and swag for guests, Erasmus Apparel was a natural choice.
Sarah Kakfwi, Cheetah's office manager, and Jerome Catholique, one of Nechalacho's new sensor-based ore sorter operators, presented a certificate recognizing Erasmus Apparel as Nechalacho's 100th supplier to business owner Sarah Erasmus on Aug. 3.
CORRECTION 10-12-2021: The opening paragraph of this article was changed to say that more than 75% of the workforce and contractors at Nechalacho during the summer of 2021 were Canada's First People.
Over his more than 16 years of covering mining and mineral exploration, Shane has become renowned for his ability to report on the sector in a way that is technically sound enough to inform industry insiders while being easy to understand by a wider audience.
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