Fraser Lake, B.C. – Although the  Endako  Molybdenum mine  near  Fraser Lake   will be  in  what  has been labeled a ‘temporary suspension’ in a  matter of weeks, the Mayor of Fraser Lake is optimistic about  his community’s future.

The mining company, Thompson Creek Metals and its partner Sojitz Moly Resources, announced  in early December that about half of its salaried workers would be let go at the end of December and hourly workers would face lay off  as of early February.

Mayor  Dwayne Lindstrom says the  mining company has been  quick to  assist workers. “We had a town hall meeting and the mine came with resume writers.  They’ve had a job  fair right at the mine,  I don’t  know how many  different mines and companies were up there  to hire people, or  to give people information on what job openings are available. “

He says, “It’s  going to be hard on the town, we’re just  hoping Moly  prices come back up and  it will reopen again.  They aren’t going to shut this thing down forever, they didn’t put it into moth balls,  They’re going to have  a skeleton crew up  there after February  just to make sure  everything is ready to go and running, and when the Moly prices come back up , they will be ready  to go again.”

Lindstrom says as difficult as  the  lay offs may be,  people understand the economic reality  for the  mining company “I haven’t heard any bad comments,  they are  disappointed, but they understand the situation.”

He says the Province  brought a team of  people  into the community  and  had them set up at the Learning Centre to assist  impacted workers or their families with   their needs.   That team will be available  four days a week.

“Everybody  has been working really hard on this, to ease into the transition as easily as possible” says Mayor Lindstrom.

The shutdown will impact about 250 employees,  “It is what it is’’  says Mayor Lindstrom  who adds  Thompson Creek is hopeful the workers will come back  once the Moly prices rebound “Everybody’s hopeful the families will stay in town, ‘cause there’s lots of fly in- fly out camps nowadays,  that’s just kind of becoming a way of life, we’re hoping most of the people will stay and  commute  back and forth.  There’re lots of job opportunities available.”

But the north   is nothing if not resilient  “None of this stuff is easy, that’s for sure” says Mayor Lindstrom, “Fraser Lake  has been down before,  way before I ever got into politics,  it was down  in the ‘80’s , we went through some hard times”.  Lindstrom says  other communities that have  suffered through difficult times have  been  quick to  pass along  some tips “I’ve had a lot of  good advice from a lot of communities in the area.  There’s been a lot of bad stuff happen over the past three years, mills exploding, the mountain pine beetle  epidemic, mill shut downs,  so I’ve talked to all these mayors,  and I’ve got  some really good advice from them.”