DEASE LAKE – The Tahltan Nation Development Corporation (TNDC) announced that its aviation partner, Central Mountain Air (CMA) has secured a new five year-agreement with Newcrest Mining Limited (Newcrest) to provide air transportation for their Red Chris mine crews.
TNDC’s goal is to be the Indigenous Partner of Choice – an integrated full-service provider and trusted partner to our clients. With approximately $295 million of mineral exploration expenditures in Tahltan Territory and over $1 billion in projected mining production values, TNDC understands the importance of relationships and getting skilled human resources to site.
The central access point for the exploration/mining industry is Dease Lake, where TNDC is the airport operator of the Dease Lake Airport; in fact, TNDC is the only Indigenous Organization to manage an airport in British Columbia. TNDC already provides passenger transport by highway coach between the Dease Lake Airport and the Red Chris mine site, through another partnership. Couple this with TNDC’s partnership with CMA, which began in 2021, TNDC’s partnerships now provide the critical full transportation solution (ground and air) to the mining sector in northwest BC.
CMA charter services are provided weekly from several marshalling points – Vancouver, Nanaimo, Kamloops, Kelowna, Williams Lake, Prince George, and Calgary – into Smithers, then onto Dease Lake.
“This agreement is an excellent example of the power of partnerships between the mining industry and Indigenous service providers. It is also another example of TNDC diversifying our business and becoming an integrated full-service provider and trusted partner to our clients. Air charter services is critical to Newcrest’s operations, and we are pleased our aviation partner, Central Mountain Air continues to provide air charter services to this important client. We appreciate the continued support and confidence of the Newcrest Mining team in TNDC and our partners,” says Paul Gruner, CEO, TNDC.
“Central Mountain Air looks forward to a lasting, meaningful, and respectful relationship with the Tahltan Nation. In conjunction with TNDC, we are excited to continue to provide safe, reliable air services to the organizations and communities we serve. We share TNDC’s commitment to excellence and building powerful value creating partnerships. We appreciate the opportunity to continue to provide the Newcrest Mining team with safe and dedicated air charter services and look forward to continuing our long history of proven excellent performance and customer service,” says Doug McCrea, President, CMA.
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