The new two-year agreement confirms Central Mountain Air remains the provider of air charter services for Red Chris crew flights under Newcrest operation
DEASE LAKE – The Tahltan Nation Development Corporation (TNDC) and Central Mountain Air Ltd. (CMA) have finalized a contract with Newcrest Mining Limited (Newcrest) for air transportation of Red Chris mine crews. The contract is a stellar example of the power of partnership between the mining industry, service providers and Indigenous business in strengthening capacity, collaboration and relationships.
The new two-year agreement confirms Central Mountain Air remains the provider of air charter services for Red Chris crew flights under Newcrest operation. The CMA Group first provided Red Chris Air Charter Services in 2012 and has been providing workforce crew transportation to the Red Chris Mine since 2018 under the previous mine operator. Newcrest, one of the world’s largest gold mining companies, has been the operator of the Red Chris Mine, located in Tahltan Territory, since August 2019. 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.
“TNDC is honoured to join forces with Central Mountain Air to provide safe, reliable aviation services for this valued client. This is another exciting opportunity for TNDC at Red Chris and ensures regional businesses benefit from this powerhouse project. TNDC looks forward to working collaboratively with Central Mountain Air to support Newcrest’s operations. We appreciate the continued support and confidence of the Newcrest Mining team in TNDC and our service partnerships,” says Paul Gruner, TNDC’s chief executive officer.
“Central Mountain Air appreciates the opportunity to continue to provide the Newcrest Mining team with safe and dedicated air charter services and looks forward to continuing our long history of proven excellent performance and customer service. We are also pleased to formalize our partnership with TNDC through this contract and look 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 Newcrest and the other organizations and communities we serve. We share TNDC’s and Newcrest’s commitments to excellence and building powerful, value-creating partnerships,” says Doug McCrea, CMA’s president.
The Red Chris flight charter contract cements the TNDC-Central Mountain Air partnership, established in September 2021. CMA also provides charter flights to Skeena Resources’ Eskay Revitalization Project in the region. In addition to uniting the two long established, economically valued northwestern British Columbia businesses to serve resource projects in the region, the partnership paves the path for new aviation career opportunities for Tahltans.
The air charter contract expands the services TNDC, the business arm of the Tahltan Nation, is providing at Red Chris in collaboration with business partners. TNDC provides crew transport by highway coach between the Dease Lake Airport and mine site, tailings impoundment area construction, underground mining portal exploration, underground explosives, geotechnical and explorational drilling, and concentrate hauling. The charter contract also complements TNDC’s growing air support business. As the Dease Lake Airport contract operator, TNDC serves the Red Chris charter flights.
