Page 2 Cassiar Courier ERICKSON GOLD MIN [E by Pat Lewis Boon The light on Table Mountain continues to shine this winter as the Erickson Gold Mine begins its second year of operation. It was December 22, 1978, that the Erickson mill turned over for the first time. The date also marks the beginning of operation for the only mine in all of Canada to go into production in 1978. And 1979 has been a successful year forthe 110 ton a day gold mine which is located about 15 miles from Cassiar. There is always a bit of romance connected with gold mining. But the story behind this mine is one of hard work, determination and some good team spirit. David and Kristian Ross of the Agnes and Jennie Mining Company began bulldozer trenching at the mine site in 1974. In 1976, after percussion : drill- ing and some diamond drilling produced encou- raging results, the. Rosses decided to bring in a partner, Nu Energy Development Corp. Extensive drilling was carried out in 1976 and the prospectors decided to go underground. They left Vancouver on Boxing Day, 1976, and drove to the mine site in motor homes which . were set up as a camp at the portal site. Thus the first under- ground program, carried out in January-Febru- ary, 1977, was driven in winter. All of 1977 the company conducted an exten- sive surface drilling program extending the known length and depth of the vein. And in the ‘winter of 1977-78 an undergound program ex- tended the drift along the vein. In addition, a raise and sub drifts were driven. This final work gave the company good information about the vein and they decided to take the necessary steps to borrow money and bring the Erickson Gold > Mine into production. Bank approval was received at the end of August, 1978, and building began in early September. The company anticipated earlier bank approval and found themselves building the mine, mill and camp in Fall and Winter with a Summer budget. Winter 1978 was cold and severe with tempera- tures dipping to 70 below. The little camp above ' McDame_ Lake struggled with frozen water’ and sewer lines but work continued. On December 22nd the mill turned over for the first time and the Erickson Gold Mine was noted in official min- ing records as the only mine in Canada to go into production in 1978. Looking back to last year, Agnes and Jennie Vice ' President Kristian Ross praised the Erickson workers. “‘We’re proud of the work done by every one. There was very good work done and spirits were high,”’ he said. The start-up period continued until the end of March and April 1,1979, was the first day of full production. Ross said further, “As we move ahead we have the opportunity to increase our tonnage per day. with our present facilities. ““Mean while, work has now begun on a lower level. There are about 40 people. Be ioved at the Erick- son Gold Mine with a’small staff at the head of- fice in Vancouver. Senior Staff includes Mine Manager A.J. Beaton, Mill Superintendent Dave Chapman, Mine Engineer Bob Roscoe and Mine Foreman Jim McClean. WS.T.V. _ ‘A BLEVISION The following is a copy of the brief presented by Mr. W. Schneeberger to the Canadian Radio Television Commission held in Prince George. December 1, 1979 Mr. Chairman, Members of the Canadian Radio Television Commission. vies Cassiar Woman Dies Local resident, Lorna Elaine Cosnett, born May 9, 1937, was found frozen to death outside her home in the early morning hours of alan 5) 1980. The purpose of this brief is to bring to the atten- tion of the committee the need for TVRO’s in Northern Canada. Prince George is usually considered as the North Country by those living in the south, but ap- proximately 900 miles north of Prince George is the community of Watson Lake, Cassiar is situ- ated approximately 1,000 miles northwest, 1,400 miles north is Faro and 1,600 miles north of Prince George is Dawson City, with many small communities between. The winters in these areas are long and extreme and temperatures of -50 F are not uncommon. These temperatures confine people to their home much more than in the south, and for this reason, television is a very important asset in day to day living and is one of the major sources of variety and entertainment. Although I am not an authority on. areas in which. I have neither lived in nor seen, it is clear in my own mind that the same situation exists in northern communities all across Canada. To em- phasize this, I would like to briefly summarize the development of television in the North. In about 1967, the Canadian Broadcasting Cor- poration introduced the Frontier Package to the North, This involved four hours of television programming per day from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. and was welcomed at the time. In 1972, Anik Satellite was put into orbit and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation adapted to Satellite Communications through the installation of 0$O000000000000000000 Jim Fulton MP for Skeena A Federal Election has ‘been called for Monday, Feb. 18, 1980. I hope the following information is helpful to you: Every person who on or before election day is a Canadian citizen.and who has at- tained the age of 18 years qualifies as an elector. Every person who fulfills both of the above conditions, and whose name appears on the voter’s list as a result of enumeration, quali- fies as an elector; Please make sure your name appears on the voter’s list when it is posted in ,your neighbourhood or com- munity. If your name is left off the voter’s list, contact the Returning Officer or any of the candidate’s committee rooms as soon as possible to have the error corrected. The poll in which you vote and the loca- tion of the place where you vote will ap- pear on the voter’s list. Please make sure you know where you vote. 4 The polls will be open for casting your bal- Earth Receiving Stations. Again, the new pro- grams available and live television were wel- comed and appreciated. These Earth Receiving Stations are still in operation and offering popu- lar programs such as “* The National, Hockey Night in Canada, Sports” plus a number of docu- mentaries and scientific programs. CBC is doing: a commendable job in an area as vast as Canada’s North. Equally important is a variety of programming which is presently not available in the North but has been available for many years in the South- ern part of Canada. A large percentage of those people living in the north are employed in the resource industries which operate 7 days per week, 24 hours per day. For these people, tele- vision is a very important source of entertain- ment and variety is a major concern. A system has been developed which is affordable to the private broadcaster. On November 1, 1978 one of these systems was introduced to the viewing public in Cassiar, B.C. The signal is re- ceived from the Satcom FI Satellite. There is realization in the U.S. that it is important to supply cable systems with a variety of programs from independent stations. This variety is avail- able from American Satellites. Until there are equivalent programs available from a Canadian Satellite, there is no other option than CBC, but there is a strong demand for other programming. I am sure that I am speaking for all the private Broadcasters in the North when I say there is a _responsibility to supply the people of the North a choice of programming. This has been available and has been widely accepted for years in South- ern communities. I urge the members of this committee to make an expedient, positive deci- sion, and remove the barriers to private Broad- casting so that these Northern Communities can enjoy the variety of programming that is already available. DOPOD OOD OSH OOO POP OOP ODDO DODO OOD O OOP OOOO OOO OOD ‘lot on Monday, February 18, 1980 fom 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Every employee who is entitled to vote is guaranteed by law to have, prior to the closing of the polls, four consecutive hours for the purpose of casting their vote. To vote for the candidate of your choice, you must mark on the ballot. an “*X”’ or similar mark in the blank circle beside the © candidate’s name. Please. contact the political party of your choice for information regarding advance polls and voting before election day. During the campaign you may ‘still contact me by writing to my Ottawa office,,. c/o House of Commons, Ottawa, K1A 0X2 or through your local NDP representative. (In Cassiar, contact _Oscar Daum.) I would like to thank you for the opportunity to serve as your Member of Parliament. It has been a privilege to represent our strong agricultural and industrial constituency. My aim has been to work for all the people of Skeena, regardless of political affiliation or belief. 2 I look forward to seeing and visiting many of you soon — in what I hope will be an interesting and hard-fought campaign on issues concerning you - the constituency of Skeena. : ing towards for the ’ Tracy Anderson The evening of December’11th was very special for five little girls in Cassiar. This was the even- ing when Crystal Brand, Joanne Coran, Nicole Deyo, Sian Jones, and Tara Komperdo were en- rolled as Brownies. Since the enrollment cere- mony was held in conjunction with a Christmas party it seemed fitting that Santa should enroll them. We hope that the girls will enjoy their Brownie experiences and wish them luck as they work towards their various badges. Several awards were given out ‘the same evening. Jacqueline Brand and Pamela King received their sixer stripes. Bernadette Howard and Tracy Anderson received their second stripes. The foll- owing received badges which they had been work- past few. months. Tamara Mulrooney - Golden Bar. | - Golden Ladder. Jacqueline Brand - Golden Hand. - Vicky Brown - Gardening. Kate Elhorn - Gardening.. Bernadette Howard - Gardening. ... «. Pamela King - Gardening. Annette Sharkey, Anne Pewsey, and Trina Harley will have their gardening badges forwarded to ‘them as they have relocated since cone: them last summer. Once the formalities were over the Brownies enjoy-- ed an evening of fun and games and refreshments. The latter were donated by the Brownie Mothers. Congratulations to the newly enrolled Brownies. We hope to be hearing more about our local Brownies’ activities in the near future. Shank Lou We wouldétlike to extend''a sincere thank you to the Cassiar Fire Department for their quick re- sponse to the fire at our home. Thanks to them we were able to move back into our house within a few days and still enjoy the holiday season. Thank you also to the staff at the laundry for not leaving town when they saw us coming and to all our friends who took care of the children and helped with a cleanup job that would cther- wise have been overwhelming. - Once again a sincere thank ‘you. Lou and Lee Vujanich. REFLECTIONS fom a by es 8 al Happy New Year! Another year - another decade - another column to write. I’ve been sitting here full of turkey and other fine holiday goodies trying to come up with a stimulating subject for this issue of the Courier. But - alas not a thing has come to mind. Oh -I had considered writing about the fact that people don’t make much of an effort to shovel their driveways and complain with great gusto when the “surface crew” doesn’t appear in the night to clean off their street. I'd even considered a whole column about our much maligned Raven, Just a few notes on things - like how a Raven can survive to 70 years old. Living in our climate that’s not a bad feat - considering how long some of us survive up here. Maybe there’s some good stuff left in our gar- bage. But I suppose being members of such an affluent society, any consideration of a garbage- . picking Raven is beyond our realm of thought. Another subject that had casually crossed my mind for discussion this time was - dogs! As I drive around Cassiar I’m amazed at how many dogs are left tied up all day - left tied up- for so long that they of course relieve themselves or bark continually to relieve boredom. I had considered mentioning that a: dog doesn’t like to use his yard as a bathroom and also most dogs will “‘do their business’ during that healthy morning walk you take him on. Another point is that a dog usually won’t bark'as much when he’s happy and well-cared for. Maybe a good ‘topic for a future column. Oh another thought just crossed my mind - shopping carts at the store! It surprises me how many people fight their way through the maze of shopping carts just so they can find one that’s inside the store. Of course most people use their cart, take it outside and leave it where their car is, so the next person can’t park easily. But in- variably each person in turn fights through the carts complaining in each breath to again repeat the process. I had considered mentioning in passing that if each of us pushed in a cart from outside when we need one and returning our used carts to one central area the problem might be alleviated. But perhaps I'll think of that topic for a future issue. So since I’m sort of stymied for subjects for this issue - I’ try my best to come up with some good topics for next time. ‘SHIRTS ONLY 378 McDame St ies Phone 778-7723 T-SHIRTS SHIRTS ETC. DECALS APPLIED WHILE YOU WAIT LETTERING AVAILABLE OPEN i ~1-4:30 p.m. 1-7:30 p.m. 1-6:00 p.m. Thursday Friday Saturday Cassiar Courier Page - LIBRARY ont NEWS As it is appropriate to look back ata year gone : by, I will just do that and may come up with a nostalgic view of things past. The year 1979 was dedicated to the Children, and books, magazines; and pamphlets; were printed and published to educate and entertain the public. Our Library received a share of the available material; and I enjoyed reading and displaying it. Many children came to the Library to take out books. Ienjoyed having them and hope they come back to take advantage of the many books available to them, Service to children has always been a part of every. library, and we do our best to measure up to the standard suitable for our town. Children should develop a lifelong love affair with books and start at an early age, not only for enjoyment but also to adjust easier, socially and psychologically, to the demands of growing up. What is better than a book on any given subject for an insightful look: at growing up,or to share. a book with a friend to discuss a important matter. i I will take down the display of Children of the World and hope with everybody that all the propaganda throughout the year has not been in vain, I have a list of thank yous to a lot of people and lam grateful: for their support and help during 1979: the members of the Library Board, Gary. Periard and his staff, the Community Club and the Town Council for their financial support, jand : ; last but not least, all the Library patrons. In order to form a new Library Board there will — be a meeting on January 30, 1980 at 7:30 p.m. in the Library and all members are urged to attend. Anybody interested in joining the Library Board is cordially invited to attend mes meeting. Mondays 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesdays closed = Wednesdays 2 to 5 p.m. Thursdays 6 to 9 p.m. Fridays 6 to 9 p.m. Saturdays closed Sundays 2. to 5 p.m. FPSO 0SSOOCHSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOOSOOCOO OOS es > o | , : Senutce Ltd, @ 3 . - Mrs. M. Nitti, : 190 Zimmerman St. >< 778-7220 3 Provincial Licensed Travel Agent e ; For All Your Travel Needs ocal Domestic & Internationa - Reservations & Tickets ALL TYPES OF CHARTERS, BOTH DOMES- ABLE TO WINNIPEG, TORONTO, AND MONTREAL. CRUISES - HOLIDAY PACKAGES HAWAII, BAHAMAS, CARIBBEAN HOURS _Mon, Wed. Thurs. Friday Saturday 10 a.m. -5 p.m. $ Si ® TIC AND TO EUROPE. SKY. BUS AVAIL- : : $ 3 10 a.m, - 6 p.m. $ @ @ $ g 3 nd A 10 a.m. -4p.m. eed uuoy, aiterngon and all day, Sundays : i