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Gunnar Project Updates

March 9, 2020 in News
Explorer: Spring 2020

On January 14-16, representatives from QM Points and the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) traveled to the Athabasca communities to provide updates to leadership. The January 14 meeting was in Stony Rapids, January 15 was in Fond du Lac, and January 16 was in Black Lake. Uranium City and Hatchet Lake were not toured as there was no leadership available, so updates were provided by alternative means. Some highlights from the update:

  • 82% of equipment being used is locally owned.
  • 65% of the labour is being done by locals.
  • 49% of all services and materials needed for the project were spent in the Athabasca.
  • There were 40 Athabasca residents employed: Fond du Lac – 10, Black Lake/Stony Rapids – 8, Hatchet Lake – 7, Uranium City – 4.
  • 7 urban employees from the Athabasca who live in the south were also employed.
  • There were 4 Athabasca Community Coordinators employed from June to November.
  • Each Athabasca community will receive a bursary of $25,000 towards community projects annually for the duration of the project.
  • A scholarship fund is being developed with details to be announced in the near future. These scholarships are for $3,500 x 3 for each of the First Nation Communities. There will also be one scholarship of $3,500 for a recipient from the communities of Uranium City, Stony Rapids or Wollaston Lake.
  • The Project will start in May and end in November this year.
  • May 11-14, 2020 will see QM Points involved with the Athabasca Fly-in Career Symposium.
  • During September 2020, QM Points will host Community Feasts and Project Updates.

“These are good numbers to start, and we are constantly striving for improvement,” says Kyle Remus, Project Manager. “As part of our ongoing commitment building local capacity, we will continue to work with the,Athabasca communities to increase local involvement even further as this project continues, with the ultimate goal of maximizing local involvement to the highest level possible.”

A recruitment tour will take place in the Athabasca region the week of March 2. QM Points and SRC will be travelling to the Athabasca communities to accept resumes from Athabasca residents who are interested in working at the Gunnar project. Dates, times and locations will be found on community posters, on the QM Points Facebook page and on MBC radio.

QM Points is a partnership between QM Environmental – a leading national environmental services contractor – and Points Athabasca – a civil and construction contractor with majority Athabasca Basin ownership and over 20 years of successful operations in the Athabasca region. Last year, QM Points entered into an agreement with SRC to complete one of the final phases of the Gunnar mine remediation project. The site will be remediated to a level that will allow reestablishment of vegetation and traditional uses of the land. The former Gunnar mine was closed in 1964 with little
decommissioning and is located approximately 25km south of Uranium City. QM Points began work on the Gunnar site in July 2019.