Doug Ashbury
Northern News Services

Cambridge Bay (Nov 22/99) - Lupin mine owner Echo Bay is aiming to hire from 40 to 60 people from the Kitikmeot, mine manager Bill Danyluk said last Monday.

Echo Bay will be conducting interviews in Cambridge Bay and Kugluktuk in December.

Once restarted, Lupin will be a leaner operation than when it was put on care and maintenance two years ago, Danyluk adds.

The "new" Lupin will require 323 staff compared to just over 400 when the mine was operational two years ago, Danyluk said.

Lupin is located in Nunavut on Contwoyto Lake north of BHP Diamonds' Ekati mine. Restarting the gold mine will take about five months. With a re-engineering plan, Echo Bay estimates it can produce gold at Lupin at about $245 US an ounce.

Of the 323 total staff who will be needed to run Lupin, Danyluk estimated as many as 80 per cent could be employees who lost jobs when the mine shut down in January 1998 due to low gold prices.

When Lupin was mothballed, Echo Bay estimated about 40 people from the communities of Cambridge Bay and Kugluktuk lost their jobs.

"We're really going to rely on our ex-employees," he said.

"Of the people we contacted only about one or two per cent said they weren't interested in coming back," he said.

But, he adds, this was prior to remuneration changes.

The recommissioned Lupin will have an 11-day work schedule, down from 12, and wages will be lower than before the mine was temporarily mothballed.

Last week, Lupin mine owner Echo Bay interviewed about 50 ex-Giant miners. Five Echo Bay staff conducted the interviews at the Explorer Hotel.

It will be several weeks before people know if they've been hired on at Lupin, Danyluk said.

The company is hoping to hire as many Giant workers as possible to ease some of the pain of the Giant mine closure, he said.

But if the mine is able to re-hire a large a percentage of former employees, "that doesn't leave a lot of positions" left over, he said.

As of last week, Giant was officially put on care and maintenance with about 24 workers on site.

As for transportation, Echo Bay will be flying staff to Lupin from four locations; Yellowknife, Cambridge Bay, Kugluktuk and Edmonton. The company will use its company Corp. Air to fly staff. Catering at the mine will be done by Kitikmeot Caterers.