Keeping it in the North

Avalon Rare Metals has said it will do everything it can to locate the process plant for its own Thor Lake rare earth metals project in the North.

This decision comes in the wake of Fortune Mineral's decision to locate part of its process plant for its Whati-area NICO project down south. Yellowknife and Hay River are both currently being considered as the location.

"Avalon would prefer to locate our rare earths hydromet facility in the NWT provided that we are not significantly disadvantaged by doing so," said president Don Bubar.

Asked about Fortune's decision, Avalon spokesperson David Connelly said, "Some policy makers and leaders may feel cautious after industry's and governments' efforts to create a secondary value added diamond industry in the North were not as successful as hoped."

Interior of mall comes together

Workers are putting the finishing touches on the interior of the Centre Ice Plaza in the Range Lake Area, said Spencer Decorby, project manager for Polar Developments.

Among the most unique features is a tile floor design in the middle of the mall that circles the circumference of the skylight above, said Spencer.

"The tiles are actually made of recycled glass," he said.

The mall sign will be erected at the top of a 25-foot pole facing Old Airport Road shortly, he added.

Video out

Yellowknifers may have to say goodbye to a fixture of the home video renting community, but not for a while.

Iris Wagner, owner of Choice Video, said she will likely stop running her store in two years, but whether the store itself stays is up in the air.

"I'll try to sell it and see what happens," she said. "I've been in this for 19 years now."

A taste of time off

Connoisseurs of spicy food will have to seek enjoyment elsewhere. Downtown Vietnamese eatery A Taste of Saigon closed temporarily on Monday. Staffer Jessie Siemens said the owners of the restaurant took a week off to deal with family issues. The restaurant will reopen next week.