Garcia Silica Inc. will be hosting an open house in La Ronge this evening to release information regarding their ongoing pilot project.
Tri-community members are invited to attend the session with their resumes as hundreds of jobs will be available once the project gets the green light.
The main job that will need to be filled is by truck drivers who will haul loads south.
CEO of Garcia Silica Inc., Camilo Garcia says people who are serious about joining their team and who obtain their truck licenses will be reimbursed the cost of training.
Beyond truck drivers, other jobs that will need to be filled are cooks, landscapers, and people to supply water and maintain washroom facilities.
The pilot project for phase one is taking place at the Creighton Junction (south of Highway 165, about one kilometer in from Highway 2) and occupies less than half of a kilometer. As the project moves along, a yet-to-be-hired landscaping team will be providing reforestation to ensure the land returns back to its natural state.
The silica sand that is extracted in the area is 93-98 per cent pure, making the purification process simpler.
Garcia says that the La Ronge area isn’t the only location with a rich silica sand region, but knowing that La Ronge has a high unemployment rate, it is a win-win situation as they will be able to employ hundreds of local residents.
“Some people may ask, ‘why here?’’, says Garcia. “Why not? You have unemployment, a big, big rate of unemployment and we need people. If we do it far away, we will need to camp. Why not solve two things at the same time? Helping the town with unemployment, and other thing is we don’t have to camp anywhere. People are here already trained.”
He adds that many people already have mining experience and he will rely on them to teach the next generation of workers. Garcia has already spoken to Northlands College about potentially setting up a program to train people on the silica project.
Phase two will be harvesting the sand into solar cells for solar panels. Garcia sees that this project could change the way we look at energy, and encourages people to get excited about the project.
“The long, long term is to produce solar panels at a large scale to produce clean electricity,” explains Garcia. “That will create tons of jobs and we will be doing something good for Mother Nature. We dump more garbage and consume more fossil fuel than anyone and this is one project that could make people proud to be part of.”
Some concerns raised at a previous meeting was that inhaling the material could be dangerous to the human body, but Garcia explains that the equipment will be enclosed, ensuring that the particles don’t find their way into the air. He also adds that workers in and around the facility will have proper training that abides to provincial and federal safety standards.
The meeting will take place at the Motor Inn in La Ronge at 7pm. Residents will learn more about the project, will be able to apply for positions and ask any questions they may have.
(Photo courtesy of garciasilica.com)