Prince George celebrates huge investment from global mining company

Ayotte explained several locations, including Kamloops, were in the running, but the aforementioned reasons, on top of Prince George’s post-secondary institutions supporting industry workers, made Prince George the most attractive option.

“Anytime we can scoop something over Vancouver or the Okanagan, I think it’s a win,” said Prince George City Councillor and Acting Mayor Brian Skakun.

It is an $8 million investment, according to Metso’s website, and the size of the investment and the facility itself is a big reason for excitement for all parties involved.

“Being able to invest in the locality and bring back into the communities where our customers are operating is one of the key things we want to do at Metso,” Ayotte said.

“People are starting to move in, and you drive in here (Boundary Road) now and there’s several businesses, big warehouses. I think it’s incredible, and over the years it’s just going to keep growing faster and faster. And I think we need to have that tax base,” Skakun said.

For both Skakun and Lheidli T’enneh Chief Dolleen Logan, the potential job creation is also very promising.

“They’re talking about training people how to run it. So to me it’s an opportunity for not only First Nations, but anyone who wants to start a company to come, go to school, get trained, and be able to maintain these mines that are coming in,” Logan said.

“They could go to running the mine, they could be the supervisors, they could be the accountants, they could be even the receptionist. It could be anything in the mines, so to me I think it’s prosperous for all of Prince George and our nation,” Logan continued.

“They’re coming, they’re going to create jobs, there’s going to be trucking jobs, there is going to be all sorts of things, there’s going to be more people following this company,” Skakun said.

The ripple effects of the increased tax base and economic activity, on top of the jobs created, could mean big things for our region. Logan specifically highlighted the potential investment money helping with the housing crisis, although she called the possibilities “unlimited.” As for Metso itself, Ayotte says it has always been a focus of the company to be heavily involved not just with its mining partners, but the communities they operate out of.

“One thing Metso is good at is actually being part of the project from day one, not only selling the equipment and leaving, it’s basically to be there for the full life cycle of the equipment. And basically that’s what we’re trying to do differently than our competitors. It’s actually to be a long term partnership for the operation, but also, really to reinvest in the communities that we’re part of,” Ayotte said.

The goal is to have this facility fully operational by quarter 1 of 2026.

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by Tommy Osborne

Prince George celebrates huge investment from global mining company

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