Stornoway Officially Opens Airport at Renard Mine
March 26, 15
(IDEX Online News) – Stornoway Diamond Corporation has officially opened the Clarence and Abel Swallow Airport at the Renard Mine site. The airport will be the principal access point for employees, contractors and visitors to the mine during its operation.
The airport consists of a 1,497-meter long gravel landing strip with associated instrumentation, maintenance facilities and a passenger terminal.
So far, more than 400 flights carrying 3,000 passengers have been processed during the early works and construction ramp-up at the project.
"Today's naming ceremony of the Clarence and Abel Swallow Airport is an opportunity to reflect on the relationships between Stornoway and the people our mine development will impact,” said Matt Manson, president and CEO of Stornoway.
“The construction of the airport has proceeded under the principals of sustainable development and social acceptability developed in our 2012 Mecheshoo Agreement with the Crees of the Eeyou Istchee. Cree businesses and contractors have been instrumental in its completion on budget and schedule,” said Manson.
The airport’s name honors two elder members of the Swallow family, upon whose ancestral land the mine is located.
The Renard Diamond Project is located approximately 250 kilometers north of the Cree community of Mistissini and 350 kilometers north of Chibougamau in the James Bay region of north-central Quebec.