Whitehorse Daily Star from Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada • 4

4 Yukon The Whitehorse STAR Thursday May 20 1999 Tourists arrive on first German flight of the season Clark said the airport did not need to do much to prepare for the arrival He said the main thing was a couple of extra security people were brought in yesterday to help organize assist customs and make sure die event went smoothly there was) nothing extra special that we Clark said The manager said one extra airport security member may have to be brought in when each flight arrives However he does not think the airport needs to do much different for the weekly flights Clark said he get much of a chance to speak with the disembarking tourists He did speak with a representative from Condor Air who was excited about adding Whitehorse to the route The Boeing 767 airplane which can carry up to 269 passengers made use of the new runway extension which was built last year Condor will fly into Whitehorse every Wednesday at 12: 10 pm to drop off tourists and pick up those ready to head back to Europe While there is only one flight per week now Clark said there is a possibility that a second flight could be added but that would more likely happen next year if at all For this tourist season the flights will run until the end of September By JASON SMALL Star Reporter From the heart of Europe to the heart of wilderness the first plane load of German tourists arrived in the Yukon Wednesday The Condor Air flight which will be a weekly trek arrived shortly before noon at Whitehorse International Airport directly from Frankfurt Germany Of the 190 passengers on the plane91 got off at Whitehorse with die remainder heading into Anchorage Alaska This is the first year Condor a charter-division of the German airline Lufthansa is flying directly to Whitehorse This is not however the first year for direct trips from Europe Last year the Canadian company Air Transat had regular direct flights from Germany Airport Manager Brian Clark said Condor has been flying to Alaska for a few years Whitehorse was simply added as a stop on those flights While less than half of flight got off in Whitehorse Yukon Tourism spokesperson Rod Raycroft said some of those who went on to Anchorage will come to the Yukon in campers The tourists a couple of whom arrived with their huskies were welcomed at the airport by Tourism Minister Dave Keenan and Whitehorse mayor Kathy Watson 1 Cash Resources disappointed By JASON SMALL Star Reporter A Yukon coal deposit is going to have to sit until the prices for the fuel improve Cash Resources who controls the Division Mountain deposit 90 km northwest ofWhitehorse announced Usibelli Coal Mine will no longer work on the site Usibelli was operating the deposit and had the option to earn a 50 per cent interest in the project through cash and exploration spending The company also could have bought the site outright from Cash Resources Instead the company has pulled up its intent due to the lack of a call for coal in domestic and world markets very said Doug Eaton a director with Cash Resources who hoped Usibelli would stay in the project but understands the situation Eaton said because there is no call for coal energy in the Yukon a company would have to look outside the territory Star Photo by CATHIE ARCHBOULD RECENT ARRIVALS Tony Schwarlentrul arrived on direct flight from Frankfurt Germany with his father and Siberian husky Dingo It Is fourth trip to the Yukon and on this visit he Is canoeing down the Yukon River to Carmacks Second diamond mine in NWT receives preliminary endorsement for selling their product However he said the mines which are already operating can fill the coal needed for the current worldwide demand Eaton said the low market prices for the commodity and the poor Asian economy are also big reasons for the lack of interest in coal a very difficult said Eaton The director said the logical place to sell the coal is the Far East but there is little call for it because of the poor Asian economy For example he said Usibelli is having a problem negotiating with long-term clients in Korea For now the site which Cash Resources estimates holds 529 million tonnes of coal will not be developed until a need for coal makes it profitable to operate the site have to wait till demand catches up a said Eaton Eaton could not put a time on when somebody may go into the Division Mountain deposit to mine He know when the markets for coal will improve he added Jack acquitted Patrick Jack a 20-year-old Whitehorse man who was recently released from jail for manslaughter was acquitted of theft and breach of probation charges in territorial court Tuesday Jack fatally stabbed 21 -year-old Francis Sunjay Weber in July 1995 following an argument at a party Jack who was only 16-years-old at the time of the stabbing has been in jail since then but was released from custody on parole last February He is currently on parole but will begin his 1 8-month probation in the fall said Crown attorney David McWhinnie Jack was arrested in April for being intoxicated and trying to break into a liquor storage room at the 202 Hotel lawyer Scott Niblock maintained Jack did not know what was inside the door As territorial judge Heino Lilies was not convinced if Jack actually intended to steal liquor the charges were dropped and Jack is free again sidered the environmental impact and cumulative effects of the proposed mine which would be only 35 kilometres from the existing Ekati mine operated by BHP think fair to say the government strongly supports this project the same thing happened to said Kevin executive director of the Canadian Arctic Resources Committee said he comment on the recommendations outlined in the 400-page draft report without further study But a spokesman for Diavik said the company has done everything it can to address environmental concerns was our position the project have any significant environmental effects so from that perspective we expected the project to get said Tom Hoefer The report is expected to go the federal environment minister for review at the end of the month If it receives final approval construction is expected to begin this winter for production in 2002 with a goal of six million carats a year been a long said Hoefer YELLOWKNIFE (CP) A plan to build second diamond mine is one cut closer to completion Federal regulators reviewing the environmental impact of the $875-million Diavik Diamond Mine have given it conditional approval a Northwest Territories official confirmed Wednesday A draft report to be released at the end of the month concludes there are significant or unmitigable environmental or socio-economic said David Livingstone spokesman for the Department of Renewable Resources and Environment However the project still subject to further reviews and public input must be closely supervised if granted final approval added Livingstone extensive monitoring program would be required to ensure that our predictions and our assessment is he said Diavik wants to dam off and drain sections of Lac de Gras 300 kilome- ties northeast of Yellowknife It would then build an open-pit mine on the lake bottom to get at four deposits of high-quality diamonds Critics fear the company and federal regulators have not properly con f'V'VaM i.