By: John Chilibeck, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter. Source: The Daily Gleaner November 14, 2025

Mayor David Sweeney. Photo: Nashwaak Rural Community

Prime Minister Carney called the proposed Sisson mine in New Brunswick a nation-building project on Thursday, but the elected officials of the rural community nearby won’t take a stance on the controversial development, at least not yet.

David Sweeney, the mayor of Nashwaak Rural Community, told Brunswick News mere hours before Carney’s announcement that he talked to the other five council members the day before about what to say.

“What they’ve asked me to tell reporters is council is gathering up-to-date information on the Sisson Mine project, and we’ll provide comment once we’ve had the opportunity to review the information in full,” he said. “Protection of the Nashwaak River and Tay River valley remains our top priority.”

The neutral tone is in contrast to the enthusiastic endorsement of Premier Susan Holt and Natural Resources Minister John Herron, both of whom are gung-ho about Northcliff Resources’ plans to dig up the critical minerals tungsten and molybdenum.

The company, based out of Vancouver, and the provincial government say the mine will create hundreds of jobs and generate wealth, both in terms of incomes and tax dollars.

Community split

But the council’s lukewarm stance also reflects the split in the rural area and the ambivalence some people feel about a project that could dramatically transform their way of life.

“The people for and against the mine are about fifty-fifty,” said Samantha Szabo, the manager of Hillside Convenience in the old village of Stanley, who talks to locals every day.

“I’m on the side of those against it. We’re more concerned with environmental factors that come along with said mine. If anything happens to the let-out pond, all of us downstream could be in peril where our houses aren’t worth anything.”

Szabo moved with her two daughters and granddaughter from Cambridge, a busy city of southern Ontario, eight years ago to buy a piece of what she calls ‘a generational property’ that will allow her family to live on the land. They purchased a lot just outside Stanley with more than 100 acres and an 1892 farmhouse, with a creek running through it.

“I came here for the beauty of it. You don’t see garbage like when you travel down the 401,” she said of Canada’s busiest highway. “People here actually care about the environment, the animals, the water, everything.”

However, Szabo said she could understand the flipside, and what the mine would mean for local businesses, including her convenience store.

“People who support the project expect or hope the workforce for the mine will be from here in New Brunswick. Jobs are scarce around here.”

Northcliff says the mine will create about 500 construction jobs and more than 300 full-time jobs once the mine is running.

Toxic tailings pond

The Sisson mine would be built near the headwaters of the Nashwaak, the pristine river that meanders through several communities in central New Brunswick before draining into the St. John River at Fredericton. Photo by John Chilibeck, Brunswick News

Nashwaak Rural Community is a new local government created in the wake of provincial reforms that includes Stanley and parts of the local service districts of Stanley, Saint Marys, Esteys Bridge, and Douglas, extending close to Fredericton.

The mine would be built close to the northernmost reaches of the community, near the headwaters of the Nashwaak, the river that meanders through much of the rural community’s settlements, forest and farmland before draining into the St. John River in the capital.

The mine would include a large tailings holding pond, brimming with toxic waste but protected by an earthen berm, not far from the river whose water quality is still considered top notch.

Between 6,000 and 7,000 people live in the rural community that takes about 50 minutes to drive from end to end.

Big topic in town

Dana Trider, owner of Trider Excavation and Contracting, said the mine is the big topic in town. He owns three acres on the water in the heart of the old village.

“The tailings pond is what freaks me out because if that releases into the Nashwaak, it’s going to be bad,” the business owner said. “If they could truck the tailings out to Napadogan, where CN has a laydown yard, I think it would be perfect. But to have the tailings pond on the headwaters is a recipe for disaster in my opinion.”

Trider, 41, grew up in the area and said if the mine was “run right,” it could create a lot of jobs.

“There would probably be a lot of spin-off work for a guy like me,” he admitted. “But I think there are more people here concerned about the environment than jobs. We think it will just create jobs for people from other places.”

Like a lot of people Brunswick News interviewed, Andy MacNeil said he had two views on the mine.

“I’ve lived here my whole life,” said the owner of MacNeil’s Autohaus, a used auto dealer. “If they can do it safely without ruining the river, I’m all about creating jobs, I’m all about industry in the area. But I own a piece of ground on the Nashwaak River, and someday for my kids, that will be theirs, right? And if that is going to be destroyed because of that mine, I want nothing to do with it.

“But if they can safely run the thing, I’m not opposed.”

Henry Wall, a home builder who lives in the old Nashwaak Village, recently moved from Ontario. He recounted that one of his customers was talking in favour of the mine just a few hours before on Thursday morning.

They talked about people who fret about the environment and Indigenous protesters who put up an encampment several years ago and stopped heavy machinery from doing clearing and other preparatory work on the proposed mine site.

“It would be good for the economy, as far as that goes. New Brunswick is one of the provinces that’s the furthest behind in Canada, right? Second highest in taxes and 30 years behind Ontario when it comes to business. So, the mine might give us a little boost.”

He said it would be interesting to see a rush of people move in and build homes, similar to communities near Alberta’s oilsands.

Still, he could see the flipside.

“New Brunswick is a beautiful province. We moved here four years ago from Ontario to focus on family and relationships and not be running a rat race,” he said, chuckling. “But I guess that mine might not help that, right?”

Sisson Mine in last year of operation with approximately 145-hectare open pit, 370 metres deep. (Six hockey rinks could fit into a single hectare) and tailings pond of over 350 million cubic metres. Figures from Conservation Council of New Brunswick. Photo: Northcliffe Resources Ltd. promotional video via HDI mining

This story was written by Local Journalism Initiative Reporter John Chilibeck of Brunswick News.

To read the government of New Brunswick news release, click here.

For recent coverage from the NB Media Co-op, click here.