Thacker Pass will play an integral role in the economic development of northern Nevada. The construction phase will employ over 1,000 people, and the 40-year life of the mine will provide approximately 500 family-supporting permanent positions. Tax payments are estimated to be more than $8 billion over the lifetime of the mine and Humboldt County will directly benefit from government support for road maintenance, education, safety and other public services.
We are committed to hiring and doing business locally. For every dollar spent on Thacker Pass, an estimated additional fifty cents will be spent elsewhere in the local community in northern Nevada. In 2022, the total economic value distributed in the U.S. in connection with the Thacker Pass project was $46.7 million. This includes operating costs, wages and benefits, community contributions and government payments.
We provide scholarships, heavy equipment operator training and cultural monitor training for Tribe members, reflective of the needs and interests of the local communities. Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe member Jayson Crutcher and McDermitt resident William Ashby (shown below) were among the first local people hired to help our geophysics team prepare for major construction by laying out leads, lines and electrodes.
Additionally, Thacker Pass will bring infrastructure improvements, new workforce development and training programs, and several hundred indirect jobs to support mine construction and operations.
The Company will fund 100% of the design and construction of the new K-8 school in nearby Orovada. A location has been selected by the local community on public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management.
In mid-2022, we commenced and completed traffic improvements and safety upgrades at the intersection of US-95 and SR293 in the local Town of Orovada, in coordination with the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) and developed in consultation with the local communities.
