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 Lift Truck Chain Yellowknife - The city of Yellowknife, North West Territories is located on the northern shore of Great Slave Lake and serves as the capital city. The city is situated south of the Arctic Circle by 400 km. Known as the 'Copper Indians', the Dene Tribe of the area named the city and the waters surrounding the city. The population in the city of Yellowknife is culturally diverse. There are 11 official languages in the Northwest Territories, but just approximately five are spoken within Yellowknife. These five comprise Dogrib, Dene suline, South and North Slavery, French and English.
The first settlers arrived during 1935, drawn by the gold that had been recently discovered in the area. By 1967, the city of Yellowknife had established itself as the capital of the Northwest Territories. The city was bustling with economic activity that was largely centered around gold production until 1980, when the city of Yellowknife shifted towards being a centre of government services. Because of the plummeting price of gold and the increased operating expenses the last gold mine in the city of Yellowknife was closed during the year 2004.
Yellowknife is the central hub for several of the main businesses in the territory, like for example education, mining, health, tourism, commerce, and government activity. Nevertheless, the economy in the city of Yellowknife is still recovering after the closure of numerous gold mines during the 1990's and the downsizing of the government workforce in 1999. The diamond boom, which began during the year 1991 when a diamond mine was discovered just north of the city of Yellowknife, has played a significant part in the recovery of the city. BHP Billiton owns and operates the Ekati Diamond Mine which opened during 1998 and in 2003 Diavik Diamond Mine, a secondary mine, was opened. In 2004 the city of Yellowknife was ranked 3rd within Canada with a production value of around C$2.1 billion and 6th within the nation by weight, coming out with 2,524 kg. In the year 2007 a third mine, De Beers' Snap Lake Diamond Mine, went into production. Construction of a forth mine, also owned by De Beers, began during the year 2010 and is expected to begin production during 2012.
The top employers in the city are the Territorial and Federal Governments, Diavik Diamond Mines Incorporated, First Air, Harry Winston Diamond Corporation, RTL Robinson Trucking, the City of Yellowknife, BHP Billiton, and NorthwesTel. Roughly 7,633 jobs are within the Government sector.
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