—

TERRACE — If everything gocs
right, the $400 million copper
smelter that PRM is proposing to
build in Kitimat will still take four
and a half years to become reality,
a company official told a luncheon
meeting of the Terrace and District

_ Chamber of Commerce Jan. 17.

Roger Taylor thinks the timing

should be about right, with aging.

smelters being closed down over
the next decade, a change in
Japanese intemal policy regarding
guaranteed prices to its smelters,
and the development of new cop-

_ per mines that are not contractually

associated with existing smelters.
The operation will have to be
timed tight to enter the world

smelting market, but Taylor thinks |

PRM has the right time and the
tight place to build B.C.’s first
copper smelier since early this
century. |

Historically B.C. has been a
copper ore producer of major
consequence in the world market,
accounting for about five percent
of global production. In the early

THEPUBLIC HEARING -

prised of the following members:

Mr. N. Martin,

Street, Vancouver, B.C.

and Interested Parties as they become
INTERVENTIONS

interest in the proceedings.

_CLARIFICATION

to the manner in which to proceed, ma

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

Time: 9:00 a.m.
Date: March 18, 1991
” Lovation: Crest Motor Hotel
222 - 1st Avenue West
Prince Rupert, B.C.
THE APPLICATION,

On November 30, 1990, Pacifle Northern Gas Ltd. ("PNG") applied for an
increase in natural gas rates to become effective January 1, 1991. The Com-
mission, by Order No. G-1-91, dated January 8, 1991 authorized an across the .
board interim increase of 4.572 percent over existing rates, subject to refund
with interest, if determined to be appropriate after a public hearing.

The Commission has set down the Application for public hearing to com-
mence at 9:00 a.m. local time, Monday, March 18, 1991, at the Crest Motor
Hotel, 222 - 1st Avenue West, Prince Rupert B.C.

The Division of the Commission named to review the Application is com-

Mr. J.D.V. Newlands, Deputy Chairman and Chairman of the Division

Mr. W.M. Swanson, Q.C., Commissioner
PUBLIC INSPECTION OF THE APPLICATION
The Application, supporting material and Commission Order No. G-2-91 are
available for inspection at the Head Office of PNG at Suite 1400, 1185 West
Georgia Street, Vancouver, B.C. V6E 4G6, at its District Offices located
‘throughout its service territory, and are also available for inspection at the
office of the British Columbia Utilities Commission, Sixth Floor, 900 Howe

An Executive Summary of the Application will be made available for inspec-
tlon in PNG Offices and will be distributed by the Applicant to Intervenors

Any person wishing to be present at the public hearing and to give evidence
or cross-examine witnesses should provide written notice, ta be received not
later than Friday, February 15, 1991 to the Commission Secretary and to the
Applicant. The Noticeshould includea brief statement as to the nature of the

SUBMISSIONS BY INTERESTED PARTIES

Any person intending to request additional information of PNG shall do so
not later than February 22, 1991. Written submissions to the hearing should
be submitted, one copy to the Commission Secretary and one copy to the
Applicant, prior to March 1, 1991 in order for all parties to be provided with
information prior to the public hearing.

Persons intending to participate in the public hearing, whoare uncertain as

Secrelary, or Mr. Simon Wong, Manager, Rates and Finance— Petroleum, by
telephone (660-4700) or B.C. Toll Free (1-800-663-1385), or in writing.

SPXCTITH.OOR, 900 HOWESTREET, VANCOUVER, BC. V6Z 2N3

1900's, Taylor said, concentrates
from underground mines were
processed at local smelters. During
the depression years all the copper
mines in the province closed
except the big underground opera-
tions at Britannia Beach and
Princeton. Their production was
sent into. the U.S. for smelting.
New technology developed in the
1960's allowed the use of open pit
mining methods because copper
could be extracted from a lower
ore grade.

Japanese financing backed much
of the new mine development,
Taylor said, and the concentrates
were shipped to Japan for smelt-
ing. He said a major impediment
to smelting in B.C. was the Japan-
ese policy of applying a tariff to
imports of refined copper but not
to copper concentrates, a policy
that favoured the Japanese
smelters, But the gap between the
world price of finished copper and
the price Japanese smelters charge
is making the end users of copper

in that country uncompetitive, and

PACIFIC
NORTHERN
. GASLTD.
Application to
Increase Rates

Commissioner

registered with the Commission.

y contact Mr. RJ. Pellatt, Commission

BY ORDER
Robert J. Pellatt
Commission Secretary

the tariff policy is being phased.
out. That, Taylor says, creates an

opportunity for a B.C. smelter to
. export refined copper to Japan —

if the price is competitive. In addi-
tion to the Japanese market, world
demand for refined copper is
growing at between one and two
percent a year, he said, on a cur-
rent consumption of seven million
tons. a
Taylor said PRM chose Kitimat
for a number of reasons and
through a process of elimination.
It’s on tidewater, there is adequate
electrical power, and "it’s a natural
location for collecting concentrates
from new mines to be developed
in the next 10 years."

One of those mines is Mount
Milligan, a giant copper and gold
discovery in the remote Toodog-
gone region northwest of Prince
George. It is being developed by
Placer Dome, and company public
affairs officer James Cooncy said
Monday they expect to submit a
Stage I report to the government in
April and, if no obstacles are en-
countered, start the permitling
process and early road construction
in the fall. With a 14-18 month
construction period, the mine will
be operating by the spring of 1993.
Cooney said the property contains
"minable material” totalling 4.9
million ounces of gold and 1.4
billion pounds of copper, according
to exploration results to date. Mine

_ production is expected to be

60,000 tonnes. of ore. daily, ship-

ping between 800 and 1,000 tonnes

Terrace Review — Wednesday, January 23, 1991 A5

of concentrate.

Cooney said he is familiar with
the Kitimat smelter concept but
said at this point Placer Dome is
dealing with what he termed
"visible customers" —- existing
smelters and concentrate buyers —
to line up financing to put- the
mine into production, a project he
estimates will cost $400 million.

.. He said it would be premature to

speculate about any relationship

Timing critical in smelter plan’

the mine might have with the

proposed smelter.
Taylor said the next stage for the

project will be to arrange financing

for the detailed engineering and .

environmental studies, a procedure
he expects will take two years.
After that, he said, "we. pull
together the consortium to finance
construction." The “best case"
scenario, he said, would see the
smelter start up in late 1995. '

Tough year ahead —
for Skeena Cellulose

"It's fortunate we’re done with
the major capital projects. We did
them while we had the money.” -

That was Skeena Cellulose offi-
cial Reg Lightfoot’s remark last
week on the company’s financial
situation as a result of simul-
taneous long slumps in both lum-
ber and pulp markets. Lightfoot
was in ‘Terrace recently to speak to
employees of the company’s saw-
mill, "preaching austerity and
telling them to watch inventories",
he said.

Lightfoot said the company is not
considering immediate production
cuts or layoffs, but he said he told
local staff, "It’s going to be a
tough year, and we'll have to work
together to survive."

. Ttis unusual for lumber and pulp
markets to take a dive at the same

time. Lightfoot said the lumber
markets went first, when housing

Starts ground to a halt in the U.S.

last year. An oversupply of lumber
began affecting Skeena Cel’s mar-
kets ~- Japan and the United
Kingdom — driving prices down.
Pulp has recently gone into a
Slump as well, and Lightfoot
blames more pulp-making capacity
coming on stream and a series
inroads into the traditional northern
bleached softwood kraft pulp terri-
tory by other types of pulp. and
pulp substitutes, among them
recycled pulp stock and hardwood
pulp. Paper production is steady,
he said, but there are more com-
panies trying to sell pulp to paper
manufacturers.

"There have been happier times,"

he remarked.

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