by Michael Kelly

It’s taken so-long to set up the
terms for the resource road into the
Iskut River valley that the official

announcement last week saying the.

project will proceed was. an
anticlimax. Share prices of ihe
principal companies involved

_ barely blipped on Friday, the day

after the announcement. The fact
that the road would be built has
been taken for granted, even by
investors, for months.

Even with the official. sanction ‘

for road access into the remote,
gold-rich area, however, | many
questions remain.

Premier Bill ‘Vander aim
unveiled what there is of the plan
at 2 luncheon Thursday hosted by

the B.C, Chamber of Mines. While.

Vander Zalm spoke to the mining

company executives, Skeena MLA.

Dave Parker held a press confer-

ence through his Terrace constitu-.

ency office,

-The cost of the road has risen
from the original estimate of $12.5
million to $20 million, mainly,
Parker said, due to the addition of,

& southward extension into the.

Unuk River valley to reach Eskay.

Creek and surrounding properties. .

Eskay Creek is currently the
hottest strike in the valley, and
Prime Resources, the operating
company for owners. Calpine
Resources and Consolidated
Stikine Silver, is one of the princi-
pal companies involved in the
road-building deal.

An agreement in principal has
been struck to form a corporation
that will build and maintain the
road. Parker said the final terms of
the corporation are. still being
negotiated and he couldn't say

what the ownership structure will

be or which partners will pay what
proportion of the costs. The cor-
poration will be formed by Comin-
co, joint venture owners of the
Snip claim, Skyline Gold, who
_ have the only operating mine in
the area at Johmy Mouniain,
Prime, and the B.C. government.
Parker stated that the government
will be the "majority shareholder"
in the venture, but added that he
believes its ownership will amount
to less than 50. percent. The cor-
poration will be designed so that
other mining companies will be
able join it as their Projects d deve-
lop.

The cost will be recovered over
an unspecified period of time

through tolls on commercial traff-
ic, and the road will be Open t to. the
general public, Parker said,

Energy Minister Jack Davis said

in a press release the same day:
that the 72-kilometer single-lane

industrial road. could be bullt in

one construction season, but Parker
said only. about one-third of it will
be completed this year. He expecis
the construction to go as ‘far as

Eskay Junction, just beyond where

the extension to the Unuk Valley

branches off. When finished, the -
_ road will end at the Bronson Creek

airstrip, within a few miles of the
Alaskan border and close to the

‘Skyline:and Snip properties. At its
eastern end, it will join Highway

37 at Bob Quinn Lake.

The option to truck in supplies :
and truck out gold concentrate will '
- make a significant difference in the °

production costs of mines that’ go
into operation in the area, and ‘it

will make exploration. expenses far’
‘lower. for companies looking for
more gold.. The area: is currently .
accessible only. by air; Skyline

Gold chief éxecutive Ron- Shon
says: the toad will: reduce expenses
at Johnny Mountain by $200 000 a
month.

. The; government has a marketing

research ‘study to back up’ the
decision to build the road.- ‘Spinoff |

benefits, it says, from production
out of Snip and Johnny Mountain,
would be $33.8 million in 1991. If
Eskay Creek and Kerr come into

‘production, the figure goes.up to

$43.1 million, a net of $23.8 mil-
lion over the cost of the road in its
first year of use. The study doesn’t
indicate however, if those figures
include the spending already going
on without the road, In 1988 $15

Alaska; ‘airport alone.
The same study gave,.the Alaskan

‘Bradfield Canal into the same area’

‘is ‘selling logs for an average price |

- sawlogs, he'said, it might be viable

. Say when. He added ‘that the. pro-

million went through the Wrangell,

ma, Terrace Review — Wednesday, May 30, 1990 A3

the truckload |

proposal to build a road up the

short shrift, primarily due to higher
cost,

Construction: of the road will
open up new areas of timber for
Cutting, but there may not be a lot
interest in that resource. The mar-
keting study ‘claims that 50 to 60
new jobs could be created in fore- .
stry, providing that the current raw
‘log export, policy in the North .
Kalum is s extended into the new
area. ,

_ Robert ‘York, owner. of Tay-M.
Logging, said from hhis Terrace

_ office that the Iskut Valley timber ‘ .

would be a doubtful proposition, at’
least for his company. He holds a

major forest license in the North |

‘Kalum, from’ which he exports
sawlogs ‘and pulp’ timber through
‘the port of Stewart. ‘York claims he

‘of around $31. per’ cubic’ meter
while his, average costs are running =
$42. "Under the present situation, |
titaber i is worth nothing," he said.
If the. timber -is good for export

‘for ‘someone to go after it.
"Nobody’s going to build a mill up
there," he added.

Engineering design work on the.
toad is slated to begin immediate-
ly. ‘Parker said’ the construction
will be tendered but was unable to

, a ee |
It’s. a jungle up there

"One big, mind-boggling mess,"

That’s how Jim Bartlett, a mining analyst for Odlum Brown,
describes the claim dispute situation in the area to be opened
up by the resource road announced by the provincial govern-
ment last week. The Iskut River valley north of Terrace is the
most active mineral exploration. region in North America, and

it seems everybody and their grubstaking uncle want a plece of

it.
Bartlett said that in the concentrated area around Eskay
Creek alone there are ‘between 60 and 70 claim blocks in

- dispute. He explained that the Eskay Creek claim itself, touted
‘by Calpine Resources to be one of the biggest strikes in North

. American history, appears to be secure. "The reserves on the
Claim in good standing would appear to justify a mine," he —
said; The surrounding claims, however, are a different story.

Gold commissioner Rick Conte confirmed that he has formal
complaints on at least 25 claims around Eskay Creek, and |
numerous others northward toward Galore Creek, another hot

‘gold exploration area, "The big problem is that the first staker
- is challenged, loses the. claim, then the winner is challenged by

someone else and loses too." A Single claim dispute requires at

. least 90 days to resolve, and with the volume of complaints

currently.lodged with the Gold Commissioner the process could —
take up to a year and half.
Conte said 99 percent of the challenges are based on sloppy

staking procedures. The disputes often go beyond one round. If
‘the original staker were party "A" and party "B" challenged |
the claim, Conte said, the process has gone in several instances
uptoaparty"E", |

But it’s a risk worth taking: if no one. disputes the claim

‘within a year, it’s secured. Claims are being staked by helicop-

ter and accepted procedure has gone out the window. "Like
the guy who staked 80 units (400 hectares) in three minutes, "
Conte remarked. "Now who's trying to fool who?

“It’s the hottest area in North America, and everybody wants
a piece of the action."

cess will include an advisory com-
mittee made up of representatives
from the mining. companies, the

Tahitan Tribal Council and the -

Regional

District of Kitimat-
Stikine. ¢~

Windy Craggy scrutinized

‘The Stage I submission for deve-

lopment. of the Windy Craggy.

copper, cobalt, gold and silver
discovery in northwestern B.C. is
now available for public scrutiny
at the Terrace - Public. Library.
Proponent for the - project is
Toronto-based Geddes Resources.
The proposed mine site is located
in the rugged, mountainous Haines
Triangle area. Geddes plans to
build an access road along the
Tatsenshini River to Highway 3.

The provincial Mine Develop-
ment Steering Committee has set
May 31 as the deadline for sub-
missions on the Stage I Report.

A public review of the project

has been ordered to examine the

environmental impact of the mine ‘|. |

and the planned road. The Ministry
of Energy, Mines and Petroleum -
Resources has expressed concerns
about Geddes’ plans for dealing
with acid ‘rock drainage from: the
mine tailings, and groups including
the river rafting tourist industry are
worried about the general impact
of a large scale strip mining oper-
ation on the Tatsenshini River
valley.

One rafting operator has com-
pared the Tatsenshini to the Grand
Canyon in terms of scenic and
wilderness value,

638-1131

To serve our customers better,
we wish to announce that
‘we are now open on

Saturdays 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

BANK OF MONTREAL

4666 Lakelse Ave.
Terrace, B.C.

Very often wesee ourlocal tourist attractions when we have
visitors! The mountains ... the rivers ... the parks ... the trails ..
It’s an experience we proudly share with our guests! Carol
Marchand, who works In Safeway’s Deli, came to Terrace
with her husband for a 3 year stint twenty years agal! Caro!
is especially proud to liveinsuch a friendly community ... and
her visitors enjoy the fishing and the lava beds.

COMMERCE.

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