| Mining for millions waits for
| environmental assessment

By STEPHEN
BRAVERMAN
THE SENIOR managers
of the. Kemess Mine’ are

passionately proud of their -

seven-year-old copper
and gold mine located
250 kilometres, north: of
Smithers.

In 2004 the mine set a
new metal _production re-
cord by extracting 303,475
ounces of gold and 78 mil-
lion pounds of copper.

Thanks to — favourable
commodity, prices .Kemess
was one of the lowest cost
gold mines in the world.

For that reason North- °

gate Minerals Corporation,
a junior .mining company
with full: ownership of the

Kemess Mine is planning to -

expand the operation until
2020 by digging a new pit
North of the existing opera-
tion. oe

Kemess Northas it’s been

dubbed contains,a deposit of -

1.46 billion pounds of cop-

.per. and 4.1 million ounces °

of gold. ;

But before a single ounce
of rock can be shoveled the
future of Kemess North is
‘subject to a panel review un-

der the Canadian Environ- ¢ .
- mental impact is arguably —

mental Assessment Act.
The panel is comprised of .

representatives from the pro-

vincial and federal. govern-

ment who will examine the |

project with a broad. scope
that includes the potential
impact on the environment
and First Nations;

Peter MacPhail, North-
gate’s vice-president, opera-
tions, said he hopes the panel

sees the importance of keep- :

" ing Kemess going with only

_. four years remaining in the
open pit at Kemess South.

“It means a lot of jobs to
a lot of people and it would
be a shame to shut it down,”

MacPhail said. “That’s what -

we're facing with this panel
review.”
Layoffs

have. already

been pencilled in for.the. first...

quarter of 2006 as Northgate:
anticipates a slowdown in
preparation for a complete
shut down in 2009. ~

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HAROLD BENT, the environmental supervisor for Kemess North stands on a ridge at the site of.a Proposed cop-

per and 1 gold mine located five kilometres North of the existing open pit mine. at Kemess South. ,
to Lo STEPHEN BRAVERMAN PHOTO

%

The potential environ-

the highest hurdle to clear
with the -panel-
MacPhail said.
Northgate’s plan is to
dump the waste rock into

Duncan Lake which is locat-.
ed adjacent to the site of the’.
. Kemess North deposit.

Two dams will be built
‘on Duncan Lake to contain
the water level increase.

' “The Duncan Lake issue
will be an issue,” MacPhail
said. “It’s a* controversial
thing but without Duncan

- Lake this project doesn’ t go .

ahead.
“It keeps 500 people em-
ployed for another 10 years

_and these are high paying .

jobs.”
Harold Bent, the environ-

mental supervisor for Ke-_
‘mess North said Northgate .
‘considered’ 15° options be-

fore deciding on using Dun-

- can Lake as a tailing area for

review,

» duction

“0

~ waste rock,

“It’s ‘the best. option
we’ ve looked at for this lo-
cation,” Bent said.

Although ‘there are about
3,500. Rainbow Trout and

couple other species. of fish”
in Duncan Lake; Bent said:

the runoff water flowing into
the lake is already poor qual-.
ity due.to natural oxidization °
from the nearby copper and
gold deposit. .

' “There's little fish pro-’
because. there’s
little fish habitat,” :

 Northgate’s second |

‘choice involves the creation

of amammoth tail area south
of the existing mine pit,
however it could be more
harmful than the Duncan
Lake option, Bent said.
Even worse,. it’ could
make: Kemess North unvi-
able for the company, he

-added.

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Bent"
Said. “There? $ not much of a:
‘shoulder area. v

While the environmen-
tal impact may be working
against the Kemess North,
the Northgate braintrust are
hoping the company’s track

‘record and existing infra-

structure at Kemess South
will work in the project’ s
favour..

, Northgate has built a self-
contained working commu-
nity complete with a crush-
ing mill, maintenance shop, ©
office space, staffs living
quarters, cafeteria and recre-
ational room..

“With all that infrastruc-
ture. only five kilometres
- away you have to look at it,”
Bent said.

Norrthgate’s plan is to
build a tunnel and conveyor:
belt that would draw the raw
ore from the Kemess North

. gravel pit to the existing mill

at Kemess South. «

From’ there ‘it’ would: be.
pretty much business as
usual with the raw ore being

crushed down in the mill toa

‘sand-like. state for transport

via truck to Mackenzie.”
‘The ore is then reloaded
onto railcars and shipped on

~a train to a smelter in Que- .

bec where it’s refined into
usable copper and gold.

' Electrical wiring is still. —

the ‘primary use of copper
-while jewelry remains the
main use for gold.

‘Northgate is touting the .
economic benefits of Kemess .

South as another reason why
the panel review should al-
low the mining operation to
continue for another decade.

Kemess' South has an

annual payroll of $26 mil-
lion of which $5 million re- -

mains in the Bulkley Valley,
MacPail said.

The mine employes ap- .

’ proximately 475 people of.
‘which..25 per .cent come

from’ the Bulkley Valley-.

Stikine- area, he added.

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| coopfvean

| The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, July 13, 2005 - A3

Kemess North and South
mining costs and benefits
| Kemess North Deposit Kemess South °

e annual production: ¢ annual production:
250,000 ounces of 300,000 ounces of gold
gold per year and 113 and 75 million pounds
million pounds of cop-' of copper

® ore reserves: 86.6:
million tonnes contain-
ing 1.87 million ounces

per per year —
_® ore reserves: 424 mil-
‘lion tonnes containing
4.1 million ounces * of

gold and 1.46 billion pounds of copper .

pounds of copper ‘type: gold-copper
e type: gold copper _ porphyry, open pit:
porphyry © © cash cost: $170. per
e capital cost: $1 gO ounce :
million e mine life: three to four.
* @ cash cost: $1 80 per - years remaining
ounce ” “
® proposed mine life: Information is . taken
11 years ‘from Northgate Miner-

als Corporation: 2004

Annual Report. Own-

ership of both Kemess
North and South: are

100 per cent Northgate

Minerals Corporation.

e status: proceeding .
_ with Canadian Envi-
. ronmental’ Assessment :

Act panel review. with -
,_ fepresentatives from

the provincial and fed-

eral governments

“

Kemess South is located in ‘North-central BC.
and Kemess North is five kilometres . north of J--
Kemess s South. I

H View up. above - |

; “| By STEPHEN BRAVERMAN - a,
A HELICOPTER ride provided an awesome bird’s of v view
‘of the Kemess Mine’s proposed expansion site;
From hundreds of feet in the air it’s easy to see the rust-co- a
joured patches of oxidized. metal on the top‘of the mountain .
only five kilometres north’of the existing Kemess Mine. _ :

The brown spots indicate a massive e deposit of copper a and . 7 ;

gold beneath the surface.
At one of the highest elevations of the mountain is nat- we
“row ridge that the helicopter can land on to give passengers ©
a close-up view of the proposed 1 mine site called: Kemess’
North. .
Harold Bent, environmental supervisor for Kemess Notth .

but was rejected in favour of the Kemess South mine.
_.“Because [the ore] is much deeper in Kemess ‘North it
wouldn’ thave been as viable or environmentally protected; ”
said Bent adding mining and environmental Practices have:
improved immensely since the 1980s. :
The Kemess North project will involve the removal of
325 million tonnes of waste rock to -access 414 ‘million .
tonnes of ore; Bent said. a wa
In comparison the existing Kemess South mine required 7

‘the removal of 200 tonnes of waste rock to Produce; 220 mil- . | —

lion tonnes of ore.
The Kemess Mine has been operating for seven ‘years
with four more years to go. ,
Northgate Minerals Corporation, the owner of the Ke- |
mess Mine, is hoping to continue the.mining and milling |
. operation until, 2020 with a second pit at Kemess,North,.1
‘ The Kemess North project still needs approval by,a panel-?. re
review of representatives from the provincial ‘and federal
governments. " . :

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of gold and 416 million |»

said the site lias been a candidate for mining since the 1980s