Industrial Update Spring 2012
J.W. (Bill) Morton, geologist and chief executive officer for Woodjam Copper, examines a core sample from a recent mining exploration near Horsefly. Photo courtesy of Woodjam Copper Corporation
Woodjam Copper explores in the Cariboo Monica Lamb-Yorski Industrial Update 2012 The relatively new kid on the mining exploration block in the Cariboo is Consolidated Woodjam Copper Corporation, formed by a corporate restructuring completed in December 2011. Exploration is taking place 50 kilometres east of Williams Lake, about 10 km south of Horsefly. “There is an existing copper project called Woodjam that we have been working on for a number of years near Horsefly that was owned by two junior companies — Cariboo Roads Resources Ltd. and Fjordland Exploration Ltd.,” says CEO and director J.W. (Bill) Morton. The two companies were in a joint venture on the project and in 2009 joined forces with a new partner, Gold Fields Limited. Based in Johannesburg, Gold Fields is one of the larger gold mining companies in the world.
“They operate a number of mines in Africa and also have mining operations in South America and significant exploration activities in Canada, the United States and Australia,” Morton says. It made sense, he adds, to consolidate interests slightly so that the new entity assumed the ownership held by Fjordland and Cariboo Roads, and Gold Fields the other. Up to this point in time, approximately $20 million has been spent on the project, $15 million of which Gold Fields has contributed since joining in 2009. A milestone was reached in January of this year when Gold Fields had done everything required to earn 51 per cent interest in the project. “It’s completely exploration up to this point in time, meaning that we still don’t have an entity that we could run out in all certainty and say something that will sustain commercial production, but we believe it will,” Morton explains, adding that Gold Fields can earn an additional 19 per cent of the project, which
would end up being 70 per cent for it and 30 per cent for Woodjam. That would be realized by Gold Fields spending an additional $25 million and completing a feasibility study, which would probably cost an additional $50 million to $75 million. Presently the target is a bulk mineable predominantly copper operation that would be similar to Mount Polley, perhaps a bit bigger. Products that would emerge would be dominantly copper, but a fair amount of gold, and possibly some molybdenum. “There’s a significant amount of molybdenum in place in various zones. Whether or not there’s enough to warrant recovering it we haven’t determined. We know that we would and will recover copper and gold,” Morton says. Exploration is still occurring, and the company will begin drilling again the last week of March. The plan is to diamond drill an estimated 60,000 feet. Continued on Page 2
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Page 2
Industrial Update 2012
Horsefly residents employed by company From Page 1 “We’ve got a lot of people in Horsefly involved in the project. Last year upwards of 20 people were employed from the Horsefly area doing everything from geotechnical work such as core cutting and various surveying. Some of the heavy machine work has also been carried out by local contractor Gary Clarke,” Morton says. Woodjam has rented a portion of logging contractor Clarke’s property, which
was the former Department of Highways yard, for a processing facility. “It’s a five-acre compound, secured by a fence, that has some truck bays, so we can process the core samples and then ship them by Van-Kam to Vancouver for analysis,” Morton explains. He expects the 2012 budget to be at least $5.5 million or more, adding it’s tended to be more every year than was anticipated. In late February, Wood-
Drill core sample containing copper, molybdenum and gold. The gold can rarely be seen visually. The bluish colour is the molybdenum and shiny “gold” colour is chalcopyrite, which contains copper.
jam was advised by Gold Fields it has an approved budget of $5.5 million. “We found invariably in the past we consume all that money and then more is offered up,” Morton says, adding if all goes well the region will end up with another copper mine. It’s an additional resource that looks good. The exploration will probably make it bigger and there are three other zones in the claim group that are currently not drilled off to a degree to call them a resource. However, there’s been a lot of drilling on them and Morton believes they will be elevated to resources within the year, adding to the dynamics of the project. “Gold Fields has initiated some high-end engineering studies. Some environmental base line work has now been initiated. We have a permanent weather station on the property and water monitoring and various consultants involved. These things all require a lot of hoops to go through,” he adds.
Woodjam Copper drill rig on site.
Photos courtesy of Woodjam Copper Corporation
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Industrial Update 2012
New Prosperity would generate 3,000 jobs per year In June 2011, Taseko Mines submitted a revised plan for its Prosperity goldcopper project, located just 125 kilometres southwest of Williams Lake. That plan — called New Prosperity — is now before the federal government, which has initiated a review panel process. For the first time in Canadian history, under the direction of Environment Minister Peter Kent, the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency has been instructed to conclude its review, including the review panel process, within 12 months. This mandate is largely born of the fact that the Prosperity project has already undergone an extensive federal review panel under the Canadian Environmental Act, which concluded in 2010. In the same year, the provincial government undertook and concluded its own review of the project under the B.C. Environmental Assessment Act and granted Taseko the right to proceed with the development. At that time, both the provincial and federal governments determined that the Prosperity gold-copper project would have no significant adverse environmental effect on: • air quality • surface or groundwater quality • wildlife • vegetation, including old growth forest, grasslands and wetlands • fish in the Taseko River • Water quality in Onion Lake • human health • traffic • biodiversity • noise emissions • archaeological resources • mule deer and moose habitat.
However, the federal government also concluded that the project would adversely affect: • fish and fish habitat • navigation • the traditional use of the land and its resources by First Nations. Taseko says the primary focus of the New Prosperity plan is to address these specific concerns, marrying nearly two decades of sound scientific analysis that informed the original development plan with new impact mitigation measures. Similarly, the federal panel will focus its attention on the new contents of Taseko’s development plan, recognizing that the overwhelming majority of the plan has already been reviewed and was found to be satisfactory, the company says. In essence, Taseko says, the three concerns listed above were directly linked to the elimination of Fish Lake, an 111-hectare resource that was, in the original Prosperity development plan, to be drained and replaced by a larger, constructed lake nearby. According to Taseko, the preservation of Fish Lake was not an economically viable option for the development of Prosperity at the time the plan was created. Now, however, the company says higher long-term prices for gold and copper are such that New Prosperity can directly address the concerns of the federal government by committing to preserve Fish Lake at an additional cost of $300 million. Taseko says the $300 million Fish Lake conservation effort preserves Fish Lake and enables future generations’ use of these waters for navigation, fishing, recreational activities and other uses, as well as addresses First Nations concerns with respect to
traditional use of land and resources. “The combination of Minister Kent’s commitment to an efficient timeline, the extensive impact mitigation measures contained in the new plan, and the significant economic and social benefits the project will generate, give us confidence that a favourable outcome will result,” says Brian Battison, vice president of corporate affairs for Taseko Mines Limited. The New Prosperity federal environmental assessment is scheduled to conclude by the end of 2012. Some key additional facts supplied by the company about New Prosperity: • The New Prosperity gold-copper project will generate an increase in real GDP of $11 billion. • Government revenues from New Prosperity are expected to be nearly $10 billion during the lifespan of the mine. • The population of B.C. would rise by 5,400 people. • New Prosperity would generate production revenues in excess of $11 billion. • Residential investment would increase by $786 million. • Non-residential construction would increase by $1.03 billion. • New Prosperity would generate about 3,000 jobs per year for the life of the project, representing 57,000 person years of employment added to the economy. That suggests that for every one person year of employment created directly by New Prosperity, an additional five-person years of employment are created in B.C. — for a cumulative total of about 71,000 new jobs being created in the province. • New Prosperity is a long-term opportunity. The
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ore body will give us gold and copper for more than 20 years • The training, mentoring, and expertise that would be developed by the project would create a legacy of skilled and experienced tradespeople who will be in high demand for years to come • The project would stimulate nearly $1.4 billion in machinery and equipment investment • As employment and disposable income increases
in the region, local businesses could expect to see a boost in consumer spending of $9 billion over the life of the project. Williams Lake and its surrounding communities will have an opportunity to offer their views on New Prosperity. The federal review panel will visit the CaribooChilcotin to hear directly from its citizens. This panel will write a report on what they heard in the community and will submit it to Kent for his con-
sideration in making a final decision on the future of the project. Everyone with a view on New Prosperity and the future of Williams Lake is encouraged to attend the federal review panel hearings and have their voices heard. In order to provide more information on New Prosperity, including the project description and a public discussion forum, Taseko has created a dedicated project website, www.newprosperityproject.ca.
A rendering of New Prosperity during operations shows the open pit on the far left, Fish Lake near the middle, and the tailings facility to the far right. The site is located about 125 kilometres southwest of Williams Lake. Photo courtesy of Taseko Mines Ltd.
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Industrial Update 2012
Gibraltar well-exceeds projected lifespan In 1998, following its 26th year of operation, the Gibraltar Copper Mine, located about 60 kilometres north of Williams Lake, had for all intents and purposes exhausted itself. The mine had already exceeded its projected lifespan by six years and the popular conclusion was that it had little value left to offer. Gibraltar was on the brink of extinction, with bulldozers waiting in the wings. Ron Thiessen and Bob Dickinson, two experienced British Columbian miners who were familiar with the Gibraltar deposit and infrastructure, were not convinced of the mine’s obsolescence. Upon their recommendation, Taseko Mines acquired Gibraltar and, still uncertain of its exact future, put the mine on a program of “care and maintenance.” With a skeleton crew of 10 dedicated workers, Taseko says Gibraltar underwent only the most essential maintenance to prevent the deterioration of equipment. This basic preservation lasted for five years, at a cost of $10 million. Then, in 2004, Taseko undertook an ambitious campaign of rejuvenation, increasing the Gibraltar workforce from 10 to 280 people and systematically replacing outmoded equipment with state-of-the-art technology. This rejuvenation plan was to be a 40-month trial. The essential question was: could a retired mine contending with a very low copper grade be transformed into a thriv-
Gibraltar Mine, shown here when it was under construction in 1971, will have more than 500 workers when phase three of its latest re-development plan is completed this year. The mine was expected to reach the end of its life by 1992, but is now expected to live on for another 30 years. Photo courtesy of Taseko Mines Ltd. ing, profitable operation that would help sustain the regional economy for years to come? The end of 2012 will see the completion of the third and final phase of investment in Gibraltar, called “Gibraltar Mine Development Plan 3 (GDP3). At that time, the mine will have benefitted from more than $700 million in investment. The original 10 employees will have grown to more than 500. And the projected life of this revitalized operation is now an additional 30 years. According to Taseko, by the end of the GDP3 effort, the Gibraltar Mine will be producing double its current copper out-
put. “When we look at the full transformation of Gibraltar, it represents a vivid example of true sustainability in mining,” says Brian Battison, vice president of corporate affairs for Taseko Mines Limited. “Taseko has taken a virtually abandoned operation and created a powerful generator of long-term employment and revenue for the region and the province. This investment is a demonstration of Taseko’s faith in the Gibraltar ore body, our employees, and the community of the Cariboo-Chilcotin.” The Gibraltar Mine’s two-fold growth in productivity is directly tied
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Industrial Update 2012
Gibraltar expansion to create an additional 150 jobs At 40 years of age, and producing the lowest grade copper deposits in the world, you might have thought Taseko’s Gibraltar Mine, located about 60 kilometres north of Williams Lake, had reached the end of the line. But with production capacity scheduled to double in 2013, and another 150 new jobs on the horizon, Gibraltar’s life expectancy is now projected to be an additional 27 years. The wholesale rejuvenation of Gibraltar is the product of strategic investment by Vancouver-based Taseko, which secured ownership of the operation in 1999. Taseko has employed a multi-phase approach to the mine enhancement, augmenting the operation from a 10-person program of “care and maintenance” to a thriving cornerstone of the Cariboo-Chilcotin economy with an employee base that is 500 strong. Taseko says Gibraltar’s third and final phase of enhancement, GDP3 (Gibraltar Development Phase 3), will be complete this year and culminate in an invest-
ment by Taseko of $700 million in the mine and is a testament to the company’s unwavering faith in its employees, the communities of the Cariboo and in the B.C. as a sound destination for investment. A new report by the Centre for Spatial Economics (C4SE) attests to the economic value and benefit of Gibraltar to the regional, provincial and national economies. The report analyzed Gibraltar’s economic contributions between 2005 and 2010 inclusive. The report determines that for every job directly created by Gibraltar, an additional three jobs were created in B.C. In addition, the Gibraltar Mine has generated a cumulative increase of: • $975 million in real GDP • $576 million in consumer expenditures • $174 million in residential investment • $408 million in additional federal government revenues • $371 million in additional provincial government revenues. “Everyone had given up
Gibraltar Mine, about 60 kilometres north of Williams Lake, started up 40 years ago. It is expected to last an additional 27 years. Photos courtesy of Taseko Mines Ltd. on Gibraltar; no one was interested in investing the time, let alone money to keep it alive,” recalls Ross MacLean, current general manager of the Gibraltar Mine. “Yet here we are, grown from 10 employees to over 500 strong — most of whom call Williams Lake and the Cariboo their home — and we’ll be more than doubling production capacity to 180 million pounds of copper per year.” The first phase of mine
enhancement included the addition of a new 34-foot semi-autogenous grinding (SAG) mill as well as a number of downstream upgrades and adjustments. The second phase saw modifications to the mill that allowed it to process 55,000 tons of copper per day, an upgraded tailings pumping system and many more enhancements that helped boost production and sustainability. The third phase, GDP3, commenced in the spring of
2011 with the construction of a new concentrator that can manage 30,000 tons of copper per day, increasing Gibraltar’s copper production from an estimated 80 million pounds to 180 million pounds. Gibraltar has already contributed $779 million in federal and provincial government revenues over the past six years, helping to finance important social programs. As for production, one of GDP3’s largest undertak-
ings is the development of a new molybdenum recovery facility that will increase molybdenum metal production by more than one million pounds per year. Capital costs for the recovery facility and concentrator are expected to be $235 million with construction commencing in early spring and continuing throughout 2012. Taseko says Gibraltar Mine is a shining example of how a mine should operate, incorporating sustainability, longevity and substantial economic contribution to the region and the province. Taseko intends to replicate Gibraltar’s success with its New Prosperity gold-copper project, located 125 kilometres southwest of Williams Lake. The New Prosperity site is the seventh largest goldcopper deposit in the world. Taseko says that the project, if built, will be an investment in excess of $1 billion, including a $300 million preservation measure for Fish Lake and its surrounding watershed. New Prosperity is currently under federal review.
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Industrial Update 2012
Tolko invests in WL, Quesnel operations Monica Lamb-Yorski Industrial Update 2012 Regional manager for Tolko’s Cariboo region Mark Stevens says even though times have been tough, roughly 700 people are still employed at the company’s operations in Williams Lake and Quesnel, and the company continues to invest in its facilities. In 2010 a new trimmeroptimizer was installed at Soda Creek, and a new grade optimizer at Lakeview Mill. Aside from the 700 employees employed by Tolko directly, there are hundreds of contractors who do the logging and forestry. Adjacent to Lakeview, the company’s Creekside Mill remains closed. “It’s a sad point,” Stevens says. “With the housing starts still as low as a third of what they used to be Creekside’s a casualty of the lack of demand for lumber.” While the planer at Creekside has been used periodically, and employ-
Tolko’s Soda Creek Mill manager Ryan Oliver stands near the mill’s new trimmer optimizer, purchased in 2010. Oliver says it’s the fastest of its kind in North America, operating at 245 lugs per minute. Monica Lamb-Yorski photos
ees have been called back to work, nothing else has transpired for steady employment at the site. Soda Creek mill manager Ryan Oliver says the site’s stud mill is running the fastest sawmill sorter in North America. The 2010 purchase of the new trimmer-optimizer has eradicated the bottle neck that used to exist at the
back end of the mill. “We can run that thing up to 245 lugs per minute. So what it’s done is relieved that bottle neck. It’s been a huge improvement,” Oliver says. Presently there are around 170 employees at the Soda Creek mill. Over at the Lakeview mill, operations are running full on with normal
participation, says manager Mark Everard. During the years 2008 to 2011, Everard says the industry saw the worst times recorded in the history of the forest industry. “In 2010 there was a little bump, created largely by the U.S. subsidies for housing and mortgages, but by early 2011 we saw a drop and that dried up,”
Everard recalls, adding what he’s seeing now is the beginning of a slow organic recovery in the North American economy. With markets in Canada, the U.S., Europe, Japan, China, Taiwan, Korea and India, and some smaller numbers in Malaysia and Singapore, the mill’s 180 employees have been steadily kept busy.
Cariboo Regional Woodlands manager Tom Hoffman says despite the continued economic downturn, 2011 had some highlights. The company salvaged roughly 35,000 cubic metres of lumber from a stand of burnt Douglas Fir out of the Meldrum Creek area affected by the 2010 fires, which it processed in the Lakeview sawmill. About five million trees, predominantly pine, were planted. Regionally Woodlands employs about 500 contractors who work seasonally as loggers, truckers, consultants and tree planters. Annually Tolko reviews its operations in Canada to present awards and this year each operation in the Cariboo region garnered an award. Lakeview won an Excellence in Customer Service, Soda Creek won the President’s Trophy for Safety, Woodlands Group won the Excellence in Forestry Management, and the Quesnel won the award for being closest to budget.
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Industrial Update 2012
West Fraser continues to see market grow Erin Hitchcock Industrial Update 2012 Things are starting to get better, albeit slowly, says D’Arcy Henderson, general manager of West Fraser lumber division. Both of West Fraser’s Williams Lake operations, the sawmill and plywood plant, are running at full capacity, employing about 500 direct workers, plus contractors. Henderson says the lumber market has been fairly flat. “We are starting to see a bit of increase in some of the lower grades, the two-and-better lumber, and export grades as well,” he says, adding that the market is picking up a bit, but “very, very slowly.” “We were quite depressed there for quite a few months in the latter part of last year,” he says. “Things were very slow for January and February, and in March we seem to be moving in a bit of an uphill trend.” In February, West Fraser Timber Co. released its fourth quarter results. It reported earnings after discontinued operations of $6 million or 14 cents per share of sales of $650 million in the fourth quarter of 2011, and earnings after discontinued operations of $73 million or $147 per share on sales of $2.762 billion for 2011. “We ended a challeng-
ing year with a difficult quarter as markets for our products continue to be unsettled,” said Hank Ketcham, West Fraser’s chairman, president and CEO. “We are very encouraged with the results of our capital investment program as well as the continued commitment of our employees to West Fraser’s long-term success.” In the fourth quarter, lumber operations generated an operating loss of $30 million, and operating earnings plus amortization, negative $8 million. The company says the decline in results reflects weaker prices for lowergrade SPF (spruce/pine/ fir) lumber and wider-dimension SYP (Southern Yellow Pine) lumber and replaced shipments. The panel segment, which includes plywood, LVL (laminated veneer lumber) and MDF (medium-density fibrewood), did not generate any operating earnings in the quarter, and operating earnings plus amortization was $4 million as Canadian dollar plywood and MDF prices showed some improvement. Pulp and paper operations generated operating earnings in the quarter of $13 million and operating earnings plus amortization of $27 million. Pulp prices weakened during the quarter with the NBSK (Northern Bleached Softwood Kraft) benchmark averaging seven per cent
lower than in the third quarter. As a result, the company said it was approaching 2012 with conservatism and caution in light of ongoing economic uncertainty in key markets and the continuing volatility of the Canadian dollar. It says it will continue to invest in its existing facilities in order to maintain and improve competitiveness. West Fraser has been doing some capital upgrades to operations, with more capital upgrades expected this year. “We are certainly always looking at ways to keep things more efficient,” Henderson says. When it comes to timber supply, Henderson says, there is definitely a very competitive fibre market in the Williams Lake area. “It’s something that is high priority for us.” Henderson adds that the HST has been a big benefit for West Fraser, and the return to the GST/PST system will negatively impact the company. But, he says, West Fraser doesn’t expect to have any downtime this year and is “cautiously optimistic” about the future. And with the Annual Allowable Cut being determined later this year, he says the AAC will be something the company will review carefully when trying to reconcile its business.
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Industrial Update 2012
Region grows as tourist destination Greg Sabatino Industrial Update 2012 The tourists are coming — you just might not notice them. At least, not yet. That’s the message from Geoff Moore, regional travel media relations representative for the Cariboo Chilcotin Coast Tourism Association — a regional destination marketing organization working in conjunction with multiple stakeholders in promoting growth in the tourism industry. “We are predicting growth this year,” Moore says. “But the price of gas, the facts and figures, they don’t do a lot of predicting. What they do is look at research from the past to look into the future.” The CCCTA is one of six regional marketing destinations in B.C. that works with the Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Innovation, the Canadian Tourism Commission and industry partners in the CaribooChilcotin-Coast region tasked with marketing the extremely broad area it encompasses. “Our region is quite diverse,” Moore says. “If you to go Likely and Quesnel Forks and Wells and Barkerville it’s completely different from the guest ranches and the fly-fishing ranches of the Chilcotin, which is completely different from the grizzly-bear viewing and the salmon fishing in Bella Coola.” The CCCTA has 117,000 square kilometres of area in its region. The goal, ultimately, is to get people to visit and to stay in the area, which requires year-round marketing strategies. For instance, Moore says the price of gas is expected to go up this summer, so, for example, they may adjust their marketing efforts to that end. “We’re thinking people aren’t going to be flocking to us from, say, San Francisco but, from Europe, definitely, because our gas is still cheaper,” Moore says. “Or maybe from Vancouver, up into the Cariboo, because it’s too expensive to go to Disneyland, or to West Edmonton Mall, or on those longer trips for Canadian families. Families in the Pacific Northwest, we have a good crack at them through campaigns through TV, radio, Internet, magazines and social me-
dia, which is huge. “When we look at the surveys the average B.C. traveller comes in [to the region] for not less than four days and not more than 10.” Moore recently attended an international trade show in Berlin, where two million people passed through in a week. The opportunity there was to promote the region’s stakeholders to the German market. “Twenty-two million Germans travel around the world in a year — Canada sees about 400,000 of those,” he says. “Unless you’re sitting at the lake you will never notice that rental motor home [belongs to] someone from Holland, or the UK, or Germany. We do know where they’re from because we’re in touch with the stakeholders as to how to get their attention to get them to stay.” With the advent of the Internet and social media came great opportunity, Moore adds, in terms of techniques available to market the region. Additionally, the spinoff from the Olympics is starting to trickle down throughout the province, Moore suggests, in terms of people coming back to the province to visit. Claudia Blair, executive director of the Williams Lake and District Chamber of Commerce and manager of the Tourism Discovery Centre, says the TDC and visitor centre are the front lines and sometimes the first stop people make upon arriving in the area. It is up to her and other staff members at the TDC to get people to stay in the area to take advantage of tourism opportunities, she says. “We’re starting to see the RVs coming on the highway so I’m very encouraged to see that,” she says, but noted the winter felt a bit slow. “We’re the front line. We’re the network of visitor centres and we work closely with the other visitor centres. Keeping people in the region is priority for us.” The TDC sees around 25,000 to 30,000 visitors per year. Blair says the chamber is looking at hosting a few more events at the TDC, such as an author’s fair and an art fair, along with continuing to do all it can to
The Tourism Discovery Centre’s staff (from left) Gay Sanders, Williams Lake & District Chamber of Commerce executive assistant Jaylyn Byer, Sherry Broomfield, Taylor McGinnis and the chamber executive director Claudia Blair Greg Sabatino photo keep its staff as educated as possible. “We’ll go out into all the pockets and look at all our staff and we’ll travel out to places, visit some resorts, but also look at things like Xats’ull, Barkerville, all sorts of places,” she says. “We organize those tours because that’s part of their education and training.” The chamber is also working on rebranding its chamber website to create more separation between the chamber and the visitor centre, along with utilizing more social media tools to help attract guests. “What we’re trying to do here is to get people to stop,” she says. “Once they come in we say: ‘Have you thought about going fossil hunting? Wind surfing? Sailing? Hiking?’” Blair says having knowledgeable staff and, most importantly, information available for travellers is key. “Some people come in here to see the building and don’t know what it is. It has different names: the TDC, visitor centre, whatever. To a visitor, none of those names mean anything. “Tourist information? They get that. A visitor information centre is an incredibly valuable asset in a community.”
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Page 9
Industrial Update 2012
A quick peek at the Cariboo cattle industry Liz Twan Industrial Update 2012 What’s up (or newsworthy) within the agriculture/ cattle community in the Cariboo, aside from appreciably good sale prices for cattle at the auction marts and correspondingly high retail prices at the butcher counters in grocery outlets for consumers? When cattlemen, who have suffered what I personally call “a decade of disaster,” are finally receiving a decent return for their labour and product that will help them to keep pace with ever-rising input costs and produce an income that will lead them back toward solvency and a sustainable lifestyle, the average consumer seems to have to take up the slack. It seems to be a fiscal duel that unwittingly pits the average cattle producer versus the aver-
age consumer and when as one group manages to loosen the choke-hold of the tight-fisted budget devil, the other is receiving an almighty blow to their pocketbooks. Talk about betwixt and between (a rock and a hard place)! What to do? Cattlemen hope that the consumer can continue to budget enough grocery dollars to purchase beef, while the consumer may pray that a healthier marketplace will encourage the remaining cattle producers (many sold out during the last lean decade) to ramp up their herd numbers which should alleviate the continent-wide shortages that are driving the current market highs. At the present time, there are simply not enough saleable cattle available to supply the demand. That fact was illustrated — graphically — close to
home last week when B.C. Livestock Co-op in Williams Lake was forced to cancel a long-scheduled cattle auction because there were not enough cattle listed to justify holding the sale; the overall cattle numbers in the Cariboo are much lower as well. It’s all a bit much for the average person to understand. I’m sure as they travel the highways and byways of B.C. it seems like there are lots of cattle to be seen in roadside pastures and grasslands, but it is not so — many ranching families have given up and sold the farm. So the cattlemen of B.C. are making their consumers a priority by investing in a new, interactive consumer education program called Behind the Beef, which will soon be appearing in a retail meat outlet in your community.
The program, developed by the B.C. Cattlemen’s Association will allow consumers the opportunity for a face-to-face encounter with someone who has firsthand knowledge of, and/ or experience within the ranching/beef industry. For the next three years these “beef educators” will be here and there and everywhere as they visit countless retail stores (always situated near the meat counter) and available to answer your questions and assist you with beef selection and preparation, should you wish for input. “The goal is to help consumers have a great beef eating experience at home,” says Kevin Boon, BCCA general manager. “Having someone help you select the most appropriate cut of beef for the dish you are preparing can save you time and money and most
of all, make you want to enjoy beef more often.” Watch for them. The support from several large grocery retailers has been awesome and based on outings so far, shoppers are also seeing the value of the program. One noted that she was able to sample some beef and that the educator helped her choose the right cut of beef, and actually provided her with a recipe to try. For more information regarding the program and to see when and where Behind the Beef will be appearing at a Williams Lake or other Cariboo retail location visit www.behindthebeef.ca. Another item of current notice to the agricultural/ ranching community at large is aimed at young persons seeking further education (post-secondary). The
B.C. Cattlemen’s Association has several bursaries/ scholarships available to students throughout B.C. (who meet their criteria) and the deadline for application is fast approaching. To see if you qualify as applicant visit www.cattlemen.bc.ca then look on the header-bar for Awards and choose Bursaries & Grants on the dropdown to access a page that will lead you to qualifications and downloadable applications. The annual general meeting of the B.C. Cattlemen’s Association will be held in Fort St. John, May 30 to June 2. General information and registration forms can also be found on the BCCA website at www.cattlemen. bc.ca and the early birds (registrants) get a chance to win a free registration (for a couple/value of $300 — not a worm!). That deadline is also April 15.
CRD looks to bring more people to the region Cariboo Regional District chair Al Richmond says the local regional government is looking at ways to increase economic development in the area. Bringing more people to the region, developing partnerships and utilizing the already existing industry in Williams Lake, Richmond says, are key factors in positive growth. “We’ve been trying to attract some things on the ground, and something we’ve got happening coming up is the North Central Government Association Convention being held in the South Cariboo from May 2-4 in 100 Mile House,” Richmond says. “We had it in Williams Lake a few years ago so we’ve been trying to attract more people to the region during a time when it’s kind of quiet. If we can fill up the hotels and have catering done and fill up the restaurants that’s good.” The convention houses regional governments from 100 Mile House to throughout northern B.C., and is held annually as a precursory meeting to the annual Union of B.C. Municipalities convention. “We’re going to be doing an economic impact study of bringing that convention here,” Richmond says. “We’ll be polling the delegates and businesses and see what they saw in terms of increase.” Another initiate the CRD
is particularly excited about, Richmond says, is a partnership with the Nazko First Nation. “There’s the potential for a lot of spinoff with our work with the Nazko First Nation,” he says. “There’s the potential for four mines, a pellet plant, geo-thermal power and a bulk fuel facility (for logs and trucks). “Right now the existing mills are having to haul all the way out from Nazko to Quesnel, so this would mean short hauls back to Nazko and that would mean more frequent runs to the mills back in Quesnel.” While still early in the process, Richmond said those projects could potentially net 1,800 jobs for the area. “If we got 800 to 1,000 out of that [in the CRD] that would be great,” he said. “The job opportunities will be spread throughout the region. “We have the First Nations asking for a hand, the City of Quesnel and the private sector — so we’re looking to the province now to assist us in upgrading the transmission line from Quesnel to Nazko. Right now we’ve written to the premier trying to get a meeting to move things forward. “Nazko is meeting with private partners in Vancouver, and meeting with BC Hydro to talk about upgrading the power line. Right now we’re working on putting the infrastructure in place to let this public/private partnerships
go ahead.” Richmond said in Williams Lake, the establishment of a grant writer program will go a long way in helping community groups nail down funding which, in turn, will foster economic growth. “We provide that opportunity to community groups and we produce a letter monthly which they go through and look for any grant opportunities and then distribute those throughout the community,” Richmond says. “We can write that all for them but we can help them develop that and provide assistance.” A title the CRD held for the past two years was also recently relinquished — the Forest Capital of Canada. Richmond says the title and the opportunity provided a great platform to showcase the area’s forests. “We promoted forestry opportunities and made people aware of some of the smaller efforts,” he says. “Our birch forests, for example, and smaller businesses that are developing in and around the forest that aren’t necessarily dependent on large-scale operations and we’ve been seeing some good opportunity there.” In February 2012 the Forest Capital of Canada title was given to the province of B.C. in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the B.C. Forest Service. “It’s been kept in B.C. for another year,” Richmond
says, something the CRD is happy about. “We did it to build awareness in the forest industry
because there’s lots more opportunities out there. We can’t always be focusing on mega projects and we need
to focus on things that provide diversity and smallerscale opportunities provide that.”
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Page 10
Industrial Update 2012
Mount Polley works toward life of mine plan Monica Lamb-Yorski Industrial Update 2012 As things stand right now, Mount Polley Mine has had a relatively active 2011/2012 year. The mine is right on target as far as throughput and pounds per copper, and ounces of gold produced. Mining tonnage is right on track and the company is pretty well where it targeted to be in 2012, says general manager Tim Fisch. “As things stand right now, we’re still working toward our 2016 life-of-mine plan,” he says. In saying that, he adds, Imperial Metals is doing some additional exploration in the hopes of pushing up existing reserves and extending the mine life beyond that point. From a public perspective, as a publicly held company, Imperial Metals is only allowed to divulge existing reserves as they are proven. “That’s been the case for several years. That’s been the time frame we’ve been looking at here for that last few years.” Additionally, there is an underground exploration project underway that was started about a year ago. “It’s an exploration program designed to try and prove enough underground reserves to make a full-scale underground mining operation economical,” Fisch says. Imperial Metals is still working on the project in
Mining operations at Mount Polley Mine continue to be active. Located eight kilometers southwest of Likely and 100 kilometers northeast of WIlliams Lake, the mine mills approximately 20,000 tonnes of copper/gold per day. It is expected the mine will produce 34 million pounds copper, 46,800 ounces gold, and 90,000 ounces silver in 2012, with all ore mined from Springer pit. Photo courtesy of Imperial Metals
terms of advancement and in terms of drilling to identify additional reserves. Within the next six months, the company will be able to come up with a full scale underground operation plan, Fisch hopes. The underground ore body is significantly higher in grade, but much lower in volume as opposed to the existing open-pit reserves, he adds. “Underground operations are typically much more expensive per tonne than open-pit mining operations so it’s important that we have adequate metal grades underground to make the operation economical,” Fisch says. Recognizing that the mine is in a somewhat sensitive environmen-
tal area with two nearby lakes in the area — Polley Lake to the east and Bootjack Lake to the west — the company places a lot of responsibility and importance on the water quality of the lakes. “Environmental stewardship is very high on our agenda here,” Fisch says, adding the company is trying hard to maintain the guidelines set by the Ministry of Environment and the provincial government. Construction of the mine was completed in September 1997 and the mine ran until the fall of 2001, when operations were suspended due to low metal prices and lower reserves. Between 2001 and 2004, additional exploration drilling revealed
enough additional reserves and grade to warrant restarting operations in March 2005. Presently there are around 370 full-time employees at the mine. Roughly 80 are staff employees and the remainder are unionized employees represented by the
Williams Lake branch of the United Steelworkers Local 1-425.The majority of workers at the mine come from Williams Lake proper, as well as a number of employees from the Big Lake and Likely areas. “I would say 95 per cent of our employees are from
those three regions.” In January 2012, Imperial Metals entered into a participation agreement with the Williams Lake Indian Band. The signing represents a “big milestone” he says. Such agreements are important because they recognize First Nations territorial claims within the mining area and building stronger relationships to provide employment, training and streamlining the permitting process when it comes to consultation. “All those things are important,” Fisch says, adding the company is also working on ratifying a participation agreement with the Soda Creek Indian Band. “Those are the two First Nations groups that have territorial claims in the Mount Polley area.” Qualifying the mine as a “medium-sized” operation, Fisch says it treats at a rate of 20,000 tons per day, which is probably a third of what Gibraltar does.
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Industrial Update 2012
Beef industry recovery needs a few more good years Gaeil Farrar Industrial Update 2012 The cattle industry in Canada enjoyed a fairly strong economic boost last year with cattle prices rising higher than they have been for years, but the industry isn’t out of the woods yet, says Duncan Barnett, president of the Cariboo Cattlemen’s Association. Barnett says the industry lost a lot of ground when the global economic recession hit in 2008 and land, livestock, and equipment were devalued. “For the last seven or eight years the cost side has generally been higher than the revenue side,” Barnett says. “Our equity has eroded and debt has increased. “Last year was the first year that we started to see a change for the better, but one good year doesn’t fix everything. We need several more good years to rebuild and put the industry back on a solid footing.” Despite gains made in cattle prices, he says the industry continues to struggle with several adverse conditions both domestically and internationally. The cost of diesel fuel, electricity, and fertilizer have all been rising, which impacts all areas of ranch production and transportation costs. “Diesel fuel is a huge factor on the expense side for ranchers,” Barnett says. He notes the cost of marked farm fuel is now 25 cents a litre higher than it was last year. He says B.C. is also unique in that it has a carbon tax. “We have to compete in a global market and Alberta and Washington, our closest competitors, don’t have a carbon tax,” Barnett says.
Despite a variety of setbacks in recent years ranching continues to be a stable economic resource in the Cariboo Chilcotin, one the industry is continuing to work on improving and protecting for future generations. Here the Duncan Barnett family and helpers move some cattle through Horsefly. Photo submitted The discovery of BSE in the Canadian beef herd in 2003 also created huge challenges for the industry’s export market, says Kevin Boon, B.C. Cattlemen’s Association general manager. “During the initial stages following the discovery we saw the domestic consumer come forward and support our producers by eating more beef than they ever had,” Boon says. “The fact that our consumers understood and trusted the inspection system and the integrity of the producers supplying them was extremely important to our ranchers.” While Canadians were supportive, Boon says BSE enabled other countries to set up trade barriers which are just now starting to be reopened. He says measures put in place since the BSE crisis have made Canadian beef the safest in the world and as a result the industry is seeing markets such as Korea, China, and Japan open their borders to Canadian beef products. “While the long-term effects of it are still being felt, the signs are there that we are on the road to recovery,”
Boon says. He says BSE also pointed out a need to have more information available on cattle and, as a result, new programs such as the Beef InfoXchange System (BIXS) and age verification program have been developed. “Being able to gather information like age verification, health protocols, and feeding programs will allow more confidence in our beef as well as creating production efficiencies,” Boon says. During the past few years Barnett says some Cariboo ranchers have lost a lot of cattle to predators, primarily wolves. In some cases he says ranchers have taken the training to earn trapping licences and are using these skills to deal with problem predators. “Ranchers like wildlife too,” Barnett says. “We want to control problem predators. We are not out to destroy all predators. Well-managed farms and ranches provide valuable wildlife habitat.” He says the best way to preserve land for wildlife and maintain food security is for governments to create
a policy framework that allows agriculture to be successful. One relatively new part of the government policy framework is the federal/ provincial Environmental Farm Plan program, which he says ranchers are encouraged to participate in and which government is encouraged to continue. “It is a very good program and one of the ways farms and ranches are striving to be environmentally friendly,” Barnett says.
Maintaining a solid land base for farms and ranches in B.C. also needs to be part of the policy framework, Barnett says. “Agriculture isn’t just a step on the pathway to development. It is an end in itself, especially given concerns about food security,” Barnett says. “Agriculture is a sustainable industry because it is land-based. The land is always there, which makes it very stable. While production may slow down periodi-
cally it is still there chugging away.” As part of their ongoing efforts to maintain and improve the quality of their product the Cariboo Cattlemen’s Association is hosting a series of three Forage Finishing Field Schools this spring and summer on finishing cattle naturally on grass rather than sending them to feedlots for finishing. The first workshop will be a classroom session held March 27 and 28, at Thompson Rivers University in Williams Lake. The second workshop to be scheduled later in the spring will be a visit to Rodier Meats to learn about what characteristics to look for in grass-finished animals. The third workshop later in the spring or summer will include visits to four ranches in the area to compare grazing strategies. “These are skills that many ranchers already have but we want to make sure all of our ranchers have these skills so that we can produce the best product that we can,” Barnett says.
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Industrial Update 2012
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