Grand Forks
Gazette
Your community voice since 1897
WEDNESDAY, JULY 11, 2012
$1.10 (includes HST)
VOL 115 NO. 28
❚ And all that jazz
page 20
Win tickets to the Kaslo Jazz Etc. Festival.
Working at the car wash Grand Forks Fire Rescue volunteer firefighters Robert Silva and Dave Paulett wash a car during a fundraising hot dog sale and car wash on July 7. Funds raised will go towards equipment and storage facilities at the department’s training grounds. See story in this week’s issue of the West Kootenay Advertiser. CASSANDRA CHIN PHOTO
❚ MINING
Claim could allow North American Stone to remove 10,000-ton bulk sample CASSANDRA CHIN Gazette Reporter
The Ministry of Energy and Mines had an information session at Gallery 2 on July 5, after hearing about public concern over the possibility of two exploration projects. North American Stone has applied for two exploration mining permits, one near Lynch Creek and the other by Granby River. Residents who live near the site are worried about the damage that may occur to the surrounding environment, such as blockage of wildlife corridors and the impact on at-risk species, such as the redlisted clover and Peregrine falcons. The information session included maps of the sites, notice of work application, and environmental and reclamation plans. Al Ludwig, a mining consultant from the Ministry of Energy and Mines, pointed out that usually, the request for public in-
volvement comes into play after a mining application is approved. “The permit has not been approved yet and they indicated that they would be taking a much smaller sample to test the feasibility of it,” he said. “There are still several steps along the way.” Ludwig explained that the mineral claim would allow North American Stone to remove up to a 10,000-ton bulk sample every five years. “If the company goes beyond that, they have to apply for a mining lease and a mining lease will then give them the right to remove more than the bulk sample,” he added. “The development depends on the company and whether this bulk sample is their objective. If it does, they may go towards buying a lease and it becomes a quarry, rather than a mineral exploration quarry.” Prior to the information session, Ludwig hiked up the hill to determine the
situation and said that the site location is a several kilometres from the creek. “There are still some outstanding issues that have to be addressed and if the company present those and no other technical concerns come up, they may start sometime within the next month,” he said. Rick Mitchell, a surveyor from Discovery Consultants Ltd., who was the purveyor for North American Stone, stated that Discovery has worked before in Grand Forks for mining purposes. “This permit is about taking a bulk sample to evaluate the property. Discovery came out, prospected North American Stone’s area and we picked the two sites that had the least fractured stones,” Mitchell explained. “If the rock is heavily fractured, even if you drill it in it doesn’t stay intact. We picked the locations that had the least amount of fracturing based on what we surveyed.” Mitchell pointed out that the first step
is to get the permit and then next is to get the contractors to see what’s best for North American Stone and most cost effective. “We do have water management plans put into place,” he added. “The south site has silk canvases, we’ll be putting fences and ditches in, and there’s already existing culverts that we’re going to protect. I do not see any impact to the water because everything will be contained. There isn’t going to be much silt produced.” Silt is a granular material like sand that is produced during some mining processes. As well, Mitchell noted that the company would not be blasting any rocks in order to reduce the amount of stress fractures in the rock. “The company will be using Crack It gel, which is a calcium-like cement that is poured into drill holes and fractures the stone within a matter of hours,” he said. Continued on page 3
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