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DE K A M L O O P S
THURSDAY
Thursday, April 11, 2013 X Volume 26 No. 29
Kamloops, B.C., Canada X 30 cents at Newsstands
THIS WEEK
Hillside Stadium then and now: Celebrating its 25th anniversary Page A23 Thompson River Publications Partnership Ltd.
Mayor wants mine within city limits
WHAT LIES UNDERNEATH KEG conference/ trade show 2013
By Andrea Klassen STAFF REPORTER andrea@kamloopsthisweek.com
By Dale Bass STAFF REPORTER dale@kamloopsthisweek.com
There’s a tree on the Iron Mask trailer property that has fallen over. Right next to it is upturned gravel — and beneath that is an old mine shaft, one of many on the property that has at least 26 kilometres of mine tunnels beneath those homes, according to Kamloops geologist Colin Russell. “I’m betting most people who live there don’t know they’re living on top of an old mine,” Russell said while taking a break from his involvement in the 26th annual Kamloops Exploration Group conference and trade show at the Coast Kamloops Hotel and Convention Centre. Fellow geologist Perry Grunenberg agreed. “There is a disconnect for people,” he said. “They don’t seem to equate the things around them with minerals that came from a mine.” The two are often asked their views on the proposed Ajax mine. X See AJAX A6
South Sa-Hali elementary students Evan Sonnleitner (left) and Brendan Kohlberger identify rocks with their Grade 7 classmates on a field trip to the Kamloops Exploration Group on conference Tuesday, April 9, at the Kamloops Convention Centre. Dave Eagles/KTW
RECORD-SETTING CONFERENCE The Kamloops Exploration Group conference and trade show set an attendance record for the two-day event, with 532 delegates from around the world registered on the first day and more expected on the final day. What started as a pub crawl by geologists back in the 1980s, where they could relax and share their mutual interest in their industry while learning about what was happening in others parts of the province, eventually formalized into the event 26 years ago.
The first formal conference, KEG member Perry Grunenberg said, likely had about 100 people. This year’s version, which began on Tuesday, April 9, and ended on Wednesday, April 10, also provided an opportunity for students to attend for career-planning information. A series of technical talks on projects around the province drew plenty of interest, Grunenberg said — so much so that about a dozen of the proposals couldn’t be accommodated.
In the next few years, Mayor Peter Milobar hopes to see a copper and gold mine within the boundaries of Kamloops. No, not necessarily that one. Milobar told city council this week he wants to determine if the city can extend its boundaries to the west to annex the New Afton mine. The move comes as council is facing pressure from the city’s heavy industrial players — most notably Domtar — to lower their tax burden. Domtar engineering and strategic planning manager Bill Adams told media the company would like to see its bill come down from about $6 million to $3 million, which he says is more in line with the provincial average. Milobar said taxes from the New Afton mine could help make up some of that revenue gap, should council decide on a more dramatic tax shift in the years ahead than the change it implemented this week (see story on page A5). “Their workforce is 100 per cent based in Kamloops and, frankly speaking, we’re the only form of local government that’s not benefitting from that operation,” Milobar told councillors, who seemed largely enthusiastic about the plan. It wouldn’t be the first time the city has tried to absorb the mine. A similar effort took place in the 1970s, Milobar said, and the mine’s owners threatened to shutter the operation if the city extended its boundaries. “But, a lot’s changed,” Milobar said. “You have to keep in perspective, Aberdeen Mall hadn’t even been built. That was considered way out of town. Now it’s literally bordering on an area where we’re considering developing a new light-industrial park.” Milobar said he has met with mine personnel to let them know “that I’m kicking around an idea in my head.” However, he said it remains to be seen how onerous the costs for the mine would be if it were absorbed by the city, and whether the new provincial government that will be elected in May is willing to support the expansion plan.