from Feb. 24 Halifax Daily News:
hfxnews.southam.ca
Regal making presence felt
Company taking government to court, drilling near
Barren
By STEPHEN BORNAIS-- The Daily News
Call Regal Goldfields Inc. the company that just won't go away.
The president of the Toronto-based mining firm, which is
taking the province to court over the Jim Campbells Barren
decision, was in Nova Scotia this week to discuss the pending
legal action and an up-coming exploration program.
Richard Brissenden said he met privately with members and
"friends" of the Cheticamp Development Corporation over the
weekend to keep them up to date on the company's legal
challenge.
He also informed them of Regal's intention to begin drilling in
early May at two sites to the northeast of the barren and a third
to the northwest. Of the company's eight "targets" in the area,
only two are within the barren, Brissenden said.
"Each of these targets stands on its own, so we want to test
them," he said.
It's all part of a campaign to show Nova Scotians the company
is not about to disappear, he said.
"We plan to persist, to examine the mineral potential of the
Cheticamp Highlands as best we can, and, coincident with that,
we're going to persist to get some degree of fairness out of the
government with respect to targets within the barren," said
Brissenden.
The company will be in court March 11, seeking to overturn
the province's decision last October to put the barren back on
the protected sites' list. An early government decision had
removed it after lobbying by the Cheticamp Development
Corporation, eager for the jobs mineral development might
bring to the economically depressed area.
If it's not possible to overturn the decision, Regal wants the
province to pay compensation for the money it has already
spent on exploration. Regal would also want to be paid for the
loss of potential revenues and the money lost when the
company's stock fell after the barren was re-listed.
Brissenden said the first two sites will be examined for
lead-zinc-silver potential, while the third will be tested for
copper-nickel deposits. Regal will spend close to $500,000 on
the exploration and employ 10 to 15 local people for the
summer.
Regal's appearance comes in the middle of the provincial
election campaign. The government's flip-flop will be an issue
in Inverness County, said Brissenden.
"I didn't do any polls, but in talking to the people I did, there
certainly is a level of disappointment, perhaps even some anger,
with ... what is perceived to be a highly political decision that
eliminated the ability to fully evaluate the potential in the
highlands." |
