"SOME CLUES"
The following article is from the Whitehorse paper.
CEO Says No Problem
A Whitehorse Star Archive story originally published August 31, 1998
By Chuck Tobin
The president and chief executive officer of BYG Natural Resources says the Mount Nansen gold mine does not have a problem meeting effluent discharge standards.
The mine went back into production early this year, following a two-month shut down to beef up its water treatment system. It has been meeting the discharge requirements, Graham Dickson said this morning from the mine site.
Failing one LC-50 fish test must be viewed against the 12 tests the company has passed, he said. (The LC-50 test involves placing juvenile rainbow trout into a container of effluent taken from the mine. The toxicity is measured by how many fish survive, and how quickly the others die.) "Am I worried? The answer is no." Dickson said his treatment system doesn't function at 100-per-cent all the time, and there are times when the toxicity level of the effluent exceeds what's allowed.
When that occurs, the problem is detected by the company's ongoing testing work. The discharge into the environment is halted, and effluent is rerouted back through the tailings pond.
On Aug. 19, when the federal government gathered a sample of discharged effluent, the sample was taken about an hour before BYG's own monitoring process indicated a problem.
The effluent, said Dickson, was rerouted into the pond but discharge into the environment began again about six hours later, once the treatment problem was corrected.
David Sherstone, manager of the federal water resources branch, confirmed this morning the Aug. 19 test was the first in several months that BYG has failed. And he does not anticipate the company will have a problem regaining discharge compliance levels.
BYG had to halt gold production late last fall when it was unable to meet discharge requirements and little room was left in the tailings pond. The company began discharging and reducing the pond level last February, once it felt confident its treatment system was working.
The pond, said Dickson, has enough room now to handle next spring's runoff. If the mine stopped discharging into the environment and used only the tailings pond to handle the water it uses, it could stay in production well into next year, Dickson said.
BYG's cost to produce an an ounce of gold is just under $200 US. Gold was selling today for $277 US. The company is producing about 700 ounzes per week, he said.
The company, however, will be in court this fall to face four charges relating to effluent discharge infractions.
"COMMENTS"
The second last paragraph gives us a clue as to production. The recovered grade is .14ozs./ton. This is about half the grade that was reported when the plant was in full production, about a year ago. Brown_McDade is near the end of its economic life, and I have no clue as to the viability of the Flex Zone deposit. The grades are close to the 0.28 range when you factor in a gold equivalent for silver, but preparation and mining costs will surely be higher. Winter is on its way and there will be no stockpile to ensure continued operation of the mill. The mill will be shut down by year end and,unless there is a large infusion of capital to pay the bills and keep the organization afloat, this one is history. Any new capital will get most of the company in return for its investment, leaving the present equity holders with next to nothing. I know that it is not a pretty picture, but I don't think that I am that far off in my evaluation.
Sincerely,
Al Cern |
