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Gold/Mining/Energy : Mining News of Note -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LoneClone who wrote (5603)	8/22/2007 10:30:01 AM
From: LoneClone	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 194000

[Tantalum/Niobium] Blue River deposit larger than expected By ROBERT MANGELSDORF Aug 20 2007 clearwatertimes.com Mineral deposits at a proposed tantalum-niobium mining project near Blue River are larger than expected, increasing the chances of the mine becoming a reality, Commerce Resources Corp. announced last week. Commerces Resources, which wholly owns the Blue River Project, said in a press release Wednesday that samples from eight test drill holes indicated substantial deposits of carbonatite, the host rock in which tantalum and niobium are found. Tantalum and niobium are both rare, relatively non-reactive metals; tantalum is used to make components for electronic devices, while niobium is used as an additive in steel. The junior mining firm hopes Blue River will become the world’s next major source for the minerals, as only a handful of sources currently exist. While project is still in the exploratory stage and it is too early to estimate a yield for the site, Commerce Resources president Dave Hodge was understandably pleased with the findings. “Things are going very well,” he said. “We are adding huge tonnage with every hole we drill.” Hodge said test drilling will continue until October at which point a pre-feasibility study will be conducted to see if the project is economically viable, the results of which are expected to be favorable. “If everything goes to plan, it will be three years before we reach extraction,” said Hodge. Before that can happen, the company must first get a permit from the provincial government to proceed. Among other things, they must demonstrate the environmental soundness of the project and put up a bond worth 150 per cent of the estimated cost of reclamation. Kamloops-North Thompson MLA and Minister of State for Mining Kevin Krueger said permit restrictions simply don’t allow mines to cause the sort of destruction they once did. “The concern people often raise is pollution, and that just isn’t allowed anymore,” he said. “If people saw how modern mining operations are in this province they wouldn’t be worried.” Hodge noted that no chemicals are used to process tantalum and niobium, only water, which is then recycled, and that tailings from the mine would be completely benign. “This project will be extremely environmentally friendly,” he said. Should the Blue River Project become a reality, Hodge says there will definitely be jobs available for the local community. “The labour skills we need are in tune those that are already in the community,” he said. “There’s a good stable labour supply there.” Krueger sees the Blue River Project, and others like it, as a possible economic solution for communities facing the wrath of the mountain pine beetle. Average salaries in the mining industry run just shy of $100,000 per year, the highest of all heavy industries in B.C., and generates more than $785 million in tax revenue for the province annually. “People don’t realize mines are big supporters of the local community,” he said. “It provides an economic mainstay, you get more facilities, and that attracts people to the community.” Considering the amount of land actually affected by mining, only 0.03 per cent of the province’s total land base, Krueger believes the trade-off is a positive one. “[Mines] have a very small foot print but have big benefits,” he said. “I hope people can make the connection that this is serious money coming in.”