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

To: LoneClone who wrote (17433)	4/9/2008 11:52:00 AM
From: LoneClone	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 193999

Pack A Picnic Lunch: Canadian Zinc’s Prairie Creek Mine Is Now In A National Park By Christian Gradley minesite.com[tt_news]=44807&tx_ttnews[backPid]=741&cHash=c12fde216c Typically, resurrecting a brownfield site, is a relatively pain-free process. Unfortunately Canadian Zinc has got a property that’s shaping up as the exception that proves the rule. Faced with permitting delays and a National Park that’s expanded to encompass its license, Canadian Zinc’s Prairie Creek Mine is, even if all goes as planned, still at least two years away from being operational. If and when production finally does get up and running though, the company will be able to enjoy a ten year mine life, based on an impressive 5.8 million tonnes of ore in the measured and indicated categories grading 9.9% lead, 10.71%zinc, 161.12 grammes per tonne silver, and 0.326% copper. That’s some way away yet. In August, Canadian Zinc was confronted with startling news: the Federal Government of Canada had expanded the Nahanni National Park Reserve. The company’s 100 percent-owned Prairie Creek Mine is now located within the National Park Reserve. Access to and from the minesite is through the National Park. Although the Government of Canada has pledged to respect and protect all third party mining and access rights, since the Park expansion is still in the consultation phase what the impact on Canadian Zinc will actually be is not yet known. Needless to say, this news also threw a massive wrench into the company’s Class A Water Permit application. Now that the mine and road are within a National Park Reserve, Alan Taylor, Canadian Zinc’s chief operating officer, says that everything is “under a magnifying glass”. This extra scrutiny has forced the company to delay the submission of its Class A Water Permit until other permits that it had filed have been approved. Taylor expects to be able to submit the Class A Water Permit in April, which he reckons will take no less than 12 to18 months to receive approval. Further complicating life for Canadian Zinc is the fact that for a number of years the Dehcho First Nations have been in ongoing land settlement negotiations with the Federal Government of Canada over land rights to the area upon which Prairie Creek Mine resides. While Canadian Zinc has an agreement with a group that comes under the umbrella of the Dehcho First Nations, this agreement was signed years ago and is not officially recognized by the Dehcho. However, the company is fully aware of the importance of an agreement, and is optimistic that agreement can be reached, also within 12 to 18 months’ time. While Canadian Zinc’s Prairie Creek Mine may be confronted with a number of very large obstacles, Taylor remains optimistic that on site work will nonetheless commence in 2009 and that operations will begin in 2010. Presently, the company is in the midst of C$7.5 million worth of further engineering and rehabilitation work on the road to the mine site. No further drilling is scheduled for Prairie Creek, yet results from last year’s drill programme revealed that the main vein of mineralization could be extended further north. Drill results revealed 12.47 per cent lead, 12.35 per cent zinc, 187.49 grammes per tonne silver, and 0.35 per cent copper over 2.7 metres. With C$27 million in the bank, Canadian Zinc, and major shareholder Sprott Asset Management, appear to be ready to play the waiting game. And given the potential of the mine, it is easy to see why. But there are a number of hurdles to go through yet, so in the meantime, pack a large picnic lunch and take it to the park.