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Gold/Mining/Energy : A Yukon Mining & Exploration Chat Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kent C. who wrote (42)	4/30/1998 10:15:00 PM
From: The Lone Ranger	Respond to of 59

Proposed Copper Mine Gets Licence Whitehorse Star by Chuck Tobin Minto Explorations Ltd. received its water licence Monday for a proposed copper mine in the central Yukon. A decision regarding a production schedule is expected soon, says company president Lutz Klingmann. The U.S. mining company intends to provide the remaining $20 million required to go into production. It had its annual general meeting in New York Wednesday. Klingmann expects a production decision by ASARCO Inc. will come about as a result of that meeting. In any case, Klingmann said today from Vancouver, the property, located southwest of Minto on the west side of the Yukon River, won't likely be producing copper until the middle of next year. There still needs to be a tailings pond constructed, and the mill erected, he pointed out. Mining the ore, on the other hand, could begin as early as next fall. However, Klingmann said there's not really any pressing need to scurry forward, given the price of copper. Its price today is in the area of 85 cents a pound, Klingmann said. "We would really like to see $1," he said. "But we still might do the construction if the expectation is, toward the end of next year, we might see better copper prices." Klingmann said he expects a crew of 10 or 12 will be onsite this summer building a permanent camp, and putting in place the concrete work necessary for the mill construction. Some 30 employees will be needed when mining begins. Once in full production, he anticipates full-time employment for 50 or 60 people. Under the eight-year water licence, the company is required to provide $4,450,000 in a schedule of instalments for security to ensure there is money there to provide for reclamation. But in its reasons for decision, the Yukon Territory Water Board did not offer any recommendation regarding a request for compensation by Sybil Kachur, a nearby property owner. Kachur told the board she wanted $119,000 to cover the 50-per-cent loss in her property value that the mine has brought about. The board did cite three problems with Kachur's claim, including the fact the quartz claims existed in the area before she moved there. The company has identified a mine life of 13 years, but Klingmann believes it could go longer. Minto Explorations signed a benefit agreement with the Selkirk First Nation last year. Klingmann tore a strip off the federal government early this year. He felt it was taking far too long to receive approval by Northern Affairs Minister Jane Stewart, after the water board recommended approval. Because of the delay, he maintained then, work would be postponed several months. That's because Minto Explorations would lose the ability to transport goods across the Yukon River on an ice bridge. Instead, he said, the company would have to wait until barging season. Federal officials said the time it was taking to issue the licence was required for a thorough review of licence conditions the water board was recommending. Klingmann said today he's happy, he's got his water licence and he's making peace with the federal bureaucracy. "It has put us in a position that we can proceed with mine development, subject to our internal desire to proceed, if you wish," he said. "The key thing will be to make a production decision, but we have not done that." Of the $26-million cost of getting the mine operational, Klingmann estimates $6 million has already been spent. The mill, for instance, is already onsite waiting for assembly. Once in production, the plan is to ship the copper concentrate to Skagway, in much the same way Anvil Range Mining Corp. was shipping its lead-zinc concentrates. "We will essentially duplicate what was done in Faro," he said, though on a much smaller scale. "I would say about less than a tenth of what Faro was doing."