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Gold/Mining/Energy : Winspear Resources -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Gord Bolton who wrote (8423)	10/15/1998 1:04:00 PM
From: Taz	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 26850

Geez youse guys: Why don'cha spend some of those hard earned profits and buy some maps! Aber does not have a processing facility(yet!). Kennicott (Abers partner in Diavik) has a bulk sample processing facility set up in Yellowknife at the Mirmar Con gold mine, which is currently involved in a labor dispute, so the kimberlite facility is not currently operating. That facility has handled bulk samples from the Diavik/Aber/Kennicott property at Lac de Gras as well as a couple of custom jobs for mini-bulk samples from some Alberta pipes. Snap Lake is appx 75 miles south (as the raven flies or roughly a straight line) from the BHP Ekati mine with processing facilities that just opened on the north side of Lac de Gras. Double that to the Lupin Mine on Contwoyto Lake further north. Snap is approx. 70 miles west from the MPV/Monopros pipes, again as the raven flies. So if you were to build winter roads, not all of which are on ice and some of which would have to go through some wicked terrain, then you must at least double the straight line distances. Really you guys, it sounds like some of ya think that the whole NWT is just flat tundra that is 80% lakes. Just not so. Railroads across the Tundra? Novel idea and who knows, it could happen, but not likely. The Northern terminus of the railroad in the NWT is at Hay River on the South side of Great Slave Lake (Yeah that right, go get your atlas out.) Given the distances involved, its just not feasible to do anything other than process on site, at least for Snap. Lytton/New Indigo with the Jericho and Contowoto pipes could feasibly utilize the infrastructure at the Lupin Mine as they are close enough (appx. 20-30 miles I think) and if it happens for them it will be tough call to decide whether to use Lupin or process on site. Lupin (a gold mine) has been shut down for a year but it could be brought up to speed quickly. They would still need to build a separate mill for processing the kimberlite ore, but they could make use of accommodation, offices, shops, fuel storage, etc. It would appear at this point that there is sufficient ore to justify the construction of mine and mill right there at Snap, but lets not jump the gun here fellas. The Ekati Mine just went into production this month. It was 13 years from the time Chuke Fipke first found kimberlite indicator minerals in the Lac de Gras area and about 9 since they first drilled kimberlite there. Ya don't just find mines, ya have ta make 'em. Anybody who is dreaming of dividends rolling in from the profits of an open pit operation at Snap lake the winter after next is deluding themselves. The biggest thing the Spear has going for it is that the Dyke outcrops on land and is relatively accessible. It would also appear that with the drill hole now indicating the increasing dip of the dyke it may provide some substantive clues as to the direction of source for the kimberlite. There is still a chance that a blind pipe may exist in the immediate area, but if it's there it will be very deep, most likely beyond open pit range, so it would have to be mined underground. Anyway no big deal as the Dyke open pit operation will provide plenty of cash flow and profit to finance the future underground operation Realistically though, no matter what the resource projections are, there is still going to be a serious lag time between now and production at Snap. Just have to look at the Diamet/BHP and Diavik/Aber/Kennicott process. News came out yesterday that the Federal government environmental review process (estimated time - one year) for Diavik is now coming under pressure from the bunny huggers (Enviros) who have withdrawn from the process and are pushing for a full panel review hearing which took BHP/Diamet two years to complete. So don't be poppin' the champagne corks just yet. Lots of rocky roads for the Spear ahead, but at least it going somewhere. So get some maps eh! If necessary I can give you the address of a local outfit here who can provide good maps. Gotta run. L8er, Regards, TAZ P.S. Gord: There are also road bans and speed bans up here as well. Driving on the ice is not as easy as you may think. Those red necked, gear slammin', cowboys, from Albertachuk would have more than they chew up here!