Galore Creek crew on top of world

Drop by Galore Creek camp this summer and you're sure to be well fed. A lively bunch of young people load up their plates with steak, shrimp, potatoes, salads and cakes, refueling after another rainy day in the field. The only slight problem for the casual visitor is getting here. There is no way into this temporary town up in the mountains of British Columbia other than by helicopter.

From Wrangell in southeast Alaska a group from the Alaska Miners Association took a five-seater plane to Bob Quinn airstrip across the border in Canada, about a 45-minute flight. We had to make two trips because there were six of us. The airstrip, which is right next to the Stewart-Cassiar Highway, is a relatively convenient base for Quantum Helicopters to provide support for several mineral exploration projects in northwestern British Columbia. Every few minutes a crate is tied to a cable and a helicopter carries it off to a camp. Galore Creek is by far the biggest and most advanced project in the area.

Accidents involving helicopters are rare, but on one occasion Senior Project Manager Jim Muntzert was securing the cargo to the cable when he felt the rope go slack in his hands and looked up to see the helicopter pilot frantically waving at him. Muntzert ran 100 meters in a time that might have impressed Carl Lewis, and the helicopter made a sudden emergency landing, rolling onto its side when one of the skids buckled. For our group, there was an unnerving moment when the helicopter couldn't ascend over a glacier because we were too heavy, and the pilot had to turn around and find an alternate route.

Agreement ensures company works closely with local people

Managing the logistics of NovaGold's Galore Creek copper-gold-silver project is a challenging business that Muntzert relishes. An American from Colorado, he loves working for the Vancouver-based company and hopes it will resist the hostile takeover bid by Barrick Gold. "There's no ego in this company," Muntzert said. "NovaGold is one of the best companies I've ever worked for." In particular, Muntzert points to NovaGold's extensive drilling programs, as well as its efforts to build good relations with the Tahltan, the First Nations people of the region.

The NovaGold-Tahltan Participation Agreement, signed in February this year, ensures that the mining company will work closely with local people and employ as many of them as possible while allowing them to take time off for hunting, fishing and cultural events. Most importantly, the Tahltan will receive training so that they can take on supervisory roles at Galore Creek. Barrick hasn't done enough of this at its nearby Eskay Creek mine, according to Muntzert.

The high proportion of young people at Galore Creek is partly due to the fact that when the mining industry was in a slump in the 1990s, few new people qualified as mining engineers or geologists. Now that metals prices are hitting record highs, more people are entering the industry, often straight out of college. There is a fairly large age gap between them and old hands like Muntzert, who has a long career in mining, including several years with Fairbanks-based Resource Associates of Alaska in the 1970s.

Inexperience may be one of the reasons why there was a high level of injuries at Galore Creek in 2005. There were 39 medevacs out of the camp that season (including people with illnesses as well as those who were in accidents). Distractions are the main cause of accidents, Muntzert said. For example, young people want to listen to music on their iPods while they walk around the camp. Other accidents are unpredictable, like the time when someone unloaded a package from a helicopter, which exploded when it was set down on the ground - it contained bear bangers. Bee stings have also been a problem at Galore Creek. The rate of injuries is down considerably this year compared with last year.

Construction population will be at least 1,000

There are just under 150 people working at Galore Creek at present, living in canvas and wood cabins heated by stoves. Employees entertain themselves by playing guitars, playing games, or watching movies. It's a quiet and fairly laid-back atmosphere. When construction of the mine and infrastructure begins there will be at least 1,000 people in the area, all of whom will have to be supplied by air. Galore Creek will be one of the largest population centers in northwestern British Columbia: the nearest communities of Iskut, Telegraph Creek, Dease Lake and Stewart each have between 350 and 700 residents.

Engineers who have visited Galore Creek and looked at the proposed route of NovaGold's 128-kilometer road from the Stewart-Cassiar Highway (Highway 37) say it's the toughest thing they've ever seen, according to Muntzert. The road culminates with a 3.8-kilometer tunnel through the mountains to the mine site, an area that is extremely prone to avalanches. There will be 65 major stream crossings along the road, including seven bridges that are more than 100 meters long.

NovaGold considered several alternative routes for the road and chose one that is more difficult to engineer than other routes, but less harmful to sensitive wildlife habitats. Due to the steep grades of the access road, concentrate will not be shipped via the road, but instead will be transported through a concentrate slurry pipeline. An aerodrome designed to accommodate fixed wing aircraft will be built to support construction activities.

Glacial retreat allows drilling

The salmon and other fish are among the most obvious wildlife species that have to be protected during mine operations, but NovaGold's environmental studies also include less appealing creatures like the western toad. A fungus that is lethal to western toads has been spreading quickly in Canada, probably because of global warming, and NovaGold needs to find out if the fungus is already present at the Galore Creek site. If it isn't, then it could be transmitted via the road. Another effect of global warming is the retreat of a glacier at the mine site over the past two decades, which has enabled drilling where the ice used to be.

NovaGold recently applied to the government of British Columbia for an environmental assessment certificate for Galore Creek, and if everything goes according to plan, road construction will begin next year.

Muntzert acknowledges that the project is too big for NovaGold to build and operate by itself, but he thinks the company should partner with a major instead of selling out to Barrick.

Representatives of several majors have looked at Galore Creek, including Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton, AngloGold Ashanti, Newcrest and Newmont, Muntzert said.

When a major comes in, it's likely to be goodbye guitars, hello corporate bureaucracy.

That's the problem with striking gold - a problem that most exploration companies can only dream about.