Copper Fox thrives in Canadian wilderness

In the race to develop new mines in British Columbia, Calgary-based Copper Fox Metals is jostling its way to the front of the pack. In August the company started the environmental assessment process for its Schaft Creek copper-gold-molybdenum-silver project, filing a preliminary report with the provincial government. In September Copper Fox completed $5 million in expenditures at the property, enabling it to acquire a 70 percent ownership share from Teck Cominco, in accordance with an option agreement signed in 2002.

A group from the Alaska Miners Association visited Schaft Creek this summer during a whirlwind tour of properties in southeast Alaska and northwest British Columbia. Drilling was in progress and rows of core samples were laid out on tables in the sun. Like other projects in this mountainous region, Schaft Creek can only be reached by air at present, and building a road would be one of the main challenges if a mine were permitted.

Unlike the more advanced Galore Creek project in the same area, which can only accommodate helicopters, fixed-wing planes can land at Schaft Creek's wide-open airstrip, delivering supplies and personnel once a week in the field season. The Cessna Caravans that do this job are considerably cheaper than helicopters. Another advantage at Schaft Creek is that the location only receives about three or four feet of snow in winter, compared with up to 60 feet at Barrick's Eskay Creek gold mine.

One drill rig working

There was one drill rig working at Schaft Creek this year: Copper Fox had hoped that operator Hy-Tech would bring a second one, but no crew was available because of the intense demand for drillers at the moment. A bulldozer hauled the drill rig up a muddy trail, assisted by a winch in the steepest places. In this otherwise tranquil setting, the two-man crew does a noisy, arduous job, lifting heavy machinery and avoiding the water that gushes out every time they pull a length of core up from the ground. They don't talk much, but when they have a free moment they sit in their greasy clothes and light up a cigarette, swatting away the mosquitoes.

Down at the camp, the peace is only disturbed by the arrival of an aircraft, the grating sound of a saw cutting through core, or the tap of a hammer. Young people from the Tahltan First Nation do much of the work under the supervision of a few geologists. Michael Day, a Tahltan, is only 17, which is the perfect age, according to geologist Peter Fischer. In their 20s, assistants are likely to get distracted by "sexy kitchen girls," he thinks. Certainly the food at this camp is seductive; it's surprising to be offered yam casserole at a mining camp instead of the usual steak and ribs.

Mine could have 15-year life

There is no doubt that Schaft Creek hosts a considerable resource. The silvery-gray molybdenite gleams in the core samples and, as it is supposed to, turns into a paste-like substance when rubbed between the fingers. Using only 8 percent of the resource at Schaft Creek, an open pit mine could produce 145,000 ounces of gold and 62,000 metric tons of copper annually for 15 years, according to Copper Fox. Up to 70,000 metric tons of ore would be mined per day. But as with most projects in remote locations, the construction of infrastructure is the key, and only a feasibility study will determine whether Schaft Creek can be economic.

Copper Fox is looking at four options for the mine access road that would connect to Highway 37, all of which must negotiate creeks, rivers and mountains.

One alternative, known as "Mess Creek via More Creek", requires several bridges. The "Ball Creek/Arctic Lake" alternative entails constructing 10 kilometers of road within Mount Edziza Provincial Park. "The Arctic Lake plateau is a high elevation barren area that may be prone to white-out conditions and present certain operability safety concerns," Copper Fox said in the project description it submitted to the British Columbia Environmental Assessment Office.

Any road to Highway 37 would be about 80 kilometers long, but if the Galore Creek project goes ahead, the distance from Schaft Creek to that mine's access road would only be about 30 kilometers.

Like access, power also an issue

Another question that has to be answered is how to provide electricity. Generating power on site would be expensive, but connecting to the hydroelectric power grid could mitigate capital costs, according to Copper Fox. The estimated cost of developing the Schaft Creek project ranges from C$400 million to C$600 million.

Hecla Mining drilled at Schaft Creek between 1968 and 1977, before selling its interest in the property to Teck (now Teck Cominco) in 1978. Teck Cominco continued drilling and doing other exploration work until 2002, when it optioned Schaft Creek to Copper Fox.

If Copper Fox completes a positive bankable feasibility study, Teck Cominco may exercise a back-in right within 120 days, earning an interest in the property that is proportionate to the amount it decides to spend. Schaft Creek is Copper Fox's only property, and it will need a partner like Teck Cominco if a mine on this scale is to be built.