The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Forest Service favors environmental assessment which could allow for final permitting later this year, first gold output in 2009
Coeur d'Alene Mines Corp. May 8 said the U.S. Forest Service said an Environmental Assessment is the preferred level of review for permitting the proposed alternative tailings facility for its Kensington Gold Mine near Juneau, which could allow for a conclusion of the permitting later this year. Construction of the mine and mill is essentially completed except for the tailings facility.
Coeur said the Forest Service evaluated public and agency comments submitted in a draft supplemental information report for the Kensington project, and based its decision on the responses and agency input.
"We appreciate the timely review of the Modified Plan of Operations by the Forest Service. The EA process will provide a well-defined and timely permitting pathway for the paste tailings plan," Coeur Chairman, President and CEO Dennis E. Wheeler said in a statement.
"Coeur is now confident the environmental review process can be completed in 2008, allowing Kensington to be brought into production in 2009," Wheeler added.
The draft supplemental information report prepared by the Forest Service supported the technical soundness of the paste tailings plan. The site selected for constructing the paste tailings facility in the modified plan of operation is the same site that was studied for locating the dry tailings facility earlier, but is smaller and involves less area disturbance, Coeur said. It also requires less energy than the dry tailings facility. A supplemental environmental impact statement was prepared for a dry tailings facility at the same site in 1997.
Critic supports paste tailings plan
In a separate statement issued last week, the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council indicated its support for the paste tailings plan as a preferred alternative over the dry tailings facility. Coeur and SEACC collaborated in developing the new plan. Coeur also said the plan is supported by more than 900 studies, and includes an environmental monitoring component and extensive reclamation requirements.
Kensington is located about 45 miles northwest of Juneau and will have estimated annual production of about 140,000 ounces of gold. Construction of all surface facilities, except for the tailings facility, is essentially completed. In addition, the nearly three-mile horizontal access tunnel has been constructed. The tunnel connects the Jualin mine site, where the plant and mill are located, and the Kensington ore body. Proven and probable reserves measure about 1.4 million ounces of gold.
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