Post by Catdaddy on Sept 16, 2009 10:17:52 GMT -5
I got this via e-mail at 7:45am today...just opened it up...thought I'd go ahead and post it. It appears to be an increased degree of urgency to start the mine. Later,
Catdaddy
Study indicates good cause to start a mine
www.nipawinjournal.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1754228
Posted By Melissa Mangelsen
Updated 1 hour ago
(Picture)
Nipawin Mayor Glen Day, left, and Vice-President of Corporate Affiars at Shore Gold Inc., Eric Cline after a meeting in Nipawin.
Eric Cline, vice-president of corporate affairs at Shore Gold Inc., was in Nipawin Sept. 10, to discuss the new developments with Nipawin Mayor Glen Day, members of council and other community builders.
"We like to keep in touch with communities that are close to the mine," said Cline. "We like to report developments that are going on to the community and lately we've had some very significant developments, one of them being on the Star Kimberlite."
A pre-feasibility study (PFS) was done on the Star Kimberlite and the news out of the PFS was good.
"It indicated that there was good cause to start a mine there. The site could be the site of a significant diamond mine," he said.
Being at the stage of the PFS is critical, it can either grant a red light or a green light for the project, and the PFS granted Shore Gold a green light. Now, they are going towards the final PFS, which involves detailed pricing of buying equipment and costs to mine.
If it develops into a mine, it's still a long ways away. The earliest development could begin is in the fall of 2010, and construction for the mine is estimated at four years.
"I would like to caution everyone to say that we really don't have control over the timetable, many things can happen to delay this," said Cline.
Possible delays include the environmental impact statement that is submitted to the government.
"It isn't a matter of saying to the government that we want an answer in two weeks - they do their part to consult the public," said Cline.
They also have to consult with Aboriginal people as well.
"No one can say for sure [when construction might begin], we don't determine those things."
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Another announcement was made by Shore Gold, Sept. 10 by way of coincidence. A resource estimate was completed on the Orion South Kimberlite, which is just about two or three kilometers west of the Star Kimberlite. A resource assessment is not as technically advanced as the PFS, but it's the first step.
The resource assessment began a year and a half ago and has given the Orion South Kimberlite the green light.
"They say there's reasonable prospect that, that site could eventually develop into a diamond producing mine," said Cline. "We think it's good news and it's not a notion that a mine will be developed, but we think it's a good possibility that we could be mining diamonds in the future."
There are many factors that need to be in place before they can move to develop either one of these sites as a mine. The basic one is sufficient volume of the resource, which the PFS speaks to. They have to have a social license for mining, which is support from the communities.
"We think we have a strong social license," said Cline.
There also has to be the environmental studies, which has already been done and they need to have a description of environmental impacts. They are also required to have a process of consultation with Aboriginal people and financing has to be in place.
The main advantage to the area they are in is that there is a lot of things that already exist there, like infrastructure, roads, electrical and housing.
"Housing is very important, there's a lot of affordable housing in the towns and cities around the area."
Other mines have had to build landing strips for airplanes, camps for their workers and there was more complicated arrangements in moving things in there.
They are looking at about 1,000 workers for the construction phase and about 500 people for production.
"Most economists and provincial governments accept that for every direct job that a mining company creates, two indirect jobs are also created."
It's not possible for Shore Gold to say that a particular service would be located in Nipawin, but he doesn't doubt that Nipawin will benefit from a diamond mine.
"We think there are trades people living in other parts of the country that would return to Saskatchewan if given the opportunity - the whole region will benefit."
Though, it is up to individual employees to decide which of the surrounding communities they will reside in.
The PFS for the Star Kimberlite indicated that there is a probable mineral reserve of 171 million tones at a weighted average grade of 12 carats per hundred tones, containing 20 million carats at a weighted average price of $265 per carat.
The pre-production capital cost was set at $1,487 million with a total capital cost of $1,646 million, over the life of the mine and an initial capital payback period of 5.2 years.
Now Shore Gold will move forward to prepare the final feasibility study, which they hope to have completed by March 2010.
"In order to move forward to mining we need to have the financial feasibility study, the environmental approvals, permits and raise a lot of money," said Cline.
They are looking towards larger investors, which could involve a number of arrangements - joint venture, investment in the company, etc.
"Where the money will come from remains to be seen - that's not unusual," said Cline.
Article ID# 1754228
Catdaddy
Study indicates good cause to start a mine
www.nipawinjournal.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1754228
Posted By Melissa Mangelsen
Updated 1 hour ago
(Picture)
Nipawin Mayor Glen Day, left, and Vice-President of Corporate Affiars at Shore Gold Inc., Eric Cline after a meeting in Nipawin.
Eric Cline, vice-president of corporate affairs at Shore Gold Inc., was in Nipawin Sept. 10, to discuss the new developments with Nipawin Mayor Glen Day, members of council and other community builders.
"We like to keep in touch with communities that are close to the mine," said Cline. "We like to report developments that are going on to the community and lately we've had some very significant developments, one of them being on the Star Kimberlite."
A pre-feasibility study (PFS) was done on the Star Kimberlite and the news out of the PFS was good.
"It indicated that there was good cause to start a mine there. The site could be the site of a significant diamond mine," he said.
Being at the stage of the PFS is critical, it can either grant a red light or a green light for the project, and the PFS granted Shore Gold a green light. Now, they are going towards the final PFS, which involves detailed pricing of buying equipment and costs to mine.
If it develops into a mine, it's still a long ways away. The earliest development could begin is in the fall of 2010, and construction for the mine is estimated at four years.
"I would like to caution everyone to say that we really don't have control over the timetable, many things can happen to delay this," said Cline.
Possible delays include the environmental impact statement that is submitted to the government.
"It isn't a matter of saying to the government that we want an answer in two weeks - they do their part to consult the public," said Cline.
They also have to consult with Aboriginal people as well.
"No one can say for sure [when construction might begin], we don't determine those things."
Advertisement
Another announcement was made by Shore Gold, Sept. 10 by way of coincidence. A resource estimate was completed on the Orion South Kimberlite, which is just about two or three kilometers west of the Star Kimberlite. A resource assessment is not as technically advanced as the PFS, but it's the first step.
The resource assessment began a year and a half ago and has given the Orion South Kimberlite the green light.
"They say there's reasonable prospect that, that site could eventually develop into a diamond producing mine," said Cline. "We think it's good news and it's not a notion that a mine will be developed, but we think it's a good possibility that we could be mining diamonds in the future."
There are many factors that need to be in place before they can move to develop either one of these sites as a mine. The basic one is sufficient volume of the resource, which the PFS speaks to. They have to have a social license for mining, which is support from the communities.
"We think we have a strong social license," said Cline.
There also has to be the environmental studies, which has already been done and they need to have a description of environmental impacts. They are also required to have a process of consultation with Aboriginal people and financing has to be in place.
The main advantage to the area they are in is that there is a lot of things that already exist there, like infrastructure, roads, electrical and housing.
"Housing is very important, there's a lot of affordable housing in the towns and cities around the area."
Other mines have had to build landing strips for airplanes, camps for their workers and there was more complicated arrangements in moving things in there.
They are looking at about 1,000 workers for the construction phase and about 500 people for production.
"Most economists and provincial governments accept that for every direct job that a mining company creates, two indirect jobs are also created."
It's not possible for Shore Gold to say that a particular service would be located in Nipawin, but he doesn't doubt that Nipawin will benefit from a diamond mine.
"We think there are trades people living in other parts of the country that would return to Saskatchewan if given the opportunity - the whole region will benefit."
Though, it is up to individual employees to decide which of the surrounding communities they will reside in.
The PFS for the Star Kimberlite indicated that there is a probable mineral reserve of 171 million tones at a weighted average grade of 12 carats per hundred tones, containing 20 million carats at a weighted average price of $265 per carat.
The pre-production capital cost was set at $1,487 million with a total capital cost of $1,646 million, over the life of the mine and an initial capital payback period of 5.2 years.
Now Shore Gold will move forward to prepare the final feasibility study, which they hope to have completed by March 2010.
"In order to move forward to mining we need to have the financial feasibility study, the environmental approvals, permits and raise a lot of money," said Cline.
They are looking towards larger investors, which could involve a number of arrangements - joint venture, investment in the company, etc.
"Where the money will come from remains to be seen - that's not unusual," said Cline.
Article ID# 1754228
