Study starts on new mine
May 21, 2009 | Gordon Hoekstra, Prince George Citizen
There is another mining kid on the block in B.C.'s Northern Interior.
TTM Resources Inc. proposed $1 billion Chu Molybdenum project, 80 kilometres south of Vanderhoof, has entered the pre-application stage of B.C.'s environmental assessment process.
The move is the first step in securing environmental approval from the province and Ottawa, an often lengthy process that can take years.
Even though the global economic downturn has caused commodity prices to slip and credit to tighten, TTM Resources is investing about $1 million to start year-long field studies on plants, fish and water, as well as weather patterns, required as part of the environmental assessment process.
The Vancouver-based company is also starting discussions with First Nations in the area.
"Our goal is to try and be the No. 1 prepared new deposit in the province, so the next time we end up with a good market cycle we'll be right there," says TTM Resources president and CEO Crichy Clarke. "We want to make sure we're not behind the eight ball."
The company has laid out a preliminary project description, filed with the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office. It indicates that the mine life could be as long as 30 years, depending on how high production is set. If the mine is built, it would need 350 to 400 workers.
The proposed mine site is accessible on an existing resource road, the Kluskus-Ootsa Forest Service Road, but would need a 106-kilometre power line extension.
The capital cost of the mine is estimated at $727 million to $1.043 billion depending on whether new or used mining equipment is used.
The acid-rock generating potential of the rock hasn't been determined yet. The plan is to build a tailings pond -- a man-made lake -- to submerge mine waste.
Molybdenum is already mined in the region, at Endako's long-lived mine near Fraser Lake, just west of Vanderhoof.
Molybdenum is used in the manufacture of aircraft parts, electrical contacts, industrial motor and filaments because of its ability to withstand extreme temperatures without significantly expanding or softening. Molybdenum is also used in alloys for its high corrosion resistance and the ease of welding it.
The Chu project is just one of several proposed mines emerging in the north-central B.C. region.
Pacific Booker Mineral also has a project in the environmental approval process.
The proposed gold, copper and molybdenum mine is about 325 kilometres northwest of Prince George, located near Noranda's former Granisle and Well mines. That project is slated for 16 years of production and 180 or more workers.
There's also Terrane Metal's proposed $917-million Mount Milligan project.
The gold and copper mine, about 155 kilometres northwest of Prince George, would create about 300 permanent jobs. Terrane's project already has approval from the B.C. environmental process, but is awaiting a decision from Ottawa.
The proposed mining projects are considered important by forest-based communities which are looking for economic diversification in the wake of the mountain pine beetle epidemic in north-central B.C.
The epidemic is expected to decrease the annual timber harvest and with it forestry jobs. Forest-based communities have also been hit hard by an unprecedented downturn in the forest sector led by a collapse in the U.S. housing market. More than 3,000 forestry jobs have been lost in the past two years in northern B.C.
