Mine permitting in alaskaCoeur CEO casts doubt on NGO statements in Kensington gold tailings battle
Despite a NGO news release claiming that Coeur d'Alene Mines CEO Dennis Wheeler may consider dry tailings disposal for the Kensington gold project, Wheeler actually strongly opposes the idea.
Author: Dorothy Kosich
Posted: Sunday , 02 Sep 2007
RENO, NV -
In a speech this past week to the Juneau Chamber of Commerce, Coeur d'Alene Mines President and CEO Dennis Wheeler strongly rebutted claims by environmental special interests that Alaska's Kensington gold project would harm water quality in the area.
An August 30 press release issued by the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council (SEACC) and the Juneau Group of the Sierra Club claimed that Wheeler had agreed to discuss a dry tailings disposal option, although Coeur has actually spent six years working on permits for freshwater tailings disposal.
However, Mineweb subsequently viewed Wheeler's speech on You-Tube, and learned that Wheeler told the chamber that dry tailings had specifically been ruled out as an option for Kensington by federal and state regulatory agencies.
In fact, Wheeler said the Environmental Protection Agency specifically encouraged Coeur to consider using a nearby freshwater lake for tailings disposal "because they were uncomfortable" with the idea of ocean disposal of mine tailings. Lower Slate Lake--which has been the battleground pitting Coeur and state and federal regulators against SEACC and the Sierra Club-is actually clearer today than it was before Coeur came, Wheeler asserted.
"The water was unclean before Coeur came," he claimed. "The water did not meet state quality standards in its natural state," a situation which he said had been confirmed by every regulatory agency involved.
Wheeler also accused the NGOs of deliberately misleading the news media and the general public about the use of freshwater disposal for mine tailings in the United States. "SEACC, Sierra Club and Lynn Canal Conservation have told you that no mine has been granted approval to place tailings in the waters of the U.S. since the passage of the Clear Water Act. In fact, Greens Creek, Pogo and Fort Knox, only to mention a few, have been approved by the Corps of Engineers, EPA and the Alaska Department of Conservation to place treated tailings into waters of the U.S. after exhaustive studies and a permitting process unlike Kensington."
"These are state-of-the-art projects, just like Kensington, and include treated tailings placements into waters of the United States, be it wetlands, diverted streams or small non-productive lakes," he declared.
"It is possible to place tailings very inertly, without harm to the environment in the areas surrounding well-placed mining projects," he asserted.
Wheeler also questioned why the environmental opposition would now state that it supports dry tailings disposal for the site when the previously approved dry tailings plan would have resulted in a net loss of more than 160 acres while the Lower Slate Lake option "would eliminate only 3.4 acres of wetlands."
He asserted that the dry tailings facility permitting is no long valid for the Kensington mining operation which is being downsized from its original 4,000tpd to 2,000tpd "with a smaller environmental footprint, dramatically less fuel consumption and storage needs, and overall lower impacts."
"...Any further review of DTF (Dry Tailings Facility) or any other modified tailings proposal would require the complete cooperative of the plaintiffs to expedite any additional permitting needs so that the mine can begin production," according to Wheeler. "It should be remembered that the site is comprised of at least 85% wetlands or waters of the U.S. The same legal principle that currently stalled tailings management at Kensington and the mine going into production would again apply-the same exact contested issue."
Although the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals remanded the issue of the freshwater tailings permit back to a lower court, Coeur and state and federal agencies have appealed the decision to a 15-judge panel of the appeals court. An attorney, Wheeler said, the 9th Circuit ruling "isn't the end of the road."
"My clear preference is to work with the plaintiffs," he declared. Wheeler said he hopes to achieve "a world-class, award-winning mine at Kensington-with the cooperation of the environmental community-that can serve as a model for resource development in Alaska and every place else going forward with world class science and programs for environmental stewardship, mine safety, working training-you name it-it can all be there."
Coeur has retained world-class experts to design the scientific and engineering foundation "upon which the Lower Slate Lake environmentally preferred alternative is based," according to Wheeler. The company has also invested $30 million in more than 900 environmental studies for Kensington, he added.
"It is our goal to work with SEACC, Sierra Club and Lynn Canal Conservation in the month of September to be able to present options for Kensington's go forward plan," Wheeler said. "This will, at the very least require an immediate stay and narrowing of the court mandate pending from the 9th Circuit."
Located 45 miles southwest of Juneau, Alaska, Kensington is expected to produce 150,000 ounces of gold per year in its initial years at an estimated cash cost of $310/oz over a planned 10-15 year mine life. The project has 1.35 million ounces of proven and probable gold mineral reserves