CEC feasibility Study seriously flawed and dated
Additional costs not calculated in the feasibility study are increased security bonds for "rehabilitating" poisoned water courses that using Quinsam Mine as an example are likely to be around $7 - 8 million and legal and PR costs for the continued opposition that will result if Raven is permitted. Further mine owners calculate costs of projects increase about 10% a year. Of course feasibility is dependent on a stable market demand which ended last summer and is not expected to improve til post 2015.
here is an excert from Joan Kuyek's analysis (see coalwatch.ca) of the spurious claims re Raven's "long term viability."
The Raven Technical Report Economic Analysis raises questions for the public
The economic analysis in Compliance’s June 2011 Technical Report raises a number of questions
about the mine’s long-term viability:
• Diesel prices are calculated at $0.66/litre.16 Current prices for even bulk users are double that.
• Hydro prices are low ($0.05/Kwh)17 and – like other mines in BC – receive a subsidy from
the public of about $50 per megawatt hour (Mwh). Energy economist Marvin Shaffer writes:
“In the industrial sector, the average rate is less than $40/Mwh. The cost of new supply in BC
Hydro's last round of purchases was close to $90/Mwh. Every additional megawatt hour of
new industrial load is effectively subsidized by $50. For a new mine with a load of up to one
million megawatt hours per year, the effective subsidy is some $50 million per year.”18
• No extra costs are included for upgrades or maintenance to Highway 19, Highway 4, or for
municipal roads in Port Alberni.
• No cost is included for water taking for the mine or mill.
• No costs for First Nations or community compensation are anticipated.
• The analysis does not include any amounts for taxes, interest, and other financing costs,
which are likely to be substantial.
• The ore body may prove difficult to mine economically for a variety of reasons.