Waiting for government approval?
Century Global's Joyce Lake EIS review may continue
2022-11-10 16:30 ET - News Release
Mr. Sandy Chim reports
JOYCE LAKE DSO PROJECT ACHIEVES ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT MILESTONE
The Impact Assessment Agency of Canada has advised the outcome of a conformity review of the draft environmental impact statement for Century Global Commodities Corp. and its 91.6-per-cent-owned subsidiary Joyce Direct Iron Inc. (JDI)'s Joyce Lake direct shipping iron ore project in a letter dated Nov. 7, 2022, that it has determined that the draft EIS and the associated English EIS summary for the project from JDI (the proponent of the project), submitted on Oct. 1, 2022, are sufficient to proceed to technical review by the agency, federal authorities and indigenous groups that have requested to participate in the review.
On Oct. 1, 2022, JDI submitted to the agency the draft EIS and the English EIS summary for the project, with the French translation of the EIS summary submitted to IAAC on Nov. 3, 2022. The agency and federal authorities reviewed the draft EIS and EIS summary in consideration of the guidelines for the preparation of an environmental impact assessment for the Joyce Lake direct shipping iron ore project, issued in March, 2013, and the conformity requirements, issued on July 5, 2021, after the agency's review of the previous version of the EIS.
Based on this review, the agency has determined that the draft EIS is sufficient to proceed to technical review by the agency, federal authorities and indigenous groups that have requested to participate in the review. However, as indicated in previous e-mails and discussed on July 26, 2022, the agency will expect the final EIS to have updated information for each of the indigenous communities. The agency understands that the proponent is continuing to engage with indigenous groups to meet this requirement prior to submission of the final EIS.
The agency's review did identify some outstanding editorial changes that were requested in the July 5, 2021, conformity requirements. While these do not necessitate a delay in starting technical review, the agency requests that they be addressed prior to the submission of the final EIS and EIS summary, which will be in a combined report form, also conforming to the EIS guidelines of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Proceeding to a technical review does not imply that the information provided is adequate to support the completion of the environmental assessment. Following the technical review of the draft EIS by the agency, if there are gaps in the information required as per the EIS guidelines for the project, the agency may request further information be submitted by the proponent. It should be noted that federal authorities have already provided comments that may be developed into information requirements during the technical review.
Project summary
The greenfield project is in Newfoundland and Labrador, approximately 20 kilometres from the town of Schefferville, Que.
The project is an open-pit direct shipping iron ore mine, producing 2.5 million tonnes annually for about seven years. Lump and fines products will be produced after ore crushing and screening, and will be trucked 43 kilometres to an existing rail line and transferred by unit trains to the multiuser port at Pointe Noire on the St. Lawrence Seaway for shipment primarily to China.
On Oct. 31, 2022, the company announced the project feasibility study results based on an average three-year lookback product selling price of $124.95 (U.S.) per dry metric tonne for 62 per cent iron CFR China at an exchange rate of 77 U.S. cents to $1 (Canadian). The feasibility study determined a project initial capital cost of $270.4-million, preproduction working capital requirements of $80.4-million and an operating cost of $95.26 (Canadian) per dry metric tonne landed China, and it also determined an after-tax net present value discounted at 8 per cent of $184.6-million (Canadian), an internal rate of return of 20.01 per cent and a payback of 3.7 years.
Federal and provincial environmental assessment
The project continues in environmental assessment (EA) federally by the IAAC and provincially by the Newfoundland and Labrador Department of Environment and Climate Change (NL-ECC).
The company will combine the IAAC EIS with the NL-ECC EIS and submit a final combined EIS document to both agencies in mid-2023.
On Oct. 1, 2022, the company submitted a draft EIS to IAAC, which on Nov. 7, 2022, advised it was proceeding with a technical review of the draft EIS with involvement of federal authorities and indigenous groups, which had indicated an interest in participating. The IAAC proceeding with a technical review is a major project milestone, and is expected to reduce review time by IAAC of the final combined EIS.
The company also plans to submit the draft EIS to NL-ECC for review and comment to similarly facilitate review of the final combined EIS. Co-ordination is under way for a provincial review to advance the process as much as possible ahead of a final submission of the combined (federal and provincial) EIS to allow the company to be advised of issues earlier to address them in the final report.
The company continues to collect and collate environmental baseline data and does extensive consultation with indigenous groups about verification of EIS content, their concerns and potential mitigations, the results of which will be included in the final combined EIS submitted to IAAC and NL-ECC in mid-2023 with the target for a release from the EA process by both IAAC and NL-ECC in early 2024.
If there are any significant deficiencies in the draft EIS or if additional data requirements are determined by IAAC or NL-ECC, a delay in submitting the final combined EIS may occur.
Sandy Chim, Century Global's president and chief executive officer, said, "I am pleased with our EA progress and achieving the major milestone of proceeding with the IAAC technical review of the draft EIS."
He also said, "I look forward to submission of the final combined EIS in mid-2023 and how work now being done will allow accelerated progress towards EA release in early 2024, placing the company in a position to make a production decision."
About Century Global Commodities Corp.
Century Global (Toronto Stock Exchange: CNT) is primarily a resource exploration and development company with a large portfolio of multibillion-tonne iron ore projects in Canada, mostly discovered by its own exploration team. It has other non-ferrous metal properties under exploration, as well as a well-established food distribution business (Century Food) in Hong Kong.
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