LauraB,

Thanks for reminding people about KWG's letter to shareholders.

Some additional observations:

1. Natural gas pipe to go north: It would be a well-executed plan if a natural gas line to go north to generate electricity and heating is part of the grand scheme for this corridor which should include a small NS service road and fibre optic cables, etc...e.g. several wind turbines, solar panels to power local booster pumping stations, or to keep RR switches from getting frozen? Might as well do everything, including slurry and gas pipes, at the same time. Not sure if the pipes can share the same trench, but at least the construction equipment would be there. Actually, doing this would save some time, at least one less EA review.

Piping natural gas up north would be the most effective and efficient way to generate electricity (just don't cancel the thing again at great penalty) and home heating, but an interim solution would be available to the miners: diesel generators, if they have to while waiting, and waiting...for the gas to come in.

2. Potential green solution: It would be possible to recover the "waste heat" (2/3 of the total heat generated by the gas burner) for use in keeping the mining facilities warm. For home heating there are 2 options, piping the gas in to the FN communities for their gas heaters, or electric heating which would cost a lot more, but sometimes there is no better choice to keep warm. Similarly, as part of a green solution, the slurry dryer in the south could use the recoverable heat from the stack of the gas-powered conversion facility, or the heat (2/3 of the total heat input) from the gas-powered electricity generator.

3. Energy consumption: People often say that Canadians consume a lot more energy compared to others. Yes this is true, but it's also true that if they don't have enough home heating they will freeze to death...same goes with eating, northern people, especially people in isolated northern Ontario communities, would need extra reserve in their bodies to have a better chance to survive. Note: We are not talking about excessive eating like supersizing all meals, but just enough calories to keep the body warm, plus a bit of reserve for survivability.

goldhunter