Big Opportunity, Small Footprint

Eagle’s Nest Infrastructure fits within the existing Esker Camp Site

By Alan Coutts, President and CEO

When Noront consulted local First Nations and other stakeholders regarding the development of the Eagle’s Nest mine, many people expressed concerns that huge areas of land would be negatively impacted.  In response to these concerns, Noront’s engineers re-designed the project in order to reduce the impact of the development to smallest possible area or “footprint”.

Instead of having a big open pit and the associated waste rock piles, we committed to mining entirely underground.  We also reconfigured the project so that the aggregate rock quarry is developed underground, and all the tailings are placed back underground as well.  This means that there will be no tailings dam and facilities left on surface to manage after the mine has closed.

In fact, our teams worked hard to ensure that the Eagles Nest mine will fit on the site of the current Esker Camp which has a disturbed footprint of 36 hectares (see the attached figure).  To put that number in context, Marten Falls covers 48 hectares and Webequie’s footprint is 50 hectares.

In a beautiful and environmentally sensitive area like the James Bay Lowlands, where the Ring of Fire is located, it is important to limit the impact of economic development projects as much as possible. This is an example of how Noront shows its respect for the land and our community partners as we seek creative, collaborative ways to do resource development in the 21st century.

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Then take a look at this NR from 5 days ago.

https://www.australianmining.com.au/news/hancock-makes-591m-offer-to-buy-out-riversdale-resources/

Should Hancock secure Riversdale in entirety, the buyout could be worth around $591 million.

Riversdale, which is not a publicly-listed company, is best known for its development of the Grassy Mountain coal project in Alberta, Canada.

The project is projected to produce 93 million tonnes of coking coal over a 24-year mine life.(coking coal is used in steel making)

Riversdale’s biggest shareholder is United States-based private equity firm Resource Capital Funds (RCF), which holds a 47.98 per cent stake in the company.

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What is interesting here is there seems to be no natives or environmentalists getting overly upset over Grassy Mountain coal project in Alberta. 

http://www.rivresources.com/site/Projects/grassy-mountain-project2/overview3

The total project footprint will be approximately 1500 hectares, OPEN PIT

consider Noront's 36 hectares underground....having such grief getting a permit?

Oh ..and when you read the rest of the link above...

it mentions...

We expect the permitting decision to be made midway through the fist half of 2019

Construction is expected to take 21 months and will begin when the permitting phase is complete and Riversdale has received the necessary approvals

Commercial production for public consumption is targeted to start Q1 2021 but is completely dependent on when a project regulatory decision has been made

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https://calgaryherald.com/business/local-business/australian-company-proposes-700m-coal-mine-reviving-historic-industry-in-crowsnest-pass

check out the picture ..in the link and this article states 2,800 hectare open pit instead of the 1500 hectare.

And to read  that this is close to the town of Blairmore? A 1500-2800 hectare open pit coal mine...and Hancock makes a 591 million offer before any approvals to proceed with construction?Wow to be so confident in this climate in Canada when poor ole' Noront can't get going on a gulp..36 hectare underground mine. I guess it depends on who funds the protesting and which company is targeted, not the actual scope of the project.

"Steve Mallyon, managing director of Riversdale Resources — the company behind the proposed coal mine — said he is hoping for swift approval of the project so that the mine can be operational by 2021.

“We’ve made a lot of commitments to customers in Asia particularly, as well as Europe,” Mallyon said. “We’re also paying a port reservation fee at WestShore Terminals (in Vancouver), so it’s a very, very expensive process if there are any delays.”

The Grassy Mountain coal project would produce up to 4.5 million tonnes of metallurgical coal (also known as coking coal) per year, and employ 385 full-time workers when operational. The coal would be entirely destined for export, to be used for making steel in countries such as China and India.

And where is the outrage to rip up mother earth in Canada only to export all of this steel making coking coal out of the country without using it for Canadian steel making?

Makes you sick to your stomach. ..when you consider a lot of the goods in Noront could go to Essar steel algoma for specialty steel making to actually benefit this country and lots of jobs in construction, smelter, etc.

and the Grassy mountain project ....will create 385 full time jobs...that's it....But that seems to be "strangely".....ok.