Imperial Metals got into some difficulty last summer after the tailings pond at its Mt. Polley copper-gold mine near Quesnel Lake collapsed.
That particular problem should not be an issue with its proposed lead-zinc mine at Ruddock Creek as there will be no tailings pond involved.
Instead, most of the waste rock would be returned to the underground mine and stored there.
That was part of the report delivered by Imperial Metals vice-president Gordon Keevil and exploration manager Jim Miller-Tait to Clearwater town council’s economic development committee on June 2.
The proposed mine would be located southeast of Tum Tum Lake and about 20 km east of Avola.
Getting adequate electrical power to the site would be a priority. The company would prefer the power came in from Avola rather than some other options that have been suggested.
About 3,000 tonnes of ore would be milled per day.
The mill and camp would be accommodated in one large building complex, about 200 m long by 40 m wide.
The Ruddock Creek project is currently in the application information requirements stage of the provincial environmental assessment process, the two company executives said.
The value component is the most important document in the pre-formal application stage.
After the application information requirements are accepted, the company will have three years to file a formal application.
According to the Imperial Metals website, a project description was submitted to both the provincial and federal Environmental Assessment offices in July of 2014.
In October of last year the BC Environmental Assessment Office issued a Section 11 Order which establishes the formal scope, procedures and methods concerning Ruddock Creek’s environmental assessment.
This year, further baseline studies will be conducted along with continued work related to environmental assessment permitting.
Ruddock Creek is a joint venture between Imperial (50 per cent), Mitsui Mining and Smelting Co. Ltd. (30 per cent) and Itochu Corporation (20 per cent).
– with notes from Goldie Krawec
