Final Tailings Permitting Targeted for 4th
Quarter of 2008, with Production Startup in 2009
Coeur d’Alene Mines Corporation (NYSE:CDE)
(TSX:CDM) (ASX:CXC) said today that the U.S. Forest Service has
evaluated public and agency comments submitted on the Draft Supplemental
Information Report for the Kensington Gold Mine in Alaska. Based on the
responses and agency input, the Forest Service has announced that an
Environmental Assessment (EA) is the preferred level of review, which
could allow for a conclusion of permitting for an alternative tailings
facility later this year. Construction of the mine and mill is
essentially completed except for the tailings facility.
“We appreciate the timely review of the
Modified Plan of Operations by the Forest Service. The EA process will
provide a well-defined and timely permitting pathway for the paste
tailings plan,” said Dennis E. Wheeler,
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Coeur. “Coeur
is now confident the environmental review process can be completed in
2008, allowing Kensington to be brought into production in 2009.”
The draft Supplemental Information Report (SIR) prepared by the Forest
Service supported the technical soundness of the paste tailings plan.
The site selected for constructing the paste tailings facility in the
Modified Plan of Operation is the same site as was studied for locating
the dry tailings facility earlier, but is smaller and involves less area
disturbance. It also requires less energy than the dry tailings
facility. A Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement was prepared for
a dry tailings facility at the same site in 1997.
In a separate press release issued last week, the Southeast Alaska
Conservation Council indicated their support for the paste tailings plan
as a preferred alternative over the dry tailings facility. Coeur and
SEACC collaborated in developing the new plan. The plan, supported by
over 900 studies, includes an environmental monitoring component and
extensive reclamation requirements.
Kensington is a major gold project located about 45 miles northwest of
Juneau with an estimated annual production profile of approximately
140,000 ounces of gold. Construction of all surface facilities, except
for the tailings facility, is essentially completed. In addition, the
almost 3-mile horizontal access tunnel has been constructed. The tunnel
connects the Jualin mine site, where the plant and mill are located, and
the Kensington ore body.
