Engineering & Mining Journal

MAR 2013

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REGIONAL NEWS - U.S. & CANADA Hecla Resumes Lucky Friday Mine Operations Seabridge Initiates Filing of KSM Environmental Documents After a year-long, MSHA-mandated closure of its Lucky Friday mine in northern Idaho, USA, Hecla Mining recently announced the reopening of the underground silver operation. The company said it spent almost $30 million on rehabilitation of the mine's Silver Shaft and another $26.2 on other capital projects during the shutdown. Hecla Mining reported on February 18, 2013, that its Lucky Friday mine in northern Idaho's Silver Valley has resumed operations and is expected to produce approximately 2 million oz of silver in 2013. Lucky Friday had been shut down since January 2012, when the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) ordered the Silver Shaft at the mine closed for removal of built-up material in the shaft. "Hecla is pleased to report that with rehabilitation work complete on the Silver Shaft at the Lucky Friday mine, and with necessary clearance from MSHA, the mine has resumed operations, with initial production of silver concentrates expected in February," Hecla president and CEO Phillips S. Baker Jr. said. "Production levels are expected to ramp up during the first half of the year, and we expect to reach normal production levels by mid-year. "The 12 months of down time at Lucky Friday allowed work crews to improve many aspects of the mine's operations. Besides cleaning and improving the efficiency of the main Silver Shaft, we upgraded mining methods; conducted supplementary training; hired additional safety experts, mine management, and engineering staff; and purchased $2.3 million in new equipment, 8 E&MJ; • MARCH 2013 including mechanized rock bolters, which will be used to implement new ground control measures." Hecla has recalled all employees necessary for Lucky Friday to reach full production. All employees, both returning and new, have received supplemental safety training, with enhanced procedures for risk assessment and accident prevention designed to improve existing safework practices. Work crews have completed a bypass drift at the 5,900-ft level, around an area impacted by a rock burst in December 2011. Ground support has been upgraded for over 7.5 miles of underground workings. Hecla has spent a total of $29.8 million on the rehabilitation of the Silver Shaft and an additional $26.2 million on other Lucky Friday capital projects unrelated to the shaft renovation. Crews have resumed work on the Lucky Friday No.4 Shaft project, designed to access extensions to reserves, resources, and additional exploration targets, with a goal to increase annual silver production from the mine to approximately 5 million oz. To date, $90 million has been invested on the estimated $200-million project, with completion estimated in early 2016. Seabridge Gold has begun electronic filing of its provincial Application for an Environmental Assessment certificate and its federal Environmental Impact Statement for its 100%-owned KSM gold-copper-silver project with the British Columbia and Canadian governments. The KSM (KerrSulphurets-Mitchell) property is located in the Iskut-Stikine River region of northwest British Columbia, 65 km northwest of Stewart, British Columbia. Current planning for KSM is based on estimated proven and probable reserves of 38.2 million oz of gold in 2.164 billion mt at an average grade of 0.55 g/mt gold. A near-surface, higher-grade gold zone at the Mitchell deposit will allow average annual gold production of 830,000 oz/y during the first seven years of operation. Life-ofmine production over a 55-year mine life is expected to average 508,000 oz/y. The environmental filing process for the KSM project will be completed when Seabridge delivers printed copies of the 25,000-page document that were being prepared in early February 2013. The Application/EIS submission addresses the initial requirements of the joint harmonized environmental assessment process as outlined by the British Columbia Environmental Assessment Act and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (1992). Seabridge Chairman and CEO Rudi Fronk said, "The Application/EIS document represents nearly five years of effort and approximately $146 million in expenditures to design an environmentally sound and economically rewarding project. We are very proud of the work by our personnel and our first-class team of consultants. We are confident that our Application/EIS materials demonstrate that the KSM project, as designed, is environmentally responsible as well as technically and economically feasible." Seabridge has undertaken an extensive public consultation process related to KSM development. In general, public feedback on the project has been positive, and input from the consultation process has been www.e-mj.com

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