Water board hears closing arguments in Western Copper application

The Western Copper Corp. has gone through an exhaustive exercise to demonstrate its Carmacks copper project is economically and environmentally viable, the Yukon Territory Water Board heard Thursday.

The Western Copper Corp. has gone through an exhaustive exercise to demonstrate its Carmacks copper project is economically and environmentally viable, the Yukon Territory Water Board heard Thursday.

The company has demonstrated its proposal to use sulphuric acid to leach copper from raw ore can be done safely, Bill Armstrong, the company’s lawyer, told members of the board in his closing submissions Tuesday afternoon.

He emphasized the Yukon Environmental Socio-economic Assessment Board’s executive committee went to great lengths to examine the soundness of a sulphuric acid heap leach system during its three-year review of the project proposal before issuing its approval under certain conditions.

Western Copper, Armstrong said, has put before the board a sound water management plan with back-up contingencies which will ensure no negative impact to Williams Creek or the Yukon River further downstream.

Armstrong reminded the board the company’s application is supported by nine volumes of technical information and results going all the way back to initial tests of the heap leach method in 1993 and 1994.

“We believe the company has satisfied the requirements under the Water Act for the issuance of a water licence,” he said.

Several parties, including both the Little Salmon-Carmacks and the Selkirk first nations, pleaded with the board to deny the licence request.

The processing technology the company is proposing is unproven and could be potentially devastating to the environment, particularly salmon stocks, they argued. (See story above.)

Board chair Bruce Willis adjourned the meeting at 2:25 p.m. yesterday after final submissions by Western Copper, on the seventh day of testimony and cross-examination of expert witnesses.

It’s difficult to say how long the board will take to deliver its decision, given the volume of material and testimony provided to the board, Willis said.,

The company is proposing an open pit mining operation northwest of Carmacks, off the Freegold Road. Current estimates put the mine life at eight years.

Armstrong dismissed suggestions by Little Salmon-Carmacks that if members of the board look closely at the letter of the law, they can’t possibly issue a licence because they do not have the depth of information required to make a proper assessment of the application.

The board, Armstrong countered, is in possession of all the material it needs to make an assessment and fulfill is responsibilities set out under the Yukon land claim settlement.

It does not need to see the final design for the impermeable liner beneath the heap leach pad, as was suggested, Armstrong said.

Those types of issues are matters reviewed with the Yukon’s Department of Energy, Mines and Resources under the company’s quartz mining licence, the lawyer pointed out.

He said the board does not need to see final engineering and design plans for the entire operation, on which contingency plans will be finalized, as was suggested.

Jonathon Clegg, the company’s vice-president of engineering, told board members Tuesday it’s not practical to go through with the expense of a final design without having the assurance of a water licence in hand.

Nor is it practical to carry out a full scale field test of a working heap leach pad from start to finish over several years in order to prove the company’s theory is sound, as was suggested by Little Salmon-Carmacks, he said.

Final design and contingency planning, Armstrong told members of the board, are all matters that receive scrutiny under the requirements of the company’s quartz mining licence.

The lawyer reminded the board its role is to assess the company’s proposed use of water and its management of water leaving the site.

In both cases, said Armstrong, Western Copper has shown that its proposal is equal to or greater than national standards require.

He said the heap leach system will be a closed system, and none of the solution or water used in the process will enter the environment.

Rainwater and the spring runoff from the site will be captured, held and treated naturally in a large settling pond that will be emptied twice a year when the volumes in Williams Creek are greatest during the spring runoff and the fall rainy season, Armstrong said.

The pond, he said, will be large enough to handle years of unexpected and unusually high precipitation.

Armstrong pointed out part of the contingency plan calls for the construction of a standby water treatment plant that can be put into operation and used to treat water should an emergency need arise for an unscheduled release of water.

The company, he insisted, has made every effort to ensure protection of the environment, and has indeed met the test required for a water licence.The Western Copper Corp. has gone through an exhaustive exercise to demonstrate its Carmacks copper project is economically and environmentally viable, the Yukon Territory Water Board heard Thursday.

The company has demonstrated its proposal to use sulphuric acid to leach copper from raw ore can be done safely, Bill Armstrong, the company’s lawyer, told members of the board in his closing submissions Tuesday afternoon.

He emphasized the Yukon Environmental Socio-economic Assessment Board’s executive committee went to great lengths to examine the soundness of a sulphuric acid heap leach system during its three-year review of the project proposal before issuing its approval under certain conditions.

Western Copper, Armstrong said, has put before the board a sound water management plan with back-up contingencies which will ensure no negative impact to Williams Creek or the Yukon River further downstream.

Armstrong reminded the board the company’s application is supported by nine volumes of technical information and results going all the way back to initial tests of the heap leach method in 1993 and 1994.

“We believe the company has satisfied the requirements under the Water Act for the issuance of a water licence,” he said.

Several parties, including both the Little Salmon-Carmacks and the Selkirk first nations, pleaded with the board to deny the licence request.

The processing technology the company is proposing is unproven and could be potentially devastating to the environment, particularly salmon stocks, they argued.

Board chair Bruce Willis adjourned the meeting at 2:25 p.m. yesterday after final submissions by Western Copper, on the seventh day of testimony and cross-examination of expert witnesses.

It’s difficult to say how long the board will take to deliver its decision, given the volume of material and testimony provided to the board, Willis said.,

The company is proposing an open pit mining operation northwest of Carmacks, off the Freegold Road. Current estimates put the mine life at eight years.

Armstrong dismissed suggestions by Little Salmon-Carmacks that if members of the board look closely at the letter of the law, they can’t possibly issue a licence because they do not have the depth of information required to make a proper assessment of the application.

The board, Armstrong countered, is in possession of all the material it needs to make an assessment and fulfill is responsibilities set out under the Yukon land claim settlement.

It does not need to see the final design for the impermeable liner beneath the heap leach pad, as was suggested, Armstrong said.

Those types of issues are matters reviewed with the Yukon’s Department of Energy, Mines and Resources under the company’s quartz mining licence, the lawyer pointed out.

He said the board does not need to see final engineering and design plans for the entire operation, on which contingency plans will be finalized, as was suggested.

Jonathon Clegg, the company’s vice-president of engineering, told board members Tuesday it’s not practical to go through with the expense of a final design without having the assurance of a water licence in hand.

Nor is it practical to carry out a full scale field test of a working heap leach pad from start to finish over several years in order to prove the company’s theory is sound, as was suggested by Little Salmon-Carmacks, he said.

Final design and contingency planning, Armstrong told members of the board, are all matters that receive scrutiny under the requirements of the company’s quartz mining licence.

The lawyer reminded the board its role is to assess the company’s proposed use of water and its management of water leaving the site.

In both cases, said Armstrong, Western Copper has shown that its proposal is equal to or greater than national standards require.

He said the heap leach system will be a closed system, and none of the solution or water used in the process will enter the environment.

Rainwater and the spring runoff from the site will be captured, held and treated naturally in a large settling pond that will be emptied twice a year when the volumes in Williams Creek are greatest during the spring runoff and the fall rainy season, Armstrong said.

The pond, he said, will be large enough to handle years of unexpected and unusually high precipitation.

Armstrong pointed out part of the contingency plan calls for the construction of a standby water treatment plant that can be put into operation and used to treat water should an emergency need arise for an unscheduled release of water.

The company, he insisted, has made every effort to ensure protection of the environment, and has indeed met the test required for a water licence.