The co-chair of the Marsh Lake local advisory council says she’s comfortable with the proposal for a placing mining operation along Judas Creek.

Jo-Anne Smith said in addition to her personal views, she believes there was general support for the project among the 50-plus people who attended a public meeting to discuss the proposal Wednesday evening at the Marsh Lake Community Centre.

“That is the feeling I got, and I talked to different people after the meeting,” Smith said by phone this morning.

“YESAB (Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board) got a bunch of input from the people that were there.”

Smith said she recognizes there are concerns about the impact the placer mine would have on the protected Carcross caribou herd, and the potential to affect the local water quality.

Nicolai Goeppel, one of two project applicants, did a thorough job last night of addressing the two primary concerns as well as other concerns, Smith said.

YESAB hosted the meeting to gather more input, following a similar public meeting Tuesday night in Carcross.

The assessment board’s designated office in Teslin has extended the deadline for comments to March 15 at the request of a handful of different parties.

They included the Carcross/Tagish Renewable Resource Council and Environment Yukon.

Environment Yukon sought more time so that it could visit the site and prepare a report, with a focus on the Carcross caribou herd, which has been under the umbrella of the Southern Lakes Caribou Recovery Program since it began in 1992.

The proposed mine falls within the herd’s winter range. It’s in the middle of the herd’s migration routes on the east side of the Alaska Highway, about 4.5 kilometres north of Jakes Corner.

The co-chair of the advisory council noted there was a member of the Tagish advisory council who asked a number of questions last night about the potential impact on the caribou.

Smith said Goeppel explained how the mining would occur along a tributary of Judas Creek and not on the main creek.

It would be mined in stages to minimize the project’s footprint, with a progressive reclamation plan to reclaim mined-out areas before moving on, she said.

Smith said the intent is to recycle the water required for the operation through a series of berms to remove silt and minimize the ongoing need for large volumes of fresh water.

There would be no requirement for a camp because of the proximity to Whitehorse, and no need to store fuel on the site because fuel could be brought in daily, she pointed out.

Smith said listening to the young geologist talk last night, you know he’s done his homework.

From her view, she said, there was a general support for the proposal, which was viewed by those at the meeting as an opportunity to provide jobs for a couple of young guys and others.

“As a person, I felt it was a viable project,” said the co-chair of the advisory council.

“I feel this is probably a good thing for Marsh Lake because it is the closest neighbour he has to it, and people are looking for work.”

Smith said the placer mining proposal will be on the advisory council’s agenda for next week to see if the council wants to take an official position on the project application.

Goeppel and co-applicant Alex Shaman are seeking approval to mine a block of 45 placer claims in the area over the next 10 years, between May 1 and Nov. 15 each year.