Prince George, B.C. –  AuRico Gold company    will be opting in to the BC Environmental Assessment  review process for it’s Kemess underground  gold mine project.

(at right, Kemess South open pit and existing  infrastructure – image courtesy AuRico Gold)

The project is located  6km north of  Kemess South Mine property that operated from 1998 to 2011 as an open  pit mine. The mine reclamation project is ongoing and the site us under  care and maintenance with  six people  on site.

In a presentation to Prince George City Council,  Kemess Underground’s Harold Bent, Environmental Manager  says the project would have significantly less of  an  environmental impact  that the  denied Kemess North (open pit) project.

Kemess Underground  would produce  about one quarter of the  tailings that would have been  produced  by “Kemess North”,   less than 1% of  the  waste that would  have been produced by Kemess North,  and  the  tailings and waste would be  deposited in the mined out open pit of Kemess South.  The failed Kemess North project  planned to use Amazay Lake  for tailings and waste.

Another key  note on the proposed underground  Kemess, is that  it will  disturb just 65 hectares of surface  ground, compared to the   failed project which  estimated  the  north open pit mine would  disturb about 980 hectares.

It is estimated the new underground operation will have a mine life of  about 12 years and will take  about 5 years to  build.  The company says  it would create between 100  to  400 jobs.

The gold concentrate would be trucked to Mackenzie where it will be shipped by rail to smelters.

AuRico  says it as an “Interim Measures Agreement” with the Tse KehNay, one of three First Nations  whose traditional territories overlap on the project site.

"Prince George is a major hub for us" says Bent, who estimates  about 40% of all expenditures and payroll will flow to the region for goods  and services.

There is a great deal of existing infrastructure at the Kemess South site,  including  bunkhouses for up to 280 people, infrastructure to  support  those people, such as a kitchen, potable water facility and a sewage facility,

There is a  powerline,  a 25,000 tonne per day  mill,  administrating buiding, truck shop, warehouse, 1,500 m all weather air strip, and a  400 km access road.   In total,  it would cost about $750 million to  replace the existing infrastructure.

AuRico will be submitting it’s project plan to the BC Environmental Assessment  Agency  in the new year.  It is expected the process will take about 2 years to complete.