Possible open-pit mine on Catface Mountain
Friends of Clayoquot Sound, May 8, 2008

As many of you already know, last month Selkirk Metals Corporation and Ahousaht Band Council signed a memorandum of understanding to begin exploratory drilling for an open-pit copper on Catface Mountain. A consultant's report has estimated that the top third to half of Catface will be removed to extract the ore of which only 0.4% is copper.

Please remember that things are still at the exploratory stage and Selkirk Metals will have to do some years of exploratory drilling and other tests before they would be ready to apply for permits for an actual mine. So there's still time to avert this. Nonetheless, exploratory drilling would in itself be damaging, as it would involve re-building/building roads to bring in drill rigs, and drill holes could leach toxic levels of heavy metals and chemicals into groundwater and surrounding salmon streams.

-Catface contains low grade copper, 0.4%, which means 99.6% of ore is waste and ends up as tailings

-volume of tailings would be in the order of 103 to 250 million cubic metres (123 to 300 million tonnes) (tailings = pulverized ore that remains after minerals are extracted)

-total volume of waste rock could be 110 to 170 million cubic metres (198 to 306 million tonnes) (waste rock = rock that has to be stripped off in order to reach the copper ore)

-a dam 50 to 80 metres high will be required to hold the tailings pond. Due to the area's high rainfall, it is unlikely the dam will contain the pond, and is susceptible to the seismic activity common along the coast and possible tsunami risks

-the main deposit extends to 350 metres depth, so at least the top 350 metres (1,150 feet) of Catface Mt would be removed height of Catface is 962 metres (North Peak) and 800 metres (South Peak)

-mining of Irishman Creek and Hecate Bay Zones would increase mines footprint

-due to high rainfall (3.3 metres annually), there is an issue of run off from open-pit mine and its effect on water volume and water quality in streams that encircle Catface.

-issue of heavy metal and sulphuric acid leaching: water drainage may be acid rock drainage, or neutral drainage containing copper, or possibly alkaline drainage containing molybdenum

-additional required infrastructure: deep water port, ore processing plant, office, maintenance facilities, power from diesel generators

-continuous noise and dust (mine operates non-stop, 24/7), night lighting, extraction machinery and massive trucks

-will be seen and heard from Ahousaht (3 km west of Catface) and Tofino (13 km south), Ahousaht will also get dust

-shipping will have to go through deep channels around the north side of Flores Island, in pristine waters

-the lifestyles and activities of idle mine-workers on leave from weeks spent at camp may not be compatible with the experience tourist destination guests come to expect

Read Surfrider Tofino's letter to Tofino mayor and council



Update June 9, 2008

-Selkirk has changed their exploratory drilling application from road access to helicopter access, with a camp of 15 workers (at Cypre Camp?)

-the exploratory drilling application has not been approved yet
-it has gone through initial Ministry of Mines review, and on May 23rd was referred to various agencies for comment, including the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District, agencies have 30 days to reply
-after that, the final referral will be to the Clayoquot Sound Central Region Board, which will recommend to the Ministry of Mines whether to accept, reject or modify the application

-about May 8th, Selkirk began training 10 men in Ahousaht to become drillers, they will also hire a "liason", and we hear they've paid out the initial signing bonus for the Memorandum of Understanding, so they're in there already providing economic benefits




If you feel inclined to voice opposition to the Catface mine, you can:

1.Contact the BC Government and tell them you do not want exploratory drilling or any environmentally destructive copper mine on Catface Mountain in Clayoquot Sound, and ask them to refuse Selkirk's application for exploratory drilling. Your letter (or fax/email/phone call) can be short and to the point. For example: “I do not want any mining or exploratory drilling on Catface Mountain in Clayoquot Sound. I request that Selkirk Metals’ application for exploratory drilling be denied. Please reply and inform me how you are dealing with Selkirk’s drilling application for Catface.”

Write to:
Premier Gordon Campbell, PO Box 9041, Stn Prov Govt, Victoria, BC, V8W 9E1
premier@gov.bc.ca tel 250-387-1715 fax 250-387-0087

Copy your letter or fax or email to:
Barry Penner, Minister of Environment, PO Box 9047, Stn Prov Govt, Victoria, BC, V8W 9E2
env.minister@gov.bc.ca tel 250-387-1187 fax 250-387-1356
Richard Neufeld, Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, PO Box 9060, Stn Prov Govt, Victoria, BC, V8W 9E3
empr.minister@gov.bc.ca tel 250-387-5896 fax 250-356-2965
Kevin Krueger, Minister of State for Mining, PO Box 9070, Stn Prov Govt, Victoria, BC, V8W 9E2
smin.minister@gov.bc.ca tel 250-953-4100 fax 250-387-1803

2. Request a public meeting/open-house in Tofino regarding the exploratory drilling application Selkirk Metals has submitted to the Ministry of Mines.
Contact Ron Bronstein, Executive Director, Major Mines Projects, SW Region
Ministry of Mines, PO Box 9395, Stn Prov Govt, Victoria, BC, V8W 9N3
ron.bronstein@gov.bc.ca tel 250-952-0473 fax 250-952-0491

3. Contact Selkirk Metals and ask them to withdraw their application for an exploratory drilling permit on Catface.
Selkirk Metals Corporation
1255 West Pender Street, Vancouver, BC, V6E 2V1
tel 604-687-2038 fax 604-687-3141
selkirk@selkirkmetals.com
www.selkirkmetals.com
Jim Miller-Tait, Vice President of Exploration

Together we can preserve and protect the beauty and environmental integrity for many generations to come.

Thank you.

Friends of Clayoquot Sound
Box 489 (331 Neill St)
Tofino, BC V0R 2Z0
tel 250 725-4218
fax 250 725-2527
info@focs.ca
www.focs.ca