Duane Hicks
With the Rainy River Gold Project north of Barwick anticipated to enter the construction phase next year, town council is letting Rainy River Resources know it wants to work with company in any way it can.
Kyle Stanfield, the company’s vice-president of environment and sustainability, told council Monday night that the public comment period for its draft Environmental Assessment (EA) closed Aug. 19.
The company now is waiting for federal and provincial agency comments on the 8,000-page document.
Stanfield expects the latter two to come through in the next week-and-a-half, after which time the company will summarize all comments and issue the final EA report in October.
The company is expecting both the provincial and federal ministers’ decision on the EA in the spring.
If all goes to plan, the two-year construction phase will begin in mid-2014.
Open pit mining is anticipated to begin in 2016 and run for at least 10 years, with the potential to extend the mine life beyond 16 years.
The gold project is anticipated to have a significant impact on the area’s economy. Jobs during construction are estimated at 400 while employment during production is pegged at 600, with indirect work for another 2,000-3,000 people.
As such, district communities, including Fort Frances, want to be ready for the “gold rush.”
Fort Frances CAO Mark McCaig asked Stanfield if there is anything the town can do to support the gold project.
Stanfield replied that housing always is an issue in any of the municipalities located near major projects.
“From our perspective, because we are located primarily on private land, within municipalities or close to a major municipality, such as Fort Frances, we rely heavily on the private sector to develop strategies around our business model, which is out there publicly,” he noted.
“We don’t want to get into the housing business.”
Stanfield said it looks like Fort Frances can provide a variety of housing options for those employed thanks to the mine, and assuredly there will be young families wanting to settle down here.
He added the company doesn’t plan to build a camp for its workers to live in during the construction or operation phases, but instead will bus in crews from houses, hotels, and area camps with road access.
Stanfield later stressed the majority of the miners will want to move to the district and stay here.
“The advantage of our mine is people are going to be able to go home for dinner, go fishing with the kids, or go golfing,” he remarked.
“They’re not going to have to be away from their family a week or two at a time.”
The mining company also doesn’t want to get into other businesses that support the main one, added Stanfield.
“So we’re going to be relying on the business sector to be very vibrant, very active, and very willing to provide services; to step forward when we issue RFPs [requests for proposals],” he explained.
“And we’ve had that already. We’ve had many businesses step forward to us and say, ‘We have a service to offer,’” Stanfield noted, adding the company will be putting out contracts in the next 12-18 months, if not sooner.
McCaig said Fort Frances is a full-service community with a host of amenities, not the least of which is affordable power.
“We want to be a big part of this and we want to share in all of the benefits that will come through this project,” he remarked, adding the town is offering itself to assist the company in any way as things move along.
Stanfield admitted the company is slightly concerned about the alignment between the provincial and federal governments in giving approval of the EA, and the company may come back to the town for assistance to ensure the process is timely.
In response to a question from Coun. Andrew Hallikas, Stanfield said the town’s infrastructure is important, particularly the Fort Frances Airport.
“The airport has been very, I would say, critical to our higher-level operations with senior management,” he noted.
“The airport will serve a critical role and it certainly played a critical role for us in the past also,” he added.
“It’s an important feature to have.”
In response to a question from Coun. Doug Kitowski, Stanfield said the price of gold must be at a minimum of $900/ounce for the mine to be economically viable.
The price of gold currently is around $1,350/oz.
The operation has estimated reserves of four million ounces of gold and 10 million ounces of silver.
In the first decade of operation, annual production is estimated at nearly 330,000 ounces of gold and almost 500,000 ounces of silver.
Regional economic developer Geoff Gillon, meanwhile, said the Rainy River Future Development Corp. has made it clear to the company it is available regarding any issues related to economic development.
He added the RRFDC has been working to ensure area businesses are ready for the opportunities related to future mining.
For example, Rainy River Resources will be doing request for proposals for different commodities they need.
“Our business community has to learn,” Gillon stressed. “They have to learn how to process, and they have to become involved.
“It’s a lot different than when you have a paper mill that’s staying here,” he explained. “They’re going to have many different faces, many different subcontractors, and the business community is going to have to be quite aware of what is going on.
Gillon said businesses also will have to know how to sell their product so that they make a profit and keep the local community going.
As a side note, Fort Frances was selected by the Canadian Business Journal as a community of interest—and a series of interviews were conducted highlighting the benefits of doing mining business here.
This fall, the magazine will be publishing an article about mining potential in the district this fall.
The RRFDC placed advertisements that will accompany the article in the Canadian Business Journal.
For example, one of them reads: “Fort Frances—Canada’s Next Mining District.”
