A proposed new mining venture near one of Alberta’s most scenic mountain ranges is drawing both opposition and support, dividing community loyalties in the Crowsnest Pass area.
Micrex Development Corp. of Edmonton and International Metallurgical and Environmental Inc. of Kelowna, B.C., want to build a $1.5-million quarry-type mine and processing plant at the base of the Livingstone mountain range, in a rural community of acreage owners and ranchers.
The surface mining operation, to be located on Alberta Crown land, would dig up at least 80,000 tonnes of rock annually to produce about 40,000 tonnes of magnetite ore.
The magnetite, a black, naturally magnetic mineral, would be processed on site into a powdered concentrate and then hauled by large trucks along the community’s country road and through the Crowsnest Pass, destined for coal mines in southeast B.C. that use magnetite in processing coal.
Jeffrey Austin, president of International Metallurgical and Environmental, which would manage the mine’s construction and operation, says the project’s size “is (similar to) a relatively small gravel operation.”
But David McIntyre, a spokesman for Friends of the Livingstone Association, a group of about 60 local families opposed to the project, says the developers are trying to get a toehold on the land for a much larger mine.
The developers’ project description describes a magnetite deposit in the area that is 13 kilometres long and an average 2.5 kilometres in width, McIntyre notes. “In total, they’re actually looking at an area that’s 3,000 hectares, roughly half the size of the city of Red Deer. And they’re calling this a ‘little’ quarry.”
The project description says the mine would excavate an area of magnetite-bearing rock of about 100 metres square each year, in a sequential mining operation.
While the initial minesite would be at a location called Windy Ridge, continuing exploration of additional magnetite deposits in the area “could extend the life of the project considerably,” according to the project description.
Austin, however, insists that the developers’ business plan consists of only the mine at the Windy Ridge site.
There’s enough magnetite ore at that site to satisfy the market demand in Western Canada for the product for at least 10 years, he says.
Opponents are worried about the mine’s impact on their quality of life, property values, the environment and the diverse wildlife in the area.
The Livingstone mountain range is home to one of Alberta’s largest concentrations of bighorn sheep and wintering moose. It also provides habitat for white-tailed deer, mule deer and large herds of elk, along with mountain goats, cougars, wolves, and black and grizzly bears.
“This is one of the most scenic areas of Alberta and the mine would also create a significant visual impact,” says Cliff Wallis, president of the Alberta Wilderness Association (AWA).
The AWA, the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society and other conservation groups, along with Friends of the Livingstone, are calling on the provincial government to order a full-scale environmental impact assessment of the project.
But the mayor and a couple of council members in the nearby town of Crowsnest Pass, in publicly endorsing the proposed new mine, say there’s no need for such a study.
Mayor John Irwin told a town council meeting earlier this month that the project doesn’t present any environmental concerns at all, and he said that the real threat is to the region’s struggling economy if the mine doesn’t go ahead.
Austin says the mine and processing plant will provide 12 full-time jobs with an annual payroll of about $600,000, plus another half million dollars in contract work for local rock excavating and trucking firms.
The project offers substantial savings for B.C. coal firms and other magnetite customers, including a couple of coal mines in Alberta and potash mines in Saskatchewan that now have to pay to ship the ore from more distant sites in central B.C. and the U.S., Austin says.
But McIntyre says that there are other potential environmental problems.
The Windy Ridge site has some of the fiercest chinook winds in Alberta. Residents are worried that their homes and properties will be covered in dust from the quarry operation and a large pond to be built on site to hold ground-up rock waste from the plant.
The developers also propose to divert the spring runoff from two small creeks in the area to obtain about 10,000 cubic metres of water a year for the plant.
Those creeks provide habitat for native cutthroat trout and both flow into a world-famous trout fishery on the Crowsnest River, McIntyre says.
Drought conditions have affected the area for the past three years, and ranchers are already having difficulty getting water for their cattle, McIntyre adds.
Austin says his company will work closely with ranchers and residents to ensure that everyone has an adequate supply of water. No water from the operation would be discharged back into the two trout-supporting creeks, he says.
Austin also points out that the mine and plant will be operated for only three to four months of the year – just long enough to satisfy the market demand in Western Canada for magnetite.
Area rancher Roger Pisony says he supports the development as long as it’s done properly and the mined area is reclaimed.
Pisony says he has offered the developers a route through his land to haul an estimated 1,000 truckloads of ore a year in exchange for some sort of compensation, as a way to bypass most of the local residents’ houses.
A public screening process is now under way, and people have until January 30 to comment, says Anna Kaufmann, a spokeswoman for Alberta Sustainable Resource Development.
After that, Alberta Environment will decide whether the project requires a full-scale environmental impact assessment (EIA).
Even if an EIA isn’t required, the developers will have to apply for permits and meet conditions in order to access the land, obtain water from the creeks, operate the mine and reclaim the land.
The two companies intend to proceed even if the province orders an EIA, Austin says, adding: “The regulatory process is going to ensure that we operate in a sensible manner.”
