Cariboo Mining Association Box 4184, Quesnel, BC, V2J 6T9 Email: [email protected] Webpage: Ww.Cariboominingassociation.Com
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OUR MISSIO: - to promote awareness of problems, alternatives and solutions among the Placer and Hardrock Miners of the Cari- boo. - to educate the general public as to the importance of mining and to promote innovative mining methods. Cariboo Mining Association Box 4184, Quesnel, BC, V2J 6T9 Email: [email protected] Webpage: ww.Cariboominingassociation.com Published by: PRESIDET’S MESSAGE The Cariboo Mining Association Box 4184, Quesnel,BC, V2J 3J3 Well, I hope you all had a good Christmas Season. “ Miners and Prospectors in the Cariboo Mining Division working together for the Future of the 2011 has been a roller coaster ride for investors. Hopefully gold Mining Industry” will recover some, there is allot of “paper gold “ being traded Edited & designed by: right now to hinder a healthy gold price. I expect 2012 will be a Celine Duhamel, Edith Spence & Brenda Dunbar banner year for tax increases, we will be paying for the 2010 Published six times per year. Olympics, two huge new bridges in the Fraser Valley, we also lost money allocated for the HST and the money for all this will be taken from some- $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ where. At the BCPMA meeting in Kamloops, we were told we will be seeing $$ METAL PRICES the rate increases after this Spring’s sitting of the Legislature. The biggest Closing prices on Dec. 30/11 change I see as unfair is the quadrupling of the Placer Lease fees to $20 per Gold - - - - - - $ 1567.80 hectare. The legitimate miner has had no option up until now but to go to a Silver - - - - - $ 27.87 lease, but to have a lease now hurts the serious miners. It’s hard to understand Platinum - - - $ 1403.10 Copper - - - - $ 3.44 why we are hit with the highest rate increase. I thought they told us they Crude Oil - - $ 98.83 needed rate increases to curtail the nuisance stakers. We had better get mining Cdn Dollar -- $ 0.98 before we can not afford to. I would truly like to thank those that are helping the CMA become something miners want to belong to. Chris WOW Table of Contents Presidents. Message.................page 1 Association News.............page 2 & 3 Miner’s Adventures.................page 4 The Miners Page......................page 5 The Gold Page..........................page 6 Advertising Pages..............page 7, 8,9 The Cariboo Mining Association has a long established history of representing the hard rock and placer miners of the world famous Cariboo Gold Fields of Central British Columbia. Established in 1952 the CMA has stood up for and supported the mining industry of BC for the last 59 years. Page 1 Volume 10, Issue 1` January/February 2012 submitted by Celine pictures by Edith Well, we had the tour of Gibraltor Mines late November, (read article on the next page). We also had a conference call from Bob Simpson’s office to Minister Thompson. It was very short with only enough time to introduce the topics and they agreed to have more discussions at a future time. The Minister did admit that the Native issues were something that the government should deal with and not the miners. Mike Moroni, a CMA director spoke on many of the issues, as well as Arthur Topham, secretary of CMA and Chris, CMA President. Some other issues discussed were the de-activation of roads and fee increases. Mike assured the Min- ister that the waiting time for application for Notices of Work have generally improved. I’m sure there will be more on all of that in the near future. With the collaboration of the CMA, we sent our letter (below) off regarding the Natural Resource Roads Act, which needed input by Dec. 15th. There are quite a few other groups who also sent their ideas. Who knows maybe they will take our opinions to heart. Mind you it is a little disheartening when you see that the local College is offering a course on road de-activation. We also decided to sponsor the local Sled Dog Association for their yearly Barkerville Mail Run. We had a nice gathering for our Christmas Potluck with lots of goodies to eat. Thank-you Don Kirkham for getting allot of new spon- sors. We wish everyone a Peaceful and Prosperous New Year. RE:The Natural Recourse Road Act Cariboo Mining Association I am writing with the collective force of approximately 100 of our “Cariboo Mining Association” members. There is now a great deal of interest in placer mining with the high values of gold. We also are receiving various added local corporate sponsorship with the recognition of placer mining’s economic contribution to Quesnel. Our intention is not only to be able to continue our profession of mining, but to insure that it is a viable option for future generations. It is not everyone’s way of life when you consider that it can take considerable money, and you need the skills of the computer, ability to live in the bush, mapping, equipment operator & maintenance etc. We are a resilient bunch and do not easily give-up. Why do roads have to be de-activated? It cost to de-activate, it possibly prevents evacuation routes in case of fires, and tourism use of public lands. We were under the impression that a miner is not liable for roads that were already paid for through stumpage. It is a great asset in have roads in mineral rich area’s for the prospector /miner. Allot of these roads were originally put in by miners for access. The only time de-activation should be considered is in areas of steep terrain; as it is an environmental concern if not properly managed, but roads in mineral areas are an asset. I have heard that in other areas; such as the Yukon and in Alberta, there is very little de-activation. Could it be that they are more competitive in today’s world? We must show that we are open for mining and attract mining companies. 1. As miners we would like to be consulted on any road de-activation. We have to pay for cells which for some of us are not ac- cessible. Perhaps contacting tenure owners for their input. Or possibly the loggers could have an overlay of tenure maps. 2. It is essential that resource players to be able to work together. A greater level of communication is needed. Tell us what we need to know and do. We want to be part of the solution. The majority of us are not heavy road users. Most of us bring our equipment in at the beginning of the season, and haul it out again when we are finished. The rest of the time we use a pick-up in which we haul our fuel and mining necessities. 3. Put up signs which state “use at own risk”. 4. We are able to do minor repairs on the roads since we have the equipment. What are the liability repercussions? 5. We do not support the complete de-activation of roads. For exploration, access by off-road vehicle is needed. They also act as routes for animal migration. 6. If there is to be a public watchdog for these roads it must be done in a timely manner. The way it stands now, some of our members are not able to mine the same year that they put in their notices of work because of bureaucratic hurdles. Thank-you for this consideration. We hope to be able to work this out for the benefit of all groups who use the great outdoors. Page 2 Volume 10, Issue 1` January/February 2012 Page 2 submitted by Celine photos by Connie Hollenbeck & Don Rabby Twenty of us went to Gibraltar and from the moment we arrived we were in good hands. The company provided us with all the necessities for safety includ- ing warm head gear for under the hard hats. After we were all geared up and ready to start, our guide instructed us to hold on to our hard hats as we existed to gale force winds, while crossing the yard to the repair section of the plant which was their electrical and a welding shop. They had an excavator bucket in for repairs that could hold 58 yds. The loader in the shop was worth $9 million, chains were used on the loader tires to limit the damage caused from operating constantly on the rocks. They had 18 huge trucks that just the chains alone cost $80,000, these trucks can haul up to 320 tons, or 3 scoops from the enormous excavator. Next we boarded a that is one huge bucket! bus to take us to the pit. First we passed some tailings with rock the size of 61/2” in diameter, which had been leached to produce a copper anode compound. As we kept going we passed 2.2 km. of conveyor. We continued to arrive at the pit from above, to say that it was windy would be an understatement. I don’t know how big this open pit mine is but our guide Ray said that they would be going down another 350ft. The mine will operate for another 25 years. We drove down to where the excavator was which is powered by electricity. While climbing up into the cab of the huge excavator; let’s just say it “the pit” makes that huge excavator look pretty small! produced some of my fear of heights. The cab was quiet spacious, even had a microwave, there were probably around seven of us in it. All twenty of us could’ve fit into the excavator bucket for our picture with room to spare.