BRIEFING NOTE COASTAL CONSTRUCTION

Department of Natural Resources

Advice to Minister

CONFIDENTIAL

 

ISSUE:           There has been some concern raised about rumoured exploration activities by Coastal Construction on the site of its special license for coal. Concerns were raised about necessary permits and notifications for activities.

 

KEY MESSAGE:

•           No recent drilling or excavation notifications have been received by the Registrar of Mineral and Petroleum Titles from Coastal Construction for its Special Coal License on Boularderie Island.

•           Representatives of Coastal Construction have been contacted by DNR staff and the company indicated there are no current exploration activities on the company's site.

 

CURRENT SITUATION:

•           Coastal Construction is not conducting exploration drilling or excavation for coal on its Boularderie Island Special Coal License.

•           The company may be conducting survey work on lands owned by the company.

•           Investigation by DNR staff indicated glacial till has recently been extracted from several pits along Highway #162 (Prince Mine Road). These excavation activities may have been misinterpreted as work by Coastal Construction.

 

BACKGROUND:

•           In 2004, Coastal Construction was issued a five-year Special License to conduct advanced exploration for coal as part of a four-site surface coal resource tender package.

•           Subsequent to receiving this Special License, there was considerable opposition from the local community pertaining to surface coal mining.

•           On April 3, 2006 then Minister of Natural Resources, Hon. Brooke Taylor, announced he was putting "other potential surface coal mining projects [in the Sydney Coalfield] on hold for three years". This would provide an opportunity "to see the results of the best management practices and new guidelines regarding the Point Aconi Project" currently operated by Pioneer Coal Company.

•           The Special License issued to Coastal Construction allows the company to conduct exploration work for coal, although the company has not been actively exploring since the issuance of Minister Taylor's press release.

RECOMMENDATION TO MINISTER / ADVICE TO MINISTER:

Assure any concerned people that Coastal Construction is not actively exploring for coal on its Special License area on Boularderie Island.

 

The Special License allows the company to define coal resources on its license block, but does not allow for mining of coal.

 

If the company identifies an economic deposit of coal, it will be required to apply for a Mineral Lease and go through the appropriate permitting process which will include an Environmental Assessment, Industrial Approval and establishment of a reclamation bond for the site.

 

PREPARED BY:       Mike MacDonald, Director, 424-2523

DATE:                        February 4, 2008

CONTACT: Same

 

---

 

From:                      Pamela J Hill

To:                          BAINKL@gov. ns.ca

Date:                       Friday - April 11, 2008 1:42 PM

Subject:                   Re: Strip Mine in Point Aconi

Hi Keith,

Responses to your questions are answered below each question by our Mining Executive Director, Scott Swinden.

Pam

1) When the project started a few years ago, there was assurance that no mining operations would be taking place west of the Prince Mine Road, or the power line. I know that it has been stated publicly several times, but do we (or can we) have something in writing that states this??

Not sure what he means by "the project". Is he talking about the Pt. Aconi mine? If so the boundaries of the operation are clearly delineated in the Environmental Registration document and the Industrial Approval. None of the area approved for mining lies west of the Prince Mine Road.

2) Another issue was the activities taking place on the Coastal Construction site... a breifing note to the Minister that was given to me indicated that no mining activity was planned for that area, and that Coastal was taking "glacial till" off the site. One of the questions asked was whether or not requests had been submitted for samples along this piece of property. We know that up to 5000 tonnes, I believe, can be taken for samples without the need for an environmental or industrial approval, and I am wondering if any requests have been received?

An excavation registration is required for samples less than than 100 tonnes. A Letter of Authorization is required for bulk samples exceeding 100 tonnes. At this point in time, no excavation registration has been accepted, and no Letter of Authorization issued with respect to the Coastal Construction property on Boularderie Island. We can't comment on whether any requests have been received - this information would be confidential until the applications have been processed.

3) There is also a moratorium on further strip mining  (13 other sites), which I believe goes for about another year and a half or so. I hope I am correct in assuming that any further mining operations are contingent and what is done for remediation on the first section of Point Aconi. Am I correct in assuming this, any indication of time lines, etc.?

Minister Taylor stated in a press release dated April 3, 2006, when the announcement of the Point Aconi mine approval was made that "thirteen other potential lease sites from the former Devco lease will be put on hold for three years." His public statements at the time were that we wanted to ensure that any future surface coal mines in this area would have the benefit of lessons learned from mining and reclamation of the Prince Mine site.

Scott