September 07, 2008
BAPE to begin hearing on Consolidated Thompson Lac Bloom property
Canada’s commission of the Bureau d’Audiences Publiques sur l’Environnement announced that is holding the first part of the public hearing on the Projet de mine de fer du lac Bloom starting on August 28th 2007.
The hearing would be done in two parts
1. Obtaining information
The public hearing will take place in two parts. In the presence of the proponent and resource persons invited to answer participants’ questions, the first part will allow the public and the commission to obtain information about the project in order to learn more about it and examine all its aspects.
2. Voicing opinions
During the second part of the public hearing, whose dates and location will be announced subsequently, the commission will obtain the public’s opinion and suggestions. The commission will hear any person, group, organization or municipality wishing to express an opinion on the project, be it in the form of a brief or an oral presentation.
The commission has a maximum period of 4 months to carry out its mandate and the report will be submitted to Ms Line Beauchamp, minister of sustainable development, environment and parks by December 20th 2007, at the latest. The Minister will then have 60 days to make the report public.
Consolidated Thompson Iron Mines Limited plans to develop and operate a new iron mine on its Lac Bloom property located 13 kilometer northwest of the Town of Fermont in the RCM of Caniapiscau. The metal mine would be of the open pit type. The ore would be concentrated on site and the concentrator would produce 7 million tonnes of iron ore annually. Approximately 20 million tonnes of tailings would also be produced each year. These tailings would be stored at a nearby tailing confinement area. The concentrate would be shipped by rail to Wabush, in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, then from there, to the Port of Sept-Îles. For the time being, the proponent intends to operate the mine and the concentrator over a twenty year period. The project represents an initial investment on the order of CAD 400 million.
Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement is a public information and consultation organization that allows citizens to express their views on a given project and to take part in the decision making process which may or may not lead to the authorization of a project.
