New Gold officials to meet with TNRD board to discuss concerns about effects of vibrations

NEWS/ NEW GOLD — New Gold officials will meet with the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board March 28 to discuss concerns of Cherry Creek residents about vibrations from blasting at the mine.

A company spokesperson told The Armchair Mayor News today two company representatives will make a short presentation and answer questions from directors.

Director Ronaye Elliott said at last week’s board meeting she had heard complaints about rattling cups and TV sets, and cracked foundations since New Gold began blasting at the New Afton site.

The company says it is taking the concerns very seriously and has taken several steps to investigate the complaints, including retaining a seismology consultant and sending a New Afton representative to a residence to observe a blast first-hand.

It has also continuously monitored vibration on location for three months and is using a third-party engineer to review data.

“In 2013, we received notification a resident was concerned about vibration damage,” a statement from the company said. “We followed our vibration monitoring process and the seismology determined there was no damage related to New Afton activities.

“We are following the same process for the concern recently raised and will share the results in a fully transparent way.”

The company said it uses state-of-the-art blasting techniques to ensure vibration is minimized.

“The block caving mining method used at New Afton only requires a small proportion of the total production (three-five per cent) to be blasted. This also minimizes blasting vibration.”

It said any excessive vibration would impact New Afton infrastructure first. “To date, New Afton has not had any vibration damage to infrastructure, all of which are located more closely to the blast site.”