Changes to site plan for Ajax raise questions about City taxes and route of pipeline

By MICHELE YOUNG

KGHM International’s revised map for its proposed Ajax copper and gold mine south of Kamloops shows it has pushed all of its operation outside City boundaries and a tailings pile that covers the Kinder Morgan pipeline slated for twinning.

KGHM spokesman Robert Koopmans said Friday the changes unveiled Thursday were done to move the mine operations as far away from the city as possible, working around the geography of the area.

“It wasn’t done by boundary but by the geography of the land,” he said.

The Ajax map shows even the administration office, which originally straddled the City/Thompson-Nicola Regional District boundary, being moved outside of the municipality.

While the City would be expected to annex Ajax as it is doing with New Gold to get more tax revenue, the original Ajax proposal included a tailings pile, waste rock storage and stock pile all within City limits.

He couldn’t speak to the Kinder Morgan pipeline except to say the two sides are in discussions.

“We’re working co-operatively with them,” he said.

Kinder Morgan’s web page includes a map of the proposed Trans-Mountain twinning that indicates a new route for the pipeline skirting the mine property altogether, moving west toward Lac le Jeune Road from where the existing pipeline is located.

Coun. Donovan Cavers, who opposes the Ajax proposal, wondered about the company’s comments last summer that it was changing its footprint because of a new ore body.

The new map shows the mine pit remains in the same location as it was originally proposed and Koopmans said that’s not going to change.

“The pit site is the same. I don’t recall the discussions we had last summer. Any mining company is always doing exploration. At this stage, the design of this project has been optimized around the ore body. This is the plan we will take forward in the future,” he said.

Last August, the Kamloops Daily News reported that KGHM vice-president of environmental Dan Ferriter told a press conference a newly discovered ore body could change the scope of the Ajax project and shift some of it away from the nearest homes.

He said at the time the discovery could enlarge the pit and extend the life of the mine.

Cavers said Friday he was glad to see other parts of the mine operation move further away from homes, but the fact the mine pit is staying in the same spot doesn’t ease concerns about blasting vibrations and ground stability.

“I like that there isn’t going to be a giant tailings mountain right next to the highway. But I’m not sure about the environmental or health perspective if the tailings pond is a better way to go,” he said, referring to another change the company is making, to go from dry tailings storage to wet.

“They seem to have responded to people’s concerns by trying to move the infrastructure further away from Aberdeen. But the mine is in the same spot and there are still going to be issues around ground stability and vibrations. I’m still not convinced it would be a good idea.”