Aquila Resources Inc. (fka AQARF)

[Saving Grace]

Plan to OK draft mining permit issued

MENOMINEE — The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has issued notice of its decision to approve the draft mining permit to Aquila Resources Inc. for its Back Forty Project in Menominee County. Aquila Resources is in the developmental stages of creating an open pit mine for gold, copper and zinc in Lake Township.

The DEQ’s decision to potentially approve the draft permit for Nonferrous Metallic Mineral Mining starts an immediate public comment period which will end Nov. 3, and includes a public hearing Oct. 6 in Stephenson. Along with the draft mining permit, the DEQ is seeking public comment on draft National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (”NPDES”) and Air Pollution Control permits.

“The MDEQ’s proposed decision to approve our mine permit application represents a significant milestone for our Back Forty Project,” said Barry Hildred, president and CEO of Aquila Resources. “The draft mining permit is a significant step in allowing us to advance with the development of a mine that will bring economic benefit to the Upper Peninsula while adhering to high environmental standards. The MDEQ’s proposed decision also underscores Michigan’s commitment to responsible and sustainable resource development that benefits all stakeholders.”

Robin and Tom Quigley, along with Cliff Nelson Jr., vice president of U.S. operations for Aquila Resources, told the EagleHerald Friday they were pleased with this significant step in what has been a long process.

“It was in 2002 when we first drilled,” said Tom Quigley, vice president of exploration and senior technical advisor for the Back Forty Project. Robin Quigley, communications manager, called the DEQ decision “a major milestone” and said that she and Tom, along with their supporters, have shown “a lot of patience” in bringing the project to this stage.

Even if the DEQ approves those three permits after the consolidated public comment period, the company still awaits approval of a wetlands permit, Nelson said. The company received correspondence Aug. 26 from the DEQ on the wetlands permits application that included comments from the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. “We’re currently responding to that,” Nelson said.

Nelson said the DEQ had a timeline to respond to Aquila’s mining application, which was extended several times at the DEQ’s request. While the company anticipated an answer to the draft permit at this stage, “You know you’re going to get a decision, but you don’t know what it is,” Nelson said. He said the company does not know when the DEQ will issue the official permit after the comment period ends, but that Aquila is pleased with acceptance of its three applications.

Announcing plans to approve the draft mining permit is “a big milestone, and (if the public comment period) doesn’t change anything — the draft permit is the permit. That becomes the permit, with the conditions (the DEQ provided),” Nelson said.

A copy of all the permit applications is available for public review at the Menominee County Library in Stephenson, at the Aquila office in Stephenson and on the DEQ’s website at http://www.michigan.gov/deq/0,4561,7-135-3311_18442---,00.html.

A timeline, if all four permits are approved, would be for the company to begin work on a detailed engineering plan for construction, and begin raising funds for the construction of a water treatment plant, other buildings and equipment and roads and operations.

First come the permits, then comes the money, they explained.

“Once the permits are in place, we start gathering our funding,” Nelson said, explaining that the company can have interested investors in place, but nothing really happens until the permits are approved. Aquila also has been working since earlier this year on a feasibility study, which gets into the specific costs of construction and operation. That study creates “bankable” numbers, Tom Quigley said. Funding for the project can come in the form of stock sales, loans and/or major investors, Nelson and the Quigleys said.

The actual start up of mining operations is “contingent on ‘ifs,’” Nelson said. A detailed engineering plan would not even start until after all the permits had been approved, and would take about six months. “After that, it could be about two years before construction is completed, and that is all weather-related.”

The draft permit estimates the lifetime of the open pit mine at eight years, which Nelson said is a calculation of the anticipated tonnage that would be removed and treated. While the permit application at this stage is only for an open pit mine, Robin Quigley said the DEQ is aware of a potential underground mine in the future.

Tom Quigley said “we have identified there’s more there” of the nonferrous minerals underground, but more investigation needs to be done before an application would be submitted. “We’re not ready to permit that,” he said.

The company is offering a public open house of the mine site Oct. 15 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The site is located at N9373 River Road, off G-12, approximately 15 miles northwest of Stephenson. The consolidated public hearing (on the three draft permits) will be held from 6 to 10 p.m. Oct. 6 at Stephenson High School. During the public hearing, MDEQ technical staff will be available in another room to answer questions. Speakers will be limited to five minutes each.

Written comments will be accepted at the hearing or by mail or email until 5 p.m. Nov. 3. Mail can be sent to: DEQ Back Forty Comments, Office of Oil, Gas and Minerals, 1504 W. Washington St., Marquette MI 49855; emails to the designated MDEQ mailbox at [e-mail].

http://www.ehextra.com/Content/News/News-Articles/Article/Plan-to-OK-draft-mining-permit-issued/12/35/34850