Rare Earth metals milestone: moving forward with Bokan-Dotson Ridge project.

AuthorColby, Nicole Bonham
PositionSPECIAL SECTION: Mining

With the US Forest Service this summer approving permitting of Ucore Rare Metals, Inc.'s planned field program at its Bokan-Dotson Ridge project near Ketchikan, the Nova Scotia, Canada-based mine-development company says the federal agency's approval marks a key milestone toward ultimate production.

The ultimate end-goal in sight is an anticipated production level of 1,500 tons of unprocessed rock per day, with the project employing between 170 and 200 workers--a potential economic influx and labor opportunity being monitored by the residents of southern Southeast.

The fieldwork, which is divided into a late stage drill program and construction of an interim field camp for operations, will allow the company to gather information necessary to complete its final bankable feasibility study and to prepare the ultimate mine-construction permit applications.

"Permission to build an on-site camp to replace the company's former barge-based facility is a significant milestone not granted lightly by the US Forest Service," said company President and CEO Jim McKenzie in announcing the new development in September. He called the milestone--together with the site's location in an area marked for resource development by the US Forest Service--as positive indicators of the site's potential for success.

A Juneau-based company is among those slated to conduct aspects of the engineering work to develop the mine's plan of operations. PND Engineering of Juneau will work in cooperation with Knight Piesold Limited and Tetra-Tech Incorporated, both of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

The Bokan-Dotson Ridge rare earth elements mining project is located adjacent to Kendrick Bay on Prince of Wales Island on federal land administered by the US Forest Service. It is accessible via boat, float plane, and helicopter. In its environmental review of the field program, the federal agency found no significant impact to the Bokan area environment from the company's planned activities. Proposed activities include geotechnical drilling on the northwest side of Kendrick Bay and also in an area on the southwest portion of the bay, along with the temporary twelve-person camp on the bay's western beach.

Rare Earth Elements

For long-time southern Southeasterners, monitoring the ebb and flow of potential mining development on resource-rich Prince of Wales Island can, at times, seem like an ongoing news flash. From the Gold Rush days forward, the lure of the mother lode has...

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