HomeMy Public PortalAbout2018.07.23 Special Meeting MINUTES
McCall City Council
Special Meeting
Midas Gold Site Tour—Stibnite
July 23,2018
Presentation& Mining Operations Site Tour at Stibnite Mine
CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL
Council Members present were Council Member Giles, Council Member Holmes, and
Council Member Sowers all answered roll call. Mayor Aymon and Council Member Nielsen
were absent.
City staff members present were Anette Spickard, City Manager; Shay Tyler, Deputy Clerk; Kurt
Wolf,Parks and Recreation Director; Meg Lojek,Library Director;David Simmonds,Information
Systems Manager; Traci Malvich, Human Resources Manager; Justin Williams, Police Chief;
Nathan Stewart, Public Works Director; John Driessen, GIS Tech; Eddie Heider, Parks
Superintendent
Also present from Midas Gold was Belinda Provancher, Community Relations Manager; Eric
Gordon, Geologist II; and Anne Lavelle, BSc. LLB of Counsel & Director
PRESENTATION
Midas Gold staff picked up the Council Members and City staff at 8:30 a.m. to begin the road trip
and tour of the Stibnite mining site. While traveling to and from the mining site, the Midas Gold
staff talked about the company's environmental goals,how they plan on executing those goals,the
permitting process of today versus yesteryear, the projected schedule, and answered the many
questions from the City staff and Council Members.
The tour started at the Yellow Pine Pit where Eric Gordon, Geologist for Midas Gold discussed
the mining history of the area, how it has and is affecting the watershed and fish migration, and
what the company plans on doing to correct it to bring it back to the way it was prior to the mining
operations started a 100 years ago. Mr. Gordon shared the company's investment in an
environmental restoration with a main focus to stop or minimize the leaching of contaminates that
has been going on for years by the removal of harmful contaminates and rebuilding of hillsides
and riparian areas. He explained before any mining is to commence, the river will be diverted
around the pit by the way of a very large undergrown pipe which will also allow fish to migrate
upstream and drying out the land to stop anymore contaminates going into the watershed in that
location. Once the mining operation has been completed, the pit filled in, and the landscape
repaired, the river will be routed back to its original form. Mr. Gordon explained the methods to
be used to protect the watershed and riparian pathway.
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July 23, 2018 Special Meeting
From there, the group was taken up to the top of the leaching fields where Belinda Provancher,
Community Relations Manager explained how the land was harvested by past mining companies
with heap leach mining which created the current tailing piles and pointed out the small valley
known as Hangar Flats that was filled in with discarded dirt and rocks. She described the process
Midas Gold plans to use to remove and extract missed minerals from the discarded dirt and tailings,
how those tailings will be neutralized of the bad contaminates and used to fill in the scarred
hillsides, road building, etc., and rebuilding Blow Out Creek to stop the sediment erosion that is
currently happening. She pointed out where the different mining processing facilities will be
located and where the employees will be housed.
Midas Gold staff emphasized how this operation is not just about extracting gold and other
minerals but also about fixing the environment back to its original state as best as it can be done.
The goal of this tour was to give the Council and attending City staff a firsthand look at the mine's
condition and provide education about the company's mission to be environmentally focused.
ADJOURNMENT
Overall, the tour took 8 hours round trip and the group arrived back at City Hall at 4:30 p.m.
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July 23, 2018 Special Meeting