Glen Korstrom
Northern News Services

NNSL (July 12/99) - Highwood Resources may yet mine beryllium by Thor Lake.

Despite strong opposition to the proposed Thor Lake beryllium project from residents of both the Hay River Dene Reserve and the town of Hay River, as well as structural change within the company, Highwood Resources still sees the mining operation as being alive.

"The project isn't dead by any means," said vice-president of technical development Terry Pepper from his Denver office.

"Highwood has a lot of money in the bank. We've got a 50-year history through Mountain Minerals."

Highwood Resources has proposed open-pit mining a 100,000-tonne rock sample on Thor Lake, about 100 kilometres south-east of Yellowknife on the East Arm of Great Slave Lake.

Further, the company has proposed setting up a mill in Hay River to process part of the sample.

Community outrage on the reserve stems from the lack of consultation during the initial process and this has spurred petitions.

Lisa Gallagher, who started up a petition against the project earlier this year, says the group will likely meet soon to ensure Highwood Resources meets all required environmental impact demands.

"We collected 700 signatures without soliciting or going door to door," she said.

Much of the opposition stems from being left out of the initial consultation process.

In March, a regional environmental review committee (RERC) made up of representatives from the federal, territorial, municipal and Aboriginal governments outlined what they call a deficiency report, which notes problem areas they perceive with the project.

While Pepper said he is waiting for exactly what new information the RERC needs before making its recommendation to the federal government, RERC chair Debra Myles said water balance, community consultation and transportation, including barging and driving the ore to the barge, have already been outlined.

"He may just need some more direction in some areas," Myles said.

To Gallagher, the RERC report was "pretty darned clear."

A shake-up at Highwood Resources also ensures that those, such as former CEO John Smrke, who was setting guidelines with the project, are no longer with the company.

Despite the bankrupt Royal Oak Mines holding a 38 per cent share of Highwood Resources, Pepper said the company's strength is shown from their acquisition of Canada Talc within the past three months.

"Beryllium is not the only thing we have going, but it is a big part of what we feel the future holds for the company," Pepper said.