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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A feasibility study on extracting geothermal energy from water beneath Con Mine is expected to be in the hands of city staff tomorrow.

Mayor Gord Van Tighem said a finished report on the mine's geothermal potential will be presented to city staff by scientists from Belgium-based Vito Vision on Technology.

The study, called Mine Energy Resource Evaluation, is based on research conducted last summer when five scientists from the company were hired by the city to examine the mine's potential. Van Tighem said the scientists tested water temperature and designed a computer model for the underground mine workings, which have been filling up with water since the mine closed in 2003.

"Right now, an international company that has a lot of experience in different geothermal applications has done a study on this and they are coming here to (present a) report on it," he said. "They are working with the city and that is the only thing going on right now of significance."

Van Tighem was supposed to have met with Vito people in Yellowknife on March 29, but the meeting was rescheduled due to an airline strike in Europe. The mayor said he is anticipating positive results with regards to what the scientists have found, but he wants to wait until after the presentation to city staff is held to discuss the findings.

Van Tighem said he did not know how much it cost the city to hire Vito.

The company isn't the first to try and evaluate the mine's potential for geothermal energy. In June 2010, the city hired Weatherford Canada to test the temperature of the water but the company ended up losing a probe worth $80,000 about 3,000 feet down a mine shaft.

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