“Another thing that was outstanding was the slurry wall. There was a wall between the pit and the ocean that we were concerned about, because the rock was so fractured. We built a retaining wall that was four thousand feet long and roughly a hundred feet deep and three feet wide. . . it was something we won awards for! New engineering went into the building of that wall, it was very extraordinary because it had to be strong but flexible, so it was built with lean concrete and every hundred feet it had a joint that allowed it to move, so it was very innovative. The wall prevented water from coming into the pit; we had hundreds of people working down there and wanted them to be safe. We worked up to thirteen hundred feet below sea level and we were only a matter of a few hundred yards away from the ocean; imperfections in the rock would be a big problem if it started flooding. As it was, we needed many large pumps to keep the water out, just because we got so much rain. The pit is like a funnel, very wide at the top and very narrow at the bottom, so if you get seventy inches of water per year…you can imagine how much ends up at the bottom of the pit.

“One thing about mining is the significant income generated from taxes. We all want schools, we all want hospitals and we all want the other things. Mining pays more than its share in taxes because mine equipment is fixed. Unlike fishing and logging, mining has fixed assets, in other words, they have big mills that are permanently located, and have conveyors and transformers and all the other things that make up a mine. Formula for taxation is: fixed assets x mill rate = amount of tax.

“A mine contributes financially, not only to the local municipality but also to the provincial and federal governments, because it operates at a fixed location. Therefore, anytime a community gets a mine within its boundary, it is a big financial advantage. A mine like Island Copper could, and did, pay up to three million per year to local Port Hardy taxes. So a mine is a real benefit, and I think, an advantage to local communities. I was the Mayor of Port Hardy for a number of years so gained an insight into the tax benefits from Island Copper. Most people do not realize the tax implications of having a mine in the municipality and that it provides services in the municipality that may not otherwise be available.

“When the mine closed, it made a bit of a void. Port Hardy went through a rough time, but the good news is that the main infrastructure, paid for by the mine, was in place before the mine left. The town borrowed money on the life expectancy of the mine, which was a good idea. By the time the mine left, the swimming pool, the arena, the sewer plant, and all the other public services that make a town were all paid for, so they survived quite well - a success story!

“Fortunately, diversity has come to the town; instead of having nine hundred people dedicated to one employer, now we have eight hundred people in diverse industries. Economic diversity is giving us more stability, and it is not likely ten businesses will go flop at the same time.

“Mining makes such a small footprint that we could fit three large mines into Vancouver’s Stanley Park, just to demonstrate the size. A big mine of seven hundred hectares can employ seven hundred people. A small mine might take up twenty hectares and might employ twenty people so there is a relationship there and the footprint is minute. Unfortunately, in the news, mining is frequently depicted wrongly as a huge devastation, but when you try to find it on a map; you cannot even see it, because it is such a small area.

"Society needs mining - we have to do it the right way. At Island Copper - we did!"

Glossary