Letter to the editor Miner asked to get “facts straight”

I am writing in response to two articles (T.N.M., June 18/90, June 25/90) concerning base metal exploration in the Bathurst camp of northern New Brunswick. It is not unusual for the daily newspapers to make errors in mining/exploration stories, but I expect The Northern Miner, Canada’s foremost mining newspaper, to get its facts straight. First, in the June 18 article, the headline, “New Brunswick tries to attract exploration,” gives the false impression that the province has no exploration at present. In fact, exploration expenditures in northern New Brunswick alone last year were over $12.5 million. Furthermore, the headline gives no indication that the article is about the New Brunswick base metal symposium.

Also, it was Kevin MacNeill (not Neil), the Murray Brook assistant mine manager, who accepted the developer-of-the-year award on behalf of the owner NovaGold Resources; the Caribou mill was designed to process base metal ore, not gold ore; and Deputy Mayor Keith Loupelle, not Mayor Kevin Mann (as written on our guest list), represented the city of Bathurst at the banquet because the mayor had to preside over an unexpected council meeting.

The second article, “Brunswick’s success at depth could revive base metal camp,” contains almost as many inaccuracies as the first.

The Bathurst camp, for example, has seen relatively little exploration below a depth of 1,000 ft. not 1,000 metres.

The quote attributed to me contains two errors. It should have read: “As the regional geologist for northern New Brunswick, I’m appalled at how little we know about what’s under our feet below 300 metres” instead of “as a regional geologist” and below “500 metres.”

There are two other points that I wish to comment upon. First, the total reserves for the Red Dog deposit, according to The Northern Miner Magazine (Jan./1990), are 77 million tonnes of 22% combined lead-zinc. Therefore, Red Dog is not as large or “mammoth” as the original Brunswick No. 12 orebody. Second, there is no doubt that deep exploration holes are “expensive at $100,000 a crack” but one must remember that the in-the-ground value of a deposit like Brunswick No. 12 is approximately $30 billion at current metal prices. Dr. Steven McCutcheon Regional Geologist Northern New Brunswick