New Geddes CEO seeks dialogue

Geddes Resources (TSE) is changing its emphasis from exploration to public consultation in an effort to communicate more effectively with governments and opponents of its Windy Craggy copper project in British Columbia.

Having outlined what it says are sufficient copper reserves to supply 1% of world demand every year for at least two decades, management will now work toward obtaining the permits needed to get the project into production. To reflect the change in focus, Vice-President Keith Somerville has been named president and chief executive officer to succeed Gerald Harper, who has resigned from Geddes to pursue other interests.

Terry Lyons, a managing partner at BC Pacific Capital Corp., was named vice-president at the company’s recent annual meeting in Toronto and he will work closely with Somerville and Howard Cadinha, Geddes’ new chairman. As the head office has been moved to Vancouver from Toronto, Lyons is expected to play a key role in raising any funds needed to finance the public-relations effort until Northgate Exploration (TSE) sells its 39.2% interest. Other changes in the Geddes executive suite include the resignation of John Kearney, Northgate chairman, from the board of directors. Sources who prefer to remain anonymous are betting that Cominco (TSE) will take over the project because it already holds about 19% of Geddes’ 27 million issued shares. Others say Cominco may be put off by environmental groups who could postpone development for several more years. As indicated by the presence of representatives from the World Wildlife Fund and the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society at Geddes’ recent annual meeting in Toronto, the challenges facing Geddes are considerable. Almost a year and a half after submitting a revised mine plan, the company is still awaiting the British Columbia government to provide the information Geddes needs to put together a second-stage application.

Kevin Kavanagh, a research manager with The World Wildlife Fund in Toronto, said he is opposed to the slurry pipeline Geddes proposes to use to transport copper concentrate to tidewater because of the possibility of seismic activity in the area.

However, Cadinha says such concerns are groundless because the project will use less than one-tenth of 1% of the 2.5 million acres of land in the area known as the Haines Triangle.

Cadinha said he is confident that further drilling will increase reserves in those zones. “Windy Craggy has the capacity to take the place of the five British Columbia copper mines that have been closed or will exhaust their reserves between 1986 and 1996.”