The deposit that sparked the mining boom in Rouyn-Noranda just a century ago could soon be back in service. The BAPE will study this urban mine project starting next week. The developer says it has everything in hand to address concerns, but many citizens are not convinced.
With a thick binder in front of him, Luc Lessard spreads out his plan. This former Canadian Malartic employee who became president of Falco Resources speaks of the deposit called Horne 5 as a future “open-pit, but underground mine.”
The dimensions are astronomical. Nearly 16,000 tons of rock are expected to be extracted every day. The plan is to dig tunnels 100 meters wide, 1 kilometer long and 2 kilometers deep.
All this, less than 3 kilometers from downtown Rouyn-Noranda.
“You will be able to come to us by bike, by bus, with your vehicle. You can even come by four-wheeler or Ski-doo,” boasts Luc Lessard.
The “Horne” deposit was mined between 1927 and 1976 and at that time supplied the famous smelter of the same name. After attracting thousands of miners to Abitibi, the vein was eclipsed by others as copper became increasingly scarce at the bottom of the mine. The smelter began to source its supplies elsewhere, but always kept the name of this deposit.
What the miners didn’t know at the time was that gold and silver were hiding a little deeper. That’s what Luc Lessard’s team is after. “We’re talking about 9.4 million ounces of gold equivalent [près de 300 tonnes]”We are talking about a world-class deposit,” he assures us in his offices shared with the mining company Osisko.
A favorable economic context
After a decade of more or less going around in circles, the stars finally aligned earlier this year. Falco signed an agreement in January with Glencore for the multinational to authorize an operation located just below its surface facilities.
Two weeks later, the Quebec government contacted the developer again, asking for more details on the environmental consequences, to which the company planned to respond “before the start of the BAPE public consultation.”
This response satisfied Quebec since in March, the Ministry of the Environment announced the launch of these public consultations. Falco’s clarifications followed. These hearings will finally begin next week and recommendations will be provided to the government at the end of four months of study.
Market curves are also aligning for Falco. The price of gold is nearing records, while that of copper has reached peaks this year not seen in 10 years. “The project has improved economically, despite the inflation that has occurred in recent years,” says Luc Lessard.
If Quebec approves the environmental framework, the operating permit could be issued as soon as early 2025, he believes. Everything could unfold from there, because “the permit is the key” that will start the project.
Fear of an earthquake
Rouynorandiens have already expressed their fears about a new megaproject in their backyard. A packed and fairly hostile room awaited Luc Lessard and his associates last May during a first public meeting with citizens.
Supplying ore to a smelter that exceeds air quality standards is not reassuring. Nor is the potential discharge of wastewater that could contaminate Rouyn-Noranda’s water source. Nor is the arrival of 500 new workers in a city with a housing crisis.
“People feel like they are paying a lot for the impacts of the Horne smelter on their quality of life. They don’t want to go through that again with a new project,” summarizes lawyer Rodrigue Turgeon, spokesperson for the Coalition Québec meilleure mine, who has been involved in the case for years.
Worse still, the vibrations caused by the blasting could disturb the neighborhood as well as damage the city’s buildings and, above all, the Horne Foundry. Will this old factory withstand these repeated jolts?
The point is sensitive enough for Falco to offer guarantees on this subject to Glencore. The agreement signed at the beginning of the year assures the latter “protection against the risks and additional losses incurred by the Horne smelter […] which are caused by the operations of the project”.
Luc Lessard believes he can reassure the population during the BAPE. There will be blasting, but with small successive explosions rather than a single big blow, he explains. “We are talking about modulated blasting in order to lower the vibration level,” argues the mining engineer. The polluted water and air will also be treated before being released into the environment.
Horne 5 is possibly the next mine to be born in Quebec, but we will have to wait a few more years before seeing the first ingot. Dewatering and rehabilitating the old deposit will take at least three to four years. Extraction will therefore not begin before the end of this decade.
This story is supported by the Local Journalism Initiative, funded by the Government of Canada.