technical report on the nechalacho deposit, thor lake project ...

• Preliminary screening
• Environmental assessment
• Environmental impact review (panel review)
Avalon has now entered the environmental assessment process and completed initial scoping
meetings with communities, as part of the process towards granting of permits required for
production. As of the date of this <strong>report</strong>, the Terms of Reference for the project have been
issued and the Developers Assessment Report is in preparation. All public information with
regards to the process is accessible on the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review
Board (MVEIRB) website.
Subsequent to the acquisition of the property, and completion of community engagement
meetings, Avalon applied to the MVLWB for an exploration permit. A two year permit was
granted effective July 2007. It was under this permit that the drilling programs in 2007 to the
present were conducted. The permit was renewed in July 2009 for a further two years and an
amendment granted including the operation of two diamond drills.
Past exploration on the Thor Lake property included underground bulk sampling, drilling and
trenching. Accordingly, there is little surface disturbance from exploration activities. Apart from
a trailer camp, miscellaneous buildings, a 60,000 gallon six tank farm, a tent camp and a core
storage area located on the property, on Avalon’s acquisition of the property, there were no
other environmental liabilities left by past exploration activities.
Avalon has undertaken to reclaim and rehabilitate the sites from previous work at the T Zone.
The diesel fuel remaining in the tank farm has been consumed during Avalon’s recent
exploration activities. Avalon is now seeking ways to safely remove the tanks from the property
or examining the possibility of repurposing the tanks for future activities. The trailer camp has
been rehabilitated with three trailers taken to Yellowknife by barge and ice road to be scrapped
and three trailers repurposed for the present activities at site. The company has also undertaken
extensive general cleanup of material left from previous exploration utilizing First Nations labour.
Access to the underground workings has been barricaded and the mine workings allowed to
flood. Warning fencing has also been installed around the ramp entrance. Rock dumps, with
the exception of some highly mineralized material, have been reclaimed and utilized for
construction of a 300 m airstrip west of Thor Lake.
Technical Report 43-101 – March 13, 2011 Page 4-4
Prepared by Avalon Rare Metals Inc.