Revised Final Environmental Study Report (24 MB) - Gold Canyon ...

Gold Canyon Resources Inc.
Springpole Gold Access Corridor Project
Final Environmental Study Report
5.2 Operation, Maintenance and Surveillance
GCU proposes to primarily utilize the road when local outfitters do not have customers in their
lodges. This active period for local outfitters is understood to be approximately mid-May to late
October, depending on ice conditions and market conditions.
Mineral exploration and resource definition is an iterative process that is often contingent on
successful results, financing and commodity prices. As a result, it is difficult to precisely define the
planned use of the proposed road for the next several years. However, GCU currently envisions use
that will vary by season, as summarized in the bullets below.
It is currently anticipated that three (3) to four (4) trips per week will be required to move
materials and personnel to and from the camp during freeze-up conditions when the road is
frozen. These trips will be via highway vehicles, either crew van or transport truck. This does
not include periodic snow removal.
Outside the freeze-up period, it is anticipated that no more than one (1) trip per week will be
required to move materials to and from camp. GCU would use highway vehicles (likely a 5
tonne highway truck with a boom) to travel as far as the end of the FMP Approved Road.
The highway truck would transfer palletized equipment using a boom onto an off-road
haulage vehicle (i.e. Nodwell, Prinoth or equivalent) with a flat deck to transport it to the
camp. GCU is evaluating large tracked machines capable of a 15,400 kg payload. The
machine and a full payload is a combined 27,000 kg and has a ground pressure of 4.65 psi,
which is less than a typical human footprint. The off-road haulage vehicle could also be
utilized to drag in equipment as required and drag out garbage for disposal. The off-road
haulage vehicle would normally be posted at the GCU camp and would likely replace or
augment the skidder that is currently used to move drill rigs. Personnel would be flown in
and out during this time of year due to the high cost of haulage using off-road equipment.
Despite this expensive form of haulage, the availability of a land-based corridor to the area
of the Deposit will greatly improve GCU’s ability to mobilize / de-mobilize heavy equipment
(including drill rigs), import bulk consumables and export garbage for disposal at an MOE
approved facility.
In addition to higher haulage costs during summer months due to the use of off-road
equipment, the potential for rutting on the winter road due to use outside of the freeze-up
period, there is a natural incentive for GCU to focus its utilization of the road during winter
months when the road is frozen and can be travelled using highway vehicles.
Road use restrictions that are imposed as a condition of the Overall Benefit permit (refer to
Section 3.4) and any other legislative requirements would be respected.
It is GCU’s practice to effectively containerize garbage and ship it off-site for disposal in an effort to
avoid attracting bears or other predators to the exploration site. This practice would continue if
access were improved, as described herein.
If the Project is allowed to proceed, empirical evidence would be gathered by an independent
consultant to quantify the effects of noise, vibration, light and fugitive dust on local users of the area
(i.e. boaters on nearby lakes, occupants at nearby lodges, etc.). Empirical data that is gathered on a
real-time basis at sensitive locations is preferable to sole reliance on predictive models. In parallel,
GCU is evaluating proven techniques to control noise and fugitive dust that are typically associated
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