BajaNomad

New Mine in Tres Virgines Biosphere

Diver - 12-10-2006 at 07:55 AM

DECEMBER 8, 2006 - 09:30 ET

Baja Mining Corp.: Environmental Approval Received for Mine Development

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(CCNMatthews - Dec. 8, 2006) - Baja Mining Corp. (the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:BAJ) is pleased to advise that the Mexican Federal Environmental Agency (Secretaria de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales - "SEMARNAT") has approved the Environmental Impact Manifest ("Manifestacion de Impacto Ambiental - "MIA") for the Company's El Boleo copper-cobalt-zinc-manganese Project.

This approval allows the company to start construction and operation activities at the Boleo Project and is the key step to obtaining other required permits.

Prior to the initiation of exploration or construction activities, all mining projects are required to apply for and obtain an environmental impact authorization and a land use permit from the Mexican Federal environmental agency SEMARNAT. This requires the presentation of an environmental impact manifest and a technical study which deals with the impacts, the environmental mitigation, and habitat compensation to the satisfaction of the authorities having environmental jurisdiction. The Company's Environmental Impact Manifest ("MIA") was filed with SEMARNAT on May 8, 2006 and final approval to the MIA was received from SEMARNAT on December 7, 2006.

Manuel Moreno, the Company's environmental liaison in Mexico City, commented that, "This is a milestone day for the Boleo Project with issuance of the main environmental permit for the project now behind us. The approval of the MIA proves that the project is environmentally feasible and clears the way for the approval of other related permits." We would like to thank the many people at SEMARNAT that so ably assisted in the review and provided many valuable contributions to ensure that the project proceeds in an environmentally sound manner. We would also like to express our thanks and appreciation to the Honorable Governor of the State of Baja California Sur, Mr. Narciso Agundez Montano; to the Municipal President of Mulege, Mr. Pedro Osuna Lopez and to the State Secretary for Promotion and Economic Development, Mr. Jorge Alberto Vale Sanchez, as well as their staff, for the support and guidance they have provided in obtaining such permitting.

The Boleo project is located within the buffer zone of the El Vizcaino biosphere, a Natural Protected Area, principally established to preserve the whale nursing habitat on the west coast of the Baja Peninsula approximately 80 miles north of the project near Guerro Negro. In accordance with the terms of approval we are required to reach an agreement within 30 days of issuance of the SEMARNAT approval, with CONANP (Comision Nacional de Areas Naturales Proptegidas) for compensation in regard to environmental disturbance created by mining and processing activities in the biosphere. We are pleased to advise that an agreement in principle has been reached with CONANP and we expect to be able to announce the execution of such agreement in the immediate future.

The Boleo Project is located on the east coast of the Baja California Peninsula, some 900 kilometres south of San Diego and near the town of Santa Rosalia Baja California Sur, Mexico. Over the last twelve years, in excess of CAD $52.0 million has been spent on exploration, pre-feasibility studies and the current Definitive Feasibility Study ("DFS") on the Boleo Project, which is nearing completion. Annual production at El Boleo is expected to be approximately 50,000 tonnes per year of high purity copper metal, 1850 tonnes of high purity cobalt metal, and up to 23,000 tonnes per year of zinc sulphate monohydrate. Consideration is also being given to production of +100,000 tonnes per year of manganese carbonate.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF BAJA MINING CORP.

JOHN W. GREENSLADE, PRESIDENT

mtgoat666 - 12-10-2006 at 09:51 AM

Interesting pictures of the mine and area at www.bajamining.com

bajarich - 12-11-2006 at 09:23 PM

I have heard this may be an open pit operation. Any truth to that rumor? I live in Salt Lake City and we have the Kennecott Open Pit mine and environmentally it's a real disaster. I hope El Boleo doesn't turn out anything like it. Will they build a new Smelter in SR? Again I hope not. The air around there is clean since the old smelter closed down. Kennecott is low grade ore so there is a lot of overburden and tailings involved. They removed a whole mountain and essentially moved it to a huge tailings pile west of Salt Lake. I doubt any smelter built in Baja will have anywhere near the pollution controls that Kennecott has here, and even with those controls they still add a lot to our bad air.

David K - 12-11-2006 at 09:35 PM

If you want Copper, Cobalt, Zinc and Manganese what else is one to do, but dig it from the earth?

rts551 - 12-12-2006 at 06:54 AM

I have a friend with a family ranch in between San Ignacio and Santa Rosalia (in the rugged mountains). They have had problems over the last year with these people trepassing on their property. Last month they found them digging test holes on a remote part of the ranch. I was told that the ranchers in that area have not been consulted with and are therefore a little worried about what is going on. The rumor among them is that there is a gold mining operation going on.

I would give them the web site but the only access they have is through the sneaker net.

David K - 12-12-2006 at 07:24 AM

It just may be that financial freedom would be welcomed by the ranchers... like the Beverly Hillbillies, they may need to 'move away from there'!

What is the sneaker.net?

rts551 - 12-12-2006 at 07:44 AM

Long time families sometimes like the freedom they currently have.

Sneaker.net - you walk for info

David K - 12-12-2006 at 08:47 AM

sneaker.net: OH, I get it... :lol:;)

Unfortunately, they may not have the freedom to not allow mining 'for the national good'... I have heard that anytime gold is discovered, the government quickly condems the land.

BajaWarrior - 12-12-2006 at 08:53 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by David K
sneaker.net: OH, I get it... :lol:;)
I have heard that anytime gold is discovered, the government quickly condems the land.


Condems the land? No, I think they give it to them without the condem!:lol:

David K - 12-12-2006 at 04:49 PM

Okay smarty pants, I left out one silent letter! CONDEMN (don't you just hate English!?)

kellychapman - 12-12-2006 at 05:15 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by BajaWarrior
Quote:
Originally posted by David K
sneaker.net: OH, I get it... :lol:;)
I have heard that anytime gold is discovered, the government quickly condems the land.


Condems the land? No, I think they give it to them without the condem!:lol:
now that is funny.....:lol:

doradodan - 12-12-2006 at 06:25 PM

they will probably give a large % of the proceeds to enhance local infrastructure and better the lives of the locals.

bancoduo - 12-12-2006 at 06:40 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by doradodan
they will probably give a large % of the proceeds to enhance local infrastructure and better the lives of the locals.
Thats got to be a tongue in cheek statement.:?::biggrin:

Cincodemayo - 12-12-2006 at 06:42 PM

Doradodan....Now that was hillarious:lol:

doradodan - 12-12-2006 at 07:04 PM

yes, just kidding. they will probably do what Pat Butler did at el dorado ranch. my nephew works out there as a supervisor and gets paid 900 pesos a week. hate to see how the mining company will exploit the locals

David K - 12-12-2006 at 08:09 PM

Exploit? What is the normal pay for that job in Mexico? 100 pesos a day is typical for most labor jobs in Mexico I am told... 5 days a week is 500 pesos... sounds like 900 is almost double. Is he forced to work there? San Felipe offers a lot of opportunity. I am sure if he didn't like the job or what it paid he could motivate himself to change.

Just want it to be clear that calling something that creates job and pays workers (who have other opportunities) is not exploitation.

The free market and capitalism create jobs and opportunity.

Don't confuse this as any support for El Dorado... It is just Civics 101 :biggrin:

Paula - 12-12-2006 at 08:45 PM

HEL-LOOO David

100 pesos per day for a laborer = apples

900 pesos per week for a supervisor = oranges

You are talking apples and oranges here.

It's just math 101.:spingrin:

mtgoat666 - 12-12-2006 at 08:58 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by David K
Exploit? What is the normal pay for that job in Mexico? 100 pesos a day is typical for most labor jobs in Mexico I am told... 5 days a week is 500 pesos... sounds like 900 is almost double. Is he forced to work there? San Felipe offers a lot of opportunity. I am sure if he didn't like the job or what it paid he could motivate himself to change.

Just want it to be clear that calling something that creates job and pays workers (who have other opportunities) is not exploitation.

The free market and capitalism create jobs and opportunity.

Don't confuse this as any support for El Dorado... It is just Civics 101 :biggrin:



Given those labor rates, it sure is hard to blame an undocumented immigrant looking for work in the US, eh? Work labor in Mex for $10/day or mow lawns in the US for $10/hr... choice seems simple.

MtGoat------

Barry A. - 12-12-2006 at 11:54 PM

---it may seem like a simple choice to you, but it is illegal. I certainly don't "blame" them for coming------and likewise they should not "blame" us when we punish them for breaking our law.

Seems pretty simple to me.

David K - 12-13-2006 at 12:04 AM

Paula... 100 pesos a day (or 500 for a 5 day week) is what I am comparing to this fellow making 900 a week (that's a lot more). What is a 'supervisor' where he works anyway? For a 90% higher wage than a laborer, is a supervisor that much more skilled or difficult a position?

I pay my laborer more than many college grads starting pay... Apples to Oranges, yes... but we are talking exploitation defined... Who the heck is being exploited at a 90% higher wage than hard working laborers?

Paula - 12-13-2006 at 08:43 AM

David, there isn't enough information in Doradodan's post to draw any conclusions. The posted salary of a supervisor doen't tell us what the salary of a laborer is. I assume that a supervisor would be paid much more than a laborer, but I don't know that.
But I think that even if a laborer is paid 1000 pesos a week the mine will come out with big profits and the people in the area will make a little more money than they did before. And when the mining gets tough and the minerals aren't so profitable the company will bail leaving the people around Santa Rosalia jobless and the land destroyed. the ranchers who were forced to sell out will probably not be doing well either.
Butte Montana is a good example of a town dependent on a mining economy. It's an interesting place with an interesting history, and not a happy place to live these days.

After the mining companies are done

Don Alley - 12-13-2006 at 09:42 AM



From Wikepedia...
The Berkeley Pit is a gigantic former open pit copper mine located in Butte, Montana, and is the one of the largest Superfund sites. It was opened in 1955 and operated by the Anaconda Mining Company and later by the Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO), until its closure in 1982. When the pit was closed, the water pumps at the bottom were also turned off, which caused groundwater from the surrounding basin to leak into the pit. The water seeped through metal deposits, causing it to become heavily acidic and laden with heavy metals and dangerous chemicals such as arsenic, cadmium, zinc, and sulfuric acid. The water has a pH level of 2.5. Toxic water was filling up the pit at a very fast rate after its closure until it was a mile wide and over 900 feet feep, but it was not until the 1990s that serious plans were devised for solving this problem.

The water is so loaded with metals (up to 187 ppm Cu) that "mining" of the water has been done. However, fluctuations in power prices have made this difficult.
In 1995, a large flock of migrating snow geese landed on the Berkeley Pit water and were killed, most likely by the high concentration of acid. 342 carcasses were recovered. Their livers and kidneys had bloated, and many had eroded esophaguses. ARCO, the current custodian of the Pit, denied that the toxic water caused the death of the geese, instead blaming their deaths on their diet. They maintain that the Pit is safe and environmentally sound.

Cincodemayo - 12-13-2006 at 10:53 AM

Well certainly a reputable company like ARCO would deny such a rediculous accusation such as that. Oil companies always abide by ecological laws.
Bastards should be accountable for every penny to clean it up but they'd raise gas prices during the next "shortage".

Barry A. - 12-13-2006 at 11:07 AM

Many pre-EPA mines are hazardous, for a variety of reasons. We have one here in Redding that probably will never be cleaned up-----just to monumental a job, and it too is on the "list".

However since the environmental awareness movement these situations have become known there are laws to prevent this from happening now. Mexico has strick laws, I am told, so I highly doubt that there will be a down-the-line significant environmental problems with El Bolero.

I believe that this mine is a huge "plus" for the Santa Rosalia area economically, however people need to keep their eyes wide open and have alternatives when, and if, the mine closes in the future. Providing for the workers AFTER the mine plays out is NOT the Companies responsibility. Hellooooooooo????

[Edited on 12-13-2006 by Barry A.]

Barry A. - 12-13-2006 at 11:12 AM

Cinco-------

If you think gas prices are high now, just wait a few years.

It is called "supply and demand", I think.

Invest in a good Energy Fund and it will more than compensate you for the higher prices------that is called "capitolism" in action, I believe.

Cincodemayo - 12-13-2006 at 11:16 AM

Barry...as soon as things in the Middle East really turn for the worst we can just turn it into a glass factory, take the oil and start selling it to France for $500 a barrel. Screw the Saudis too. They were riding camels before we gave them drilling technology and now they are driving Ferraris and Lamborghinis. Send all the sand monkeys back to the stone age.

rts551 - 12-13-2006 at 11:16 AM

whose responsibility should it be? At 100 pesos per day they will save for the future on their own? Maybe another invasion of workers from Central Mexico? The mine may be a plus... for whom, for how long, and how huge is where "wide open eyes" are necessary.

Cincodemayo - 12-13-2006 at 11:22 AM

With the price of copper at the moment why not? The last wind storm here in the PNW some idiot stole over 2 miles of high voltage power wire over in Sammamish. Too bad it wasn't energized when he did it!

bajalou - 12-13-2006 at 11:32 AM

When the Pacific Electric RWY red cars were shut down by LARTD in about 1959, they shut down at midnight. At 8am that next morning over 6 miles of power line was gone.

Minerals and energy are always a boom-bust thing. And even the boom times are only great for the few working in that industry or selling to it. The rest are stuck with the same old wages as everything from bread to rent jumps in price. I've lived thru some of these and it ain't no fun unless you're working for the mine.

Barry A. - 12-13-2006 at 12:21 PM

RTS555--------

OK, once again-------it is each persons responsibility to "open their eyes" and look ahead, ask questions, think, and then take the measures necessary to protect them and their families!!! Where oh where did this "idea" start that the Government or the Companies were responsible for desisions that should be made on an individual basis??

AS long as folks are expecting (hoping?) that somebody else is going to look out for them then they are in for some bitter disappointments.

And Cinco----

Now that is a well thought out response-----just nuke em, right??? You should have been on the "panel" that just advised the Pres. :lol:

I guess what you are saying is that the folks in Santa Rosalia should just sit there and hope that Industry will just pass them by, and then they will be better off. Amazing!!!!

To me Santa Rosalia is the most fasinating "development" in Baja, and I have always thought that. I have spent many a day and night in Santa Rosalia and I love that place, but it needs something to spark it back into activity, and maybe El Bolero is the ticket. So now you know where I am coming from. :lol:

Barry A. - 12-13-2006 at 12:32 PM

RTS551------

Copper theft on the desert has been a problem for as long as I can remember. Back when I was working Law Enforcement for BLM (1974 to 1986) we had a constant stream of cases of power lines being ripped down and hauled off by the miles in both the High desert and Low desert of California. And heaven help you if you left a spool of wire loose on the ground without security----kiss it goodbye, usually.

Like I said in another post-----there are bad guys out there----the scumbags of society-----we will always have them.

jerry - 12-13-2006 at 12:45 PM

if the people have there chip together they will get involved in the saport industrys and make a bundell too or they can just sit around and draw wages eather way progress is better then stagnation take a chance noone is gonna hand it to ya

Cincodemayo - 12-13-2006 at 01:31 PM

Barry....they don't seem to be getting anything at the moment and past history dictates that they won't ever get it....except killing each other that is.

Cinco-----

Barry A. - 12-13-2006 at 01:38 PM

----you sure won't be getting any arguement from me on that point---------pretty sad situation, I say. They give no indication (to me) that they (the Iraqis) will EVER learn from past history---------

BUT, the Mexicanos appear to me to be much more resourceful, and I think that the El Bolero project will do much more good than bad-----at least I hope so.

Barry

rts551 - 12-13-2006 at 03:31 PM

Barry

I hope so too.... but from what I have seen its not the locals who generally benefit from these large projects. My guess is that if the mine needs to, they will import labor to work for low wages.

In the 60's I used to like the San Quintin Valley... They were promised a lot when the agriculture came in... Like it now? And the families I knew did not benefit. Guerro Negro was promised a lot when the salt works came in... and so on and so on.

I too like Santa Rosalia... it is one of the closest places for me to shop and bank... Don't get me wrong, I think Baja california needs opportunity and jobs.... but too many people think that 100 pesos per day (or less) is opportunity or a minimul payment for their land will sustain them (or they just like their own opportunity to increase their own profits).

Baja Californios do need to open their eyes and make the right decisions...

Cincodemayo - 12-13-2006 at 03:57 PM

Right with ya Barry...nothing wrong with job availability and resources to keep it going.

David K - 12-13-2006 at 05:19 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by rts551
Barry

I hope so too.... but from what I have seen its not the locals who generally benefit from these large projects....

And the families I knew did not benefit. Guerro Negro was promised a lot when the salt works came in... ...


Just a historic point:

Guerrero Negro did not exist before the salt mine... It was a company town, built from an empty piece of land between the Scammon's Lagoon salt flats and the Black Warrior (Guerrero Negro) Lagoon, where the salt was originally hauled out.

In fact the 'town' began 49 years ago and originally was called 'Salina Vizcaino'. It was just a construction camp in 1957 building the causeway out to a warf, 6 miles in the lagoon.

By 1960 the population was listed as 900 and the Exportadora de Sal, S.A. company town name was changed to Guerrero Negro with salt producing operations begun in 1958.

[Edited on 12-14-2006 by David K]

rts551 - 12-13-2006 at 08:06 PM

Agreed David.. But I believe there were promises to the ejidos... whoops don't want to open that post again

David K - 12-13-2006 at 08:08 PM

No worries amigo...

bajalou - 1-5-2007 at 10:41 AM

Talked to a friend who's company is negotiating to build some of the stuff for the copper mine iis that it is to be a underground mine - no strip mining. Using the "continuous wall" technique that is used in underground coal mines.