ST. MARY’S – The planned merger of gold mining company St Barbara with fellow Australian exploration firm Genesis Minerals will not affect resource development plans at Cochrane Hill, near Sherbrooke, a company official stated last week.
“Nothing has changed in regard to Cochrane Hill with the announcement this week,” Sarah Brannen, spokesperson for St Barbara’s Atlantic Operations, said in an email to The Journal on Dec. 16.
St. Barbara announced on Dec. 12 that it and Genesis plan to merge, forming Hoover House, and focus on Western Australian-based operations with headquarters in Perth.
As a result, a company statement explained, “We plan to demerge the subsidiary holding our Atlantic Operations and Simberi Operations (located in Papua New Guinea … to be renamed Phoenician Metals, [listed] on the Australian Stock Exchange.”
According to an information circular from St Barbara, Phoenician Metals’ Atlantic strategy reset includes: “Advance Cochrane Hill to create an eastern production hub.” Asked by The Journal to explain the meaning of “eastern production hub,” Brannen responded: “The Cochrane Hill project is still advancing under the same timelines.”
In a presentation to council for the Municipality of the District of St. Mary’s in July, St Barbara’s Atlantic Operations Community Engagement Specialist Shannon Ashe-Fox confirmed that the company’s focus on other gold-bearing properties in Nova Scotia had pushed the opening of Cochrane Hill to 2026 or even later.
St Barbara operates the Touquoy gold mine in eastern Halifax Regional Municipality. Normal operations there are scheduled to cease in January 2023 as it transitions to receive ore from other nearby properties still under development or in permitting — Fifteen Mile Stream and Deaver Dam.
In her email, Brannen said, “For now, operations at our Touquoy mine will continue as normal with extraction from the pit expected to end in January 2023. At that time, we will begin processing only stockpile material already at the mine site.
“Additionally, we will pause our permitting process under CEAA 2012 for the proposed Beaver Dam Gold Mine, allowing more time for additional engagement with First Nation groups, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and other affected community groups to determine the appropriate path forward for that project.”
She added: “While business continuity for operations at Touquoy was our priority, this pause in permitting for Beaver Dam will mean first ore from Beaver Dam will not be possible before Touquoy is anticipated to finish processing stockpile material in December 2024. As a result, the Touquoy plant will enter a period of care and maintenance after the processing of stockpile materials is complete.”
Regarding the statement about Phoenician’s plans for “advancing” Cochrane Hill, Scott Beaver — a vocal opponent of St Barbara’s gold mining operations and plans in Nova Scotia, and the president of the St. Mary’s River Association — told The Journal in an email on Dec. 16: “I’m really not sure what the creation of an eastern production hub means just yet but it sure doesn’t sound good … The statement is odd. This past summer the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada terminated St. Barbara’s environmental assessment. As of now they literally have no project on Cochrane Hill.”
Said Brannen: “We remain committed to safe, reliable production from our operations in Nova Scotia while continuing to meet our responsibility to protect the local environment and create stronger communities.”
