North Shore palladium mine developer Generation Mining is adding some experience to help with the permitting process, mine closure plan, public consultation and community outreach. J
eremy Dart has been hired as its environmental manager and Cathryn Moffett was named the new manager of community consultation.
Dart, who lives in Marathon, worked for Barrick Gold for 21 years mainly at the Hemlo gold mine. He was that company's environment and closure superintendent. Experienced in watershed and project management, permitting approvals and community relations, he oversaw the closure and rehabilitation of the David Bell Mine. He also contributed to Barrick's public consultation efforts on mine expansion and closure plans and negotiated First Nations agreements.
Cathryn Moffett previously was the director of sustainability for Detour Gold.
She began her career in the Alberta oil sands working for Golder on environmental assessments. The author of many reports on corporate sustainable development, she has sat at many negotiation tables and led environmental permitting with greenfield and brownfield mining projects. Her work for Gen Mining will revolve around community relationships and sharing "plain language information" in leading community-focused projects.
Gen Mining also announced Wood Environment and Infrastructure Solutions has been hired to help file the mine closure plan and the permits needed to start the mine construction. The work is running in parallel to the ongoing environmental assessment process. Wood has assisted mine developers with other projects in Northern Ontario including Côté Gold Project, Magino Gold Project, Goliath Project, Rainy River Gold Mine and the Detour Lake Mine.
“We are extremely happy to have the strength and depth of experience of Cathryn and Jeremy on the team," said Gen Mining president Jamie Levy in a news release.
"With the addition of Wood to the existing EA team of Stantec, Ecometrix, Knight-Piesold and Northern Bioscience, we are extremely well placed to complete the EA, progress the permitting and to prepare for the start of construction in 2022.”
The Toronto mine developer is raising money for detailed engineering, equipment procurement and for the construction of its Marathon open-pit palladium and copper mine, north of Marathon, on the north shore of Lake Superior. The mine would produce an estimated 245,000 ounces of palladium over a 13-year mine life.
On the current environmental assessment process, the company reports the government-appointed Joint Review Panel has made seven information requests since Gen Mining submitted an amended Environmental Impact Statement last April. The panel recently issued public notice regarding a draft of the upcoming public hearing which outline the procedures including the likelihood for virtual sessions.
