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Show .) j M'l 'i ' ; f JJ A '"i , 1 ! Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow. Don't walk behind me, I may not lead. Valk beside me and be my friend. in. i I : . i i s & 'Jm. Calendar Donated Car 4BC Corner Page 2 page 3 page 4 -- Albert Camus Thursday, August 3Q, 2001 VOLUME 92 NO. 70 Kennecott hooes for continued minin By DEBBI OLSON ore,'1 Farmer said. 'We're blessed o have an ore body that extends beyond the envelope of the open pit. Mining began at the Bingham Canyon mine in 1906. It is esti Editor As copper prices continue to decline, officials at Kennecott Copper are continuing to look for new ways to economize mining production in order to continuing operations well into 2030. The wave of the future of Kennecott is to go underground, an effort that will cost the company a $1 billion investment to mated that Kennecott will be able to mine ore from the open-piuntil 2012. At that time the company will either cease production or move underground. 'We've mined the surface," Farmer said. "But it will soon no longer be economic to remove t or? from the surface." Studies from drilling estimate that the underground roots contain more than 265 million tons H , L. .. f ' , known as block caving. The process undercuts the ore from the sides of shafts, which allows , 1 ''' r t " prepare for underground mining of the Bingham Canyon Mine. According to Bruce Farmer, Kennecott president and Chief Executive Officer, the current mining operations needs to show a better business performance before its parent company, Rio Tino, and stockholders will be interested in continuing operations past 2012. "We have to get our performance in good shape by the end of 2002 and the beginning of 2003 if we want to proceed to going underground," Farmer said. "It will take every person at Utah Copper to make that happen." Currently Utah Copper is drilling into the underground roots of the Bingham mine to determine where the copper ore is located, how much is there and its quality. "We're drilling down 2,710 feet from where we are standing now and it have some very rich of copper ore. To go underground, Kennecott will use a process 'r s' v . V ft ' iLfc. v J f&. i ,v I vwis5b, ratify - , fTX rt i?4 A 4' ' s- - '-'- vt c; '''1 I I - - v ''1 1 1 - 4 J. 1 C ii c u t s i ? A 5-- 1 Is 4 ? S i t Jf, S - "V J 'i 7v' ''w sr f c J ... wvm4 ' ft V If , 4 y r t f rTl' the ore to cave in and be removed on conveyor belts. In order for Kennecott to have continuous copper ore production, the funding to build the mines needs to be in place by 2003 when the first geological and environmental impact surveys need to begin. 'We have to prove out the ore body and do an economic feasi- - f bility study to convince the shareholders to invest in the underground mining," Farmer said. "We know there are reserves tin there, but it all depends on if you can make a profit at it." The mine design will need to begin by 2005 with the building of the mine shafts to begin by 2007. Farmer said construction of the underground mine is expected to take five years. "This will bring in a signifi- cant amount of employment to the area for construction activity," Farmer said. As of last week the price of low of copper was at an $.66.5 cents per pound with just under million pounds in stockall-ti- r 1 r - ' T- , v v ... -- , , . A" r :' r ' ' piles. "In the last three and a half years 37 percent of U.S. copper mining productions have been shut down," Farmer said. "U.S Copper mining is'under great stress. We have cut our capacity photo by Debbi Olson New Sprinklers at the tailings empoundment spurt water out 200 feet to keep the ground wet in order to prevent airborne dust. -- please turn to MINE page 8 New sprinklers being used to control tailings area By DEBBI OLSON Editor Unusual summer storms had Kennecott envommentalists on alert throughout August to ensure that dust from the tailings area north of Magna would not get out of control again. 'We had one incident where the tailings dust kicked up but went out north over the lake instead of drifting into Magna," said Louie Cononelos, Director of Government and Public Relations. "Currently there is no cause for concern of that happening again." Since May Kennecott has made a concerted effort to keep the tailings empoundments under control as it works to reclaim areas and build the new north empoundment. 'We use a mixture of plants that will stop the airborne dust and pro duce good soil," said Alex Reynoso. "We have 12 different species of wheat grasses growing in our reclamation areas." Kennecott is currently planting and irrigating a portion of the tailings area that created a dust bowl this spring. Approximately 150 acres have been reseeded after initial seeding in the spring failed. An adjacent tailings empoundment has been unable to sustain vegetation growth causing Kennecott to keep the area wetted down with tailings. The tailings are the material left in the rock mined at Kennecott after the usable minerals are taken out. It is a of the ore crushing, and flotation' grinding processes used by Kennecott. Once the minerals are extracted the tailings are transported left-ov- er as slurry in a 60-inconcrete pipe to the tailings empoundments. "If we've done our job right we've taken all the minerals out of the rock," Cononelos said. "The tailings tell if you are a good miner or a bad miner." Reynoso said the failure to grow plants in the area is not a concern as Kennecott will continue to work with the area for future reclamation. "Bringing in tailings will control the area until it is ready to be reseeded," Reynoso said. That reseeded is not scheduled until the spring. 'We were told 70-8- 0 years ago that you couldn't grow anything on the tailings," Cononelos said. "We have proved them wrong. Engineering in the new empoundment js much more ch -- -- please turn to TAILINGS page 8 Board to address boundary issues On Sept. 4, the Board of Education will take the process of adjusting school boundaries 3 for the school year. District study committees have looked at boundary options throughout the summer. By Aug. 31 , school community councils in the schools involved will have had the opportunity to provide input into this early part of the , process; At the Sept.. 4 board meeting, the next step is for the . Board to receive administrative recommendations regarding , what appear to be the most t viable options for new junior ,t 2002-200- . , , R COPY high school boundaries. The identified junior high boundary options are all related to opening of the new Scott M. Matheson junior High in the fall of 2002. The adjustments under consideration could affect sic junior high schools a year from now at the following West Valley City and Magna schools: Brockbank . Hunter Thomas Jefferson John F. Kennedy Valley West Lake Junior High. , .The purpose of the Sept. 4 presentation is to share prelimi-- . nary information with the Board and with the public. The meeting will not be a public hearing and residents opinons will not be initiallly asked for as the informtion is presented to the board members. The Board will listen to the recommendations and may have some discussion, but will take no action in the Sept. 4 meeting. The Board is planning to provide opportunities for public input, including open houses in local communities where students will be affected, before the Board makes its final deci r"ti photo by Debbi Olson Alex Reynoso stands in a reclaimed tailing field planted with Canadian Rye. sions on 3 school boundaries. It is anticipated that the final decisions on boundaries will be made during school board meetings in the November. The Board is considering a similar Board meeting for Sept. to receive administrative recommendations regarding the most viable options for 3 elementary school boundaries. 2002-200- 1 1 2002-200- The recommended elementary boundary changes could affect as many as 32 elementary schools throughout the district a year from now. Ward celebrates 25 years The Spencer Fourth Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ Saints will be of Latter-da-y its 25th annivercelebrating sary on Sept. 7. The Spencer Ward, which meets in the Magna Cultural Stake Center at 8181 West 3220 South, was organized from the Spencer Second Ward on Sept. 12, 1976. The first bishop of the Ward was . Eugene Cattan, who served until March 12, 1978. "We want everyone who has been a member of the Fourth Ward to come out and renew acquaintances and honor the bishops," said Darlene Kelson, publicity chairwoman for the anniversary event. The celebration will be held from 9 p.m. The program will include dinner and a tribute to the past bishops. Bishops to be honored include Cattan, Al Cole, bishil op from March 10, 10, 1983; Jon Westover, bishop from April 10. 1983-Oc- t. 6-- 1978-Apr- 12, 1986; Max Sayer, bishop from Oct. 12, 1986-Au25, 1991; Robert Dea, bishop from Aug. 25, 18. 1996; Tyler Earl, bishop from Feb. 18, g. 1991-Fe- b. 19915-Mar- ch 1 1 , 2001 ; and Tim Draper, current bishop. |