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"Formation is dedicated to the principle of environmentally sound mining practices and believes that mining and the protection of the environment can co-exist.
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"Formation's Plan of Operations provides for careful disposal of waste rock and tailings in order to protect water quality."
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"Within the immediate project area, existing roads will be used as much as possible to minimize surface disturbance."
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"The use of underground mining, mine backfill and dry stacking of tailings, provides numerous environmental advantages for the project."
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The Idaho Cobalt Project Plan
Formation Capital Corporation, U.S. (Formation) has been conducting mineral exploration in the Idaho Cobalt Belt since 1993 and has successfully defined mineable ore reserves in the area. Based on this work, Formation is proposing to develop the Idaho Cobalt Project (ICP), which will consist of an underground cobalt-copper-gold mine, processing plant (mill), and ancillary facilities. The ICP is owned and will be operated by Formation with offices in Salmon, Idaho. Formation is a wholly owned subsidiary of Formation Capital Corporation, headquartered in Vancouver, BC, Canada.
 The ICP includes several mineral deposits acquired by the location of mining claims within the Salmon-Cobalt Ranger District of the Salmon National Forest, approximately 45 road miles west of Salmon, Idaho. The property consists of 145 unpatented claims for a total of 2,524 acres of mineral rights.
The ICP will consist of an 800-ton per day mine and mill complex to mine cobalt-copper-gold reserves at an annual production rate of 280,000 tons of ore at full production. There are sufficient reserves and resources for 10 to 12 years of operation. Estimated annual production is 2.9 million pounds of cobalt, 2.6 million pounds of copper, and 3,400 ounces of gold averaged over the mine life. Underground mining methods will be used to extract ore from one deposit, the Ram. Ore will be conveyed to a nearby mill situated on a high plateau locally referred to as the Big Flat. Concentrate from the mill will be trucked to an offsite processing facility.
There will be three main phases in the life of the ICP: the construction phase, the operating phase, and the reclamation phase. The construction phase will include site preparation and construction of the mill and ancillary facilities, and development of the Ram Mine. The operating phase will bring the mill on line at 400 tons per day, increasing to 800 tons per day as the underground Ram Mine expands. Ongoing mine development will include improving certain existing roads, with future potential to develop the underground Sunshine Mine located near the Ram deposit. The reclamation phase will occur either concurrently during construction and operation where possible, and near the end of the mine life.
Mine and mill facilities include the Ram mine portal, the tram, the mill, the tailings and waste rock storage facility (TWSF), the water management pond, new and existing improved roads, borrow areas, and a soil stockpile area. These facilities are shown on the site plan and their disturbance areas are listed on the following table. Ancillary facilities include power lines, fuel storage tanks, water ditches, warehouse and maintenance facilities, staff offices, change house, and domestic water disposal (septic and drain field). Explosives storage magazines will be portable structures furnished by the explosives supplier. The project will have a relatively small area of surface disturbance, 119 acres, plus 7 acres of non-disturbed, or minimally disturbed areas.
| Disturbance Areas |
| Mine Portals | 4 acres |
| Tram Corridor | 3 acres |
| Mill/Plant | 11 acres |
| Tailings and Waste Rock Storage Facility | 57 acres |
| Water Management Pond | 10 acres |
| New and Existing Improved Roads (includes Power Lines) | 28 acres |
| Borrow | 6 acres |
| Subtotal Disturbance Areas | 119 acres |
| Non-Disturbance Areas |
| Soil Stockpile | 7 acres |
| Total Project Area | 126 acres |
The mill and ancillary facilities will be constructed on the Big Flat, a relatively flat area located between the drainages of Big Deer Creek and Little Deer Creek. The mill/plant includes coarse ore storage, a fine ore conveyor, ball mill grinding circuit, flotation cells, an analytical laboratory, pipelines, concentrate dewatering equipment, a water treatment plant, and a shipping dock. At full production, the mill will produce approximately 32 dry tons of concentrate and 768 dry tons of tailings per day. The mill and ancillary structures will be demolished and removed during the reclamation phase, and the mill foundations will be buried in place or excavated and placed in the TWSF.
The Ram portal will be located on the slope above Bucktail Creek. The portal will be located above the projected post-mining groundwater level. There will be two ventilation shafts at the Ram Mine. These facilities will also be located above the post-mining ground water level. All mine openings will be located such that there will be no drainage from the openings post mining. After mine production ceases, the mine openings will be closed, portal pads will be removed and regraded, and any roads not needed for post-mining monitoring or other purposes will be reclaimed.
An overhead tram will lift the Ram ore and waste rock approximately 1,000 vertical feet from the portal to the mill, where it will be stockpiled for processing. A conceptual design for the tram includes a single tramcar traveling on track cables and driven by a haul rope. The tram will be loaded from a hopper at the Ram portal, and will discharge ore and waste at separate stockpiles. Pivoted intermediate towers, approximately 45 feet high, will support the track cables. During reclamation, all tram structures and equipment will be removed and the tram corridor will be graded and revegetated.
As a result of past mining activities at the adjacent Blackbird Mine, there have been impacts to water quality in the area. This is due to acid and leachate generating waste rock and tailings being placed in stream channels on the adjacent Blackbird Mine property. Formation's Plan of Operations provides for careful disposal of waste rock and tailings in order to protect water quality. Formation has conducted a geochemical testing program to characterize the waste rock and tailings. Data from this program was used in design of the TWSF and water management pond, and development of appropriate management programs to protect water quality.
The TWSF and the water management pond will be located on the Big Flat, east of and downslope from the mill. This location was selected for these facilities because it has relatively flat topography, avoids jurisdictional wetlands, provides suitable foundation soils, and is located away from active drainages and streams.
The TWSF will have an engineered composite underliner constructed over a prepared subgrade. The liner will consist of a low permeability soil (or engineered clay) layer overlain by a synthetic liner. A drainage collection system will be constructed over the liner to collect water that infiltrates the tailings and waste rock; this water will be conveyed to the nearby water management pond. Waste rock and tailings will be placed in adjacent areas within the facility. Approximately half of the tailings produced at the mill will be used underground as backfill. The remainder will be disposed of in the TWSF using a dry stacking method, eliminating the need for a dam. During reclamation, the facility will be capped with a multi-layered cover including geotextile, soil, and vegetative covers.
Process waters will be carefully managed and recycled in the process system. The water management system using a double-lined water management pond located east of and downslope from the TWSF. The water management pond will store excess waters until they can be treated in the water treatment plant and released under the terms of a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. The pond will incorporate a seepage detection and recovery system. Working in conjunction with the water treatment plant, the pond is sized to contain the maximum probable precipitation inflows assuming a 1 in 500-year probability of occurrence. During reclamation, the dry pond will be regraded and vegetated.
Formation's Mine Plan of Operations proposed a 150 gpm water treatment plant that will process water for discharge in accordance with the NPDES permit. The proposed water treatment plant will use Ph adjustment and Ion exchange, followed by nitrate removal, to produce water that meets all applicable discharge standards. Water treatment plant reject will be stabilized and disposed of in the TWSF. Treated water from the water treatment plant will be discharged into Big Deer Creek in accordance with the NPDES permit.
Existing roads will be used as much as possible to minimize surface disturbance. Roads will be reclaimed by recontouring, placing growth medium to the extent possible, and reseeding.
Borrow materials will be used for road surfacing, drain rock, riprap, and other construction and reclamation activities. Borrow areas will have sediment control berms in place to prevent sedimentation impacts to nearby drainages. During reclamation, they will be regraded and revegetated to the extent practicable.
Prior to construction, topsoil will be removed and stockpiled for use as cover material during reclamation. The stockpile area will be maintained to reduce runoff and seeded for surface stabilization. During the reclamation phase, the stockpile area will be regraded and revegetated following depletion of the stockpile.
Power for the project will be secured from an existing power line that delivers power to the Blackbird Mine. Emergency power will be supplied with diesel generating equipment. This equipment will be sufficient only for essential mill equipment and mine pumps. Emergency power generators will be located at the main portals and at the mill. The power lines will be dismantled and the area revegetated during reclamation.
It is anticipated that most of the project employees will live in the Salmon area. Employees will travel to the project site in buses or vans. This will enhance public and employee safety by limiting the number of vehicles on the road to the project. The proposed transportation route for employees is via the Williams Creek Summit, along Williams Creek Road, Deep Creek Road, Panther Creek Road, and Blackbird Creek Road. This route will also be used for transportation of the concentrate, equipment, reagents, and other freight. Protocols have been established to ensure travel on these roads is efficient and safe.
Formation has initiated reclamation planning and integrated these concepts into the mine design. A primary feature of the ICP is the use of tailings backfill in the underground mine, which significantly reduces surface impacts and reclamation. Additionally, Formation has developed water controls for the post-mining period to ensure compliance with all applicable water quality laws and regulations. A series of wells will be installed below the Ram deposit to monitor ground water quality. If needed, additional wells will be installed and operated to extract impacted groundwater quality. Any water extracted from the wells will be treated in the water treatment plant and discharged in accordance with the NPDES permit.
Formation is dedicated to environmentally sound mining practices and believes that mining and the protection of the environment can co-exist. The use of underground mining, mine backfill and dry stacking of tailings, and a closed water system provides numerous environmental advantages for the project, including avoidance of jurisdictional wetlands. Formation will perform ongoing monitoring and mitigation activities to prevent or reduce adverse environmental effects. To this end, the ICP has been designed for construction, operation, and reclamation activities to be performed under best management practices in order to protect water quality and the environment to the maximum extent possible.
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