North American Gem Inc. Has Received Final State Permit Approvals on North American Gem Mine #1 in Whitley County, Kentucky
October 23 2009 - 9:00AM
Marketwired
North American Gem Inc. (NAG) (TSX-V: NAG) is pleased to announce
that the final bonds have been posted with the State of Kentucky by
North American Gem on Thursday, October 22. As a result of this
achievement, the completion of the permit transfer for the permit
#918-0396 to NAG, North American Gem has the right to begin mining
at the North American Gem Mine #1 immediately. Engle Hollow Mining,
the contract operator, has spent the past several weeks preparing
and will begin mobilizing and working immediately now that the
bonds have been posted.
The method of mining to be used by NAG in the North American Gem
Mine #1 is known as contour mining. This type of mining is done on
properties that were previously mined prior to the enactment of the
Surface Mine Control and Reclamation act of 1977. This law requires
that after any surface mining, the land must be restored to
approximate original contour unless otherwise specified in the
permit application and approved by the Kentucky Department of
Natural Resources (KDNR). When "pre-law" mining was done, the
general practice was to mine along the contour of a slope to the
maximum profitable ratio and leave the resulting highwall and a
wide, flat bench where the material covering the coal was removed
and then graded somewhat flat as opposed to restoring the original
slope.
The North American Gem Mine #1 is permitted for the use of
augers to enter the coal seam from the exposed wall with minimal
additional excavation and maximum cost effectiveness. This type of
mining dramatically reduces the amount of surface disturbance and
allows for the recovery of any potential reserves that were
previously believed not to be economically viable.
The first requirement for operating the mine is to upgrade the
existing access road to a condition suitable for use as a haul road
and construction of sedimentation controls. The favorable
conditions possessed by this operation will result in minimal cost
for the initial development.
Engle Hollow Mining has allocated 2 augers to work
simultaneously on different work faces to ensure continuous
production. The first coal is expected to be trucked to market
before month end.
All of North American Gem Inc.'s potential mining operations
will incorporate sediment control methods that will keep ahead of
the increased regulations and restrictions. Furthermore, in
anticipation of increased regulations, NAG has, in all of its
permitting applications, begun the sampling of receiving streams
and groundwater wells utilizing the most stringent and extensive
sampling parameters. This will allow NAG to comply with the
regulatory requirements and will also result in much shorter and
smoother permitting application process.
North American Gem plans to have any coal requiring processing
from the North American Gem Mine #1 to be the first coal to run
through the Cobra Tippling Production Plant (See NAG September
22nd, 2009 release). Most of the coal produced, based on laboratory
and exploration data gathered during the evaluation period, is
expected to be of high enough quality to ship directly to the
buyer.
The North American Gem mining operation will establish NAG as a
coal producer with the ability to enter into supply contracts. The
supply contracts established by production from the North American
Gem Mine #1 are expected to be expanded upon as the Company
increases operations in the area. The performance and capabilities
of production from the North American Gem Mine #1 will determine
the point at which further production from additional leases is
commenced.
Mr. Dean Schafer is acting as operations manager of all the
Company's Kentucky coal leases and is currently implementing an
overall mine plan.
Mike Magrum, PEng, a qualified person under National Instrument
43-101, has approved the technical content of this news
release.
North American Gem Inc. (TSX-V: NAG) is a Junior Exploration
Company based in Western Canada. The Company's primary goal is to
explore for Coal in North America, currently the focus is in
Saskatchewan, West Virginia, and Kentucky. In addition to Coal
exploration, the Company also has interests in Uranium, Copper,
Gold, Molybdenum and other base metals in Canada.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors
NORTH AMERICAN GEM INC.
"Charles Desjardins"
Charles Desjardins
President and Director
"Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX
Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this release."
Cautionary note:
This report contains forward-looking statements. Resource
estimates, unless specifically noted, are considered speculative.
Any and all other resource or reserve estimates are historical in
nature, and should not be relied upon. By their nature,
forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainties because
they relate to events and depend on factors that will or may occur
in the future. Actual results may vary depending upon exploration
activities, industry production, commodity demand and pricing,
currency exchange rates, and, but not limited to, general economic
factors. Cautionary Note to US investors: The U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission specifically prohibits the use of certain
terms, such as "reserves" unless such figures are based upon actual
production or formation tests and can be shown to be economically
and legally producible under existing economic and operating
conditions.
North American Gem Inc. 430 - 609 Granville Street Vancouver,
BC, Canada V7Y 1G5 Phone 604-683-5445 Facsimile 604-687-9631
info@northamericangem.com www.northamericangem.com TSX-Venture:
NAG
North American Gem Inc. (TSXV:NAG)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jun 2024 to Jul 2024
North American Gem Inc. (TSXV:NAG)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jul 2023 to Jul 2024