Bobbie Bicknell Coray, Reporter
Rich Civic Times
Dave Kramer, Vice President of
Paris Hills a subsidiary of Stonegate Agracom, (http://www.stonegateagricom.com) came to the Rich County Council,
as a courtesy, to talk about the Paris Hills Underground Phosphate Mine which
his company proposes to build on leased, private land between Paris and Bloomington,
Idaho. They acquired the property in 2009, and there has been some
exploratory mining completed in 2010 and 2012.
The feasibility study was
completed in 2012. They believe that initial construction will begin in the
fourth quarter of 2014 and initial mining in early 2015 if permits are
approved. The project boundry is in the west hills of Bloomington.
The phosphate rock is transported directly from the mine to market
after crushing in limited surface facilities. They believe that the
expected life of this mine is 19 years. Only 300 acres will be
disturbed but grazing can continue on the rest of the land.
At its peak, there will be 358
employees. Including 88 management workers, 36 surface personnel
and 234 underground personnel, skilled equipment operators and certified
electrical technicians. Kramer said that they will pull people from 1 and
½ hour away from Kemmerer to Logan. Wages will be high. Employees
in training will be paid $26 an hour, skilled labor,$30 to $34. Electricians
will be paid $35-$36 an hour. It is competitive with the rest of the
mining industry.
The mine will use a lot of
electricity. The company is in the process of negotiating with Rocky Mt.
Power. Highway 89 will be impacted as
there will be trucking 12 hours a day 5 days a week. Every six minutes
one truck will leave the site, cross Highway 89 to a county road, then reappear
near Ovid and run through Montpelier and on to Soda Springs. A bypass road
between Ovid and Montpelier will be built if the mine is
successful. There will be a conveyer at the site. At
peak mining operations they will produce a million tons a year. They will
have a small waste rock pile of non-saleable grade phosphate.
They plan to de-water the
existing aquifer to get to the underground phosphate. The hydrologists
estimate that 16,500 gallons of water per minute for a significant period of
time will empty the mine. The pumped water will be injected into the Salt
Lake Formation which is an aquifer east of Paris and Bloomington and is in
tightly bound clays and silt at a depth of about 2,500 feet below the valley
floor. The water will be pumped out of the mine by 17 dewatering wells and
pumps and should not affect local wells. The mine’s water is so much
deeper than the surface wells. There are 8 groundwater monitoring wells and
other technology to monitor water.
Reclamation planning has been done for waste and water treatment.
There have been nine environmental studies done. They must permit through
county, state and federal agencies. Over 60% of the project is on private
land which only need state permits. They will wait to excavate the small
part which is federal land to get federal permits. Trucking will be bid
from private companies. Rich County Commissioner Tom Weston asked if
it will affect surface water, Kramer answered that the hydrologists say it will
not.
Bloomberg Business Week describes Stonegate as: "Agricom Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of agricultural nutrient projects in the Americas. The company produces and supplies phosphate rock concentrate that is used in the Stonegate manufacture of phosphate-based fertilizers. Its principal projects include the Paris Hills phosphate project that consists of 3 patented lode mining claims and 21 contiguous fee parcels covering an area of approximately 1,010.5 hectares located in Bear Lake County, Idaho; and the Mantaro phosphate project that encompasses 54 mineral concessions covering an area of approximately 27,500 hectares, located near the city of Huancayo, Junin District, Peru. Stonegate Agricom Ltd. is headquartered in Toronto, Canada." They currently have 27 employees.
Their 52 week stock high was .89 cents, at the time of this article, the stock was trading at .19 cents on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Their top compensated officials are: (From Bloomberg BusinessWeek)
Stonegate Agricom Ltd (ST) Top
Compensated Officers
Chief Executive Officer,
President and Direct...
Total Annual Compensation: C$375.0K
Chief Financial Officer and Vice
President of...
Total Annual Compensation: C$220.0K
Vice President of Operations
Total Annual Compensation: C$160.4K
Vice President of North America
and President...
Age: 61
Total Annual Compensation: C$238.8K
Vice President, General Counsel
and Corporate...
Age: 61
Total Annual Compensation: C$210.0K
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