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Saturday, January 18, 2014

Paris Hills Phosphate Mine Proposal


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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