Brinco changes hands ‘Dorset Resources Ltd., a Calgary based Oil and Gas Exploration Company, announced on-June 5, 1985, that it has entered into agreement to acquire 71.4 percent of the outstanding common shares and 100 percent of the Series “‘C’ preferred shares which combined present a 73.2 percent voting interest in Brinco Limited. The 12,486,236 Brinco common shares and 7,272,728 Brinco series “’C”’ preferred shares acquired are to be transferred to Dorset by Olympia & York Corporation and by Tinto Holdings Canada Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Rio Tinto Zinc Corporation Ple., London, England, in exchange for 14,134,574 Dorset common shares and 10,279,691 Dorset $1.00 stated value, 10 percent series 2 preferred shares to be issued from the Dorset Treasury. Definitive agreements have been signed. The closing of the transaction, and the issuance of the Dorset com- mon and the series 2 preferred shares are subject to the approval of the Toronto and Alberta Stock Exchanges and Alan Smith, President of Dorset Resources Ltd., said that this approval is expected shortly. Alan Smith has been associat- ed with the Brin- co operation for many years. He was president of Brinco Oil & Gas from its form- ation in 1976 un- til 1981 and he- has been on the Brinco Board of Directors for » the past five or _ six years. He says ‘that there are no major changes contemplated in the mining activities and that the exploration work presently being done on the McDame deposit will continue. Erickson offer accepted Compagnie Francaise des Petroles (CFP) of France has accepted an offer from Erickson Gold Mines Ltd. for the latter to acquire CFP’s wholly owned Canadian subsidiary Total Eastcan Exploration Ltd., for 17 million newly issued shares of Erickson. At present there are 10 million Erickson shares issued. After the agreement is finalized ‘CFP will own 60% of the then outstanding Erickson shares. The offer was to be-presented to the Erickson share- holders for approval at a meeting scheduled for June 20th when this paper was at press. The agreement must also be approved by the Foreign Investment Review Agency as control of Erickson will go to a foreign company. Meanwhile, Erickson has raised $3.5 million on flow-through ‘shares. Arthur Fisher, Erickson’s Director of Mining, said the company intends to spend $2.5 million - in exploring the Erickson district and $1 million will be spent in the Skukum area. Due to regulations governing flow-through shares the company may not use the funds for work at the Erickson mine itself. However, they will usé the money on the Elan and Cusac properties in the Erickson district, as well as on the Vollaug Vein on Table Mountain. The company plans to do extensive diamond drilling, however, they can also drive an adit if a newly defined ore zone is discovered. The funds must be used before Christmas. Erickson has also raised a debenture of $10 million which will become available July 15th. The $10 million was raised from a group of private investors. The money “must be repaid by 1990 at an 8% interest rate. Mr. Fisher said that $5 million will be used to develop the Mt. Sku- kum property and $5 million will be for’working capital expenditures at Erickson Gold Mine. At the Mt. Skukum property, which is about 55 miles southwest of Whitehorse, development work is continuing underground. The company is making prepar- ations to begin building the mill. They will use the build- ing and some parts from what was the Plaza mill near Cassiar. However, that was a flotation mill and Mt. Sku- kum requires a cyanide mill. Mr. Fisher said they expect to eventually employ about 60 people at the Mt. Skukum mine. He added they hope to be producing gold by Christmas. | Cassiar Courier the Voice of Cassiar Country JULY 1985 10 cents Mine Rescue and First Aid Teams Compete S| The Brinco Mine Rescue and First Aid teams took part in the Northern Zone Mine Rescue and First Aid com- petition at Tumbler Ridge on June 15. The Mine Rescue team placed , third and the First Aid team of Ralf | Voss, Dale Ritter and Bruce Burns placed second. The First Aid team will take part in the Provincial 3 Per- son First Aid Competition in Kam- loops, B.C. on June 22, 1985. The Mine Rescue team is pictured from left to right: Danny Harrison, Rick Prosser, Dale Ritter, Ralf Voss, Bruce Burns, and Captain Darren DeCecco. Kinky Borsato; coach, is missing from the picture. For more on the Mine Rescue and First Aid competion see page 15. U.N.N. Bids For School The. United Native Nations Local 167 and School District Number 87 (Stikine) are presently negotiating an agreement that would allow the Local to use the Good Hope Lake School facilities. The school will be closed the end of June due to a decline in student population. A delegation from U.N.N. Local 167 attended a re- cent school board meeting to express their interest in the eget “school building and™teacherages. George” Phee; “advisor, parse Frank Dennis, Band Mgr., and Bryan Carlick, President of-Local 167, indicated they would like to use the facil- ities for a combined Administration Centre, Adult Basic Education class and a Community Centre. They said that education was one of the main purposes in acquiring the school. Programs had been approved but there was no space available. Adult education could be increased with the assistance from Northern Lights College in develop- ing courses, Board Chairperson Sherry Sethen informed the dele- gation a commitment has been made to the Good Hope Lake community that if the school population increased, the Board would consider re-opening the school. The delegation advised that if the Board agreed to a five year lease, it would be with the understanding that if the school was required for student education, the build- ing would be turned back to the Board. Local 167 of the U.N.N. suggested a one dollar a year lease with the guaran- tee that the buildings would be returned in the same cond- ition, The School Board, however, would like a cubstaritial _deposit to cover vandalism and repairs and Chairperson Sethen recommended that this be $5,000. Terms of a proposed lease are being drawn up and discussions are continuing. In other news from the recent School Board meeting 4 the two Artisan trailers presently used by the Grade 8-10 Home Economics and Shop classes at the Dease Lake School will be moved to Cassiar. The two units will be relocated adjacent to the maintenance facility as soon as they are no longer required as instructional units for the school. One will be used as a paint shop and the other will be a work shop. The Dease Lake Women’s Club had requested use of the two trailers for a meeting room and a library. Al- though these two buildings are not available to them School Superintendent Owen Corcoran said two of the older school buildings have been offered to them. Meanwhile, work is progressing on the new Dease Lake School. According to Supt. Corcoran,work is right on schedule and barring unforeseen circumstances the building should be ready for use the first day of school in September, New Member For Hospital Board Fiona Carew has been appointed to the Cassiar . Hospital Board following the resignation of Adolf Penno. She will serve the remainder of his term which expires March 31, 1986, The Ministry of Health has approved $50,000 in capital funds for the new heating system at the hospital. Funds for the lab equipment have also been approved. ThreeYear Contract Signed A three year contract has been:signed between Brinco Mining Limited and its. two Cassiar locals. Negotiations be- gan in March of this year but broke off in May. Both Lo- cals received strong strike mandates from their member- ships and when bargaining resumed under mediation in the first week of June, the two sides managed to reach agreement. On June 11, 1985, the Unions voted on acceptance. P & M Local 6536 had an 85% turn-out with 60% in favor. O & T Local 8449 had a 98% turn-out with 75% in favor. Alternative Energy Report Published _ A study entitled ‘Review of Alternative Energy Sources and Electric Power Utility Proposals for Cassiar, ‘B.C.’ has recently been completed. Funding, for this study was provided by Brinco Mining Limited and by Energy © Mines and Resources Canada under the Remote Commun-. ity Demonstration Program. This Federal Government program is designed to provide assistance to those com- munities that are without grid electricity, and without access to natural gas, to enable them to reduce their de- pendence on oil related fuels for their energy needs. The report was prepared by Crippen Consultants and the Columbia Pacific Resources Group, both of Van- ~ couver, and describes three aspects of energy supply for the Cassiar region: Firstly, the current energy supply situation and pro- jections are described for the Cassiar, Erickson, Taurus mines, and the Department of Highways maintenance facility at Good Hope Lake. Secondly, alternative energy sources are reviewed and the most promising hydroelectric sites evaluated. Thirdly, the concept of a regional utility is examined with utility corporate structures and financing alternatives described. Cash flows, based on the development of hydroelectric sites and the effects of Government regul- atory requirements on a utility scaled to meet regional requirements, are discussed. The most attractive alternative energy source identi- fied is a 7.5 mw hydroelectric project on the Cotton- wood River approximately 40 km southwest of the town of Cassiar. The capital cost of this facility is $39.9 million and would supply 88% of the regional electrical demand with the existing diesel units in the area supplying the remainder. Under current day economic conditions the 7.5 mw project can supply energy, in the short term, at approx- imately the same unit cost as energy generated by exist- ing diesel plants. In the long term, hydroelectric unit energy costs will be significantly less than diesel energy. The development of a lower cost energy supply, from a hydro facility, will be of long term benefit to the Cassiar region, especially to’ existing mines and potential new Continued on Page 16.