Cassiar Courier the Voice of Cassiar Country JUNE 1985 10 cents Brinco commences exploration Canadian Mine Development, contractors trom Miss- issauga, Ontario, have started work on the exploration ad- it on McDame Mountain. Drilling began May 18th and the 1985 drilling program is expected to continue until early November. Cassiar mine manager Keith Jones said drilling began at the 1415m elevation and they are hoping it will drive right through the McDame orebody. Mr. Jones said that in last year’s drilling program one hole was drilled 623m from surface and that hole intersected 151 m of asbestos which is similar to that of the Cassiar orebody. He add- ed that information from that hole plus previous years’ drilling indicate ore reserves of the McDame deposit are an estimated 62 million tonnes. In 1986 there will be underground drilling from the adit to delineate the orebody. Between 15 and 20 people will be involved in the drilling project. The adit will be driven 3.35m x 3.35m. Rubber tired scoop trains will be used for removing the waste rock. $2 million has been allocated for the explora- tion on the McDame deposit this year. Hospital funding approved The Cassiar Hospital has received a government al- lotment of $417,072 for the April 1, 1985 - March 31, 1986 budget year. This is an increase of about $16,000 over last year’s allotment. Including monies gathered through revenues the total operating budget for the Cassiar Hospital will be approximately $650,000. Peter Snell, Hospital Administrator/Director of ’ Nursing said the operating budget breaks down as fol- lows: slightly less than 50% goes towards wages and ‘benefits and the remainder of the costs are split be- tween plant operation, hospital maintenance and medical and surgical supplies. - “Mr. Snell added that the hospital cannot foresee any layoffs or cutbacks at the Cassiar Hospital during the next fiscal year. The Hospital Administrator said that during the next two year period they hope to continue with the upgrading of the~hospital facilities. The Hospital Society has submitted to the government a request for capital funds to change the heating system. Hosp- ital Society Board Chairman Frank Buckley said that the system will be changed from radiator heat to a forced air system. There will be two thermostats — one in the hospital and one in the clinic. The new system will cost about $50,000. In addition the Hospital Society hopes to renlaces all of the windows and put on a new metal root. They hope to have the hospital exterior painted in the coming year. . The Hospital Society has also submitted to the government a request for capital funds of about $15,000 for a new automatic cell counter for the lab. The cell counter would be used in doing hemoglobin work and blood counts. These are presently done manually. * Renovations at the hospital have already started. This year the interior of the hospital was painted and anew X-ray machine was installed. “Che Cookery co open sept. s Cassiar’s first licensed restaurant is set to open September 5, 1985. It is to be located in the cookery (hence the name), and -will feature an a la carte menu with daily specials, waitress service and bar service. Alterations to the present cookery’s interior are al- ready well underway. Upon: completion the decor will include a bar, carpeting (except in the room’s centre portion, so that dinner dances may be held), fixed part- itions around the perimeter, hanging lamps over outside tables and moveable partitions for the centre area. The new restaurant will seat 117 but reservations are advisable most evenings. ~ Hours are: Friday 7:30 p.m. — 1 a.m. Saturday and Sunday 11:30 a.m. — 1 a.m.. A new take-out service will also begin on September 5th, to be open seven days a week. This service will be mainly. fast food items like hamburgers, fish and chips, pizzas and chicken and chips, for which orders may be phoned in and picked up. The take-out service will op- erate out of the cookery, Wy Safety awards presented Ito r: Keith Jones, Mine Manager, Brinco Mining Ltd., Robert Duri, Mill Foreman, and Terry Johnson, Safety Director of the Mining Association of B.C. At our Production Meeting on April 18, 1985 Terry “=== -—“Fohnsony Safety ~Ditector of the-Mining-Association of- - B.C. presented Safety Award Certificates to seven of our first-line Supervisors for having directed the workers in their crews over the minimum required number of consec- utive man shifts, during which time not one worker suffer- ed a disabling injury. The awards are in recognition of the Supervisors ability to prevent accidents and injury to the workers in their care. This Safety Award program is sponsored by the Mining Association of B.C. Supervisor Man Shifts Worked Award Received C. Altendorfer 9.775 Cert. of Achievement John Colak 9,990 Cert. of Achievement Erickson makes offer Erickson Gold Mines Ltd. announced recently that it has made an offer to Compagnie Francaise des Petroles (CFP) to acquire CFP's wholly-owned Canadian subsidiary Total Eastcan Exploration Ltd. in CSM for shares of Erickson. Terms of the proposed acquisition are subject to ap- proval by Erickson shareholders and various regulatory bodies. A successful conclusion of this transaction would result in CFP owning approximately 60% of the then out- standing shares of Erickson. Kristian Ross, President and Chief Executive Officer, Erickson Gold, said ‘This could have a significant effect-as the Company would have a much stronger asset base.’’ He said they expect to have their reply by the end of June. Ross said at the Erickson Gold Mine in Cassiar it was “business as usual’’ and that they expected to spend ap- proximately $2.5 million on exploration on their Cassiar properties. In addition, there will be further exploration work at the mine. He could see no changes at this time. Erickson Gold is in the final stages of preparing for construction on their Mt. Skukum property 55 miles southwest of Whitehorse. Ross said they are still negotiat- ing financing. Total Eastcan is a resource holding company based in Calgary, Alberta, having net assets in the order of $52,000,000. Its assets include convertible debentures of $42,300,000 and 640,300 shares in Ranchmens Resources (1976) Ltd., a Calgary based petroleum company with as- sets in excess of $125,000,000 and 1,203,100 common shares and 102,300 preferred shares of Trans Canada Re- sources Ltd., a petroleum and oil field service company. Total Eastcan also owns 250,000 shares of Erickson. Alan Davies 10,756 Ancillary Award _ Derek Walker 10,360 ‘Ancillary Award ~ William Carter (18,126 Award of Merit Lothar Kutz 18,901 Award of Merit Robert Duri 30,579 Award of Outstanding Achievement. A spec- ial presentation of an engraved Silver Tray goes with the award. The man shifts listed were counted up to September, 1984. Accumulation of accident free man shifts is contin- uing for six of the supervisors listed above. CONGRATULATIONS! ~Stikine schools feel pinch The Stikine School District, like every other school district, has felt the government axe. The Board had bud- getted for $3,901,638, which left them with a shortfall of $436,037. They have now received advice from the Minis- try that they will be receiving only $80,000 of this amount and that, together with the saving of approximate- ly $135,000 as a result of closing the Good Hope Lake School and eliminating the teacher for the two disabled students at Iskut, leaves a shortfall of approximately $220,000. Neither the Good Hope Lake school closure or the elimination of the teacher at Iskut were a result of the budget shortfall. Sherry Sethen, chairman of the Stikine School Board, . said negotations are still underway for an additional . $119,000 but this is based on the difference between the Board’s enrolment projection and the Ministry’s enrol- ment projection so it will not be settled until after Septem- ber enrolment figures are submitted. Sethen said “I feel confident that the figures projected by the Board are ac- curate. However, the Ministry has said there is no guaran- tee of this extra funding even if our figures are accurate but that negotiations will resume.” The Board has taken measures to ensure it does not operate at a deficit and many cuts have been made. The major ones are: (1) The contract for psycholgical testing throughout all schools in the Stikine. Sethen said “We feel that this is a major area. If a problem is identified at the pri- mary level the child stands a much better chance of having that problem rectified.” (2) Contract for hearing therapy. This is. another major area as this service is not offered any place else but at the school level. continued on page 20