Mine critic speaks

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BIG BAY - A rock mechanics expert speaking in Big Bay Wednesday on Kennecott-Rio Tinto's proposed Eagle Project said he believes the minerals company could safely mine the nickel and copper ore body lying underneath the Yellow Dog Plains but not under the current mine design.

Jack Parker, a mining and geological consultant with a master's degree in geology and bachelor's degrees in mining engineering and geological engineering from Michigan Technological University, said if the mine is built, the ceiling, or "crown pillar" will likely collapse because of poor design assumptions made by Kennecott.

"I think the mine can be made and it can be safe and stable," Parker said. "But not the way they're doing it."

Gene Champagne of the Concerned Citizens of Big Bay said Parker was invited to speak Wednesday to give local residents, lawmakers, media and other listeners a more in-depth perspective about the mine and potential problems viewed by Parker.

In a July 8 written statement, Rio Tinto officials said Parker's "allegations derive from assumptions and methodologies that do not reflect current best practice in the mining industry."

Eagle Project General Manager Jon Cherry said Wednesday that "our highest priority is the safety of our workers, especially those who will be working underground in the mine. This priority means the structural integrity of the mine has been a primary engineering focus.

"Our plan was approved by regulators and their independent experts. And permit conditions include additional safety and monitoring requirements that provide even further mine safety and environmental protections."

Parker, of the South Range area in Houghton County, said Kennecott engineers fed detailed information into a computer about the ore body and surrounding area. The computer then used modeling techniques to design the mine.

"In some cases, computer modeling might be OK; in this case, the information put into the computer is not reliable," Parker said.

Parker, who is self-employed as a mining and geological consultant specializing in practical rock mechanics, said Kennecott engineers made several false assumptions and relied on best-case scenarios in their design for the mine. He contends testing was faulty and either done with incompetence or intentional deception to favor the proposed design.

"They've faked the results to get something that they like," Parker said.

Parker said independent reviews were not valid because those doing the evaluations had to work from interpreted, rather than raw, data provided by Kennecott. Parker said only a handful of core test samples were made available from the more than 200 Kennecott had available.

Last July, Parker testified against Kennecott in a lengthy contested case hearing before an administrative law judge, which has yet to be decided. At that time, Parker detailed his grave concerns about Kennecott's rock strength assumptions, which he sai will result in crown pillar failure.

"I thought with revelations like this, we could bring that application process to a screeching halt, but it didn't happen," Parker said. "They just ignored it."

Kennecott spokeswoman Deb Muchmore said "permits were issued following an extensive process whereby concerns raised by those including Mr. Parker were accounted, and whereby regulators and their technical experts were ultimately satisfied with Kennecott's plans.

"Mr. Parker has also been involved in the contested case process -as such, his comments and concerns have continued to be incorporated into permit conditions."

Parker said some sections of core samples fractured or weathered were not factored into Kennecott's calculations of the crown pillar thickness. He said information gained from other historic mine collapses was ignored.

Parker said Kennecott's safety factors built in to compensate for improper calculations, were in some cases arbitrary measures. He said Kennecott should have instead used empirical knowledge from other working mines to create its design.

Muchmore said "the permit conditions stipulate that Kennecott will mine to a certain point underground, incorporate additional field data gathered over time, and then, with the (Michigan Department of Environmental Quality), determine any further mining toward the surface."

In addition to criticizing numerous conclusions and definitions in Kennecott's mining application permit, Parker said Kennecott only plans to take the high-grade ore from the mine. He said that isn't responsible mining. Mining the lower grade ore would extend the life of the project beyond the 8 to 10 years Kennecott proposed to about 30 years.

"I think the application should have been thrown out three years ago and it's not too late to do that," Parker said.

Kennecott officials were invited to attend Parker's presentation, and the mining company sent representative Matt Johnson.

"It is important to us that we continue to listen to the community, and have the opportunity for dialogue on issues," Cherry said. "We appreciated the opportunity to attend the group's meeting."