North American Gem Inc. Not Affected by Recent Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Announcement
03 October 2009 - 8:34AM
Marketwired
North American Gem Inc. (TSX-V: NAG) (NAG) would like to add
clarification to the recent announcement made by the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) on September 30th, 2009. The EPA's
announcement targets the practice of "mountaintop removal" which is
not the type of permitting that North American Gem is seeking.
The decision of North American Gem to acquire and develop
certain coal leases in Kentucky was made with consideration of the
situation regarding the "mountaintop removal" and "valley fill"
issues under scrutiny by the US Environmental Protection Agency.
None of the leases currently held or being considered by NAG will
be affected by this issue.
The method of potential mining to be used by NAG is known as
contour mining. This type of mining is done on properties that were
previously mined prior to the enactment of the Surface Mine Control
and Reclamation and control act of 1977. This law requires that
after any surface mining, the land must be restored to approximate
original contour unless otherwise specified in the permit
application and approved by the Kentucky Department of Natural
Resources (KDNR). When "pre-law" mining was done, the general
practice was to mine along the contour of a slope to the maximum
profitable ratio and leave the resulting highwall and a wide, flat
bench where the material covering the coal was removed and then
graded somewhat flat as opposed to restoring the original
slope.
NAG intends to use augers and highwall miners to enter the coal
seam from the exposed wall with minimal additional excavation and
maximum cost effectiveness. This type of mining dramatically
reduces the amount of surface disturbance and allows for the
recovery of any potential reserves that were previously believed
not to be economically viable.
All of NAG's potential mining operations will incorporate
sediment control methods that will keep ahead of the increased
regulations and restrictions. Furthermore, in anticipation of
increased regulations, NAG has, in all of its permitting
applications, begun the sampling of receiving streams and
groundwater wells utilizing the most stringent and extensive
sampling parameters. This will allow NAG to comply with the
regulatory requirements and will also result in much shorter and
smoother permitting application process.
Production Expected in October 2009 on North American Gem #1
Mine
Production is expected to begin October 2009 on the leases known
as the North American Gem #1 Mine Permit located in Whitley County,
Kentucky.
NAG plans to have the coal from the Jellico seam extracted from
the North American Gem #1 Mine, of Kentucky State Mining Permit
#918-0396, to be the first coal to run through the Cobra Tippling
Production Plant (See NAG September 15th, 2009 release). The
production rate and mine-life projections have been made without
support of a feasibility study, there is no certainty the proposed
operations will be economically viable.
Mr. Dean Schafer will be acting as operations manager of all the
Company's Kentucky coal leases and is currently implementing an
overall mine plan.
Mike Magrum, PEng, a qualified person under National Instrument
43-101, has approved the technical content of this news
release.
North American Gem Inc. (TSX-V: NAG) is a Junior Exploration
Company based in Western Canada. The Company's primary goal is to
explore for Coal in North America, currently the focus is in
Kentucky, Saskatchewan, and West Virginia. In addition to Coal
exploration, the Company also has interests in Uranium, Copper,
Gold, Molybdenum and other base metals in Canada.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors
NORTH AMERICAN GEM INC.
"Charles Desjardins"
Charles Desjardins
President and Director
"Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX
Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this release."
Cautionary note:
This report contains forward-looking statements. Resource
estimates, unless specifically noted, are considered speculative.
Any and all other resource or reserve estimates are historical in
nature, and should not be relied upon. By their nature,
forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainties because
they relate to events and depend on factors that will or may occur
in the future. Actual results may vary depending upon exploration
activities, industry production, commodity demand and pricing,
currency exchange rates, and, but not limited to, general economic
factors. Cautionary Note to US investors: The U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission specifically prohibits the use of certain
terms, such as "reserves" unless such figures are based upon actual
production or formation tests and can be shown to be economically
and legally producible under existing economic and operating
conditions.
North American Gem Inc. 430 - 609 Granville Street Vancouver,
BC, Canada V7Y 1G5 Phone 604-683-5445 Facsimile 604-687-9631
info@northamericangem.com www.northamericangem.com TSX-Venture:
NAG
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