Liberty Mines Receives Approval from Ministry of Natural Resources to Proceed with Tailings Pond Facility Repair Work
TSX: LBE
TORONTO, Nov. 30, 2011 /CNW/ - Liberty Mines Inc.
('Liberty' or the 'Company') today announced that it has received approval from the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources to commence repair on the company's Redstone Mill tailings storage facility (TSF), a necessary component of Liberty's turn-around strategy and commitment to restart operations in the first quarter of 2012.'November has been an extremely busy and successful month for our operations group as they have achieved all of the key milestones planned,' said Chris Stewart, President and CEO of Liberty Mines Inc. 'We remain on target to restart our mining and milling operations in Q1 of 2012, and we are extremely pleased with progress that has been made given the substantial amount of work that had to be done to develop a solution to our tailings dam issues.'
The repair work, deemed Phase 1 of the two phase TSF Project, is expected to take 10-12 weeks to complete. Upon completion of this phase, all environmental concerns with the existing dam will have been addressed and the TSF will be able to safely store mill tailings. In turn, this will allow Liberty to restart operation of the Redstone Mill and the McWatters Mine.
The approval was received under the provisions of the Lakes and Rivers Improvement Act (LRIA).
As part of its re-habilitating effort, Liberty Mines has entered into a contract with Leo Alarie & Sons Construction of Timmins, ON for the repair and upgrade construction work on the TSF. Site clearing and grubbing is currently underway on site, and work is expected to start on the dam itself within the next week. All of the rock fill required for completing the Phase 1 work program has already been stockpiled on site.
The application for an amendment to the Certificate of Approval for the Redstone Mill has also been submitted to the Ministry of Environment and it is currently being reviewed. This amendment is required in order to allow Liberty to raise the height of the existing TSF dam. The dam height needs to be increased in order to provide an additional 36 months of tailings capacity, which will allow time for Liberty to construct a new TSF with an expected life of 15 years.
About Liberty Mines Inc.
Liberty Mines Inc. is a mid-tier producer of nickel and is focused on the exploration, development and production of nickel, copper, cobalt and platinum group metals from its properties in Ontario, Canada. It owns and operates the only nickel concentrator in the Shaw Dome, a prospective nickel belt region near Timmins, Ontario. With a new management team in place, Liberty is focused on growth initiatives not only through a more aggressive exploration program on its current properties but also through potential acquisition or partnership opportunities beyond its core Timmins area projects.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT
No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein. This News Release includes certain 'forward looking statements'. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this release, without limitation, statements regarding future plans and objectives of Liberty, are forward looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from Liberty's expectations are: exploration risks; commodity prices; regulatory approvals; receipt of mining permits and leases; and assumed startup and operating costs detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by Liberty with securities regulators. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any such statement or reflect new information or the occurrence of future events or circumstances, except where required by securities regulations. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
Liberty Mines Inc.
CONTACT:
Chris Stewart, President & CEO Joe Racanelli
Liberty Mines TMX Equicom
(416) 226-4360 416 815 0700 ext. 243
cstewart@libertymines.comjracanelli@equicomgroup.com
