New Nadina Explorations Limited, the company that owns the Silver Queen project located south of Houston, won’t be able to conduct mineral explorations for a while.
The company has recently had its free miner certificate suspended for four months.
A notice from the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, dated Sept. 13, 2018, states that the company failed to serve notice of mining activities to the land owner. The company also failed to provide “accurate details” with respect to exact dates on which it intended to conduct mining activities in earlier land owner notifications.
“This contravention could have been easily avoided, had persons on site correctly used a functioning global positioning system device and maps, both of which are readily available,” states the ministry’s notice.
The company must now comply with certain conditions, including the completion of a reclamation plan for all outstanding reclamation. This reclamation plan must be inspected and approved by an inspector of mines. The company must also not conduct mineral explorations without a valid free miner certificate.
According to John Jewitt, New Nadina’s President and Chief Executive Officer, the company is prepared to comply immediately with these conditions.
“We’re hoping to get on it right away,” he recently told Houston Today. “We’re about to visit the site with government and all involved and we’re going to put together a plan for approval and carry that out.”
“However, even if we are successful in that regard, I presume the license will still be suspended for the four-month period,” he added.
When asked if any jobs were affected by this suspension, Jewitt said “very few.” He estimates that about half a dozen workers were temporarily affected.
When asked when New Nadina expects to open a mine at Silver Queen, Jewitt said this process could still take a few years.
“We’ve got a lot of drilling before we can make that decision,” he told Houston Today. “Our actual mine operation is probably a few years off, but we could possibly be underway three years from now.”
He added that a mine at their Silver Queen location would create hundreds of jobs for the region.
The Silver Queen property is located at Owen Lake, approximately 43 km south of Houston. New Nadina first set out to explore the property’s numerous veins in 2011.
“I think we’re headed in the right direction here,” said Jewitt. “We’re very excited about it.”
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