Mount Pleasant is the highest peak in southwestern New Brunswick, sitting at 356 metres above sea level. The view from the summit is spectacular. On a clear day, a crow perched on the mountain's old fire tower could look southward across the tapestry of forests, wetlands and granite hills and see the shimmering Bay of Fundy.
Mount Pleasant lies within the Magaguadavic Ecodistrict, which supports a remarkable assemblage of plants, birds and wildlife. Adex is deeply committed to respecting the environmental integrity of the area and to retaining its natural beauty. On October 31, 2007, the company received its most recent five-year Approval to Operate from the New Brunswick Department of the Environment under the province's Clean Environment Act. Since then, Adex has engaged in the following activities:
Investors, the media, and other members of the public are invited to contact our Adex engineering team to discuss any environmental questions they may have.
Mount Pleasant lies within the Magaguadavic Ecodistrict, which supports a remarkable assemblage of plants, birds and wildlife. Adex is deeply committed to respecting the environmental integrity of the area and to retaining its natural beauty. On October 31, 2007, the company received its most recent five-year Approval to Operate from the New Brunswick Department of the Environment under the province's Clean Environment Act. Since then, Adex has engaged in the following activities:
- Tailings dam upgrade. In mid-2008 Adex upgraded the tailings dam to ensure that it complies with New Brunswick's newest environmental guidelines.
- Aquatic survey. In September 2008 Adex hired an independent engineering firm to conduct a baseline aquatic survey of Hatch Brook, which receives treated effluent from the tailings pond. The survey concluded that Hatch Brook retains a good overall fish habitat, healthy benthic invertebrate population, and diverse fish population. These findings will provide suitable baseline data for aquatic surveys carried out after mine production begins.
- Water monitoring.Continuous monitoring of the mine water and treated effluent on the Mount Pleasant property ensures that federal and provincial water quality objectives are maintained under all weather conditions.
The quality of purified effluent discharged from the tailings pond, and of water in Hatch Brook above and below the pond, is monitored each month by an independent engineering firm. The natural water outflow from the underground workings contains dissolved metals such as zinc and copper. This water is monitored daily and treated with lime to bind the dissolved metals as metal hydroxides. The metal hydroxides precipitate out in the water treatment settling pond.
- Settling pond expansion. The current settling pond is sized to retain sludge from the natural mine water outflow. Adex has designed and will construct a settling pond extension in 2011 to handle the additional sludge produced when all underground areas are dewatered as part of mine reopening in 2012. The expanded settling pond will form part of the water treatment system for the life of the mine.
- Wastewater management. In April 2009 Adex commissioned an engineering study to identify the most environmentally sound ways to treat and manage wastewater and tailings from the North Zone, once mining begins. Adex will implement recommendations from the report in 2011 in time for the North Zone start-up in 2012.
- Silviculture. Sizable areas of the Mount Pleasant property were logged before the mid-1990s. Adex is working to renew the local woodlands by practicing silviculture on its surface holdings, thereby promoting a healthier forest with greater diversity of tree species, fauna and flora.
Investors, the media, and other members of the public are invited to contact our Adex engineering team to discuss any environmental questions they may have.