Community Involvement
One of the 17 requirements within the company’s HSEC policy is involvement with surrounding communities. “One of the things we say is it’s not only the government that holds our operating license, it’s the community,” Deveau says. “Our corporate social responsibility policy entails that we involve the community in all of our operations. At the operating sites, we have committees that meet with local communities on a regular basis.”

Aside from hiring employees from these communities, the company also encourages area businesses to become a supplier or contractor. "In the case of Matagami, there has not been a mine there for the last few years, so with the [Perseverance] mine opening up, it’s going to bring in a couple hundred contractors." he says. "They will require accommodations, food and things of that nature. There are things that are important to the economy of the local community. We want to make sure it’s a positive impact and not a negative impact in the sense of creating any hardships on existing residents.”

In addition, keeping the communities informed aids the company in lessening its environmental footprint. “In Matagami, because mining has had a presence there for several years, local people know of mines, how they are operated and what they mean, so it’s important to make sure we keep them informed of our environmental footprint,” Deveau explains.

“We will not pollute rivers and streams or create any environmental impact that we will walk away from. We’re very committed. When our mines close out, we have closure requirements to remediate the closed-out mines to a natural state. The Matagami area is a good example of that, because there were three or four former mine sites, which have been closed out and remediated. But if you go into the area now, you wouldn’t know there was ever a mine at many of those sites.”

Exploration and Acquisition
The zinc ore produced from Perseverance will be shipped and processed at Falconbridge’s former Lac Matagami mine facilities, where the company retained its administrative offices and concentrator after the Bell-Allard mine closed. The annual production of 225,000 tons of zinc concentrate will be shipped and processed at CEZinc Refinery in Valleyfield, Quebec, which is the second-largest refinery in North America and employs 700 people.

In addition, Matagami continues its exploration program in full force. “We’re doing a lot of exploration in the area, and we’ve had some good results,” Desrosiers says. “In the case of Matagami, we clearly hope that the exploration that we are doing will bear fruit so that we will have another mine to replace Perseverance at that point in time.

“In the case of Xstrata, we are doing other operations in other areas of the world, and clearly we’re trying to replace what we mine and find more, so we have some other projects that look quite good,” he continues.

“That’s the key of the business, after all. You have two choices: You either count on junior companies to find something for you or you explore yourself. If we feel the junior companies are on something that looks good, we will try to invest in them first to see their progress and then acquire them. So, it’s a mix of exploration and acquisition to succeed.”