TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Thirteen First Nations and NYSE- and TSX-listed Goldcorp on Thursday announced they have signed an agreement formally incorporating Wataynikaneyap Power, a new company developing a transmission line that would reduce reliance on diesel and connect remote communities in north-western Ontario.
Phase 1, a 300 km transmission line slated for completion by the end of 2015, would reinforce electricity transmission to Pickle Lake – including Goldcorp’s Musselwhite mine.
Phase 2 would extend power north of Pickle Lake to connect ten remote First Nation communities.
Wataynikaneyap Power would design, permit, construct, own and operate the transmission line. The First Nations-led project was expected to create about 1 200 construction-related jobs.
In total, 21 of Ontario’s 25 remote communities, as well as the Ring of Fire, could be connected to the grid. Ontario’s 25 remote communities burn about 25-million litres of diesel fuel a year to generate electricity. The associated cost of this diesel generation had been estimated at about $68-million a year.
In the long term, a new transmission line would cost significantly less than continued diesel generation.
“Wataynikaneyap Power is an example of how industry and First Nations can work together on projects that are good for the economy and the environment while benefiting communities in the region for years to come,” Goldcorp’s Musselwhite mine manager Gil Lawson said.
Although Goldcorp and other customers in the region were connected to the existing grid, the current line was at capacity and subject to frequent outages. For this reason, Goldcorp was facilitating developing Phase 1 of the project, but expected to exit the company once a long-term transmission partner was secured.