CAMBIOR INC. - OMAI GOLD MINES CONTAINS SPILL.MONTREAL, QUEBEC--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 24, 1995-- Cambior Inc.'s (ME, TSE See Tokyo Stock Exchange. TSE 1. See Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE). 2. See Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE). , AMEX AMEX See: American Stock Exchange :CBJ CBJ Columbus Blue Jackets (NHL team) CBJ Central Bank of Jordan CBJ Conflict-Directed Backjumping CBJ Circuit Board Jack CBJ Code-Breakers Journal CBJ Class Broker for Java CBJ Color Bubble Jet , CBJ.WTA WTA Washington Trails Association WTA Women's Tennis Association WTA World Transhumanist Association WTA Willingness to Accept WTA Winner-Take-All WTA Winner Takes All WTA World Toilet Association (Singapore) ) President and Chief Executive Officer, Louis P. Gignac, announced this afternoon that the plan of action developed Tuesday, August 22, was effective and has arrested the spill of effluent at the Omai Mine. Further details on the arrestment of the spill are included in the attached press release issued by Omai Gold Mines Limited earlier today. Cambior is a major gold producer with operating and exploration activities in North and South America South America, fourth largest continent (1991 est. pop. 299,150,000), c.6,880,000 sq mi (17,819,000 sq km), the southern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. . Cambior's shares and warrants are listed on the Montreal and Toronto stock exchanges Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE) Canada's largest stock exchange, trading approximately 1,200 company stocks and 33 options. and on the American Stock Exchange American Stock Exchange (AMEX) Stock exchange in the U.S. Originally known as “the Curb,” it began as an outdoor marketplace in New York City c. 1850. It moved indoors to its present location in the Wall Street area in 1921. (AMEX) in the United States under the symbols CBJ and CBJ.WTA. TAILINGS Tailings (also known as tailings pile, tails, leach residue, or slickens[1]) are the materials left over[2] after the process of separating the valuable fraction from the worthless fraction of an ore. POND DAM SPILLAGE ARRESTED Vice-President and General Manager of Omai Gold Mines Limited, Mr. Rejean Gourde gourde n. See Table at currency. [Haitian, from feminine of French gourd, dull, from Late Latin gurdus, blunt, from Latin, dullard.] Noun 1. , announced this morning that the spill of water from the tailings pond into the Omai and Essequibo Rivers was arrested and fully contained at 3:00 AM this morning (August 24, 1995). There is no reported evidence of loss of aquatic or animal life in the Essequibo River between the period of the spill first occurring and being contained. A team of international experts of engineers geo-technicians and environmentalists led by President and Chief Executive Officer of Omai, Mr. Louis P. Gignac, worked around the clock to contain the breach of decanted water from the tailings pond dam which spilled into the Omai and Essequibo Rivers and occurred at 11:55 PM on Saturday, August 19, 1995. The emergency plan to contain the tailings water, involving the building of a coffer dam and diversion of the tailings water into the Fennell Pit has successfully contained the remaining water. The mine, as a result, has shut down its operations. Diversion of the remaining effluent from the tailings dam into the Fennell Pit was achieved by immediate excavation of drainage trenches from the pond into the mine pit and the installation of emergency pumps. Mr. Gourde affirmed that the total cyanide contamination in the Omai River has already been substantially reduced and the river waters are beginning to visibly clear. Total cyanide readings taken yesterday, August 23, 1995, and this morning August 24, 1995, in the Essequibo River down stream from Omai to Bartica continue to evidence a rapid reduction of cyanide presence in the water. The average total cyanide readings into the area of discharge from the Omai River into the Essequibo River yesterday (August 23, 1995), prior to the final containment of the spill, was 0.03 ppm, which is well below the drinking water drinking water supply of water available to animals for drinking supplied via nipples, in troughs, dams, ponds and larger natural water sources; an insufficient supply leads to dehydration; it can be the source of infection, e.g. leptospirosis, salmonellosis, or of poisoning, e.g. safety standards of Canada for human consumption of 0.2 ppm. Omai will be holding a press briefing on Site at 3:00 PM this afternoon when an international team of specialists in aquatic toxicology and occupational health will provide a detailed assessment of the environmental condition of the Omai and Essequibo Rivers. Dr. Harry Baikowitz, President of Technitrol - Eco-Research, a specialist on evaluation of environmental impacts has made a preliminary report on the issue of cyanide contamination which is attached to this release. -0- PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT PRELIMINARY REPORT BY DR. HARRY BAIKOWITZ ON CYANIDE CONTAMINATION ON THE TAILINGS SPILL - OMAI August 24, 1995 I have evaluated the industrial accident at Omai Gold Mines Limited in Guyana and have made the following conclusions: 1. The lost tailings pond water contained 25 to 30 ppm cyanide. As a result of chemical binding the free cyanide concentration was 5 - 6 ppm. 2. The data from continuous monitoring between August 20 and August 24, 1995 at 10:30 AM, in the Essequibo River, indicated low concentrations of cyanide, well within the drinking water standards of Canada (0.20 ppm) and the United States of America UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. The name of this country. The United States, now thirty-one in number, are Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, (0.15 ppm). 3. Over a distance of approximately 80 miles in the Essequibo River (Omai - Bartica) no dead fish nor animals were found. 4. As of 3:00 AM on August 24, 1995, the breach in the retaining pond was plugged with no further leakage. CONTACT: Cambior Inc. Henry A. Roy, 514/878-1484 Robert LaValliere, 514/878-1282 Victoria Putnam, 514/878-3166 |
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