Whitehorse Daily Star

Placer miner plans exploration work

Darrell Carey will be conducting exploration work on placer claims in Dawson City – even though his application to mine the claims has been denied.

By Chuck Tobin on October 19, 2017

Darrell Carey will be conducting exploration work on placer claims in Dawson City – even though his application to mine the claims has been denied.

In advertisements run in the Star recently, Carey has announced his intention to carry out class one exploration on the 34 claims that lie between the Dome Road subdivision and the Klondike River.

Randy Clarkson is a Whitehorse geologist who’s acted as the agent for Carey.

He explained in an interview Wednesday that while Carey’s request for a mining authorization was rejected late last year, he still has the right to conduct class one exploration work.

Carey, he said, does believe he will be mining those claims some day. In the meantime, advancing his knowledge of the property through additional exploration is nothing short of a smart business decision, he said.

The ads being run are part of the public notification requirements he’s been told to fulfill before proceeding, he said.

Clarkson pointed out that when the Yukon government accepted the assessment board’s recommendation to reject Carey’s application for a mining licence, it left the door open for Carey to redesign his project and re-apply.

The government, Clarkson explained, even hired a facilitator in an attempt to offer Carey assistance in relocating cross country ski trails that run through his claims.

And it’s Clarkson’s understanding the facilitator retained the services of a cross country ski expert to help with the assessment.

He said the facilitator’s report was filed with the government in July but the government still hasn’t released it publicly.

Can’t share

Carey, Clarkson said, has been given a copy but is not allowed to share it with anybody.

The proposal by Carey to mine his claims was met with staunch opposition from the town of Dawson City, the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in and the community at large, particularly the local cross country ski club.

The ski trails run through Carey’s block of claims.

The town is opposed to mining activity in the area, which sits inside the municipal boundaries, because it maintains mining will have a negative impact on the ski trails and may hinder future development opportunities.

Carey argues his claims are legally owned and registered, and were there before the ski trails and before the town’s expansion of its municipal boundaries over top of his claims.

In a Supreme Court of Yukon proceeding to settle a dispute between Carey and his former partner in the claims last year, Carey bought out his partner’s interest for $375,000.

Clarkson emphasized how Carey just wants to exercise his legal right to work and mine his claims.

Sue Thomas of the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources said the report from the facilitator has not yet been made public because the department is still gathering input on its content from other government departments.

Clarkson said they made it known that time is of the essence, that if Carey wanted to rework his proposal in time to re-apply and go through another screening to prepare for the 2018 mining season, it needed the report as soon as possible.

Class one exploration work is the lowest level of exploration. In some areas, there is no requirement to even tell the government or First Nations the work is being conducted.

Portions of the Dawson region, however, have been designated as a class one notification area which requires notification of the intent to conduct exploration work prior to the work commencing.

Comments (4)

Up 0 Down 2

Fair market value on Oct 25, 2017 at 7:09 pm

If you don’t have authorization to mine, fair market value is 0. He grossly overpaid on a gamble that failed. .... know when to walk away.

Up 7 Down 22

Werner Rhein on Oct 21, 2017 at 11:56 am

Why could he do exploration work if he has no permit to work the claim, or actually no claim.
Whitehorse is enforcing a NO mining rule. How can Whitehorse do it and Dawson City can't?

When the so called "Nimbys " build there houses there, there was no mine and no one told them there could. The same with the skiers.

Up 26 Down 10

Just Say'in on Oct 19, 2017 at 5:05 pm

So these claims have a value of seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars established by a court decision. So is the City of Dawson prepared to pay him out including lost profits? If not then back off. You cannot have it both ways.

Up 26 Down 10

ProScience Greenie on Oct 19, 2017 at 3:22 pm

Perhaps the local government should buy him out at fair value and then charge the local Nimbys, err I mean affected homeowners and skiers, the cost of that on their property taxes until paid off. Might teach some a much needed lesson about building dream homes / ski trails next to or on placer claims without doing due diligence with a spirit of sharing and cooperation. Government planners, developers and realtors also need to shoulder some blame for this and other similar messes.

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