A local consulting company has been purchased for $2 million by the same publicly-traded company that has taken over the Elsa-based silver mines.

Alexco Resources Corp. announced Tuesday it has bought Access Consulting Group for $2 million, of which $1 million is in cash with the remainder paid out in Alexco shares.

'It enhances our ability to do what we want to do,' Dan Cornett, co-owner of Access Consulting, said in an interview this morning.

Cornett said he and co-owner Rob McIntyre will stay on with Access Consulting.

While the purchase provides Access Consulting with more opportunties, having an environmental consulting firm as part of the Alexco assets also meshes well with the parent company's business plan, Cornett said.

Alexco, he said, is committed to providing clients with the ability to unlock value where liability exists, he said.

Cornett said it would be similar to taking a contaminated site in downtown Vancouver or Montreal and cleaning it up. The site turns from being a liability into valuable property, he explained.

Negotiations have been ongoing since last fall, Cornett said.

Clynt Nauman, president and chief executive officer of Alexco, said by phone this morning the purchase of Access Consulting provides the expertise to advance the company's mandate. It also creates greater efficiencies by giving Alexco its own environmental consulting business, Nauman acknowledged.

'We are in the reclamation and operation business, as you see at Keno Hill,' he said. 'We are in the exploration business also, as you see at Brewery Creek and Keno Hill.

'And we are also in the service business as it goes to reclamation and closure, and the Access Consulting purchase is a perfect fit for us because it allows us to broaden and strengthen the service we provide,' Nauman said. 'And it totally underscores our commitment to the North.'

Nauman said both McIntyre and Cornett bring to the table extensive experience in their line of work, and will be a welcome addition to Alexco's senior management team.

'Nothing's going to change,' he said. 'Dan and Rob are going to continue to run and grow that business.'

Alexco was selected by the federal government and approved by the Yukon Supreme Court to take over the bankrupt assets of United Keno Hill Mines Ltd.

The federal government has been babysitting the assets since declaring the silver properties and associated water treatment facilities abandoned in January 2001, at a cost of approximately $2 million per year for ongoing water treatment and so forth.

A commitment to help reclaim almost a century of liability at United Keno Hill was a primary component of the bid process to sell the assets of the once world-class silver producer which ceased production in January 1989.

Alexco has taken over management and some financial responsibility for the property through its subsidiary, Elsa Reclamation and Development Company.

Access Consulting was the consulting firm on site during the years the Elsa properties were being looked after by the federal government.

Cornett said Access will remain involved with the Elsa project, as a new subsidiary of Alexco.