Minesite News (December 01, 2001)

Giant Mine Agreement amended

The federal Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (DIAND) and Miramar Giant Mine Ltd. (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Miramar Mining Corp.) have finalized an amendment to the existing Giant Mine Agreement, to extend operations at the Giant mine in Yellowknife, NWT. The amended agreement will see mining operations continue at the Giant mine, providing supplemental mill feed to be processed at Miramar’s adjacent Con milling facility. The amendment requires DIAND to fund a portion of the environmental compliance and holding costs that were previously incurred by Miramar.

Miramar will continue to operate the mine beyond Dec. 14, 2001, the date that the company previously announced it would return the mine to DIAND. Throughout the period of extended operations, DIAND will fund $300,000 per month towards environmental compliance and holding costs. Had the mine been returned to DIAND, DIAND’s costs would have been significantly higher than this. About 50 people will continue to be employed at the Giant mine, which is expected to contribute about 25,000 ounces of recoverable gold per year to Miramar.