# Imperial Metals (III)



## Jesse (Jan 21, 2012)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/briti...ngs-pond-dam-stable-imperial-metals-1.2727776

Down roughly 40% at the close.

Anyone have the guts to step in here?


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## Sprucegum (Dec 12, 2012)

Nope


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## JordoR (Aug 20, 2013)

Was going to post a thread on this later tonight, but yeah huge drop and bad news for all mining in BC after this. Not to make light on the disaster it is, but this will be just another thing to feed the horde of anti-mining people out there.

I'm tempted to see what it looks like in a few days and possibly step in with the huge drop... but am concerned about the long term remediation costs. Even if there are already traces of arsenic, lead, mercury, etc. in the nearby streams/rivers... for years to come it will be blamed on this Mt. Polley tailings spill.

That being said... with all of their existing properties and the Red Chris project nearing the end of Construction - it's hard to not see this as a bit of a buying opportunity.


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## dubmac (Jan 9, 2011)

Not sure where this one will end up.
The stats on III to date are jaw-dropping. 
1 yr growth rate: 64%, 3 yr is 62%, 5 yr is 590%, and 10 yr is 442%. 
III has a high Beta -around 2.19. High PE - even with the drop.
Last time the price was this low was only one year ago - it dropped to 9.90's around the end of June 2013
I listended to some 1st nations commentators and others on the seriousness of the spill - but it still has yet to be determined whether this is as serious as it some alarmists suggest.
Still .... a nice drop.


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## doctrine (Sep 30, 2011)

Took a quick look. Even with a 40% drop, the shares still trade at a premium to book value. They just dumped 10 *billion* liters of contaminated water plus 5 billion liters of metals-laden fine sands into the BC river system. I don't think all of the bad news is priced in yet. If its really bad, and fish start floating upside down, well, do the math. They have about $500M in shareholder equity.


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## Eder (Feb 16, 2011)

I think if anyone has biked/trekked around the Horsefly/Likely/Barkerville area you would have witnessed polluted water entering the watershed long before this incident. As well there are many more retaining ponds in the bush waiting similar fates. Lots of NO TRESSPASSING signs posted everywhere seems to be the most common steps taken to avoid problems.

This area has been raped since 1870's and still being raped. 

I agree that Imperial Metals will be blamed for pollutants that have been in the watershed long before this incident.(not that they shouldn't get spanked for ignoring the need for an civil engineer)


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## dubmac (Jan 9, 2011)

Eder said:


> I think if anyone has biked/trekked around the Horsefly/Likely/Barkerville area you would have witnessed polluted water entering the watershed long before this incident.



I kayaked for 6 days around the Bowron Lakes Canoe circuit a year ago - stunning and gorgeous country there. Much of the ground around barkerville had been completely pillaged - all of the sediment and gravel put through sluice boxes. Sediment would then run into the river and damage rivers etc. You'd think we'd have learned by now.....sigh....


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## Sprucegum (Dec 12, 2012)

Yes, lots of bad happened in the past with no consequence to the perpetrators but this time I think several groups will be lining up to sue. III hasn't hit bottom yet...


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## Jesse (Jan 21, 2012)

I dipped my toe in with 500 shares @ 10.30.


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## JordoR (Aug 20, 2013)

^^ I will probably regret not jumping in, and I don't mind some risk - but this one is just too much for me! Upside down fish have already started popping up in newspapers/articles so I feel III has much more to drop.


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## daddybigbucks (Jan 30, 2011)

I wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot pole.
Just coming out now that BC gov gave them warnings on too high levels in the dam.
its looking like 100% the company's fault and all due to greed. 
The lawyers will have a heyday with this.


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## JordoR (Aug 20, 2013)

Up 12% this morning after water test revealed "... water remains within drinking-quality guidelines and aquatic life is not expected to be impacted."


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## relk19 (Mar 13, 2014)

JordoR said:


> Up 12% this morning after water test revealed "... water remains within drinking-quality guidelines and aquatic life is not expected to be impacted."


Just sounds like BS to me. Saying aquatic life will not be impacted is extremely ignorant, because as an angler, seeing that river makes me cringe. No way everything will be all fine and dandy and back to normal for the aquatic life anytime soon.


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## daddybigbucks (Jan 30, 2011)

relk19 said:


> Just sounds like BS to me. Saying aquatic life will not be impacted is extremely ignorant, because as an angler, seeing that river makes me cringe. No way everything will be all fine and dandy and back to normal for the aquatic life anytime soon.


it sure does sound weird that they would only take 3 samples and then say everything is ok to drink.
The readings are showing no indication of any contamination at all. 
Why not show previous sampling to compare?

The media on this dam collapse is very disappointing.
Showing 1 dead fish on the lake is also very misleading. You can come to Alberta right now and see hundreds of whitefish floating in the lake because of oxygen deprived lakes due to blue-green algae blooms.

I dont know what to believe.
_
According to 2013 data the company released to Environment Canada on disposal of chemicals, Mount Polley mine disposed of almost 84,000 kilograms of arsenic and its compounds through tailings last year, as well as about 1,000 kg of cadmium, 38,000 kg of lead and 562 kg of mercury._


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## JordoR (Aug 20, 2013)

Yeah it could be BS, the samples are undergoing further investigation. Keep in mind though, most of the minerals in a tailings pond are heavily diluted (due to the large content of water obviously) and have dropped to the bottom and are remaining in most of the silt at the bottom. While some of the minerals were likely to escape when the event happened, it is a very small amount compared to what was actually discharged into the tailings dam. Continuing on, while the waves of material (both tailings discharge water/silt) are making it's way into the streams/rivers, more and more of the dangerous content is being deposited along the way.

The media coverage is hugely disappointing. I've yet to see anyone on the news channels with proper knowledge of mining practices, and largely it's just been misinformation. Sure, in 2013 nearly 200,000KG of minerals/chemicals were discharged into the tailings pond, so everybody assumes that the whole amount escaped the pond. But a large amount of the material has remained in the pond.

Anyway... don't even get me started on the dead fish picture. As daddybigbucks mentioned, there are plenty of dead fish already in streams/rivers completely unrelated to what happened.


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## el oro (Jun 16, 2009)

Statements from a former employee: http://ithinkmining.com/2014/08/09/mt-polley-the-missing-buttress/

Statements from former Engineer of Record: http://ithinkmining.com/2014/08/09/mt-polley-exculpatory-explanations/

Also includes comments from a mining consultant.


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## dubmac (Jan 9, 2011)

apparently, insurance will not cover much of the cost of the spill...this article in the province today.
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Dr...10105163/story.html?google_editors_picks=true


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## relk19 (Mar 13, 2014)

JordoR said:


> Yeah it could be BS, the samples are undergoing further investigation. Keep in mind though, most of the minerals in a tailings pond are heavily diluted (due to the large content of water obviously) and have dropped to the bottom and are remaining in most of the silt at the bottom. While some of the minerals were likely to escape when the event happened, it is a very small amount compared to what was actually discharged into the tailings dam. Continuing on, while the waves of material (both tailings discharge water/silt) are making it's way into the streams/rivers, more and more of the dangerous content is being deposited along the way.


It is not the contamination that concerns me, its the amount of silt/sand/whatever else came into the river that isn't natural to it. Sure, the minerals may be small enough to be negligible, but depositing that much silt and other crap into a river system is bound to mess with the ecosystem of it. Mind you, I am not familiar with the stream in question, but if it is a classic freestone river (which is my guess since I saw a fishing guide say there were bull trout in the river), depositing that much silt into the system could potentially ruin it for the fish. Fish and mother nature are resilient though, so I am sure they will eventually make it back to normal, but it won't be happening anytime soon.


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## PoolAndRapid (Dec 3, 2013)

..


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## el oro (Jun 16, 2009)

For those interested in the potential long-term affects of the breach and potential cleanup costs (with opinions from credible sources), here are a couple of good articles.

http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/cleaning-up-after-canadas-largest-tailings-pond-leak/
http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/salmon-expert-tailings-pond-leak-wont-affect-sockeye-salmon-run/



> *Do you see there being any long-term impact from the tailings pond leak on the salmon run or other runs in the future?*
> My sense is that there won’t be any. Most of this stuff will be settled way down 600 metres into that lake or carried out of the system entirely within a month, actually. So unless they have another breach, it’s not really a big deal.


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## rossco12 (Dec 4, 2013)

I bought [email protected] $8.85 this morning.


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