Polish PM tours [Sudbury] Morrison deposit during brief visit – by Northern Ontario Business staff (Northern Ontario Business – June 29, 2012)

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Whirlwind tour

A May sojourn to Sudbury by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk was kept so quiet, few knew he had visited the city until he was already gone. The PM made a brief stop in Sudbury to visit the Morrison deposit at Levack Mine, one of three properties owned by KGHM Polska Miedź S.A., the Polish, state-run company that bought out Quadra FNX in early 2012.
 
Quadra now operates as KGHMInternational Ltd., a subsidiary of KGHM Polska Miedź S.A., which focuses on growth in copper and other metals. KGHM also owns Sudbury’s McCreedy West and Podolsky mines, as well as the Victoria exploration project.
 
KGHM accesses the Morrison through the shaft and underground infrastructure at Xstrata Nickel’s Craig Mine, an arrangement agreed upon by the two companies last fall.

Under terms of the arrangement, Quadra will have access to the Craig Mine and infrastructure for the life of the Levack Mine/Morrison deposit, and will operate the Craig shaft and underground infrastructure but will not undertake mining from Xstrata Nickel’s Craig property.
 
The approximately 5,000-foot Craig shaft is connected to Quadra FNX’s Morrison deposit by an access drift on the 4,000 level that represents a second access point to its operations, the first being a ramp from the Levack #2 shaft on 2,650 level.
 
Tusk’s Sudbury stop occurred during a three-day visit to Canada during which time he visited Wilno, the first Polish settlement in Canada, and Ottawa to meet with Prime Minister Stephen Harper to discuss new tax and energy policies.
 
The visit was supposed to take place two years ago, but was postponed after then president Lech Kaczyński, along with his wife and other senior Polish officials, was killed in a plane crash while attempting to land at the Smolensk airport in Russia.
 
Company officials in Sudbury were not available to comment prior to publication deadline.