Quality of Life Issues

Residents of Kingston and Leeds and the Thousand Islands have good reason to be proud of the superb lifestyle that is to be found in their communities. As a responsible corporate citizen, Canadian Wollastonite is committed to ensuring the development of the St. Lawrence wollastonite deposit will make a positive contribution to the regional economy without compromising the quality of life now enjoyed by local residents.

	Health and Safety: Wollastonite is a benign and environmentally friendly mineral which poses no known health
hazards. Over the nearly 100 years that the mineral has been commercially mined, studies have repeatedly demonstrated that because of wollastonite’s low biodurability there are no significant long-term health effects resulting from exposure or dust inhalation. In fact, it is because of these properties that wollastonite is being increasingly used in many applications as a substitute for other more much more dangerous minerals, such as asbestos.
	Visual Impact: For the first 27 years of operations, the entire project will result in no more than 30 acres of land
being disturbed, and the actual mining operation itself will have a footprint of less than 10 acres. The project is situated in a secluded location in a densely forested area; because of this, quarrying, crushing, and storage operations are several hundred meters away from neighboring roads and buildings and are well out of public view in all directions. The only sign that will be visible to the general public will be an access road leading from Highway 15 to the main area of operations.
	Blasting: The secluded location of the project, and the fact that wollastonite can be quarried very efficiently from a
surface mining operation, mean that there will be no adverse quality of life implications resulting from blasting. Canadian Wollastonite plans to use a minimum number of blasts to achieve its target operating volumes, and local residents will be provided with advance notification of planned blasting. Moreover, all blasting operations will be conducted by highly skilled professionals working under strict supervision of provincial government authorities.
	Noise and Dust: An independent assessment has concluded that noise resulting from vehicle traffic and crushing,
screening, and processing operations would not exceed natural ambient levels currently found at the closest residence near the project. Dust created from crushing and beneficiation will be controlled using small amounts of water, and the small footprint and protected location of the project will minimize any dust migration that may be due to winds.
	Vehicle Traffic: Shipping of wollastonite product will done via an access road whose entrance is situated on
Highway 15 adjacent to the Burnt Hills Road. Initial operating volumes will see one or two trucks leave the site per day, and this traffic is expected to increase to a daily departure level of four to five trucks. A traffic impact assessment has determined that “..site traffic should have little impact on Highway 15 traffic operations.” The intersection at Highway 15 and Burnt Hills Road has been improved to allow for safe vehicular access into the company’s area of operations through the provision of acceleration and turning lanes.

In summary, a considerable amount of time, effort, and money has been invested in ensuring that the development of the St. Lawrence wollastonite deposit will not in any way have a negative impact on the local community. Nearby residents will continue to be able to enjoy the exact same quality of life, confident in the knowledge that successful commercialization of the wollastonite deposit will bring important economic benefits to their region.