JUST SCRAPING THE SURFACE

Digging a hole always draws attention. And holding true to form, that's exactly what Polaris Minerals Corp of Vancouver encountered when it announced plans in 2001 to build a quarry on the northeast shore of Vancouver Island. After more than six years of answering questions and securing all of the necessary permits, Polaris Minerals finally began production in 2007 on the 350 ha site and since then, its Orca Sand & Gravel Quarry has become one of the brightest lights on the entire Canadian mining scene. As mentioned in the geological description of the site in the adjacent box, the quarry is quite unusual in its mineral formation and because of this, mining the aggregates has been quite easy by comparison to in conventional quarries. Special consideration for the environment was further made by Polaris during the overland and outside of the quarry proper portion of moving the materials.