VANCOUVER – The company behind a proposed B.C. gold and copper mine that was rejected twice by the federal government is asking the Federal Court to quash the environment minister’s decision.
Taseko Mines Ltd. (TSX:TKO) says it’s filing a second application for judicial review of the decision against the New Prosperity mine, which is proposed near Williams Lake, B.C.
Taseko’s Brian Battison says the federal environmental review process was unfair and led Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq to make the wrong decision when she said no to the mine.
Court documents to be filed in Federal Court claim changes made by the government to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act two years ago are unconstitutional, because they go well beyond weighing the environmental impact of a project.
The B.C. government has approved the proposal, but Ottawa first rejected the proposed $1.5-billion mine in 2010, because the plan involved draining a lake of significance to local First Nations for use as a tailings pond.
The company says the revised plan will save the lake, but the environmental assessment found it would still cause significant adverse affects and cabinet rejected the proposal again last month.
That ore body is money in the bank. It will not rot or drift away. It will become more valuable as time passes.
Why do we have to consume it in 20 or so years? Why do we have to produce the waste rock so fast that the acid runoff cannot be absorbed by the environment? Why do we have to send the ore off shore to smelt it?
Mine it over a 100 or so years so the environment has a better chance of neutralizing the acid runoff. Smelt it in BC so we receive more of the ‘downstream’ benefits of our resources. The acid runoff will be a BC liability, therefore the royalties charged to the company should be in excess of the liability to ensure that the exploitation of this ore body will be a net benefit to BC.
They’re not getting the message apparently; this site will be off-limits for the forseeable future. Maybe we can chase them over to one of our BC parks instead. Wells Gray park is very rich in gold.
Gold is taken from underground, often causing water pollution in the process.
Then it goes back underground, into vaults as gold bullion.