Company expects B.C. gold mine to proceed in spite of opposition from First Nations
As the clock ticks down towards a key regulatory decision, Taseko Mines Ltd. (TSX: T.TKO, Stock Forum) says it remains confident that opposition from local aboriginal groups will not prevent it from developing a new open pit gold mine in the Williams Lake area of central British Columbia.
The Vancouver mining company is waiting for a Federally-appointed environmental review panel to issue a report that will go a long way to determining whether or not the proposed $815 million Prosperity mine can be seen.
The report, to be released by July 2, will kickstart a period of consultation that is expected to take up to 60 days to complete before the proposal goes before a Federal cabinet for review.
During that period, local First Nations led by the Tsilhqot’in National Government are expected to raise well known concerns about Taseko’s plan to use a trout-bearing lake as an impoundment area for toxic mine tailings.
They are likely to point out that Taseko’s tailings disposal plan is similar to the one that was rejected three years ago by a federal-provincial environmental assessment panel that said Northgate Minerals Corp.’s (TSX: T.NGX, Stock Forum) mine expansion was not in the public interest.
But Taseko spokesman Brian Battison says the company remains optimistic for a number of reasons.
During an interview, he said the project has already been endorsed by the provincial government which granted the company an environmental assessment certificate in January. More recently the company received a long-term mining lease from the B.C. government.
“This is a much larger mine than Kemess and the economic benefits will be much greater,” he said.
Franco-Nevada Mining Corp. (TSX: T.FNV, Stock Forum) has agreed to kick in US$350 million to fund the construction effort in return for a 22% of the future gold production.
But as the company waits for the review panel report to be released, there appears to be little doubt as to how the project is viewed by local aboriginal communities.
“I would expect that they will go for an injunction to prevent the mine,’’ said Susan Smitten, a spokesperson for Woodward & Co., the Victoria law firm retained by the Xeni Gwet’in First Nation, which is aligned with the Tsilhqot’in National Government.
In keeping with that plan, Chief Marilyn Baptiste on behalf of the Xeni Gwet’in and Tsilhqot’in Nations, filed a statement of claim in the B.C. Supreme Court last year, naming the Federal and B.C. governments as defendents.
The lawsuit asserts that neither B.C. nor the Federal governments can lawfully authorize a mine that is predicated on the destruction of a trout-bearing lake.
In doing so, they would infringe on First Nation hunting and trapping rights, while significantly impacting the ecological, cultural and spiritual integrity of the surrounding water and lands.
“Even if the panel and the federal government say yes, let Taseko go, it’s not an automatic go for Taseko,’’ said Smitten.
“They would like to think it is. They will tell their shareholders that it is. But it isn’t.’’
For his part, Battison says the threat of an injunction comes as no surprise to Taseko, which has seen other B.C. mines proceed in spite of the threat of legal action. “It seems to be standard practice,’’ he said.
