A breach of the tailings pond at Imperial Metals Corporation’s (TSX:III) Mount Polley mine took place in the early morning of August 4, causing a large debris field to enter Polley Lake and a flow of slurry to proceed down Hazeltine Creek to Quesnel Lake.
The spill has caused Hazelton Creek to expand from approximately four feet wide to up to 150 feet wide. Water bans are now in effect in the province’s interior, affecting about 300 residents.
Shelley Burich, manager of communications for the Cariboo Regional District, told Business in Vancouver that as of 8:30 a.m. August 5, there is no information available to them as to the volume of contaminated water.
Imperial Metals’ vice-president corporate development Gordon Keevil also told Business in Vancouver that this estimate is not available.“We are working with provincial authorities and local agencies and local officials up there and we hope to have further information sometime later today,” he said. “There is a lot of uncertainty right now.
“Our senior officers are up there right now. Whatever we have to do is being done.”
The B.C. Ministry of Environment said the breach dumped 10 million cubic metres of water – four times the size of BC Place stadium or the equivalent of 4,000 olympic-sized swimming pools – and 4.5 million cubic metres of fine sand into Polley Lake.
"This is a serious incident that should not have happened," B.C. Environment minister Bill Bennett said in a press release.
"We are devoting every appropriate resource working with local officials to clean up the site, mitigate any impacts to communities and the environment, and investigate the cause of the breach. We will determine the cause of the event and we are determined to prevent an incident like this from happening again."
The Cariboo Regional District Emergency Operations Centre said the water advisory affects the Quesnel Lake, Cariboo Creek, Hazelton Creek and Polley Lake area, and has been extended to the Quesnel River system all the way to the Fraser River.
Neither people nor livestock should consume the water, even if boiled. Residents are advised to use bottled water until further notice.
There have been no reports of injuries.
Map courtesy of Cariboo Regional District Emergency Operations Centre
The Cariboo Regional district warns that the area is unstable, particularly at the debris flow base and people should stay away from the area on food and by vehicle or boat. However, Imperial Metals said in an August 5 release that the breach has now been stabilized.
The company said the exact amounts of water and tailings released have yet to be determined, and that the cause remains unknown.
“Monitoring instruments and onsite personnel had no indication of an impending breach,” said the release.
“Mount Polley mine has been placed on care and maintenance, and business interruption and physical damage insurers have been notified.
“While the damaged area is relatively small compared to the overall size of the dam, it is not known at this time how long it will take to restore operations.”
The mine is an open pit copper and gold project which has been in operation since 1997. The company headquarters are in Vancouver, and the miner is in development of the Red Chris copper/gold property in B.C. It also has a gold mine in Nevada, a 50% interest in the Huckleberry copper mine and a 50% interest in the Ruddock Creek zinc and lead projects in B.C.
As of press time, shares of Imperial Metals are trading at $9.45 – a drop of 43.75%.
- With files from Mining.com
