The provincial government has appointed Geoff Freer to mediate a stand-off between the Tahltan First Nation and Fortune Metals Ltd. (TSX:FT) over a controversial coal project proposed near the Sacred Headwaters in northern British Columbia.
Geoff Freer is a former assistant deputy minister in the Ministry of Energy and Mines and the former vice-president of venue construction for the 2010 Olympics.
Currently, Freer is a director with Geoscience BC, a provincially funded, not-for-profit society tasked with collecting geoscience data to attract exploration investment in the province.
The coal project, known as the Artcos Anthracite, is still in preliminary stages. No environmental assessment has been filed, but drilling has been happening on site in order to gather data on the deposit.
The Tahltan Nation wants to stop the large-scale development, citing fears of a coal project damaging the surrounding waters. The Sacred Headwaters, which is located about 300 kilometres north of Prince Rupert, is considered the mouth of the Nass, Skeena and Stikine rivers.
In a joint statement, Energy and Mines Minister Bill Bennett, Environment Minister Mary Pollack and Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation Minister John Rustad said, “Government is supportive of the legal right of any company who has worked within our laws, regulations and processes to be able to safely perform work within the scope of their notice of work and subsequently the Mines Act permit.”
