The fate of Taseko Mines’ (TSX:TKO) controversial New Prosperity project is now in the hands of the federal government and its review panel after public hearings ended late last month in Williams Lake.
And just as it did the first time it faced such scrutiny – the proposed mine was initially rejected in 2010 – sentiments are intensely divided between those advocating for its economic benefits and those fearing its perceived environmental drawbacks.
“It’s been a long, tough and, at times, emotional process,” Brian Battison, Taseko’s vice-president of corporate affairs, told Business in Vancouver.
“But we are certain that New Prosperity is responsible and sustainable.”
The first time the development underwent a series of public hearings, the federal government rejected the project, then called Prosperity, because Taseko planned to drain a local lake, Fish Lake, to build a tailings pond. Fish Lake is about 125 kilometres southwest of Williams Lake and adjacent to the area on which Taseko wants to build the mine.
The plan to drain the lake angered local First Nations communities. The Tsilqot’in National Government, a council representing five First Nations communities in the area, pressed Ottawa to reject Prosperity.
In the hopes of appeasing the government and the Tsilqot’in, Taseko has since reworked its proposal and now plans to save Fish Lake and build its tailings pond two kilometres upstream. The move, according to Taseko, will cost the company an additional $300 million. If developed, Taseko expects New Prosperity to cost more than $1 billion.
“Taseko has done what it was asked to do and the New Prosperity project is designed to preserve Fish Lake. It has done this at great expense,” the company wrote in its final submission to the federal review panel, filed on August 23.
Later in the submission, Taseko claimed “the modification of the mine plan to preserve Fish Lake represents probably the greatest accommodation measure ever undertaken in respect to asserted aboriginal rights.”
The company’s new design, however, failed to convince the Tsilqot’in of the project’s merits.
“In our respectful submission, the record before the panel is clear on this point. The cultural impacts of the project alone are significant, immitigable and of tremendous consequence for the long-term mental and physical health of the Tsilqot’in communities and the survival of the distinctive way of life that they have maintained through generations of resolute commitment and sacrifice,” wrote the Tsilqot’in in its final submission to the panel.
In a phone interview, Tsilqot’in tribal chief Joe Alphonse reiterated the Tsilqot’in’s sentiments, scoffing at Taseko’s claims of saving Fish Lake. If the mine is built, the lake will die, he said.
“Our mandate is to protect the land and block Taseko from moving forward.”
In addition to numerous representatives from Taseko and the Tsilqot’in, a number of scientists and environmental experts testified at the hearings.
Leslie Smith and Erick Eberhardt, professors at the University of British Columbia, participated at the panel’s request.
Their respective presentations focused on the potential impact on the water in Fish Lake from a nearby tailings pond and the geological strength of the area to support an open-pit mine.
Smith, a geology professor who specializes in groundwater, concluded that while some substances from the tailings pond will inevitably seep into the lake, a rigorous monitoring system would be able to capture 80% to 90% of the potential seepage.
And Eberhardt, a professor of engineering, concluded that while all the drill hole data available to gauge the strength of the ground is from the 1990s and should be updated, the chances of “discovering unexpected geological conditions” are low. Therefore, he believed an open-pit mine could operate in the area.
“We know a lot about the geology of the area and we know a lot about tailings,” added Battison. “We have reason to be confident in this project.”
The public hearings concluded on August 23. The review panel has 70 days from the end of the hearings to produce a report. That report will recommend a decision to the federal government.
Upon receiving the report, the federal government has 120 days to make its decision on the project.
The provincial government approved the mine in 2010.
Even if granted approval from the federal government, the final decision on whether to build the mine remains Taseko’s.
New Prosperity numbers
•Contains an estimated 5.3 billion pounds of copper and 13.3 million ounces of gold.
•New Prosperity is considered the largest undeveloped copper-gold deposit in Canada and the 10th largest in the world.
•Since 1994, Taseko has spent $120 million on engineering and scientific analysis work.
•New Prosperity is expected to generate $11 billion in real gross domestic product and 57,000 person years of employment over its 20-year lifespan.
•The mine is estimated to produce $5.52 billion in tax revenue for the provincial government and $4.3 billion for the federal government.
The Williams Case
The Tsilqot’in National Government has long argued that New Prosperity is on its traditional land – a 4,000-square-kilometre area west of Williams Lake. According to the Tsilqot’in, building the mine would infringe on its aboriginal rights and title.
Taseko, on the other hand, claims the proposed mine is on Crown land and the Tsilqot’in have no authority over what is built.
In 2007, the dispute, known as the Williams Case, went to the BC Supreme Court. The court ruled that the Tsilqot’in had rights to hunt in the claim area but did not grant title. The BC Court of Appeal upheld the decision.
The case will be heard in the Supreme Court of Canada in November.
