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February 27, 2014 --- Vol. 08, No. 09February 2014

Ottawa denies Taseko’s proposal for New Prosperity in B.C.

The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency has struck down Taseko Mines Ltd.’s proposal to develop New Prosperity, an enormous copper-gold project situated near Williams Lake, British Columbia.

In late October, a federal review panel determined that there would be significant seepage from the New Prosperity tailings storage facility into Fish Lake. This led the panel to conclude that the project was likely to cause significant adverse effects on fish and fish habitat, wetlands and aboriginal interest in the Fish Lake area.

Agreeing with these findings, Canada Minister of the Environment Leona Aglukkaq determined that the New Prosperity Mine project is likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects that cannot be mitigated.

“The Government of Canada will make decisions based on the best available scientific evidence while balancing economic and environmental considerations,” said Minister Aglukkaq.

This marks the second time Ottawa has denied Taseko’s plans to mine estimated 13.3 million ounces of gold and 5.3 billion pounds of copper at Prosperity.

Taseko’s original proposal met fierce resistance from the local Tsilhqot’in (Chilcotin) First Nations and was ultimately rejected by Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency review board in 2010. Addressing the issues that prevented the approval, Taseko refiled for permits for the New Prosperity mine.

“At the invitation of the federal government in 2010, Taseko committed C$300 million to address the concerns from the first panel review and submitted a new proposal. After a second lengthy and costly federal review, the federal government has once again stood in the way of the development of an important project to British Columbia,” laments Taseko President and CEO Russell Hallbauer.

Taseko argues that the federal review panel did not include vital engineering parameters when determining that the New Prosperity tailings facility would leak into Fish Lake.

Going over the findings, Knight Piesold, a lead engineering consultant on New Prosperity, concluded that Natural Resources Canada failed to account for a low permeability compact soil liner engineered into the tailings storage facility – thus modeling the wrong project design and assuming water would seep into open ground.

Professor John Meach, director of the Center of Research of Minerals, Metals and Materials at the University of British Columbia, agrees.

“Anyone who tells you the seepage rates (submitted by Taseko) are in error are not telling you the truth,” said Professor Meach.

The mining professor said the tailings pond design being proposed at New Prosperity has been proven at other area mines such as Gibraltor and Mt. Poly.

Taseko had hoped the federal environmental agency would agree that the review panel assessment is flawed and allow the New Prosperity proposal to proceed to the next level of permitting. In the event that the agency might deny its proposal, in December, Taseko initiated a judicial review asking the court for a declaration that the panel’s findings relating to seepage and water quality be set aside.

In addition to the potential judicial path, Minister Aglukkaq seemed to leave the door open for a newer Prosperity proposal.

“The government will continue to make responsible resource development a priority and invites the submission of another proposal that addresses the government's concerns,” the minister of environment said upon rejecting the New Prosperity proposal.


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