North of 60 Mining News - The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North

Business and civic leaders banded together to demonstrate their support for Taseko Mines Ltd.'s proposal to develop New Prosperity, an enormous copper-gold project situated near Williams Lake, British Columbia.

"We've come together to send a clear message to Ottawa: Our province needs this project," said John Winter, president and CEO of the BC Chamber of Commerce.

Taseko's original plan to mine the estimated 13.3 million ounces of gold and 5.3 billion pounds of copper at Prosperity 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 has refiled for permits for the New Prosperity mine.

The leaders that gathered in Vancouver, B.C. to support New Prosperity said the proposed mine would provide some 500 full-time direct jobs and 1,280 indirect jobs in a region that needs new opportunities.

"Communities in the Cariboo have been hard hit by the mountain pine beetle epidemic and are looking for ways to regroup and rebuild," Winter said. "Our Williams Lake and South Cariboo chambers have been working tirelessly, with the support of the Quesnel Chamber, to explain how much the region needs the jobs and opportunities that New Prosperity represents."

Williams Lake Mayor Kerry Cook said nearly 40 percent of the jobs in her hometown are derived from the forest and mining sectors.

"As a resource-based community, we know full well the benefits and challenges of industrial based resource development," Mayor Clark expounded. "As a local government we have a duty to consider economic opportunities that are put before us. The New Prosperity project presents an opportunity to diversify and strengthen the economic base of Williams Lake and the region."

This was part of the message British Columbia Minister of Energy and Mines Bill Bennett delivered to federal regulators during meetings in Ottawa on Dec. 12.

The federal minister of environment and the federal cabinet are expected to make a decision on whether to approve New Prosperity within the next few months.

Out of Fish Lake

The original Prosperity proposal gained regulatory approval from British Columbia agencies in 2010 but faltered in Ottawa.

Citing the planned use of Fish Lake as a tailings pond as their primary concern, the Tsilhqot'in First Nation led an outcry from British Columbia aboriginal groups in opposition to Taseko's original mine plan.

When the federal government commissioned an independent review of Taseko's proposal for mining Prosperity, a number of B.C. First Nations members testified against the project.

Federal officials decided, among other things, that the proposal would result in significant adverse effects on "the current use of lands and resources for traditional purposes by First Nations and on cultural heritage, and on certain potential or established aboriginal rights or title."

Based on this finding, Ottawa denied Taseko permission to develop Prosperity.

At the time, British Columbia Assembly of First Nations Regional Chief Jody Wilson-Raybould said, "I am happy the federal government took the necessary time to review the conclusions of the report of the Federal Review Panel and accepted its findings. Today, we must remember that First Nations are not, on principle, opposed to mining or economic development but not when the negative impacts far outweigh the potential gain. As everyone knows, many elders, youth and community members attended the public meetings of the panel, and many of them formally presented to the panel their deep concerns about the proposed mine. Their voices were heard and their way of life protected."

Responding to the federal decision, Taseko President and CEO Russell Hallbauer wrote, "Opponents of Prosperity say they are not against mining, only this particular proposal. They say they are not against job creation and economic opportunity; their only concern is that it be done with the highest environmental integrity. On this point, we agree. If all of us work together, as we are willing to do, with cooperation and common purpose, a path forward is possible."

Personal vendetta

Ervin Charleyboy, who retired from 18 years as the Tsilhqot'in tribal chief in 2010, was among those opposed to Taseko's plan.

"At first I was totally against Taseko Mines, when they were going to drain Fish Lake," Charleyboy said during an off-the-cuff presentation on Dec. 10. "I had no use for Taseko Mines."

After reading the New Prosperity plan, the former Tsilhqot'in chief turned from vehement opponent into ardent supporter of the proposed mine.

"When I started supporting this New Prosperity Mine, I did not make myself very popular. All of the six chiefs in the region don't talk to me - they're mad because I support the mine," Charleyboy told the crowd gathered in Vancouver.

And to the disgruntled chiefs he said, "What the hell? Stay mad, I don't care."

The former chief said the young people of the Chilcotin region are facing a future of diminishing opportunities.

"It is good for our people because we have nothing out in the Chilcotin. We rely on the forest industry but that is going down fast because of the beetle epidemic," Charleyboy explained. "What do we have after forestry? We have nothing for our young people."

The Tsilhqot'in elder said the voices of a growing number of young people that support development of the New Prosperity are not being heard.

"I talk to a lot of young people out there and they are all for the mine but they are scared to speak out because they will get intimidated like they tried to do with me; but I am not easily intimidated," Charleyboy said.

He believes this undercurrent of support is the reason why the six chiefs of the Chilcotin have not called a general assembly.

"In four years I have not seen the Tsilhqot'in Nation band together and have a big meeting to discuss these kinds of issues," the former chief informed the New Prosperity supporter in Vancouver.

"The chiefs are going to be proven wrong," he added.

"Fish Lake is part of the issue, but a huge, huge part of the issue is you have to work with First Nations people in today's day and age, and if you're not willing to do that, so be it.

You've got a tough lesson," Tsilhqot'in National Government tribal chair Joe Alphonse told the Williams Lake Tribune.

"I've said this since Day 1: 'We're not against development, but if you're going to come at us with such disrespect, don't expect to be operating in the Chilcotin.

That's our region, that's our homeland and we're there to protect and ensure that proper government and development is going to happen.' There will be development at some point in time and that development has to be done with respect for the environment, respect for us as a people and we'll move forward.

Right now, that's not the case, and that will never be the case with Taseko Mines."

Charleyboy said this "personal vendetta" against Taseko has resulted in an unwillingness of the chiefs to enter into talks with the company.

"The chiefs out there say there is no consultation, and I say that's a lie," said the former chief. "They don't want to talk to the mine. They don't want to talk to the provincial government."

"Nobody is going to consult with you when you don't want to talk yourself," he added.

Minister Bennett believes the people of the Tsilhqot'in First Nation will likely come to embrace New Prosperity in time.

"Certainly, the government of British Columbia is well aware that there is serious opposition to this project from the Tsilhqot'in people and we respect that opposition," Bennett told the crowd in Vancouver. "I believe there is opportunity - if the federal government will say, yes, to this project - for significantly more engagement with the First Nation."

The minister of energy and mines said he has witnessed other proposed mining projects in British Columbia that were met with staunch First Nation opposition during the permitting process only to gain support from the same groups once in production.

Wrong design

In the meantime, Taseko must overcome a dubious negative review of the New Prosperity project by officials in Ottawa.

In late October the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency 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.

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.

On Dec. 3, 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, and that the panel failed in certain respects to comply with principles of procedural fairness.

"Taseko had no choice but to file this application in order to comply with a 30-day time limit," said Taseko President Hallbauer. "But we remain of the view that the federal government should allow the project to proceed to the next stage of detailed permit-level examination and if so, the judicial review would not need to proceed."

Professor John Meach, director of the Center of Research of Minerals, Metals and Materials at the University of British Columbia, said that the tailings pond design being proposed at New Prosperity has been proven at other area mines such as Gibraltor and Mt. Poly.

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

Bennett meets feds

Minister Bennett said Professor Meach's assessment of the seepage rates of the tailings facility Taseko submitted for permitting is among the messages he planned to deliver to officials in Ottawa.

"To come here and say 'yes, without question, we have the technology to build a mine like this and do it in a way that is respectful of the natural environment; that's a very, very important message'," Bennett said in response to Meach's testimony.

Bennett's visit to Ottawa in apparent support of New Prosperity has raised the ire of Tsilhqot'in leaders.

"It is a disgrace for the province to have Minister Bennett cheerleading a project despite two independent panels that have left no doubt that it is an environmental disaster and a direct threat to our culture and our communities," said Chief Alphonse.

On Dec. 12, during Bennett's visit to Ottawa, dozens of protestors gathered near Taseko's headquarters in Vancouver to demonstrate their opposition to New Prosperity.

Charleyboy said there are too many "outsiders" influencing the New Prosperity debate.

"It should be like the good ole' days, when a demonstrator was a guy that sold you can-openers," the former Tsilhqot'in chief quipped.

"It is in the federal government's hands, and I hope it goes through," he added.

Author Bio

Shane Lasley, Publisher

Over his more than 16 years of covering mining and mineral exploration, Shane has become renowned for his ability to report on the sector in a way that is technically sound enough to inform industry insiders while being easy to understand by a wider audience.

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