Ajax opponent wants same review as Taseko

By MICHELE YOUNG/ 

NEWS — The rejection of the New Prosperity gold and copper mine in the Chilcotin by a federal review panel has the spokesman for Stop Ajax Mine calling for similar scrutiny here.

John Schleiermacher said today (Thursday) the two mine proposals have major differences, but the impact of the Ajax mine so close to a residential area makes it that much more important to have a federal review, too.

New Prosperity was first rejected by the federal review in 2010, fall of 2013 and again this week on grounds it would cause environmental damage that can’t be mitigated. The B.C. government has supported the $1.5-billion mine project and an earlier provincial-federal review process supported the proposal.

Ajax, an open pit gold and copper mine proposed by the Poland-based KGHM, is being studied through a joint provincial-federal process that opponents feel isn’t as thorough as a federal panel review.

“We have 90,000 people downwind of this mass mine,” said Schleiermacher. “Why aren’t we getting the highest level of environmental assessment?”

KGHM International Ajax spokesman Yves Lacasse hesitated to comment and said he would consider responding later.

Kamloops City council has asked two federal environment ministers for the federal review. Former minister Peter Kent turned down the request twice — once by letter and once after touring the site — and Minister Leona Aglukkaq sent a letter this week that again said no.

Schleiermacher said the joint process only found one minor issue of concern with New Prosperity, while the federal panel review found several major problems that were enough to warrant rejection. He disagreed with the federal ministers’ decisions not to do a panel review of Ajax.

He said Aglukkaq’s letter stated the two process are similar. “They’re not,” he said.

The mining industry expects consistency, transparency and accountability in the project approval process, and that didn’t seem to be the case with New Prosperity, said Mining Association of B.C. president Karina Brinl.

From the industry perspective, the proponent went through the process once and the reviews were favorable overall. They went though it again and the information presented to the panel was not the information assessed when they issued their report, she said.

“There are questions about the process. From our perspective, the process needs to be consistent.”

As for Ajax, Brinl said the circumstances are different than with New Prosperity.

“There will be different requirements for each project, depending on where it’s located,” she said.

That the two proposals are different was something Schleiermacher did agree with.

New Prosperity is not close to Williams Lake and the First Nations there opposed the project.

Ajax is on the edge of Kamloops and First Nations here have been working on deals for jobs and royalties.

Despite those differences, Schleiermacher wants the same level of scrutiny.

“We got brushed off. I’d sure like to know why we’ve been turned down.”