Before the federal government rejected the proposed New Prosperity copper and gold mine, B.C. Energy and Mines Minister Bill Bennett went to Ottawa to lobby for the project.
In the five days since federal Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq announced her government would not give the open pit mine near Williams Lake a certificate to proceed, he has yet to engage with any federal cabinet ministers.
"There will come a time when I will sit down with some of the federal ministers and talk about it," Bennett said Monday while attending the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada convention in Toronto. "I think we need to give them a little space and give us a little space to get used to the idea that they said no."
The federal government cited concerns raised during its environmental assessment report, which said it would cause harm to fish and fish habitat in Fish Lake among other issues. Mine opponents, including local First Nations groups and residents concerned about the environment, hailed the decision and its implications surrounding responsible resource development.
Mine supporters said the federal government's decision will prevent an infusion of much-needed high-paying jobs, which could help kick start the economy in the Cariboo-Chilcotin region.
Bennett said conference attendees he's spoken with have been disappointed in the federal government's decision, but there's been no blow back to the provincial government.
"The reaction is surprise and disappointment, but any sort of negative implications of that are being directed to the federal government as opposed to the province of British Columbia," he said. "So I am grateful for that."
Federal Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver touched on the government's decision to reject the current New Prosperity proposal during his remarks to the conference.
"New Prosperity underwent a rigorous review process by an independent panel," he said. "The panel identified significant adverse environmental effects, very similar to those identified by an earlier panel report in 2010. Based on that finding, the project was not approved."
Oliver noted that some people in the industry are questioning his government's decision to reject the project but he said that the federal government would welcome a modified proposal from Taseko if it addressed the environmental concerns raised during the latest review.
Bennett didn't attend Oliver's speech, but spoke with conference delegates who were in the room.
"He left the crowd with the impression there's still hope for that project," Bennett said. "I thought that was an interesting development."
While he hasn't spoken with any of his federal counterparts since last week's decision, Bennett still feels his message about the mine got through.
"The residual sense I have from them is they understand what I have been saying to them over the past few months - that is if the design by the company is done in the way we know it can be done, there's no reason why the mine couldn't be built in an environmentally respectful way," he said.
Taseko, the company behind the New Prosperity plan, is in the process of challenging the environmental assessment in federal court, alleging that evidence filed by Natural Resources Canada was incorrect.
Bennett has also been spreading the word at the convention about how B.C.'s northwest transmission line, which will come into service in the next few months, can help some projects get off the ground.
Bennett said despite the rejection of New Prosperity, the future of mining in B.C. remains bright. He said several new mining projects are within six months of completing the provincial environmental assessment process.
"I don't see any reason why we won't continue to see new mines being announced, as we have the last few years," he said. "We have two I expect will open in 2014, Red Chris for sure will and the Roman coal mine in the northeast and I think each year there will be one or two major mines that will announce they will be built."
