The outcome of two ongoing judicial reviews into the proposed New Prosperity copper and gold mine could define the future of mining in the province, according to a quartet of interested industry groups.
Four mining associations have filed applications to become interveners in Federal Court proceedings that will determine the fate of the proposed and contentious open pit mine near Williams Lake.
"Uncertainty regarding the environmental-assessment process and regulatory decision-making procedure will have an immediate and negative impact on the economic climate and the ability to attract global exploration investment to British Columbia and to Canada," Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia CEO Gavin Dirom wrote in an affidavit urging the court to allow his group to become an intervener in the process. "The potential implications of the decision in this case will affect the prospecting, mineral exploration and development industry in British Columbia and potentially throughout Canada."
Mining company Taseko is challenging an environmental assessment report released last October which raised concerns about the impact the mine could have on fish and fish habitat in Fish Lake as well as traditional use of the area by First Nations. In a separate judicial review the company is asking the Federal Court to force the federal cabinet to reconsider its decision to reject the mine earlier this year.
In its court filings, Taskeo said Natural Resources Canada provided faulty evidence to the review panel, which led to incorrect conclusions about the seepage rate from the tailings pond. The company believes if the proper design had been considered by the panel that there would be no concern about the impact on fish or fish habitat.
Mine opponents, including the Tsilhqot'in National Government and local environmental groups in the Cariboo, argue that the review panel got it right and that the cabinet was correct in rejecting the mine, which they believe will cause environmental harm. Opponents point out that this is the second time Taseko has had its application for a mine at the site turned down by the federal government.
In addition to the provincial mineral exploration group, the Mining Association of Canada, the Mining Association of British Columbia and the Mining Suppliers Association of British Columbia have all filed requests to be interveners in the judicial review of environmental assessment report. The court has yet to rule on whether or not it will accept the groups as interveners.
Chief among their concerns is that environmental reviews are conducted fairly, something Taseko contends isn't the case for New Prosperity.
"When you're going to invest, in our case, a billion and a half dollars and many millions of dollars in an environmental review process you need to have confidence that the process is going to be appropriately and fairly conducted," Taseko vice-president of corporate affairs Brian Battison said in an interview. "If you don't have that confidence, you may decide that you're not going to enter that process and not make that attempt to develop that resource and you may move to another jurisdiction, perhaps even another country where you think you have a better chance of turning your effort into success."
Both judicial reviews are winding their way through various preliminary procedural applications.
Due to the challenge in getting court time, Battison said it seems likely a hearing into the first judicial review won't take place until the fall. The second review was filed three months after the first one.
While Taseko would like to see things wrapped up quickly, Battison said it's important the process isn't rushed.
"We want it to be done properly," he said. "No one is looking at their watch here going 'come on we've got to get this thing done,' the approach is that it needs to be done right and be properly considered."
