SMITHERS, B.C.A B.C. Due to concerns that it could affect fish and water in Morrison Lake, the environmental approval for the mine project was denied.
Pacific Booker Minerals Incorporated was not granted an environmental assessment certificate for the Morrison Copper/Gold Project. The company was planning to construct an open-pit mine that would produce copper, gold, and molybdenum at a site of approximately 65 kilometres northeast from Smithers.
The proposed mine site was situated on the territory of Lake Babine Nation, upstream of territories of Gitanyow First Nations and Gitxsan First Nations. A portion the transmission line was to be constructed on the territory Yekooche First Nation.
The project first applied for the certificate in 2010 but was denied in 2012 after ministers found the mine could impact the region’s wild sockeye salmon and hurt water quality. The company requested a judicial review of this decision. In 2013, the B.C. Supreme Court set aside the 2012 decision and directed that the application for an environmental assessment certificate be reconsidered because the proponent did not have the opportunity to review and comment on the Environmental Assessment Office’s (EAO) recommendations that were provided to ministers for decision.
In August 2014, the minister of environment suspended the reconsideration process to allow the EAO to seek the views of the company and Indigenous nations on the report of the Independent Expert EngineeringInvestigation andReview Panel into the failure of the tailings pond at the Mount Polley Mine to further inform the ministers decision.
The project was required to undergo additional assessment to collect additional baseline data and analysis in order to provide a thorough analysis of the risks to water, salmon, and the wider environment.
Ministers issued a Further Assessment Order which outlined the information PBM needed to continue development of this project.
The first step was to submit a satisfactory Draft Supplemental Application Information Requests (SAIR) document. PBM submitted three draft SAIRs between 2016 and 2021 that did not comply with the Further Assessment Order requirements.
Officials said that in order to address the lackluster progress, EAO suggested options for progressing the further assessment process. They also engaged with the project team, Lake Babine First Nations, Gitanyow First Nations, Gitxsan, Gitxsan, and Yekooche First Nations.
According to the province, the consensus option was either a preference or a non-objection for the Further Assessment Order being rescinded. The Further Assessment Order was cancelled on Dec. 2, 2020. Ministers received the decision materials for 2015 to decide whether to issue an environment assessment certificate for Morrison Copper/Gold Project.
Ministers have rescinded an environmental assessment certificate because the company has not provided additional information to show that the Morrison Copper/Gold Project can reduce fish and water quality risks.