NEWS RELEASE
BC Mineral Explorers Respond to Canada’s Decision Not To Proceed with Prosperity Project
Vancouver, BC – November 2, 2010 - The Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia (AME BC) today responded to Canada’s federal cabinet decision to not proceed with the Prosperity project copper-gold project by urging government to make a make strong commitment to truly reform the environmental assessment process so that there is increased certainty and clarity for mineral explorers and developers, Aboriginal peoples, communities, governments, and environmental groups.
“The fundamentally flawed process undertaken to review the Prosperity mine project is a hard lesson that we all must urgently learn from if we hope to have a competitive and prosperous modern economy in this country,” declared Gavin C. Dirom, President & CEO of AME BC. “The protracted decision to not proceed to the permitting stage of the mine project is the end result of an inefficient and disconnected five year provincial and federal environmental review process. Such a process is wasteful of everyone’s resources and does not lead to better decisions, just lost opportunities for all. As such, AME BC will continue to advocate for true reform of the environmental assessment process in order to improve its effectiveness, reduce time and costs; and provide greater predictability,” stated Dirom.
“Following the initial mineral discovery, the best indicator of success for both mineral explorers and the province is the construction and development of new mines. Responsible mineral explorers understand that there will always be impacts when developing such rare and valuable deposits and agree that these need to be soundly assessed and properly mitigated,” continued Dirom. With this decision, however, the federal government has essentially determined that the significant socio-economic benefits to all British Columbians were not sufficient enough to offset the overall impacts of the project.”
This outcome for Prosperity represents yet another major lost economic opportunity for BC measured in the billions of dollars and is obviously very disappointing to Taseko and everyone in the mining and business communities. The decision is in sharp contrast to recent developments pointing to a positive path forward for other large mine projects in BC. For instance, the province recently signed economic and community development agreements with the Stk’emlupsemc of the Secwepemc Nation and McLeod Lake Indian Band that provide local First Nations with a share of BC government’s mineral tax revenues from the soon to be producing New Afton and Mt. Milligan mines respectively. Additionally, several companies have signed agreements with First Nations at varying stages of the exploration and mining process, while the newly created BC Aboriginal Mine Training Association is achieving early and notable success in employing Aboriginal people in mining.
About AME BC:
AME BC is the predominant voice of mineral exploration and development in British Columbia. Established in 1912, AME BC represents thousands of members including geoscientists, prospectors, engineers, entrepreneurs, exploration companies, suppliers, mineral producers, and associations who are engaged in mineral exploration and development in BC and throughout the world. Through leadership, advocacy, and partnerships, AME BC promotes a healthy environment and business climate for the mineral exploration and development industry.
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For more information, please contact Jonathan Buchanan, Director, Communications & Public Affairs, AME BC, at 778.840.0620 or jbuchanan@amebc.ca.
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