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Supreme Court of Canada Releases Judgment Regarding Red Chris Project on January 21, 2010

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Supreme Court of Canada releases judgment regarding Red Chris project on January 21, 2010

Vancouver, B.C. – January 21, 2010 – The Association for Mineral Exploration of British Columbia (AME BC) and the Mining Association of British Columbia (MABC) welcomed the decision by the Supreme Court of Canada that allows the Red Chris project in northern British Columbia to proceed to permitting and construction. The associations also welcome the Court’s recognition that the respective environmental assessment processes of the federal and provincial governments can and should operate so as to minimize duplication.

“We are pleased that the Supreme Court has indicated that the ruling will not impact Red Chris, which means this important B.C. mining project can proceed to permitting and construction, creating jobs and opportunities in northern B.C. at a time when they are most needed,” stated Pierre Gratton, President and CEO of MABC.  “The project was subject to a robust environmental assessment with full public participation, facts that were not questioned by the Court. At the same time, the Supreme Court has emphasized that that federal and provincial governments should avoid duplication and can act in a cooperative and coordinated fashion.”

“The impact of today’s ruling emphasizes that governments must act to ensure that environmental assessments advance the principles of avoiding duplication and therefore wasting resources,” stated Gavin Dirom, President and CEO of AME BC. “Canada faces many environmental challenges; we must meet those with efficiency at every turn.”

Specifically, the Court stated that the federal government “…can and should minimize duplication by using coordination mechanisms...”

MABC and AME BC were joint interveners in this case.  The associations argued that sustainable development and effective environmental review requires governments to maximize resources through better coordination and harmonization, as was done in the case of Red Chris.  The case, which was concerned specifically with the ability of the federal government to exercise discretion in the scoping of project reviews, did not contest the quality and substance of the environmental review of this project.  Red Chris was subject to a full environmental assessment by the province of British Columbia and a screening-level review by the federal government.  The latter review was completed over three years ago.

Media are invited to call into a conference call at 11:30 a.m. PST today at the number below:
 
Phone number: 1-866-542-9023 (Canada & the United States)
Access Code: 5271107#
 
For further information, please contact Byng Giraud, Vice President, Corporate Affairs, AME BC, at 1-778-233-6449 or byng@amebc.ca, or Pierre Gratton, President & CEO, MABC at 1-778-828-5064 or pgratton@mining.bc.ca.

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