By Marvin BeattyMarket News Contributor
A well-known mining watchdog has spoken out about the proposed Ruddock Creek mine, located about 150 kilometres northeast of Kamloops –something not on his radar even a year and a half ago.
Ramsey Hart, Canadian program co-ordinator for MiningWatch, a national non-profit organization based in Ontario, wrote in an Oct. 31, 2011 email, “I’m afraid I haven’t had a chance to get into the Ruddock Creek project at all. Sorry I couldn’t be more help.”
Now, Hart has looked into the issue well enough that he gave three presentations to concerned Shuswap residents Monday, Feb. 11: one at the Neskonlith Indian Band Hall and two more at the Chase Community Hall.
“We don’t get engaged in every project that comes along,” Hart said. “We’re selective and strategic about where we choose to spend our scarce resources.”
The Ruddock Creek site is near the headwaters of Oliver Creek, a tributary that drains into the Adams River – a designated B.C. Heritage River and home to one of the largest salmon runs in the world.
Pamela Richard, part of a group organizing the event, said potential impact to water quality is “first and foremost” among their concerns.
“We’re having this open house to bring about awareness and some education around the current proposed mine at Ruddock Creek,” Richard said.
Larry Morgan, North Shuswap Columbia Shuswap Regional District director, also attended the event and asked several questions about the status of the mine, environmental reviews and the timeline of the project.
“As chair of the Shuswap Lake Integrated Planning Process, I thought it was important to be here,” Morgan said.
SLIPP is a government-funded, multiple stakeholder effort to “sustain the health and prosperity of Shuswap and Mara lakes.”
A blockade and demonstration in the summer of 2011 was the result of some Neskonlith and Adams Lake band members who were concerned over the location of the mine and its environmental effects.
“The proposed Ruddock Creek project, as well as, the other proposed and existing mining projects in Secwepemculecw unsurrendered, unceded Secwepemc territory, is a violation against our existing Secwepemc and natural laws, in that our water, sacred headwaters and birthing waters is at risk of being destroyed forever,” states the declaration, which was signed only “by Secwepemc.”
The area above Adams Lake was identified as a potential mine site as early as 1960. Imperial Metals Corporation now hopes the zinc and lead deposit will have an annual production rate of 700,000 tonnes of ore per year, overseen by their wholly owned subsidiary, Selkirk Metals Corp.
A March 14, 2012 news release from Imperial Metals states the “combined indicated resource” contains 695.0 million pounds of zinc and 142.0 million pounds of lead. The estimated operating life of the mine is between 10 and 15 years.
In February of 2009, the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office ordered that an environmental assessment certificate be issued for the project.
Hart said there are many unknowns with the final design of the mine site, which likely won’t be fully known until the environmental assessment is submitted. He also said a detailed analysis of the economics of the mine are part of what hasn’t been released to date.
“It’s one thing to have a mineral deposit you’ve found in the side of a mountain, it’s another thing to be able to mine it at a profit,” Hart said.
According to a 2009 annual report from the chief inspector of mines, metal mines have disturbed 23,406 hectares of land in B.C. and 10,692 hectares (45 per cent) of it has not been reclaimed.
The report is the most current available and also states that “Disturbance has been increasing at a faster rate than reclamation.” In 2009, inspectors made a total of 1,047 site visits to mining operations, compared to 2,021 visits in 2001 when fewer mines existed.
Hart said mandatory closure plans are generally too conceptual for his liking.
