The New Prosperity Mine topic-specific public hearings in Williams Lake recently concluded, as the federal environmental review panel moved on to its community hearings.
Taseko Mines Ltd. vice-president corporate affairs Brian Battison says the hearings went as expected.
Among the discussions was a difference in opinions previously submitted to the panel regarding the seepage that would flow through the tailings facility, which, he notes, is designed to allow seepage through the dams to assure the engineering stability.
The conflict was between the information provided by Natural Resources Canada (NRCAN) and by Taseko’s engineering consultants, who, Battison notes, used different models from the several potential models that can be used to predict that seepage flow.
“The question was, ‘how much water would seep through the dam’?”
The experts at the hearing have examined the outcome of both of those models, he says, and determined both are reasonable, acceptable and have mostly similar results.
“There wasn’t a magnitude of difference, [and] the differences were acceptable. So that was good.”
Battison adds some of the experts, who commented on their individual areas of responsibility, reported there was insufficient information to come to a determination, as “uncertainties” existed.
The Environmental Assessment Act refers to that result as a part of the usual process, he explains.
“That is a normal and expected course of action in these kinds of hearings. But, those uncertainties only get resolved once you do further engineering work, and in our case, we need to do about $60 million worth of engineering as we move toward construction.”
Taseko won’t perform that work until after the environmental assessment approval, which, he notes, is the appropriate time to proceed.
However, Battison says it is effectively an “approval-in-principal” that then allows Taseko to apply for all the detailed permits required to gain the necessary authorization to proceed.
As more technical issues arise along the road to and during construction and operation of the mine, he explains those processes will be adjusted in the usual ongoing, adaptive management (AM) process.
“You need to build them and begin to operate [and monitor] them. That’s the only way to determine whether the model predictions are accurate.”
Battison notes that AM has been ongoing at Taseko’s Gibraltar Mine for the past 30 years, and at every other mine and industrial complex in British Columbia.
“That’s how it works.”
Overall, the Taseko spokesperson says he is pleased with the panel’s reactions in the general and the topic-specific hearings held so far.
“It’s very clear that the panel members are attentive, that they appear to be well-informed. They ask good questions, especially the chairman [Dr. Bill Ross]. He’s an experienced guy; he’s been through numerous panel reviews on large industrial operations.”
Battison adds he thinks the public can “take comfort” from the depth of examination and the degree of effort that is made by the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency on these matters, in what seems a “long, drawn-out process” to understand and reflect the public interest in the final outcome.
“The government of Canada is trying to decide whether or not it is in the Canadian interest to use this piece of property in the proposed manner. There’s a detailed examination of that, and we are going through it.”
