Image Credit: ADOBE STOCK
July 06, 2023 - 7:00 PM
An open pit mine near Princeton is looking to extend its life by 12 years.
The Copper Mountain mine produces 45,000 tonnes of copper, gold and silver each day, and it's currently slated to close in nine years.
In 2019, it published plans to extend its life to 2044, but the Lower Similkameen Indian Band objects to any approval of the extension without its consent.
READ MORE: One of B.C.'s largest mines near Kamloops a step closer to expansion
In a June 5 letter sent to BC Minister of Energy and Mines Josie Osborne, the Band requested an environmental assessment of the expansion in order to have its say in the mine.
"Much of Syilx lands have been exploited without the consent, participation, compensation or benefit of the Syilx Nation. There are only a few remaining places left where Smilq’mixw of the Syilx Nation can practice their ancestral way of life, including their governance and stewardship practices and customs," the letter reads.
Copper Mountain is owned by Hudbay Minerals Inc. It employs 526 workers at the mine which is 20 kilometres south of Princeton, according to the mine's website. Fourteen per cent of the workforce is Indigenous.
READ MORE: One more obstacle to building more houses in BC: root balls
The expansion at the New Ingerbelle deposit wouldn't have required an environmental assessment, but the ministry will now consider one at the request of the Band, according to ministry documents.
Copper Mountain initially announced plans to expand its operations to the New Ingerbelle pit in 2019. It's about a kilometre from the main pit and ore would be trucked to the mine's mill from there for processing.
Most operations at Copper Mountain are to the east of the Similkameen River, but the New Ingerbelle pit, an expansion of one initially discovered in the 1960s, is on the west side.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Levi Landry or call 250-819-3723 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.
We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.
News from © iNFOnews, 2023