Court orders injunction against drilling permit for proposed mine

The latest round in the battle for local gold has been won by the Tsilhqot’in Nation.

Mining company Taseko has long been the proponent of the New Prosperity Mine, a gold-copper project located at Fish Lake – known to the resident Tsilhqot’in people as Te tan Biny.

It is located south of Prince George and west of Williams Lake.

The Tsilhqot’in Nation opposed the development of the mine due to the environmental impacts it would have, and due to the company’s lack of consultation about what they wished to do on the Tsilhqot’in people’s territory.

The federal environmental assessment team rejected Taseko’s application in 2010, but the company persisted.

A revised application was also rejected in 2014.

Taseko nonetheless initiated site preparation work and got provincial permits to continue exploration drilling and reclamation permits.

This was earlier this summer.

“The court decision is unequivocal. The government of British Columbia has the authority to approve resource development work even in the face of Aboriginal opposition.

“The Crown’s obligation is to consult with Aboriginal people and to accommodate their interests where reasonable to do so. However, there is no duty or obligation to secure Aboriginal support for the work being proposed,” said Russell Hallbauer, president and CEO of Taseko Mines Limited, at the time of that provincial issuance.

The Tsilhqot’in Nation turned to the B.C. Court of Appeal to halt this latest attempt by Taseko to resurrect the project.

On Monday the court granted an interlocutory injunction against a drilling permit until a full hearing on the matter can be heard.

“We continually have to go to court to protect our cultural and spiritual sites,” said Joe Alphonse, tribal chairman for the Tsilhqot’in National Government.

“These areas should be off the table for any kind of invasive development. While this injunction grants a temporary relief from extensive drilling and exploration work, we are still calling on the B.C. government to step in and put a full stop to this drilling permit. B.C. has options available to them to protect cultural sites like these. Both the Prosperity and New Prosperity projects have been rejected by the federal government.

“To think that anything can proceed on this site is absolutely illogical.”

Taseko has not publicly responded as of press time to this latest legal development.