Ajax decision looms

Photo: Contributed

An environmental assessment of the copper and gold mine KGHM International hopes to build in Kamloops will be finished by September, and a final decision from the federal government will come later in the fall.

The British Columbia Environmental Assessment Office recently lifted its 180-day suspension of the review of KGHM’s application for the Ajax project.

The project would see an open-pit mine developed south of Kamloops’ Aberdeen district.

The resumption of the environmental review, 108 days into the suspension, came after the Environmental Assessment Office said KGHM had adequately addressed issues that had been raised during a public consultation.

One of the changes already made to the proposed project is a new mine plan to concentrate mining activities in a central footprint. This will reduce emissions and dust, and resulted in the relocation of tailings ponds to outside of Kamloops city limits.

Other changes include a storage facility redesign, the relocation of the north rock storage facility, and moving the primary crusher south of the pit to an area approximately 3.5 kilometres from the closest city neighbourhood. 

While the resumption of the environmental review moves up the timeline for a final decision, the timeline will also be hastened by the fact that the EAO and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency have decided to work together to prepare a joint environmental assessment.

By co-ordinating, the two environmental protection agencies say they can streamline the process by sharing resources, aligning their timelines and avoiding duplication.

However, that co-operation means slight changes to the provincial review period. 

Now, that period will be extended by 110 days, and include a 30-day public comment period on the joint assessment report and any draft provincial Environmental Assessment Certificate conditions, as well as a 45-day period for provincial Ministers to make a decision as to whether to issue an Environmental Assessment Certificate for the Ajax Project. 

That means the application review phase is expected to wrap up around late September 2017, with decisions from the provincial and federal governments coming later in the fall.