Resource World Magazine

o c t o b e r / n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 4 www.resourceworld.com 5 e d i t o r ' s c o m m e n t s E l l s w o r t h D i c k s o n ellsworth Dickson, Editor-in-Chief email: editor@resourceworld.com t: 604 484 3800 | 1 877 484 3800 F our days after the previous issue of Resource World magazine came off the press, on August 4th, the tailings dam at the Imperial Metals Mount Polley Mine in the Cariboo region of British Columbia failed. This resulted in the discharge of some 25 million cubic metres of water, tailings slurry, displaced water and construction materials. This discharge flowed down Hazeltine Creek and into Quesnel Lake. There was an immediate water ban in the nearby small town of Likely and vicinity for drinking, bathing and animal use. As might be expected, First Nations bands across the province were furious and one group, the Neskonlith Band, notified Imperial Metals that mining would be banned in southeast BC north of Adams Lake where the company's Ruddock Creek zinc-lead proj- ect is located. Meanwhile, some Tahltan elders and environmental activists blockaded access to Imperial's new flagship project, the Red Chris Mine, in northern BC. Other BC bands also expressed concerns regarding other past, present and future tailings dams. Mining was already underway at Red Chris (as reported in Resource World); however, the mill had not yet been turned on. In light of the Mount Polley disaster, the Tahltan wanted an inde- pendent consulting engineering company to review the Red Chris tailings dam at Imperial's expense. The company agreed and this is under way. Consequently, the Red Chris Mine should be com- missioned shortly. Back at Mount Polley, Energy and Mines Minister, Bill Bennett, says the province will have an independent panel investigate the tailings dam failure. In addition, he said there will be indepen- dent third-party reviews of every tailings pond in BC. Imperial Metals has completed a $155 million non-brokered private placement of convertible debentures backed by a sig- nificant contribution by major shareholder N. Murray Edwards. Funds will be used to remediate the effects of the tailings dam breach at Mount Polley and to finance continuing operations. The blame game has now begun with accusations hurled at the BC government – its regulations and its inspectors – as well as Imperial Metals and their consulting engineers, past and present. The Mount Polley tailings breach has fuelled distrust of both the BC government and the mining industry, not just by First Nations and environmentalists, but also by some of the general public. The local water ban for drinking and bathing may be over; however, it is not known when or if the Mount Polley Mine will re-open, although the unionized workers are hoping production can resume. The Mount Polley Mine is important for the local economy. It also remains to be seen if there are any long term adverse environmental effects from the spill. Some First Nations members are calling for a moratorium on mining in British Columbia which, of course, would be economically devastating to the resource-based province. Fortunately, the Mount Polley tail- ings discharge, a rare event, is not acid-generating. There are lessons to be learned from the Mount Polley tailings dam failure by all concerned. The mining industry wants to be a good environmental steward and is eager to make any necessary improvements. It will be interesting to see how events unfold with regards to this unfortunate incident. n Mount Polley tailings dam failure has widespread consequences

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