RE: Water board's Carmacks copper ruling upheldThe Yukon Supreme Court has upheld a decision by the territory'swater board not to license a controversial copper mining proposal.
WesternCopper Corp. wants to build a copper mine at its Carmacks property,located 38 kilometres northwest of Carmacks, Yukon, but the company wasdenied a water licence by the Yukon Water Board last year. (Western Copper Corp.)Ina written decision released Friday, Justice Ron Veale said the YukonWater Board "has acted within its statutory jurisdiction" under theterritorial Waters Act when it denied Western Copper Corp. a waterlicence for its proposed copper mine near Carmacks, Yukon.
When the board issued its decision in May, it said the Carmacksproject's proposed heap leach method for extracting copper from ore isunproven and poses too many risks to Yukon's environment.
Under the heap leach method the company proposed, sulphuric acidwould be poured onto thousands of tonnes of copper ore that's been piledon a rubber liner.
Vancouver-based Western Copper appealed the water board's ruling amonth later, arguing that the water board exceeded its jurisdiction bydenying the Carmacks project a water licence, even though the projecthas other necessary approvals.
Board not exceeding mandate
Theproject has the approval of the Yukon Environmental and Socio-EconomicAssessment Board (YESAB), and a quartz mining licence from theterritorial government, but it also needs a water licence in order tooperate.
Western Copper argued that the Yukon Water Board's decisions cannot vary or contradict YESAB's decisions.
But Veale disagreed, ruling that YESAB reviews proposals withconsideration of "broad environmental and socio-economic consequences,"while the Yukon Water Board's mandate is to decide whether a proposedproject can be licensed.
"The discretion of the water board to not issue a licence exists evenafter the issuance of a positive decision document" by YESAB, Veale'sdecision read in part.
Veale said the water board has jurisdiction over the water thatWestern Copper proposed to use for its heap leach process and thereforeit has the right to make a ruling.
"The viability of the heap leach process is not simply a question of commercial viability," he wrote.
"It goes to the very fundamental question of whether the mine canleach the copper without creating water toxification issues that cannotbe managed."
Company reviewing ruling
In a release,Western Copper said it will review Veale's ruling and "engage indiscussions with regulators" before it resubmits its application for awater licence.
"This decision affirms significant areas of overlap in the Yukonregulatory system. We'll review our options and move forwardappropriately," Western Copper chairman and CEO Dale Corman stated inthe release.
Corman said the Carmacks copper project "represents a small portion of Western Copper's assets."
Western Copper's proposal was vigorously opposed by the Little SalmonCarmacks First Nation, the Selkirk First Nation, and the YukonConservation Society.
"This decision that the water board ... does have jurisdiction overthese mining projects is very important," Lewis Rifkind, theconservation society's mining director, told CBC News.
"It ensures that when projects get developed that they will includeadequate water treatment programs and initiatives, and they will notpollute the Yukon environment. And if they don't meet that criterion,they will not get a water licence, and therefore the project cannotproceed."