VICTORIA — The B.C. government is considering a request to partly restart the Mount Polley mine near Williams Lake, but says it won’t make a final decision until it knows the cause of last year’s massive tailings dam breach.
The company that owns the gold-and-copper mine, Imperial Metals, has made formal applications to the province to restart the mine at half the rate of normal operations, confirmed the Ministry of Energy and Mines.
The new plan would see Mount Polley discharge its tailings — the leftover residue from operations — into a nearby open pit, rather than into the existing tailings storage facility, which breached last August and sent millions of cubic metres of dirty water into nearby creeks and lakes.
“This is something that would get the mine back into operation, help us retain a lot of our skilled people so we don’t lose them and also generate some cash flow for us,” said Steve Robertson, vice-president of Imperial Metals.
In order to get permission to restart, Imperial Metals will have to obtain an amendment to its Mines Act permit as well as receive authorization from the Ministry of Environment to discharge tailings into nearby Springer Pit, said Energy Ministry spokesman David Haslam.
“Government wants to see the Mount Polley mine re-opened as soon as possible for the communities of Likely, Williams Lake, 100 Mile House and the families that depend on the jobs it provides; however, we must make sure this is done in a way that protects the environment,” Haslam said in a statement.
The exact cause of the Aug. 4 dam breach remains unknown.
The government expects a report by an independent panel of experts to be finished later this month. Two other internal government reviews of the breach are underway.
The government will consult with First Nations about the idea of a restart, and there will also be a 30-day public consultation, said Haslam.
The entire review process “is expected to take approximately 60 days and will not be completed prior to the release of the report from the Independent Expert Panel,” he said.
“Any findings or recommendations made by the panel may help to inform the review process.”
It would then take another month to restart the mine, meaning the earliest Imperial Metals expects to restart would be in April, said Robertson.
Operating at half rate would allow Mount Polley to process 12,000 tonnes of ore per day, compared to 22,000 tonnes before the breach, said Robertson.
“Depending on how things go after the panel review comes out we’ll be able to determine whether or not this could make a transition into more regular operations,” said Robertson.
It’s unclear how many employees would be recalled to work under the proposal. The company has continued to employ its workforce of close to 300 people, but laid off 36 drillers and truckers in November.
“It won’t be half the employees; it will certainly be more than that,” said Robertson.
The proposal would limit the amount of tailings placed into Springer Pit at four million tonnes, and that waste would have to be removed at a later date, said Robertson.
Last month, the government announced it would allow Imperial Metals to begin to repair the tailings dam because investigators are satisfied they no longer need access to the site of the breach.
Cleanup and remediation is expected to take years, and cost Imperial Metals around $67.4 million.
rshaw@vancouversun.com