Taseko Mines Ltd. (
TSX: T.TKO,
Stock Forum) said it has learned that a Federal Review panel used the wrong information to prepare a report which recently concluded that its proposed British Columbia mine would pose significant adverse environmental effects.
The assertion is the latest development in the company’s long-running effort to develop a mine in B.C.’s Chilcotin region, about 550 kilometres northeast of Vancouver, despite opposition from local aboriginal groups, including the Tsilhqot’in National Government, which represents six bands in the area.
The Vancouver-based company said it appears that Natural Resources Canada, and subsequently the Federal Review Panel, used the wrong design in their analysis of seepage rates into a pristine fish-bearing lake from a proposed tailings storage facility.
“The panel’s findings regarding anticipated seepage, and the related impacts on Fish Lake, are integral to the panel’s conclusion that the project was likely to cause significant adverse effects on fish and fish habitat, wetlands, and aboriginal interest in the Fish Lake area,
the company said in a press release.
The design proposed by Taseko for the tailings storage facility includes development of a continuous low permeability compact soil liner to restrict seepage losses. This is a common and acceptable practice for modern facilities that have been recently permitted and developed in British Columbia and elsewhere in the world, the company said.
The NRCan design, which was the basis of their analysis, is completed different than the Taseko design, as NRCan has assumed that the low permeability basin liner is not included and that seepage will therefore steadily leak into more pervious overburden and fractured bedrock, the company added.
Taseko went on to say that it intends to challenge certain aspects of the Federal Review Panel’s findings regarding the proposed New Prosperity project. It has requested that the Minister receive and consider additional information prior to making any determination of significant environmental impact.
The submission is expected in the coming weeks.
Taseko shares rose 5% to $2.24 on Wednesday, leaving the company with a market cap of $431.8 million, based on 192.7 million shares outstanding. The 52-week range is $3.48 and $1.88.