Update on Taseko’s Proposed ‘New’ Prosperity Mine in Tsilhqot’in Territory

Two corporate news articles on Taseko Mine’s proposed Prosperity Mine in central BC, which has been opposed by the Tsilhqot’in and environmentalists.

Taseko to begin work at New Prosperity after injunction overturned‏

The Canadian Press/Winnipeg Free Press, Feb 27, 2012

Tsilhqot'in protest at Taseko Mine's annual general meeting in Vancouver, June 2010

VANCOUVER – Taseko Mines Ltd. (TSX:TKO) says it will begin exploration work at the New Prosperity site in B.C.’s central interior after a court overturned an injunction brought by the Tsilhqot’in First Nation.
Taseko said Tuesday that the injunction, granted in December, was vacated by court order.
The mining company said it plans to begin preliminary work on Tuesday to obtain information it needs in advance of a federal environmental assessment.
The company has 12 months to complete the necessary work at the site needed for a second federal government environmental process, but has said the band refused to allow workers on the land.
The First Nation wanted the court to keep the mining firm out of its territory, preventing it from doing any work until the B.C. Appeal Court rules on the band’s case involving aboriginal title in certain claim areas.
Tsilhqot’in Chief Marilyn Baptiste has said the B.C. government simply rubber stamped Taseko’s permits and licences for the mine, without consulting with them as required.
The mine has a controversial history. The proposal for the $1.1-billion mine was approved by the B.C. government, but was rejected in a federal government environmental review in 2010.
Late last year, Ottawa agreed to hear a second environmental review after Taseko reworked the project, planned to spend an extra $300 million to address environmental concerns and promised to save Fish Lake, which band members say is culturally significant to them.
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/taseko-to-begin-work-at-new-prosperity-after-injunction-overturned-140558643.html

Taseko reaches deal with first nation to conduct tests at site‏

By Fiona Anderson, Vancouver Sun, Tuesday, 28 February 2012

Taseko Mines and the Tsilhqot’in Nation have agreed to a compromise that will let Taseko do some work on the site of its proposed $1-billion New Prosperity mine without interference.
Last October, the province of British Columbia granted Taseko permits allowing it to carry out work on the property near Williams Lake.
The Tsilhqot’in objected to the provincial permits, saying the first nation had not been consulted or accommodated – a legal requirement – before the permits were issued.
They blocked Taseko’s workers from entering the site to do the work and both parties brought legal actions – Taseko asking for an injunction preventing the blockade and the Tsilhqot’in asking for an injunction prohibiting Taseko from carrying out the work until the proper consultations had taken place.
The court supported Tsilhqot’in and imposed a 90-day injunction which was to expire in early March but which could be renewed.
In its decision, the court urged the parties, including the provincial government, to “engage in consultation immediately with a view to resolving the differences and competing interests.”
“And the three parties listened,” Taseko’s vice-president of corporate affairs Brian Battison said.
The three-way agreement among Taseko, the Tsilhqot’in National Government, which represents six first nations (TNG) in the area of the proposed mine, and the provincial government was reached after a number of face-to-face meetings.
The terms of the agreement are confidential, but it allows Taseko to do tests on the land that directly relate to its proposed mine.
In November 2010, Taseko had its proposal for a mine rejected by the federal government because of its plan to drain a trout-filled lake called Fish Lake.
Taseko has now submitted a revised plan that saves Fish Lake and is in the early stages of review.
The tests Taseko plans to carry out now would be helpful in the environ-mental assessment process and the permitting process that will follow it if Taseko gets a favourable assessment, Battison said.
In particular, Taseko needs to do soil tests to determine what the effect the tailings pond – situated two kilometres upstream from Fish Lake – will have on the trout.
“This agreement is a good and welcome development for the project,” Battison said.
And he hopes more meetings can take place as the environmental pro-cess continues, something that hasn’t happened since 2008.
“It’s always best to be able to talk face-to-face,” he said.
Calls to the TNG were not returned by press time.
http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Taseko+reaches+deal+with+first+nation+conduct+tests+site/6220465/story.html