Taseko flays B.C. mine critics

Miner says review panel misled

VANCOUVER — The company behind a proposal to develop a billion-dollar gold and copper mine in the British Columbia Interior lashed out at critics Friday in its parting words to a federal review panel, as well as the long process that has already seen the mine rejected once by the federal government.

In a written argument filed ahead of the final day of hearings on Friday, the lawyer for Taseko said panel members have been misled about the mine proposed 550 kilometres northeast of Vancouver.

“There is no doubt that a great deal of misinformation was the product of an organized campaign designed not to inform the panel’s decision, but calculated to stop the project from proceeding,” said the submission to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency panel that spent the previous five weeks holding hearings in surrounding communities.

“Taseko believes that opponents to the mine in aboriginal communities have used culture and heritage inap- propriately as a weapon by exaggerating the value of the areas that will be impacted by the mine and their use of those particular lands and resources for cultural purposes.”

The company said they also have “fundamental concerns about fairness of process” because of repeated breaches of panel procedures.

The deposit is the 10th largest undeveloped gold-copper deposit in the world — at least nine million wedding rings’ worth — and for half a century since its discovery, it has remained buried among the pristine lakes and mountains of B.C.’s wild Chilcotin region.

Estimates indicate 2.4 billion kilograms of copper and about 377,000 kilograms (13.3 million ounces) of gold are at the site. The company estimates the mine would generate 550 direct jobs and $340 million in gross domestic product annually.