B.C. chips in to kickstart copper mine remediation

The B.C. government has put up nearly $1.6 million as a preliminary step to cleaning up the remote Tulsequah Chief copper mine that has leaked acid-laced runoff for decades.

The full cost of the cleanup will be much higher, according to a remediation framework also released last week by the province.

It estimates cleanup at more than $55 million for the mine site in the far corner of northwestern B.C. near the border with Alaska.

It will also cost an estimated $2 million a year for maintenance and monitoring of the site in the coming decades, which includes mine water discharge.

More investigation is needed to determine all the details of a cleanup plan and how mine water will be discharged into the environment, including whether discharge will flow directly into the Tulsequah River. The cleanup is expected to take at least five years.

The acid runoff from the mine into the Taku River has been a long-standing sore point for B.C. and Alaskan First Nations and environmentalists, as well as the Alaskan government.

“One of the benefits of the work on the reclamation plan is safeguarding the salmon, and the joint effort with the province has been key to reaching this stage of a plan,” said John Ward, spokesperson for the Taku River Tlingit First Nation.

John Morris Sr., an elder of the Douglas Indian Association in Alaska, welcomed the B.C. government announcement but said by no means did it mean remediation of the mine was a done deal.

“We urge Alaska’s leaders to protect Taku salmon by ensuring B.C. conducts a full cleanup and closure,” said Morris.

In 2018, the Taku River Tlingit First Nation, the Douglas Indian Association and the governor of Alaska wrote letters to the B.C. government calling for the closure and immediate cleanup of the mine site.

The John Horgan-NDP government took power in B.C. in 2017 after 16 years of B.C. Liberal rule. The Liberal government had acknowledged cleanup was needed at Tulsequah Chief, but was looking for an industry solution, where a company would buy the mine, operate it and remediate the site.

“The environmental issues at the Tulsequah Chief Mine site have gone on for too long,” said B.C. Mines Minister Bruce Ralston in announcing the money.

The Tulsequah Chief underground mine operated from 1951 to 1957. It was purchased in 1987 by Redfern Resources, which did exploration work and eventually received authority for limited construction activities. After Redfern went into bankruptcy, it was taken over in 2010 by Chieftain Metals, which itself went into receivership in the fall of 2016.

Toronto-based West Face Capital Inc., Chieftan Metal’s main creditor, is owed nearly $62 million, and would like to be able to continue looking for a buyer.

Some of the first steps of the cleanup plan include replacing and repairing bridges, upgrading an access road, establishing an erosion protection berm and repairing the existing airstrip. The work is required before further remediation at the site, only accessible by boat on the river year or by air.