2001, Environmental Mining Council of British Columbia
This report develops a model for assessing the compatibility of proposed mines with the requirements of sustainability. The model is then applied to the Tulsequah Chief Mine reopening project proposed by Redcorp Ventures Ltd.
This copper/gold/lead/silver/zinc mine was in production from 1951 – 1957 before it was abandoned due to low mineral prices. The mine is located on the Tulsequah River, 12 miles upstream from its confluence with the Taku River, and immediately upstream from the Alaska/BC border. The 18,000 km Taku River Watershed is still pristine and unroaded, and contains exceptional wildlife values. It is also part of the traditional territory of the Taku River Tlingit First Nation (TRTFN). The Tlingit have historically harvested from the Taku River drainage, and continue to do so to this day.
Key environmental concerns associated with the mine include:
- the need for a 160 km access road from Atlin, BC to the mine site;
- the potential for Acid Mine Drainage, and;
- the implications of the mine and road on the sustainability of TRTFN environmental interests, economy and culture.
The proposed mine reopening was reviewed under BC’s Environmental Assessment Act and received project approval in March of 1998. However, during a subsequent judicial review, the court determined that the review did not adequately address sustainability, one of the purposes of the Environmental Assessment Act. The court ordered that a revised project committee report be prepared that specifically addressed “whether the project was a sustainable development in the sense that it would protect Tlingit environmental interests and foster a sound economy and social well-being for the Tlingits.”
Assessing whether proposed mines contribute or detract from sustainability is a challeging undertaking. Mines involve the extraction of non-renewable resources, an activity that by its very nature is not sustainable. However, it is generally accepted that mineral extraction can, under certain circumstances, contribute to sustainability, though there has been a shortfall in rigourous work to set out those conditions.
The sustainability assessment for the TCM is ocurring in the context of an environmental assessment. Until recently, environmental assessments did not directly address sustainability, but rather concentrated on predicting and mitigating negative environmental impacts. Projects could be approved if environmental impacts were mitigated to an acceptable level even if the net result detracted from sustainability. More recently, it has been recognized that environmental assessments conducted in a context where there is commitment to sustainable development involve a higher test, namely, that the project involve a positive contribution to sustainability.
This report helps fill two gaps: the lack of a rigorous sustainability assessment framework for proposed mineral developments, and the need for a sustainability assessment of the proposed TCM that goes beyond a conventional environmental assessment’s focus on identifying and mitigating environmental impacts.
This report also starts from the standpoint that current environmental conditions and trends must be taken into account when addressing sustainability. A brief overview of global, provincial and regional trends indicates that current industrial economies are far from sustainable, and that there are many warning signs that humanity is exceeding ecosystem limits. Priority actions required to achieve sustainability at the global scale are identified. For the most part, decreased material throughput and greatly increased efficiency is required. At the provincial scale, although some progress has been made in specific areas, overall prospects for sustainability continue to deteriorate.
