Only one comment was received by the provincial Environmental Assessment Office during an 30-day comment period that ended June 30 regarding the proposed Harper Creek copper-gold-silver mine near Clearwater.
In contrast, nearly 2,000 people submitted comments on a proposed underground coal mine in Baynes Sound on Vancouver Island during an equivalent comment period that ended June 27.
The Harper Creek comment is posted on the EAO website with the personal information of the writer withheld. The writer raised six points regarding the proposed mine.
The first was concern about the proximity of the proposed mine to known uranium deposits.
“It is not unreasonable to conclude that uranium, radon gas and their decay products could be present in the concentrate... ,” the comment writer said.
The second point was regarding the huge amounts of tailings to be produced and the possible devastating effects on the environment if they were to contain radioactive products.
In point number three the writer said he or she had been told by Yellowhead Mining staff that “... no uranium had been found in the core samples that had been taken.” However, the writer pointed out that no effort had been made to take core samples from areas where uranium or radon were more likely to occur.
The fourth point was regarding mountain caribou. The provincial and federal government have made the species’ survival a priority, but the mine could limit genetic exchange between the Wells Gray/North Thompson herd and the caribou in the Kootenays, the writer felt.
Point number five pointed out that increased road access likely would result in more wolves in the area, resulting in more predation of caribou and other species.
The writer’s sixth point was that exporting resources, such as minerals or timber, is tantamount to exporting jobs. Such resources should be processed in Canada, the writer felt.
According to an EAO representative, comments that are received outside of the public comment period would still be considered but would not be posted.
The next public comment period would be during the application review stage of the environmental assessment. However, at this point it is not known when that will occur.
The Harper Creek project is a proposed open-pit copper, gold and silver mine that would be located about 20 km southeast of Clearwater near Vavenby. It would have an annual production capacity of up to 25,000,000 tonnes of ore over an anticipated active life span of 18 years. The proposed mine is owned and being developed by Yellowhead Mining Inc.