Job Cuts at Taseko

Thursday, November 04, 2010 07:42 PM

Williams Lake, B.C.- In the wake of the decision by the Federal Government to not permit the Prosperity mine project, Takeso Mines Limited, the company behind the project, has announced it will be cutting 65 jobs.

"This represents the unfortunate impact of the Federal decision on Tuesday" said Russell Hallbauer, President and Chief Executive Officer of Taseko. " The seriousness of the situation is heightened considering that a third of these positions were in the Williams Lake area which already suffers from high unemployment levels."

Hallbauer adds the job cuts were a "necessary step for the company to take at this time. We have initiated discussions with the Federal and Provincial Governments to identify how we might advance the project and eventually provide the economic benefits including significant employment to the region."

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Posted on Thursday, November 04, 2010 07:42 PM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: dan on November 4 2010 8:05 PM

Why dont they try coming up with a new method for the tailings pond - one that doesnt involve destroying an entire lake and watershed.

They blame the feds for turning it down the permit. But it was turned down on an environmental basis.

Rather than blame the government, why not work on developing a new and innovative solution - one that does not produce such negative impacts to the environment.

Why destroy a lake, then try to rebuild/restore it later?

Why not just build the replacement/restoration lake first, and then put the tailings in it, and avoid using the natural lake altogether.

It does suck that jobs were lost, but the cost to keep these jobs was determined to be too high. For that I blame the mining company and mining industry in general.

The government actually appears to be looking out for the people and the environment on this one... for a change.

Posted by: realitycheck on November 4 2010 9:41 PM

The ore deposit is right under the lake. No good way to get to it without draining it (or so they say).

Posted by: supertech on November 4 2010 11:42 PM

I have a feeling those jobs would have been history whether-or-not the government allowed the Prosperity project.

Posted by: pansy on November 5 2010 7:20 AM

I agree with dan - the mining company needs to come up with better processes. I agree it was the right decision. Necessity breeds invention - they need to look at other methods.

Posted by: Surefire on November 5 2010 7:53 AM

I as well support the governmemts stants on keeping the lake and weter shed and I congradulate the Conservative government for doing something right for the people. It would also be the right thing to do if they could assist the mine to find a viable alternative. Put a tailings pond in a different location.

Posted by: Mercenary on November 5 2010 10:17 AM

I honestly don't understand why destroying the lake was seen as a viable option to begin with. The company that runs Kemess just went through this same scenario a couple of years ago with their Kemess north mine. They were going to dump the waste rock into Duncan Lake. THAT was turned down on environmental assessment back then. Why should Taseko expect a different result here?

I am all for mining a support the resource extraction industry. However I expect these companies to be environmentally responsible and conduct business in such a way that it lessens their impact on the environment. Call me naive, but that is the way I think.