Environment Minister Talks About Kemess Decision

Tuesday, November 30, 1999 12:00 AM

Prince George B.C. – Yesterday, the Provincial Government and Federal Government announced they were accepting the Joint Panel review report on Kemess North and would not allow the project to move ahead as proposed. It may have been a moot point, seeing as how Northgate Minerals has already written off Kemess North and moved on to more golden opportunities, this time in Australia. Northgate Minerals has made it clear; it will not resurrect Kemess North, not now, not ever.

Provincial Minster of the Environment, Barry Penner told Opinion 250 the decision was based solely on the merits of the report itself “The comments by the company did not affect our decision”.

Some of those comments included criticism that there was no way to argue science with those who were trying to protect the spiritual aspects of the site.

Penner is not worried this decision will in any way hamper the efforts to increase mining activity in the province. “I have approved a number of new mines in the past couple of years, and there is a lot of exploration.” Penner adds, the Kemess project is still a possibility, albeit for some other company “Northgate could sell the rights to the project and I think some have thought about how things could be done differently.”

That means there would need to be more First Nations consultation and certainly a new plan for dealing with tailings as Duncan (Amazay) Lake is off limits.

The Kemess North project would have extended the life of that mine for 12 years.

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Posted on Tuesday, November 30, 1999 12:00 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: Moses on March 8 2008 10:18 AM

'Penner is not worried this decision will in any way hamper the efforts to increase mining activity in the province.'

Now THAT made me choke on my english muffin.

Talk about put on a happy face.

Posted by: uncleM on March 8 2008 3:33 PM

First we have Galore Creek suspension - BC is an expensive place for the mining business. Now we Kemess North rejection - BC is a difficult place for the mining business. Penner will learn if the mining industry will keep up with their exploration investment here soon enough.

Who dares to buy the mining rights to Kemess North? A First Nation Gold Corp perhaps?

Posted by: YamaDooPolCat on March 8 2008 8:12 PM

The problem is the road.

Close up Kemess, deactivate the road. The natives will leave as well, no free food or free road.

Start up the mine again and do like they did at Port Radium. Fly everything in and out. Have security at the airport to fine uninvited guests.

Use Duncam lake for the tailings pond. No one will be the wiser.

Posted by: Andyfreeze on March 9 2008 9:22 AM

Penner is full of it.
I do not believe one word of his rhetoric and I doubt anyone else does either.
This government is afraid of tangling with any first nations group, so they will be content to let them run the show, as they always have done.
This could have been different and should have been.
If the government had worked WITH Northgate instead of against them,I might be inclined to buy some of the spin.
This will set the tone for other mining prspects as well and as I have said before,this WILL become an election issue for the Campbell Liberals.
We cannot keep sacrificing the needs of so many for the needs of a select few,when that select few does so little to help themselves!
Mining IS a viable option and with the technology available today and proper safegaurds,it should be getting the credit it deserves.
First Nations issues play a roll,but they should NOT be the deciding factor as they have been in the past.
Time to get with the program and start appreciating what they have!
These mines mean jobs but I guess that's not what they want.
So what DO they want besides more money?

Posted by: northman on March 9 2008 10:28 AM

Lets say for a laugh this project was a mine ran by the govt to fund the olympics.. It would have been into production already if that was the case.

Posted by: Harbinger on March 9 2008 3:33 PM

One government in Victoria and 51 other overlapping governments too. I can hardly wait til all these BC land claims are settled. Then and only then will life here in BC get really interesting.

Posted by: Harbinger on March 9 2008 3:38 PM

What do they want besides money? Power, my boy! Just good ol'plain power. Power is money. Money is power. Bill Gates had lunch with PM Cretin and he had lunch with President Bill Clinton. Just what are your chances dude, of having lunch with these guys? None and none. Not even slim and none. Look at the world, pal. The word is power. It is programmed into yer mind. Some more than others.

Posted by: Nessy on March 10 2008 7:29 AM

So, according to this report the government has decided to accept there is no alternative becasue of spiritual matters? Are you kidding me. Why must the government roll over and play dead?

Perhaps the report does not reflect the majority of natives ("First Nations") spiritual preference in the matter. There are many Christian First Nation folk too and I somehow doubt if their opinions were accurately reflected in this report.

Regardless, we live in a pluralistic society and individual groups must sometimes step aside for the greater good. I travelled the road to Fort Ware a year ago and it would be a shame for this transportation link to deteriorate or cease to exist becasue of industry decline in the area.

What is the big deal with the spiritual problem of the lake anyway? Does the BC Government believe in the Spirit of the Lake too? Should the mining company fly the tailings to the moon to alleviate the problem? That way we would not offend the spirit of the earth, Mother Nature, either.

Posted by: Big-Wayne on March 10 2008 10:16 AM

uncleM we will see how they react with the outcome of Terrane's Mt. Mulligan in the near future