Rules unclear mining lawyers say

As concern for the environment increases, mining companies are becoming increasingly uncertain as to what they are required to do before they can obtain mining permits, the Prospectors and Developers Association was told recently. Opposition from special interest groups has combined with changes in federal and provincial environmental assessment legislation to increase the amount of uncertainty about the approval process, mining representatives say.

“Legislators should recognize the need for an environmental regulatory system that provides a decisive, timely and equitable review of applications for environmental assessments and permits,” said Frank Nolan, an engineering consultant at Nolan, Davis and Associates in Halifax, N.S.

In a seminar titled “The realities of environmental compliance,” he and other guest speakers pointed to the difficulties facing mining companies as the environmental factor becomes the major consideration in all aspects of exploration.

For example, in 1988 Consolidated Professor Mines applied for permission to develop a gold deposit on an island on Manitoba’s Shoal Lake before shipping the ore to a 450-ton-per-day processing plant on the mainland.

Although the company is not planning to use hazardous materials on site, the project was designated for approval under the Ontario Environmental Assessment Act without any input from Consolidated Professor.

The decision, announced after a private meeting involving the premiers of Ontario and Manitoba, hit the company “like a lightning bolt out of the blue,” said Roger Cotton, the Toronto lawyer representing Consolidated Professor.

Under the act, Consolidated Professor is required to document the potential impact of the project and present it to the Ontario Environment Ministry for review. The company is also liable, under the act, for the legal costs of any groups who oppose the project.

According to Geddes Resources President Gerald Harper, similar problems facing Geddes and its Windy Craggy base metal project could cost the company $45 million as it stickhandles its way through the review process.

As the Geddes project site in British Columbia is close to the Yukon and Alaska borders on a drainage system running into the U.S., agencies from five different governments are involved in the environmental review.

Harper is anxious that elections held during the multi-year permitting process will prevent the review from moving ahead quickly and that necessary steps could be omitted by the governments involved.

“Inevitably, elections will occur and one or more of these governments will change political tone,” said Harper.

In an interview with The Northern Miner, Harper said his chief concern is the fact that many of the issues Geddes is required to address do not involve either the scientific or technical aspects of the project.

In January, 1990, when Geddes submitted its Stage 1 Environmental Assessment report, no specific or comprehensive native land claim had been filed for any of the study area. Two months later one had been filed, Harper believes, because there was now something of demonstrated value to claim.