A group of Kamloops city councilors are asking the provincial and federal governments to consider concerns about the Ajax Mine they say were unaddressed by B.C.’s environmental assessment.  

The proposal for the gold and copper mine by the Polish firm KGHM Polska Miedz has been controversial, with concerns including mining dust, air quality impacts, tailings pond management, slope stability and watershed safety.

“We feel our concerns as a city, as councilors and staff, have been completely ignored and it feels like the Environmental Assessment Office has been in bed with KGHM,” Kamloops city councilor Tina Lange told DeSmog Canada.

City council has voted to send an itemized list of concerns to elected officials before the final project decision is made.

“I’m pro mining. I’m pro resource development,” Lange said. “But this project doesn’t make sense. It’s too big and too close to the city and we felt like our concerns were not heard by the Environmental Assessment Office.”

“It was as if they were helping the mine tailor-make an application that the EA branch could rubber stamp.”

The province is expected to make a decision on the project this fall.

Environmental Assessment Delayed By Public Comments

Last fall KGHM asked the federal and provincial governments to put the review process on pause so the company could respond to the more than 2,000 comments submitted by the city, members of the public, local First Nations and the province.

The Environmental Assessment Office agreed to delay the 180-day review time frame until the company could respond to the comments.

Community members and city councilors expressed concern that the three-kilometre wide open-pit mine, which will be in operation for up to 23 years a mere two kilometres from local homes, will significantly affect local air quality.

Kamloops, which is situated in a natural valley, has been home to some of the worst air quality in the world lately, due to smoke from B.C.’s forest fires, Lange said.

ICYMI: The Mine Next Door, Ajax Mine Series

Major concerns about water quality were also raised, with locals saying KGHM did not give an adequate account of how toxic runoff from the mine’s waste rock would be prevented from leaching into local waterways.

In addition, residents took issue with the project’s tailings pond facility that sits perched above residential areas.

Now, with the release of a 460-page joint provincial-federal assessment report, Kamloops representatives feel much of their involvement wasn’t worth the time.

Kamloops City Council Urge B.C., Ottawa to Re-Think #AjaxMine Environmental Assessment https://t.co/HVaY6Evnt8 #bcpoli #cdnpoli

— DeSmog Canada (@DeSmogCanada) August 18, 2017

City Councilor Asks for Total Suspension of Ajax Review Process

While the Kamloops city council voted early this week to send their list of concerns to elected officials, one councilor felt the plan didn’t go far enough.

Voting against the plan was councilor Dennis Walsh, a long-time opponent of the Ajax mine and vocal advocate for local First Nations.

ICYMI: Kamloops Councillor Claims Ajax Open-Pit Mine Application Violates Canadian Charter

Walsh introduced a new motion asking the leaders of B.C.’s three main political parties to suspend the environmental assessment process. He cited indigenous rights, environmental risks and municipal decision-making authority in his bid.

"It's important that as a community we stick together on these issues," Walsh told Infotel.ca. "It's been made very clear on council and with (the Nation) that this mine will have a very harming risk and adverse effect on the community."

Walsh also proposed an additional motion to support the Stk’emlúpsemc te Secwépemc Nation in its fight against the project, which is proposed on the nation’s unceded traditional territory.

Image: Location of the proposed Ajax mine. Photo: KGHM

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One of the first controversies likely to land on the desk of newly minted Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources Minister Michelle Mungall is what to do about the proposed massive Ajax gold and copper mine on the outskirts of Kamloops that is opposed by Kamloops city council and the Stk’emlupsemc te Secwepemc Nation.

“I think this will be one of their first tests and it will be interesting to see how a new government will handle it,” said Councillor Denis Walsh, a vocal opponent of the proposed mine.

“With the change in government, I am optimistic that we will at least get a fair hearing from the minister. . . . (Former mines minister) Bill Bennett and Michelle Mungall are two different characters and I am optimistic about at least having a meeting with her to express our concerns and her listening to us,” Walsh said.

Debate over the Ajax mine has seethed in Kamloops since the initial proposal, almost seven years ago, by Polish mining company KGHM Polska Miedz for a massive open-pit mine less than two kilometres from homes, with a tailings pond and dam sitting above a city of more than 90,000 people.

Supporters of the $1.3-billion project have pointed to the 500 well-paying, full-time jobs that the mine would create, rising to about 1,800 jobs during construction, and a community benefits agreement worth $3.8 million a year.

But opponents say the mine — which would be three kilometres long and one-and-a-half kilometres wide — is too big and too close.

Rendering of the Ajax mine. Image: KAPA

Concerns include dust, vibration from blasting, slope stability and the safety of water supplies. In the wake of the 2014 Mount Polley tailings pond collapse, many are also uneasy about the proximity of the tailings pond, uphill from homes and schools.

“I totally believe that the worst thing that could happen to Kamloops would be that mine,” Walsh said.

That opposition gained steam this week when city council voted twice to draft a letter to senior levels of government saying council is not in favour of the mine being built on its southern border.

The first vote, Monday evening, at a special council meeting, tied the letter of opposition to the question of whether to continue talking to the provincial Environmental Assessment Office and the result was four to two in favour. The second vote on Tuesday separated the two issues and the vote was 5-1 in favour of making the city’s opposition clear to the federal and provincial governments.

The decision on whether the mine is approved will rest with both senior levels of government and the provincial EAO is expected to make a recommendation to the ministry this fall.

By-elections for two empty council seats and the mayor’s chair will be held Sept 30, but, by then, the EAO process will have been completed, so it is unlikely to be an election issue, Walsh said.

The main concern of councillors was the health and wellbeing of residents, said Walsh, adding that the proposal is fraught with uncertainties and risks.

Acting Mayor Arjun Singh, speaking at the council meeting, said the positives are far outweighed by the negative health impacts.

In addition, it has been a sore point that the previous BC Liberal government was not willing to make accommodation for problems likely to arise with B.C.’s first urban mine, even though the concerns are very different from those created by a mine in the middle of nowhere, Walsh said.

Earlier this year, after an exhaustive review of the project, the Stk’emlupsemc te Secwepemc Nation (SSN) announced its opposition to Ajax and said “free, prior and informed consent” would be withheld.

The mine would include development around Jacko Lake, known as Pipsell by indigenous communities, an area that is profoundly sacred and culturally important to the SSN.

Known as Pipsell to the Secwepemc people, Jacko Lake is the site of “The Trout Children” story from local First Nations oral history. Photo: Carol Linnitt|DeSmog Canada

When the SSN decision was announced, Chief Fred Seymour of the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc, said it was necessary to oppose the project for the sake of the health of the community.

“For our two communities, united through SSN, it does not make sense to sacrifice for all time all that we have in Pipsell to obtain limited benefits which will last for only 25 years,” Seymour said.

“Many impacts were not, and cannot be, monetized, including the adverse impacts on our cultural heritage as well as impacts on the environment,” he said.

The decision was supported by 30 organizations ranging from the David Suzuki Foundation and Sierra Club B.C. to MiningWatch Canada and Kamloops Physicians for a Healthy Environment. The assessment process has raised the ire of many mine opponents and Walsh also wants to see a complete overhaul of “unacceptable, obsolete and unfair” provincial mining regulations.

In a letter written to the NDP, Green and BC Liberal leaders, Walsh asked for the Ajax permitting process to be halted until the province undertakes a judicial review of mining regulations, followed by the necessary reforms.

The four major concerns Walsh sets out in the letter are failure to respect First Nations rights, failure to allow municipalities any control, failure to eliminate new tailings pond dams as recommended following the Mount Polley disaster and failure to separate monitoring and enforcement activities from the Energy and Mines Ministry as recommended by the auditor general.

#Kamloops Council, First Nations Ask BC to Suspend Controversial #AjaxMine Proposal https://t.co/a2yJxNmbxP #bcpoli @Stkemlups_SSN

— DeSmog Canada (@DeSmogCanada) July 19, 2017

Walsh noted that he is not alone in wanting to see changes in mining regulations and pointed out that a report from the University of Victoria’s Environmental Law Centre said “the ramshackle regulatory system governing B.C.’s mining industry is profoundly dysfunctional” and that an Amnesty International report found the Mount Polley disaster raises serious questions about the province’s ability to protect British Columbians.

“It’s a flawed process and the deck is stacked in favour of proponents,” said Walsh, who has not yet received any replies to his letter.

Image: Location of the proposed Ajax mine. Photo: KGHM

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Just over a hill, beyond the rolling grasslands that flank Kamloops, there’s a looming problem that could upend the lifestyle of neighbourhoods on the outskirts of the city and, after years of debate about whether a massive open-pit mine would be a good neighbour, one city councillor is appealing to the provincial government to suspend the process, claiming it might violate Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The proposal for a gold and copper mine less than three kilometres from a school and even closer to homes, with a tailings pond and dam sitting above a city of 90,000 people, has divided Kamloops residents and city council since an application for the Ajax mine was made by Polish mining company KGHM Polska Miedz more than six years ago.

Many of those living closest to the planned urban mine worry about the proximity of the tailings pond — a concern exacerbated by the disastrous 2014 Mount Polley tailings pond breach — and believe that, despite promised mitigation measures, toxic dust will be carried by prevailing winds that blow from the direction of the mine over their homes and that slope stability and watersheds could be affected.

The mine is too close and too big, said several residents of the nearest neighbourhood.

“We live just underneath the hill and the footprint of the mine is going to be so huge,” said Helen Newmarch, who has lived in the Aberdeen subdivision for almost 30 years.

“It’s not just the pit, it’s the immense tailings pond. It’s right on top of the Pearson Creek aquifer, which runs into the Thompson River,” said Newmarch, who chairs the Aberdeen Neighbourhood Association.

Site of the proposed Ajax Mine. Photo: Carol Linnitt/DeSmog Canada

The Thompson is on the migratory route of the legendary Adams River sockeye salmon run.

On the opposite side are Ajax supporters who point to the prospect of 500 well-paying, full-time jobs, 1,800 temporary jobs during construction, an estimated $84-million in annual tax revenue and continued company financial support for community activities.

The two viewpoints are reflected in the makeup of council with four members adamantly opposed to the mine and four councillors and Mayor Peter Milobar taking a wait-and-see attitude until KGHM responds to concerns.

The company made changes to its plans following the public input phase of the Environmental Assessment process and then asked the provincial government to put the provincial and federal Environmental Assessment process on hold to allow time for KGHM to respond to more than 2,000 questions raised by the public, First Nations and the province.

The B.C. Environmental Assessment Office will not restart the 180-day review time frame until it has been determined that the company has provided adequate responses.

Kamloops has a history of mining — although no other mines are as close to the city as the KGHM proposal — and, according to Mayor Peter Milobar the discussion centres on whether it’s an appropriate location for a mine rather than a classic industry versus environment battle.

“The proximity is pretty daunting,” said Randy Sunderman, whose Aberdeen neighbourhood home is about 2.4 kilometres from the mine site.

“It’s not only close, but it’s on the top of the hill so our first concern is around slope stability, we have a lot of underground streams around here.”

Proposed layout of the Ajax Mine. Image: Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency

The mine is going to be three kilometres long and one-and-a-half kilometres wide so there is likely to be constant vibration from blasting, Sunderman said.

“There is a lot of concern about how this is going to affect property values.”

However, yea-or-nay power lies with the federal and provincial governments, which is why, if the project is approved, the city wants a community benefits agreement with the company, possibly written into the permit.

“We are working with KGHM on what an agreement would look like if they were to get permitted and what sort of commitments they are willing to make to the community,” Milobar said.

But, Councillor Denis Walsh, one of the opponents, wants a stronger approach and has unilaterally written to Premier Christy Clark asking her to suspend the permitting process, claiming that fundamental flaws “may well constitute an abuse of fair process contrary to Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms.”

Walsh said plans to build a massive tailings pond above the city violate principles of natural justice.

“This is a direct threat to the lives and security of the persons living below,” he wrote.

“I remind you of the catastrophic failure of the Mount Polley tailings pond dam two years ago and point out that the proposed Ajax mine tailings pond is to be approximately five times larger than Mount Polley, even with proposed adjustments for thickened tailings and reduced water content. We can only imagine the dire consequences had there been a city of 90,000 residents just below Mount Polley dam.”

Walsh also criticized the province for ignoring the recommendation of Auditor General Carol Bellringer to separate mine oversight from the ministry that issues permits and wrote “the ability of the mines and environment ministries to monitor and enforce safe mining practices is a proven failure that must be corrected and for you to arbitrarily continue to ignore this reality is an abuse of fair process with the very large potential to harm Kamloops residents.”

Energy and Mines Minister Bill Bennett did not respond to DeSmog Canada’s questions about the process or timeframe.

For First Nations in the area, concerns are cultural as well as practical and the Skeetchestn and Tk’emlups bands, members of the Shuswap (Secwepemc) Nation Tribal Council, have undertaken their own assessment of the project.

The mine would be built on unceded traditional territory, said band spokesmen.

Known as Pipsell to the Secwepemc people, Jacko Lake is the site of "The Trout Children" story from local First Nations oral history. Photo: Carol Linnitt

“We are hoping by December to have a position to take forward to the provincial and federal ministers on where we stand in relation to the Ajax mine,” said Skeetchestn Chief Ron Ignace.

As in the larger community, there are differing viewpoints, but Ignace said community members have serious concerns, such as air pollution, the loss of grassland when there is only one per cent of the grassland ecosystem left, and the amount of water the mine would use.

“That one mine would use the same amount of water that the City of Kamloops uses,” he said.

Last year Skeetchestn and Tk’emlups filed a rights and title claim in B.C. Supreme Court to Jacko Lake and the surrounding area, part of the proposed mine site.

“We called upon the federal and provincial governments to do a declaration of title and both refused, so we have done our own declaration of title to force the governments to deal with us more seriously,” Ignace said.

#Kamloops Councillor Claims Ajax Open-Pit Mine Application Violates Canadian Charter https://t.co/C4JfWSHns1 #bcpoli #cdnpoli @LavoieJudith

— DeSmog Canada (@DeSmogCanada) October 12, 2016

To add weight to their case, some band members are hoping to meet with the Polish government, which holds a 32 per cent stake in KGHM, to remind them that Poland signed the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

“We are calling on them to respect the requirement of free, prior and informed consent regarding any decision around Jacko Lake,” Ignace said.

Jacko Lake, known as Pipsell to the Secwepemc people, is the site of the First Nations oral history story known as “The Trout Children” which sets out the need for protocol and stewardship of the land.

Meanwhile, mine opponents such as Newmarch and Walsh are concentrating on B.C. politicians.

However, it is difficult to get their attention and it is getting more complicated with a provincial election brewing, especially as Mayor Milobar is in the running for a Liberal nomination, Newmarch said.

“It is really hard to say with any confidence where our government stands on this,” she said.

KGHM donated $57,000 to the Liberals and $800 to the NDP between March 2013 and November 2015.

Walsh wants all governments to act on the precautionary principle and, if necessary, enshrine best practices in the permit.

“This is so unique. It’s the first urban mine in B.C. and we need to have safeguards,” he said.

“I can’t see this being decided before the election.”

Image: KGHM Old Afton mine via KGHM website

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Well, the disclosure statements are in and we now know (sort of) how much was spent trying to sway voters during B.C.’s local elections in November.

In addition to disclosures on how much candidates spent during the elections, there are also filings for more than 100 organizations registered with Elections BC as third-party sponsors. This is the first time third parties have been forced to register with Elections BC and report their spending — and at least two resource companies are in the mix.

Big third-party advertisers include Woodfibre LNG, which spent $18,248 on newspaper and radio ads in Squamish, where the company is proposing a liquefied natural gas export terminal. The company spent 17 times what it would be allowed to spend per capita during a provincial election, according to analysis by Integrity BC — a non-profit organization that campaigns to reform B.C.’s electoral finance.

That’s because B.C. still has no limits on spending during local elections — despite a task force recommending limits be implemented back in 2010.

Integrity BC’s Dermod Travis notes that all that spending didn’t work out so well for Woodfibre LNG. Patricia Heintzman won the mayor's chair with a spend of $11,842, defeating the more LNG-friendly incumbent Rob Kirkham.

KGHM Spends $8,600 on Ajax Mine Letter

Meanwhile in Kamloops, KGHM International spent $8,605 on a mailing about its proposed Ajax Mine — an open-pit copper and gold mine proposed within Kamloops city limits. The company writes in a post on its website that the letter was sent to a “group of Ajax supporters.” The letter included a list of all candidates running for Kamloops city council and listed their public positions on the Ajax mine.

“At a cost of $8,605 that was either one very large group or one very long letter,” Travis notes. “Didn't work out so well for the mine either when the results came in.”

Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Spending Remains a Mystery

As is often the case, the biggest story may be in what we don't know.

In October, Elections BC ruled that Kinder Morgan didn’t need to register as a third-party sponsor despite launching a major advertising offensive about its proposed Trans Mountain oilsands pipeline to Burnaby during the election. Due to that ruling, Kinder Morgan’s spending during the election will forever remain a mystery.

Photo: My Sea to Sky

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As we pull up to the mouth of the Hazeltine Creek, where billions of litres of mining waste from the Imperial Metals Mount Polley mine spilled into Quesnel Lake on August 4th, I’m thinking to myself what numerous locals have recently said to me: this shouldn’t have happened.

All of the warning signs were present that the waste pit for the mine was overburdened: employees raised the alarm, government citations were issued, engineering reports contained warnings.

It shouldn’t have happened, and yet it did.

And now local residents and First Nations will shoulder the full, long-term burden of the accident on the environment, the significance of which won’t be truly know for decades to come.

If you visit the town of Likely, B.C. (which you should because the entire region, much of it unaffected by the spill, is stunning and the locals beyond hospitable) you’ll hear a lot of support for the mining industry, but a growing frustration over irresponsible management and lack of oversight.

British Columbians should know, however, that less oversight and regulation is exactly what is being promised to the extractive industry at both the provincial and federal level.

In June Christy Clark recently congratulated Bill Bennett, B.C.’s minister of energy and mines, for ridding industry of ”red tape” surrounding new mining projects. According to a mandate letter, over the next year Bennett is expected to “encourage mine development across the province” and work with the Ministry of Finance to extend new mining allowances.

Bennett is also expected to “support the development of new mines and major mine expansions by working with industry…to ensure that BC’s mines permitting process is the best in Canada.”

Nowhere are more strident environmental standards, best practices, addressing community concerns or responsible development mentioned in the minister’s mandate.

On the federal level changes made to Canada’s environmental legislation in the infamous Omnibus Budget Bill C-38 also pave the way for less regulatory oversight as well as fewer and less-robust environmental assessments before projects are built or expanded.

Omnibus Budget Bill C-45, released soon after C-38, made massive changes to the Navigable Waters Protection Act, effectively removing 99.7 per cent of Canada’s lakes and 99.9 per cent of Canada’s rivers from federal environmental oversight.

The new legislation also makes it very difficult for citizens to participate in hearings (if hearings are even open to the public, which isn’t the case for the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain expansion) where their testimonies can play a role in discussing the feasibility and desirability of a project in a specific area.

Under the new laws permits, like the ones Imperial Metals was obliged to obtain in order to expand mining operations at Mount Polley, can be approved without an environmental assessment. New mining projects and expansions are now positioned to occur without due scientific and environmental review or public input.

That means local residents will have less information and less say in the decision-making process about projects that stand to affect them the most.

The city of Kamloops is currently fighting the proposed Ajax mine, a mega gold and copper mine that would not only operate a massive tailings facility mere kilometres from the Coquihalla Highway but would be built directly on top of the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline.

An accident of the scale at Mount Polley would be catastrophic so close to the city limits of Kamloops, the tournament capital of B.C.

In B.C.’s 2012 Mining Strategy, Christy Clark said the province is on track to meet its Jobs Plan target of opening eight new mines and expanding nine others by 2015.

The promise of expanded mining in this province is being made before appropriate public consultation and environmental safety reviews, not to mention adequate First Nations consent.

The push for industrial development appears top priority, no matter what the social and environmental costs.

Similarly the province is pushing for new oil pipelines and LNG projects that communities have explicitly fought to prevent or, in some cases, voted against.

The residents of Likely, just like many other British Columbians, have high expectations for both government and industry. But with the collapse of the tailings pond wall has come a collapse of trust, something I hope our provincial government and Imperial Metals will work overtime to rebuild.

If the breach of the Mount Polley tailings pond can bring anything into sharper relief for British Columbians, it is that our relationship with industry in this province is heading in the wrong direction.

If we want to avoid the caution tape, we’re going to have to rethink our perspective on red tape.

Industry needs productive, safe and enabling parameters to work within and British Columbians deserve to rest assured that our business leaders and elected representatives are engineering those limits right – with a foundation much stronger than that of the Mount Polley tailings pond.

Image Credit: Imperial Metals' Mount Polley Mine. Photo by Carol Linnitt.

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Part 2 of the series The Mine Next Door, an in-depth look at the proposed Ajax mine near Kamloops, British Columbia. Read Part 1 of this series: KGHM Open-Pit Mine Proposal Within Kamloops City Limits.

Despite concerns about public and environmental health, some Kamloops residents still support the KGHM Ajax open-pit mine proposal due to optimism about jobs and economic returns through federal and provincial taxes.

The perspective of the supporters isn't new. Resource exploration is common in the area. However, open-pit mines are a relatively recent development in B.C. According to the Ministry of Energy and Mines, which is responsible for the Core Review of the project, "Throughout the [last] century following the Fraser River Gold Rush, most mining activities in British Columbia took place underground. But in the early 1960s, the feasibility of open-pit production increased tremendously, and as a result, several huge copper mines opened, including Highland Valley Copper—the largest open-pit operation in all of North America." 

However, many Kamloopians are hoping that the future of Kamloops will head in a different direction. Today the city is known for a great many things besides resources. Since Kamloops  is “Canada’s Tournament Capital,” a growing university town with the Thompson Rivers University, where the largest employer is the Royal Inlands Hospital (RIH), the economics of the Ajax project may not be as simple as they seem.

Most Kamloopians are comfortable with a certain amount of mining activity and resource exploration so long as it doesn't put priorities like health and livability in jeopardy. What makes the Ajax project problematic is it’s potential to threaten other industries, drive down property values and distort the healthy-city image that the title, “Canada’s Tournament Capital,” implies.

Kamloops has been picking up speed as a highly desirable place for young families and professionals to start a life and career. Business opportunities are plentiful and the RIH is actively recruiting medical and administrative professionals. Prospective Kamloopians could be dissuaded from re-locating to a mining town.

Surrounding the southwest side of the city with an open-pit mine and adjacent tailings facilities, could bring about the destructive re-branding of Kamloops from Canada's Tournament Capital to mining town. 

Part of the role of Tournament Capital includes hosting events such as the Western Canada Summer Games (WCSG). When Kamloops hosted this hugely profitable event, the City enjoyed an estimated $9,000,000 according to KAPA. The City hosts other large events such as the recent B.C, Senior Games and the upcoming curling Briar, all of which add large sums to the Kamloops economy. 

According to the economic development company Venture Kamloops, "Rocky Mountaineer Vacations injects over $15 million into the local economy during the summer season, and Kamloops is a stopover point for bus tour companies travelling between the Lower Mainland and Rocky Mountains. Kamloops also caters to the business travel market with state-of-the-art meeting and conference facilities. Several major hotel chains have moved to Kamloops in recent years, and the $20 million expansion of the Kamloops Airport is now complete." [view:in_this_series=block_1]

In all, tourism adds $165,000,000 annually to the local economy according the research of two faculty member in the tourism department of TRU. 

In a recent interview with DeSmog, KGHM, a Polish mining firm, said they did not believe the open-pit mine would affect the city's brand. “We do not anticipate the Kamloops Tournament Capital brand will be affected. Visiting athletes come for the city’s tremendous facilities.”

According to the Kamloops Area Preservation Association (KAPA) there is more at stake than there is to gain. “Homes in Aberdeen, Pineview Valley, South Sahali, Knutsford and in Mt. Dufferin [will be reduced by] 5% to 25% for a total of between $135,000,000 to $675,000,000 based on average current home values of $300,000. These residents will not be in the mood to spend much at local businesses after their assessment notices arrive.”

KGHM claims that the project will offer about 1000 temporary construction jobs during the building phase and “500 full-time positions ranging from technical, to mining services, health and safety, and administrative.” Former City Councilor, Chair of the Economic Development committee and member of the City Planning Commission, Dianne Kerr says, ”the [jobs]" represent less than 1% of the Kamloops workforce. Not all of those jobs will go to local residents. With the recent federal decisions enabling foreign workers to be hired at reduced wage rates, the number of jobs for local people will be even more questionable.”  

Since 2008, the market for copper hasn’t been as promising as it has been in years past and prices continue to fall. KGHM International—one of the largest copper mining companies in the world—has been making headlines lately for bad financial projections and financial losses due to the falling prices of silver and copper.

According to a recent write-up in Reuters, the company “disappointed on Wednesday (AUG 14, 2013) with a lower-than-expected net profit in the second quarter as it suffered from falling copper and silver prices.

The state-controlled miner showed a stand-alone bottom line almost 60 percent lower year-on-year at 666 million zlotys ($210.1 million). Analysts polled by Reuters expected the profit at 761 million. This pegs the company's first-half net profit at 1.73 billion zlotys, a little over a half of its full-year guidance of 3.2 billion.”

The AJAX mine project is a low-grade copper-gold deposit, which means there is not a great deal of copper, but there will be a lot of waste to manage. The combination of a low-grade mine and falling copper prices may imply that though the company may promise full-time employment for the 23-year life of the mine, the economics may not support it. 

The company predicts that the mine will have an “annual production of 109 million pounds of copper and 99,000 ounces of gold.” The facilities will have a 60,000 tone-per-day (TPD) processing capacity. When asked about the nature of a low-grade mine in terms of economics, the they assured DeSmog that "KGHMI has experience in successfully managing low grade deposits to meet financial goals in accordance with our Zero Harm philosophy."

KGHM expects to make a contribution of “$550 million dollars in Federal and Provincial taxes, $210 million in British Columbia Mining Act Tax, and $110 million in Municipal tax. Additionally, all levels of government are expected to benefit from increased indirect taxation associated with the project arising from income, property, and consumer taxation from business and employees working for, or servicing, the Ajax Project.”

The researchers at KAPA wonder if the company isn’t being somewhat misleading. According to their breakdown Ajax will "result in a total profit of over $9 billion dollars that will leave the Kamloops area, [going] mostly to Poland and some to Victoria to fund projects such as bridges, roads and stadium roofs in the golden triangle” and Kamloopians may be forced to subsidize the project by building roads and offering energy cost incentives.  

“This is not a good deal for Kamloops,” said Dianne Kerr. “The costs to our City are just too great, both in human and environmental terms. What is truly sad is that those costs will go un-quantified because the assessment process does not require a high level socio-economic study."

*image via Wikipedia and KAPA

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Tony Brumell is a poet, a fisherman and a former miner, happily retired in Kamloops B.C. He’s the kind of man that doesn’t have an email address or a laptop. He drives a red pick-up truck with a wooden canoe strapped to the top—ready to cut into the lake at a moment’s notice. Tony is the first to point out that he shouldn't have to meet with us, that his time should be spent canoeing Jacko Lake and dreaming up new lyrical ideas. Instead he volunteers his time to take anyone who’ll listen on environmental tours of the proposed site for KGHM Ajax open-pit gold and copper mine.

It was a grey day in August—a luxury in the Okanagan where mid-summer temperatures can reach upwards of 40˚C—when we, a group of writers and researchers from DeSmog Canada, met with Tony and some members of local preservation organizations. Tony took us on his tour of the rolling hills and glassy lakes that could soon be replaced with a dusty open-pit mine and tailings storage piles.

As a miner and an environmental activist, Tony understands the scale and implications of the project very well. Throughout his career, he’s been involved in everything from blasting, scaling, slope stabilization to surveying. He knows exactly what a mine like Ajax will mean for Kamloops and he is extremely worried.

Tony and a group of folks from the Kamloops Area Preservation Association (KAPA) and Kamloops Concerned Citizens (KCC) met us fully prepared, with fruits from their gardens and chairs to sit on while they confessed their concerns about the project.

Dianne Kerr, a member of the KCC and KAPA, is a former City Councillor, Chair of the Economic Development Committee, and member of the City Planning Commission. She told DeSmog that she thinks the mine “[is] too big and too close.”

Kerr and KCC co-member, Sandra Abraham, helped to produce the informational video, “Is This The Future of Kamloops?” which outlines the many dangers for Kamloops residents with regards to mining developments.  

It has been the goal of Dianne and these organizations to inform the citizens of Kamloops of the disaster that could be at their doorsteps. KAPA and KCC are concerned that residents aren't taking the threat seriously enough. Since Kamloops has an extensive history of mining and resource-based developments, KAPA and KCC fear that may have set a precedent with residents and politicians that mining is generally benign.

Tony tells us the local mining projects of the past were “nothing of any significant size compared to the proposed KGHM pit." He adds that despite the small scale of previous mining activities, the area is only just beginning to recover the migration of wildlife that once flourished in these lakes and hills. A similar recovery from such a large project as Ajax isn't likely, says Tony.

“This mine will do things to this part of the country that will alter it forever. All of this habitat and recreational area will be gone.”

The Ajax project is much larger than anything ever proposed in Kamloops. While on our tour, Tony asked us to turn and look at Sugarloaf Mountain, the tallest peak in sight, roughly 1640 feet away.

“That is roughly the top of the waste rock storage. It’s going to be 550 feet high… it’s going to be 7000 feet from the eastern edge [which is] about 100 feet from the Coquihalla Highway.”

“And that’s not the big deal” he continued. “This thing is going to be 10,000 feet long. Do you know how long the Bennett Dam is? About 7000 feet—a billion cubic metres of tailings material.”

According to the current plans, KGHM plans to construct two massive waste rock dumps. There is concern that the massive weight from rock and tailings facilities and vast amounts of water for dust control could cause stability problems in the area caused by falling water tables.

Ajax is a low-grade copper mine, expected to be a 60,000 tone-a-day operation with a waste rock to ore ratio of 2.4-1. Which means for every tone that is removed, 2.4 tones will be removed as waste rock.  

Strategic ore stockpiles and waste rock storage piles will be anywhere from 310-725 metres away from the city and could reach as high as skyscrapers. The tailings pile would be loaded with the toxic chemicals used in the extraction process, which could wash away into aquifers and lakes via rainwater, snow, and road treatment. 

The open pit and the processing plant will require KGHM to blast into 20 to 25 square kilometres around the western perimeter of town. The nearest construction site will be a mere 1.25 km away from housing in the Aberdeen neighbourhood and the Pacific Way Elementary School.

KGHM told DeSmog that they are unconcerned about the proximity to the city. "There are many examples of open-pit mines in close proximity to communities and neighbourhoods – much closer even than the proposed Ajax Project. For example, our mine in Nevada is directly adjacent to a residential area." 

However, revised plans for the Ajax project have placed the construction somewhat further away from residential zones. When asked about these reconsiderations, they told DeSmog: "The company has listened to area residents and taken an opportunity to reconfigure the project to lessen their concerns."

Shown Below: KGHM Robinson Mine, Ely, NV.

According to the Ajax Feasibility Study done by Abacus Mining and Exploration Corp, “the project is expected to generate Criteria Air Contaminants (CACs) (particulate matter and atmospheric emissions) from surface disturbance and fossil fuel combustion during construction, operations, decommissioning and reclamation of the project. Fugitive dust is expected to be the major emission relevant to air quality and the primary concern for nearby residents.”  

Initial reports by the Ministry of Energy and Mines Responsible for Core Review have found that the mine is set to blast into rock containing arsenic, lead, aluminum, chromium, uranium, manganese, and strontium.

According to the Airshed Plan 2012, The City of Kamloops said, “there is no safe level of particulate matter.” However, the arid windy Okanagan climate may make dust containing these known carcinogens impossible to avoid.

Kamloops is in a valley susceptible to inversion, which can block the vertical movement of air, making particulate matter and diesel emissions a dangerous threat to local air quality.[view:in_this_series=block_1]

When asked if the Okanagan climate would be taken into consideration in their environmental assessments, KGHM told DeSmog that "[t]he consultants studying dustfall and air quality will use a complex computer model to predict the effects of mine operations. The model incorporates scores of input and factors three years of local weather data. Results are not yet complete. The studies are underway." 

Kerr says that KAPA and the KCC have asked for more extensive environmental assessments from the provincial and federal governments but so far they’ve received only evasive, uninformative replies. 

KGHM told DeSmog: "all the studies are being conducted by independent engineering consultants. Many of the studies will also be peer-reviewed. The final say on the adequacy of the studies rests with the provincial and federal governments, either of which could seek more information or question the work done."

KGHM expects to submit their application for an environmental permit by early 2015.

Until then, Tony Brumell will be offering his time to give tours of Jacko Lake, Inks Lake and Sugarloaf Mountain, always keeping a look out for the rare burrowing owl. There's no better way to learn exactly what's at stake. 

*images used with permission of KAPA and wiki.

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