BC Ministry of Mines grants West High Yield a permit for Record Ridge mine
By Sara Golling
The Ministry of Mining and Critical Minerals has approved West High Yield (WHY) Resources’ mining permit for an open-pit magnesium mine on Record Ridge.
The government’s new release states,
“The project underwent a thorough regulatory review to assess potential effects such as noise and dust. The company must implement comprehensive mitigation measures, including noise controls, dust-management systems and continuous environmental monitoring, to minimize any potential disruption to the community.
“Reviews conducted under the Mines Act and the Environmental Management Act assessed potential impacts on the environment and community. The project, as currently proposed, does not meet the threshold to require an environmental assessment by the Environmental Assessment Office.”
The news release does acknowledge that “There are still two substantial permits under consideration.”
WHY must still obtain permission from the Ministry of Transportation and Transit “to use local roads, to ensure that safety risks due to mine traffic are appropriately mitigated.” Given the current state of the Old Cascade Highway, one of the principal “local roads” that would likely be used, mitigating safety risks could be very expensive.
The other permitting issue that may cause problems for WHY is the need for water at the mine site. The government release states,
“If an Environmental Management Act permit is issued for this project, it will prescribe water-management requirements. It is expected that water-management practices will be continually monitored and improved upon as needed throughout the life of the mine. Related permit conditions have been added in the Mines Act permit.”
To see the 27-page permit and its requirements, click this link.
Among many other things, the permit limits the hours of work allowed at the potential mine operation:
“Authorized activities are restricted to the following schedule: Up to 11 hours per day, no earlier than 7 am and no later than 6 pm, 5 days a week (Monday to Friday). There shall be no work on Saturday, Sunday or Statutory holidays.”
The people of Rossland, Paterson, and Big Sheep Creek, as well as eager investors in WHY’s stock, will have to wait a while longer to discover whether or not there will be an open-pit mine on Record Ridge, as WHY makes further efforts to resolve the issues of road access and water sources.
