Submarine/Subaqueous Tailings Disposal

Each year, mining companies dump more than 180 million tonnes of hazardous mine waste into rivers, lakes, and oceans worldwide, threatening vital bodies of water with toxic heavy metals and other chemicals poisonous to humans and wildlife, according to this report by Earthworks and MiningWatch Canada.

On a flashy new website, Taseko claims that it has addressed all of the issues raised by the review panel and that it continues to work collaboratively with the First Nations on whose traditional territory the massive open pit operation would be located.

News release posted on behalf of the Tsilhqot'in National Government: The Tsilhqot’in view Taseko Mines Ltd.’s (TML) so-called “New Prosperity” proposal as equally dangerous as the first – the integrity of Teztan Biny and its surrounding environment are not ‘saved’ by literally surrounding this sacred lake by one of the world’s largest open pits, a tailings pond designed for 720 million tons of toxic waste, nor by continuing to destroy Little Fish Lake and Fish Creek.  The impacts clearly articulated in the “scathing” 2010 Federal Review Panel Report, and acknowledged by the federal government’s rejection of the project in November 2010, are not addressed by simply re-packaging an already assessed proposal.

Since the federal government's refusal to approve its Prosperity Gold-Copper Mine project, Taseko Mines Ltd. has maintained that the project was not dead and that they would find a way to see it through. Press releases and communications have included comments about needing to better understand the concerns of First Nations and federal regulators – despite these being clearly and precisely detailed in numerous submissions to the review panel and in the panel’s final report.