Submarine/Subaqueous Tailings Disposal

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.

A federal environmental assessment of Marathon PGM's proposed mine in northern Ontario started on April 16, 2010. One of two proposed tailings management options would have 61-million m³ of mine waste dumped into Bamoos Lake. Bamoos Lake is a deep, cold water lake with a naturally sustaining lake trout population. It is used as both an aboriginal and recreational fishery.