Environmental Assessment Office completes review of Ajax Mine near Kamloops

The B.C. Environmental Assessment Office has completed its review of an application for the Ajax Mine south of Kamloops and handed it over to the provincial government for a final decision.

The provincial ministers of environment and mines have until January 4, 2018, to decide whether to issue an environmental assessment certificateor request further assessment.

The mine owner,KGHM Ajax Mining Inc., wants to develop a new open-pit copper and gold mine which could produceup to 24 million tonnes of ore per year over a 23-year lifetime.

If the ministersissue an environmental assessment certificate, it would include aproject description that outlines the mine's components, activities andlegally binding conditions that KGHM Ajax must follow.

"Whether people are for or against the mine, everyone wants to have some closure," said Kamloops city councillor Donovan Cavers, who opposesthe mine.

Kamloops city council voted to oppose the open pit mine in July 2017and local First Nations rejected the mine in March after their own environmental review.