Taseko New Prosperity Mine at Fish Lake rejected again

It's back to the drawing board for round three for Taseko Mines, Ltd.

The New Prosperity gold and copper mine project near Fish Lake has been rejected once again by the federal Ministry of Environment, in the latest of a long back-and-forth between Taseko Mines Ltd. and the Canadian government.

• 2010 Prosperity Mine proposal is rejected by Ministry of Environment
• 2012 Taseko re-submits environmental impact statement for New Prosperity Mine
• July 2013 Public hearings begin, Tsilhqot'in First Nation vows to fight New Prosperity Mine
• October 2013 Federal Review Panel finds 'adverse environmental effects'
• November 2013 First Nations celebrate review panel findings

Minister of Environment, Leona Agluqqak, has concluded the controversial project which has been rejected once before is likely to cause irreversible environmental damage. In a statement, the ministry said the project will not proceed.

An independent review panel found environmental damage to the Fish Lake water supply would be irreparable. This is the second proposal Taseko has put forward for the open pit mine, roughly 125 kilometres southwest of Williams Lake, B.C.

The mining giant has said it will reapply yet again.

Both this reincarnation of the Taseko Mines proposal and a previous one were heavily supported by the B.C. Liberal government. Minister of Energy and Mines Bill Bennett has made two trips to Ottawa to lobby for the project.

Taseko Mines Ltd. launched a judicial review in 2013 alleging thefederal panel reviewing the second proposal used the wrong information to conclude the mine would result in adverse environmental effects.

The project has facedvehement opposition from members of the Tsilhqot'in First Nation, who argue Fish Lake considered sacred in their culture would be damaged by the mine.

Taseko's first proposal was rejected by the Ministry of Environment in 2010 for environmental concerns. In that proposal, which received provincial approval, the mining firm proposed using the lake as atailingspond.

Taseko then drafted a new environmental impact assessment, and re-submitted it to the Review Panel. The revised proposal for the $1.5 billion project included plans for conserving Fish Lake.

The company has estimated the New Prosperity minewould generate 550 direct jobs and $340 million in gross domestic product annually.