None of 40 Sisson Mine conditions met so far, province says
CBC
The New Brunswick government is acknowledging that none of the 40 conditions imposed on the Sisson Mine project have been met almost a decade after they were attached to the province’s environmental impact assessment approval.
That is giving environmentalists another argument in their case against the massive resource project that would be built northwest of Fredericton.
“The EIA process is a living process, so I’d say the 40 are not complied [with] yet, and we know that 28 of those conditions need to be fulfilled before construction starts,” Environment Minister Gilles LePage told reporters recently at the legislature.
Critics say the conditions were too weak when they were issued in 2015, and now many are a decade out of date.
“We don’t have a lot of faith that this project is going forward with high environmental standards,” said Allyson Heustis, the executive director of the Nashwaak Watershed Association.
“It’s been about 15 years since they’ve been starting this proposed mine, so we’ve officially come out in opposition of the mine as it was proposed.”
Among the 40 conditions are a water quality monitoring plan, air quality approval, modelling for potential tailings pond failures, an emergency response plan and a start of construction within five years.
The province extended that deadline twice already, in 2020 and 2022.
LePage extended it again earlier this month for another five years, until 2030.
The mine would extract tungsten and molybdenum, two critical minerals used in energy applications like batteries, and also for military purposes.
The province estimated a decade ago it would generate $280 million in royalties for the government over the 27 years of operation.
The federal government referred the mine to its Major Projects Office two weeks ago as part of an effort to weaken China’s domination of the global critical minerals market.
Major project designation would allow for the fast-tracking of federal regulatory approvals, though even projects that are not designated can benefit from other forms of government support.
The Susan Holt government is pushing for offtake agreements and a price floor — two measures that would guarantee sales of the mine’s minerals at a viable price.
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