bcbusiness.ca January 2015 BCBusiness 71
of November to give a speech at the
annual Alaska Miners Association
convention, as well as to meet with
politicians and commercial fisher-
men: "I think there has been damage
to the reputation of mining in B.C.
and Canada."
Like government officials, the
Mining Association of BC (
MABC) has
been besieged by calls about Mount
Polley. But Karina Brino,
MABC
president and
CEO, says any Mount
Polley backlash that results in lon-
ger, more cumbersome permitting
processes would be unwelcome.
"
MABC is a strong advocate that all
natural resource ministries have
the resources necessary to carry out
their permitting and First Nations
consultation obligations in an effec-
tive and timely manner," she says.
"Delays in the assessment and per-
mitting process can impact private
sector investment, job creation and,
ultimately, the economic recovery
that the mining sector is poised to
provide."
However, there's no doubt that
Mount Polley has sent a tremor
through the boardrooms of min-
ers across Canada. Toronto-based
Seabridge Gold submitted a 35,000-
page application to the B.C. Envi-
ronmental Assessment Agency for
its remote
KSM project near the
Alaskan Panhandle before receiv-
ing its environmental certificate on
July 30. Five days later, the Mount
Polley dam broke, unleashing a
media storm and forcing Seabridge
to sit down once again with its First
Nation partners and other stake-
holders to discuss and review any
engineering concerns.
KSM has a
projected production life of 52 years
with an estimated $42 billion in total
GDP contribution. Brent Murphy,
KSM's VP of environmental affairs,
says the company has now volun-
tarily committed to an independent
third-party review of all operations
for the mine's lifetime.
"We're very confident in our plan,
but the mining industry now has a
duty to win back public confidence
after Mount Polley," Murphy says.
"Earning social licence is an ongoing
process."
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