An aerial image from 2024 showing the Copper Mountain Mine’s Ingerbelle pit’s proximity to the Similkameen River in smǝlqmíx homelands. Photo by Aaron Hemens

Indigenous leaders from the Similkameen Valley are “deeply disappointed” by a provincial decision to approve a contentious mine expansion in their territories — emphasizing that they did not give consent for the project to move forward.

On Monday, the “B.C.” government announced it had issued Mines Act and Environmental Management Act permits for the New Ingerbelle expansion of the Copper Mountain Mine near “Princeton” in smǝlqmíx territory.

The expansion project will see the century-old mining operation revive its old Ingerbelle open pit gold and copper mine site near nməlqytkʷ (the Similkameen River). The expansion will extend the mining’s operation until 2047, the province said.

In the province’s statement, it acknowledged that the mine is in the Upper and Lower Similkameen Indian Bands’ (USIB and LSIB) territories.

“The permitting review process included engagement with both First Nations, along with technical review by provincial agencies to assess environmental impacts, tailings management and public safety,” it said.

However, a joint statement issued Monday by leadership of both bands says that “chiefs, councilors, natural resource departments, and community members of the bands did not give consent for this project to move forward.”

“The smǝlqmíx and our neighbours that choose to be here forever, will have to deal with the consequences long after the profits and monies have left the valley,” said the statement from USIB and LSIB.

“The chiefs and councils of the Upper Similkameen Indian Band and the Lower Similkameen Indian Band are deeply disappointed by the Province of British Columbia’s decision … to approve the New Ingerbelle Expansion Proposal for the Copper Mountain Mine.”

The First Nations noted that participation agreements that they signed with the mine earlier this month “expressly state that advance consent to New Ingerbelle was not provided.”

The new participation agreements with the mine that were signed by the bands replace older ones that were signed in 2019. They include “community benefits and environmental terms related to the mine operations and protecting the Similkameen River;” “stability and certainty” for mining operations; and “structured processes” between USIB, LSIB and the mine “to work together on monitoring mine operations and mitigating its environmental impacts.”

The bands said that they will now review the approval conditions and reasons for the decision, and “assess all available options to ensure that the waters, all living things, and the lands, will be taken care of.”

Separating the Ingerbelle pit from the mine’s main site is the 197-km long Similkameen River. Part of the expansion project will see a bridge constructed over the river to connect the two sites.

The mine’s already existing 192-metre tailings dam — roughly equivalent in height to a 58-storey building — will also be increased by an additional 87 metres, according to the province’s Environmental Assessment Office (EAO).

The 192-metre tailings dam of the Copper Mountain Mine in smǝlqmíx homelands, photographed in 2024, is roughly equivalent in height to a 58-storey building. Photo by Aaron Hemens

Meanwhile, Robert Carter, senior vice-president for Hudbay Minerals’ operations in “Canada,” thanked the province, USIB and LSIB “for their open and efficient collaboration throughout the process.”

“Through our strong commitment to responsible resource development and the expansion of copper production from Copper Mountain, we will be continuing to provide a metal that is vital for electrification and the global energy transition and supporting B.C.’s Critical Mineral Strategy,” Carter said in a release on Monday.

The project’s approval comes less than a month after the Ministry of Mining and Critical Minerals told IndigiNews that the expansion proposal still required further consultation with USIB and LSIB.

The spokesperson also said the expansion plan had to “meet or exceed B.C.’s world-class environmental standards.”

Last May, a pipe failure at the mine site resulted in 3,000 litres of mine tailings seeping into an area beside the Similkameen River. The B.C. Ministry of Environment and Parks told IndigiNews that it’s unknown if the mine water entered the river, or was absorbed into the ground.

In 2024, the provincial Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy issued six fines to Copper Mountain Mine totalling $105,348.

The string of offences, which occurred between 2019-2022, all relate to the mine’s unauthorized seepage and discharge of mine water from its tailings pond into the surrounding waterways of the Similkameen River and Wolfe Creek, which both flow through the mine’s area of operation.

In 2021, the mine at one point exceeded the legal limit of copper waste discharged from its tailings pond into Wolfe Creek by more than 4,500 per cent.

Two years ago, one LSIB member spoke of a time where you could drink the water from Wolfe Creek, which is a tributary of the Similkameen River. Despite a series of mine contamination events into the creek, a senior representative for the Copper Mountain Mine told the community that she would still drink the water.

Wolfe Creek, downstream from the Copper Mountain Mine’s tailings dam, pictured in smǝlqmíx homelands in 2024. Photo by Aaron Hemens

In January, a province-wide council of outdoor recreationists declared the Similkameen River among the province’s most endangered rivers – citing the mine’s expansion as the main threat to the waterway.

Last November,  y̓ilmixʷm (Chief) kalʔlùpaɋʹn Keith Crow of LSIB told regional officials that leaders were failing the Similkameen River, which “had been black for the last month” due to poor water quality.

LSIB Elder Rob Edward listed the mine as one of the reasons for the river’s decline. He noted that he hasn’t been able to fish out of the Similkameen River since 1982.

In 2022, Crow told IndigiNews that the Similkameen River is the lifeblood of the valley.

“If we lose that, we lose our identity. We lose who we are,” he said.

The post smǝlqmíx leaders emphasize ‘no consent’ as ‘B.C.’ approves Copper Mountain Mine expansion appeared first on Indiginews.

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