Wildsight’s challenge to West High Yield (WHY) Resources Ltd’s Record Ridge mine proposal has successfully resulted in the province determining that a full environmental assessment will be required before the mine is able to proceed any further.
The proposed mine site, just outside of Rossland, B.C., contains iron- and magnesium-rich rock that’s home to one of only four known populations of the threatened mountain holly fern in Canada. This fern has adapted to thrive in these mineral-rich soils, as well as very specific climatic conditions — you can read more about it in our previous blog.
Wildsight challenged WHY’s mine permit application and demanded that the province require a full environmental assessment. Local community members and groups supported our call, including the Save Record Ridge Action Committee, which submitted an expert report commissioned from a professor of mineralogy at UBC. Two indigenous nations claiming traditional rights and title in the area of concern also wrote letters of support and called for further engagement — the Shuswap Nation and its southernmost tribe the Splatsin each submitted letters, as well as the Sinixt Confederacy. These letters and many more can be read here. Our request was also put to a public comment period, during which 90% of surveys submitted stated that an assessment would be valuable.
As a result of our challenge and the overwhelming community support for it, the province decided in Wildsight’s favour, determining that an environmental assessment will be required before the mine is able to proceed. The full report on the province’s decision is available here.
However, the mountain holly fern is not in the clear yet. WHY has already announced its intentions to drop production to about a third of what it originally proposed. This would allow it to duck under the minimum legislated size requirement for an environmental assessment, effectively bypassing the process.
WHY used this strategy in its original proposal as well, but improperly applied for permits as an ‘industrial mineral mine’ (similar to a quarry). Industrial mineral mines can extract up to 250,000 tonnes of material a year without an environmental assessment, whereas a ‘mineral mine’ can only extract 75,000 tonnes. Wildsight’s challenge questioned this miscategorization, and was supported by the province, which has now required WHY to change its permit applications to the more stringent ‘mineral mine’ designation.
B.C.’s mining laws allow what are classified as small mines to avoid environmental assessments entirely. This incentivizes mine proponents to start smaller initially and then apply for expansions and extensions to scale up, which is easier to get permission for than if they would apply for permits using their eventual full production level plan from the start. By hiding the true scope of work and intentions, they can creep their way up to full scale production over the course of several years, bypassing environmental oversight and protections, thereby externalizing environmental and social impacts and maximising profits.
This is the approach WHY has consistently taken for Record Ridge; the company applied for mining permits with documents that stated a two-year mine life, while clearly proposing on its website that mining could continue at the site for anywhere from 20 to 170 years. The potential for WHY to apply for new mining permits at a third of their original production capacity does not stop their plan; it only slows them down.
While this isn’t the end of the road for the Record Ridge mine, it is certainly a stumbling block. Wildsight will continue working to fight irresponsible and environmentally destructive mining practices in our corner of the province. We thank all those who took the time to submit comments to the province about this project. Please stay tuned for future updates!
