Work suspended at Mount Polley mine
Posted January 7, 2019 3:34 pm.
Last Updated January 7, 2019 3:42 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
WILLIAMS LAKE (NEWS 1130) – More than four years after its dam collapsed, work at the Mount Polley mine is being suspended.
The owner, Imperial Metals, says it’s suspending work due to declining copper prices.
The gold and copper mine was the site of a 2014 tailings dam collapse that was one of the largest environmental disasters in the province’s history. It spilled millions of cubic metres of tailings pond water into nearby waterways.
The suspension will include the “milling of low grade stockpiles,” Imperial Metals says, “which is targeted to extend operations to the end of May 2019.”
The company says the mine’s environmental monitoring and remediation program will continue.
Imperial Metals says when the economics of mining improve full operations will resume at the mine, which is northeast of Williams Lake.
Engineers and Geoscientists B.C. announced in September that three engineers involved in the design, construction and monitoring of the tailings storage facility that collapsed will face disciplinary hearings next year.
