OTTAWA, ON, April 25, 2022 Spanish Mountain Gold Ltd. is proposing an open-pit gold mine located in the Cariboo region of central British Columbia, approximately 70 kilometres northeast of Williams Lake.
Comments Invited
The project is subject to a federal impact assessment process under the Impact Assessment Act and a provincial environmental assessment under British Columbia's Environmental Assessment Act. The Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (the Agency) and B.C.'s Environmental Assessment Office (EAO) are working cooperatively for the initial phase of the project's review.
The public and Indigenous groups are invited to review the Initial Project Description and provide feedback. A summary document, in English or French, is available on the project's Registry page (reference number 83495).
The 30-day comment period starts April 25, 2022, and ends May 25, 2022, at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time (PDT).
Comments received will support the preparation of a joint Summary of Issues and Engagement document for the project, which will be provided to Spanish Mountain Gold Ltd. and also be used to inform the next steps in the process. Comments only need to be submitted once to either the Agency or the EAO to be considered in both the federal and provincial assessment processes. Comments submitted to the Agency may be submitted in English or French. Comments received by the Agency or the EAO are considered public and will be published online.
To submit a comment, visit:
- The Canadian Impact Assessment Registry at iaac-aeic.gc.ca/050/evaluations (reference number 83495). Participants who wish to provide their input in a different format can contact the Agency by writing to [email protected].
- The Environmental Assessment Office at gov.bc.ca/EAOPublicComments.
Virtual Information Sessions
The Agency and the EAO will host virtual information sessions on:
- May 11, 2022, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. PDT
- May 12, 2022, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. PDT
The information sessions will include presentations on the project and the federal and provincial review processes. Participants may also ask questions online.
For details on how to connect to the information sessions, please visit gov.bc.ca/EAOPublicComments or contact the Agency at [email protected].
Substitution Request
The Government of British Columbia has requested that the federal impact assessment, if one is required, be substituted to the province. If the federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change grants the request, the EAO would conduct the project's impact assessment on behalf of the Agency, meeting both federal and provincial legislative requirements. The Agency is seeking comments from the public and Indigenous groups on this request.
For more information on the Agency, the project and the federal review process, visit canada.ca/iaac. For more information on the project and the provincial assessment process, visit gov.bc.ca/eao.
For media inquiries on the federal process, contact the Agency's media relations team by writing to [email protected], or by calling 343-549-3870. For media inquiries on the provincial process, contact British Columbia's Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy by phone: 250-953-3834.
SOURCE Impact Assessment Agency of Canada
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