VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – Junior mine developer Barkerville Gold Mines has been fined C$200 000 by Environment and Climate Change Canada enforcement officers, after pleading guilty to violations under the Fisheries Act.
Charges were brought in the Provincial Court of British Columbia and related to the metal mining effluent regulations.
The penalty will be paid to the Environmental Damages Fund.
Environment and Climate Change Canada advised that routine inspections conducted by enforcement officers revealed that the company failed to complete sampling, notify authorities of having deposited effluent into fish-bearing water without authorisation, and submit reports on time.
The effluent was deposited into Lowhee Creek, part of the Willow river system – an important fish-bearing watershed. The Metal Mining Effluent Regulations authorise deposits of effluent, provided that conditions stipulated in the regulations are respected.
As a result of this conviction, the company's name will be added to the Environmental Offenders Registry.
Barkerville is focused on developing its extensive land package in the historical Cariboo mining district of central British Columbia. Barkerville's mineral tenures cover 2 110 km2 along a strike length of 67 km, which includes several past producing hard rock mines of the historic Barkerville gold mining camp near the town of Wells, British Columbia.