The province has given Teck Highland Valley Copper Partnership the go-ahead for the Highland Valley Copper Mine Life Extension (HVC) near Logan Lake, extending the life of the operating mine there from 2028 to 2043.
On Tuesday (June 17), the province announced that it had issued a B.C. environmental assessment certificate to Teck Highland Valley Copper Partnership for the mine life extension. Tamara Davidson, Minister of Environment and Parks, and Jagrup Brar, Minister of Mining and Critical Minerals, made their decision after carefully considering the environmental assessment by B.C.'s Environmental Assessment Office (EAO).
The mine expansion is predicted to produce approximately 900 million additional tonnes of ore and nearly two million additional tonnes of copper over the course of the mine香蕉视频直播檚 expanded life.
The ministers noted in their decision that HVC will provide economic benefits to the province, the local community, and First Nations. The mine expansion will increase local employment by adding 200 more permanent jobs, along with 500 to 1,250 jobs during construction.
The mine currently employs 1,320 people. Without the expansion, the mine would end production in 2028 and wind down its operations.
The HVC project will see an extension to the existing infrastructure at the site. Jacqui Schneider 香蕉视频直播� senior community affairs officer for Teck Highland Valley Copper Partnership 香蕉视频直播� told the Ashcroft-Cache Creek Journal in an email in February 2025 that if the extension was approved, construction could start in 2025.
Proceeding with the extension would mean, said Schneider, capital investment of between US$1.3 and US$1.4 billion. She added that there would employment opportunities for local residents, noting that there are more than 80 people from Ashcroft, Spences Bridge, and Cache Creek among the 1,300 employees currently at the site.
On Feb. 4, 2025 Premier David Eby announced that the HVC project was one of several resource sector projects that the province wanted to 香蕉视频直播渟peed up香蕉视频直播� so that they could quickly employ workers and help B.C. leverage its 香蕉视频直播渋ncredible natural strengths香蕉视频直播� in the face of economic uncertainty. The list of projects included critical minerals, energy, and clean energy projects which already had a business case developed and needed some type of permit or approval from government.
"We believe we have identified projects that we believe can be moved along quite quickly and get shovels in the ground, get people hired around construction," Eby said.
To streamline and expedite provincial authorizations for this priority critical minerals project, the EAO coordinated with permitting agencies to enable Teck to submit a single application for the environmental assessment certificate and all major permits. The EAO and the ministries of Environment and Parks; Mining and Critical Minerals; and Water, Land and Resource Stewardship reviewed the application together, in the first fully combined review process under the 2018 Environmental Assessment Act.
The project assessment involved extensive consultation with technical experts, First Nations, provincial agencies, local governments, and the public over more than four years. In making their decision, the ministers acknowledged that while the HVC project itself would not have significant adverse impacts beyond those of the existing mine, which has been in operation for more than six decades, the expansion would exacerbate the combined impacts from this and other projects in the region on water quantity and First Nations' access to land and cultural practices.
The ministers have included 17 legally binding conditions in the environmental assessment certificate, which are intended to prevent or reduce potential adverse environmental, economic, social, cultural, and health effects from HVC, and mitigate impacts to First Nations. Key requirements include developing plans, subject to EAO approval, to:
* manage and mitigate impacts on surrounding watersheds;
* avoid or reduce the loss of wetlands and riparian ecosystems;
* reduce the impacts of the project on Nlaka'pamux Nation food sovereignty to support food, social and ceremonial needs;
* minimize light pollution prior to and throughout operations; and
* reduce the impact of construction workers on the availability of accommodations in local communities.
Under the Environmental Assessment Act, First Nations participating in the process have the opportunity to provide consent or lack of consent for the project. Of the 17 First Nations that engaged in the environmental assessment, 10 consented to the project and two groups representing six First Nations initiated dispute resolution.
Schneider said that HVC has received support from the Citxw Nlaka香蕉视频直播檖amux Assembly, the Lower Nicola Band, and the Kanaka Bar Indian Band. The Skeetchestn Band and Tk香蕉视频直播檈ml煤ps te Secw茅pemc, who make up the Stk'eml煤psemc Te Secw茅pemc Nation (SSN), have said that they do not support the extension.
香蕉视频直播淲e respect the perspectives of SSN and are committed to continuing to work constructively with them and other local Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities and stakeholders to extend the life of HVC,香蕉视频直播� said Schneider.
There was known to be copper in the Highland Valley region as early as 1886, but it was not until 1960 that Bethlehem Copper Corporation made an agreement to bring the site into production. In 1972, Lornex began mining on the south side of the valley, and in 1981 Cominco, which owned the claim to a deposit west of Bethlehem, purchased that company to consolidate operations.
Teck Highland Valley Copper was created in 1986, when the area mining operations of Lornex and Cominco were combined. In 1988 the Highmont Mining Company joined the partnership. Since 2016, Teck has had 100 per cent ownership of the site.
