Mayor Walt Cobb reports Gibraltar Mines forced to layoff between 40 and 60 employees
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Williams Lake Mayor Walt Cobb says Gibraltar Mines will be laying off between 40 and 60 staff.
Cobb says he received the information in a call from Gibraltar Mines Monday night, and received more information on Tuesday. Cobb read the following at Tuesday’s Committee of the Whole Meeting.
“Gibraltar Mines near Williams Lake, BC, is forced to lay off mine workers. Lay-off notices will be issued [Tuesday, April 20th], at Gibraltar mines for at least 40 people in mine operations and they will be affected, truck drivers, drill shovel loaders, and operators. The lay off will go into effect April 27th, 2021. Gibraltar wants to restart mining in the existing pit on the property known as Gibraltar East Pit, so this is a pit they’ve already mined. This is known as a simple rescheduling of the existing mine plan sequence. Normal circumstances require us to give notice of our intent to do so
Tŝilhqot in Launch Challenge to Gibraltar Mine s Effluent Dumping in Fraser River thetyee.ca - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thetyee.ca Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
TNG To Challenge A Permit Amendment
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The Tsilhqot’in National Government will be taking part in an Environmental Appeal Board virtual meeting starting this Monday.
They are challenging a permit amendment issued in 2019 by a Director of the BC Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy that authorized an increase in discharge from the Gibraltar Mines impoundment directly into the Fraser River.
Beginning April 10
th, the mine effluent would be discharged via a pipe into the river 4 kilometres downstream from the community of ?Esdilagh near traditional fishing sites.
Toosey Chief Francis Laceese says they’ve gotten support from the BC Treaty Nations, The Union of BC Indian Chiefs, and the AFN.
The Fraser River is seen west of Williams Lake from Doc English Bluff Ecological Reserve. (Rebecca Dyok photo) A permit authorizing the use of the Fraser River for dilution of mine effluent is being challenged by the Tsilhqot’in National Government (TNG). The TNG will be participating in a virtual Environmental Appeal Board hearing next week on behalf of the ʔEsdilagh First Nation, which is located along both sides of the Fraser River between Williams Lake and Quesnel. “The fact that the province of B.C. is permitting Gibraltar Mines Ltd. to use the Fraser River as a dumping ground for its tailings effluent is absolutely appalling,” ʔEsdilagh First Nation Chief Troy Baptiste said in a news release March 8.