B.C. issues environmental assessment certificate for Eskay Creek mine
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Monthly Digital Subscription
$1 per week for 24 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $4.00 plus GST every four weeks. After 24 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
Monthly Digital Subscription
$4.99/week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $16.99 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $23.99 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government has issued an environmental assessment certificate to Eskay Creek Mining Ltd., to restart gold and silver mining at the site of the former Eskay Creek mine in Tahltan territory.
The province says in a news release that its Environmental Assessment Office carried out a “collaborative assessment process” with the Tahltan Central Government, in what it says is the first of its kind to be guided by a consent agreement.
The release says B.C.’s mining and environment ministers made the decision to issue the certificate after reviewing the office’s report and recommendations, as well as a risk assessment from the northwestern First Nation.
It says the ministers also applied 38 legally binding conditions on the project, including ones that were co-developed with the nation to mitigate risks identified in its assessment such as monitoring effects to fish and air quality and minimizing community effects in culturally appropriate ways.
The release says provincial permits and federal approval are also required for the project to proceed and those decisions are expected soon.
Under the environmental assessment certificate, the Eskay Creek mine must be substantially started by 2036.
It says if approved, the project is expected to generate about 1,000 jobs during construction and more than 770 jobs during peak operations, “along with projected capital expenditure of $713 million and approximately $1.2 billion in provincial revenues.”
In 2022, the engagement process between the province and the Tahltan over the mine had been hailed as the first “consent-based” agreement with a First Nation over land use. It was said by the province at the time to be the first in Canada made according to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 26, 2026.