Alex Callahan, a spokesperson with Osisko Development who owns Barkerville Gold Mine, says the penalties date back to 2018 and 2019.
Since acquiring Barkerville, he says Osisko has invested in major upgrades to water treatment.
“Osisko has since designed and built a $4 million water treatment plant that has been in operation since 2020, that will ensure there are no more exceedances.”
Callahan says Osisko is also in the design phase of a nitrate plant that they hope will be operational by the fall.
He says they do ongoing testing of the creek.
“And although the Ministry determined that the water release point exceeded permitted amount, the water in the creek (Lowhee Creek) remained within normal limits.”
Original Story from July 8th
The Ministry of Environment has issued Administrative penalties against Barkerville Gold Mines.
The two maximum penalties total 80 thousand dollars for failure to comply with their discharge permit at the Bonanza Ledge mine.
The Ministry says Barkerville Gold exceeded cadmium, cobalt, copper, nickel, nitrite, sulphate and zinc limits.
This is the second penalty for the same contravention.
In describing these penalties, the Ministry states the following on its website.
“Administrative Monetary Penalties (AMPs) are discretionary financial penalties that can be administered with less onerous procedural and legal requirements than a court prosecution, making them an effective and efficient enforcement option. ”
The Bonanza Ledge mine is approximately 58 kilometres southeast of Quesnel.
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