The Cariboo Gold Project, an underground mine near Wells, will be the subject of a virtual open house on Tuesday (June 23) night.
It starts at 7 and goes until 9 o’clock.
Katherine St. James is a Project Assessment Director with the Environmental Assessment Office in Victoria…
“You can learn more about the project, and you can ask questions of the host.  I’ll be running the virtual open house but Barkerville Gold will also be on the line to answer questions, and then you can also submit comments, as part of the public record.  We have a formal public comment period happening right now, and that is run through our website.  It’s eao.gov.bc.ca and then there is a link to commenting on projects and you’ll be able to find the Cariboo Gold project there.”
St. James says this early engagement phase is just the first step in this process, and she says there is an opportunity for people to be more involved….
“If there is enough interest we do form a Community Advisory Committee and that’s to provide input on the potential effects of the project on the community, provide a link to the community for additional information about the project, and foster that community learning about the Environmental Assessment process and the proposed project.  Members of the public can register for this Community Advisory Committee through the public comment period on our website.”
St. James says they will also be engaging with First Nations and stakeholders to create a what we heard document called a summary of engagement…
“That will be sent to Barkerville Gold Mines and they will address the comments and concerns they heard, adjust product design, anything that’s needed to address the comments, and then they’ll be creating what’s called a detailed product description, so this is an update from what they’ve proposed so far trying to address all of the concerns that they’ve heard.”
St. James says the environmental review process, which started in Mid May, generally lasts between two and three years.
Barkerville Gold is proposing to develop an underground gold mine near Wells, with the proposed ore to be milled at the existing Quesnel River mill, located 58 kilometers southeast of Quesnel.
Waste rock would be stored at the mine site and existing Bonanza Ledge Mine near Barkerville.
The proposed Cariboo Gold Project would have a mine life of 12 to 15 years.
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