A B.C. environmental assessment certificate has been issued to Osisko Development Corp. for the Cariboo Gold project in central British Columbia, following a joint decision by provincial ministers.
George Heyman, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy, and Josie Osborne, Minister of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation, made their decision after carefully considering the environmental assessment by B.C.’s Environmental Assessment Office (EAO).
Cariboo Gold is a proposed underground gold mine in Wells. It was the first project entirely assessed under the new 2018 Environmental Assessment Act.
The project assessment involved extensive consultation with technical experts, First Nations, provincial agencies, local governments, a community advisory committee and the public. In making their decision, the ministers listened to and considered the concerns brought forward that the Cariboo Gold project could result in potential adverse effects on residents in Wells, First Nations access to land and the Barkerville woodland caribou herd.
As a result, the ministers included 22 legally binding conditions in the environmental assessment certificate, intended to prevent or reduce potential adverse environmental, economic, social, cultural and health effects from Cariboo Gold.
With these legally binding requirements, and Osisko Development Corp.’s project design features that will reduce Cariboo Gold’s impacts on the community of Wells and the environment, the ministers determined that significant adverse effects can be prevented or mitigated.
Key requirements include:
a plan to minimize impacts on the local community and tourism, through: a limit on the maximum allowable noise from the project; performing blasting only during the day; using vegetation to screen buildings and other facilities to minimize visual impacts for residents and visitors; limiting truck traffic near residential areas; strict policies around work camps, including to prevent gender-based violence and restrict use of tourist accommodations by workers; hiring 75% of workers from the region (if qualified); a strategy developed with the District of Wells to mitigate pressures on recreation and tourism; and supporting community events to promote arts and culture. Osisko also must hold regular community meetings and ensure timely response to concerns;
establishing a new, clean drinking water supply for the District of Wells;
mitigation and monitoring measures to reduce emissions and maintain air quality;
managing effects on the environment, in particular to mitigate impacts to wildlife, habitat and bodies of water, overseen by an independent environmental monitor;
working with the Province to support remediation in the District of Wells and along the shore of Jack of Clubs Lake, contaminated by a previous mine's tailings containing arsenic, cobalt, cadmium, lead and other contaminants; and
a specific plan to minimize impacts to the Barkerville woodland caribou herd, including monitoring, mitigation measures and offsets for habitat disturbance.
The ministers also noted in their decision that Cariboo Gold will provide benefits to the province, the local community and First Nations. Local and First Nations employment and procurement also has the potential to advance reconciliation through employment and economic benefits. The project will employ an average of 200 workers during construction, peaking at close to 300 workers, and will employ almost 500 during operations.
Under the 2018 Environmental Assessment Act, First Nations participating in the process have the opportunity to provide consent or lack of consent for the project. All three Nations in whose territory project activities will occur participated in the environmental assessment. Lhtako Dené Nation and Williams Lake First Nation provided notices of consent, and Xatśūll First Nation advised the ministers that they did not object to the project.
Every project that undergoes an environmental assessment is assessed thoroughly on the specific and individual aspects of that particular project, including its potential environmental, economic, social, cultural and health effects, and impacts on First Nations and their rights.
Learn More:
Ministers' reasons for decision:
Documentation ministers considered in making their decision: https://www.projects.eao.gov.bc.ca/api/public/document/652595359019250022e37ae0/download/Cariboo%20Gold%20Assessment%20Report_September%202023.pdf
For more information on the environmental assessment process, visit: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/natural-resource-stewardship/environmental-assessments
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