CBC reports that the British Columbia government has rejected the Vancouver-based Pacific Booker Minerals Inc. application for a copper and gold mine 65-kilometres north of Smithers because the mine and its five-square-kilometre tailings pond would have endangered Morrison Lake at the headwaters of the Skeena River. The nearby Babine Lake First Nation had opposed the mine because it would have harmed habitat and fish in the area. The news article adds, “The BC government has denied an environmental assessment certificate for a proposed mine for only the second time in the province’s history. A federal environmental panel hasn’t yet issued a decision on Pacific Booker’s project, but BC’s Environment Minister Terry Lake said the provincial government considers the current mine proposal finished. If the company wants to continue to pursue the mine, it would have to reapply and start the process over again with a new proposal.”
