Twenty additional applicants have been granted interested party status in the environmental panel review of the proposed New Prosperity Gold-Copper Mine, 125 kilometres southwest of Williams Lake.
Even though the applications were received beyond the Sept. 28th deadline, panel chair Bill Ross noted in a letter dated Mar. 8, the new applications were considered in light of the panel's mandate and terms of reference.
That brings the number of individuals and organizations with interested party status to 49, in addition to the proponent, Taseko Mines Ltd., 11 federal and provincial government agencies, and 14 First Nations who were already guaranteed interested party status and did not need to apply.
Because the dates for the public hearings have yet to be set, Ross said the panel believes it can accommodate the additional parties.
"However, since the review may soon proceed to the hearing phase, the panel will not accept any further late applications for interested party status."
Among those added to the list are Williams Lake Mayor Kerry Cook, Quesnel Mayor Mary Sjostrom and 100 Mile House Mayor Mitch Campsall.
Others are Wayne McCrory on behalf of the Valhalla Wilderness Society and the Valhalla Foundation for Ecology, South Cariboo Chamber of Commerce, Dennis Christianson, Geoff Garland, Lorne Doerkson, Cariboo Chilcotin Conservation Society, Philip Hochstein, the Independent Contractors and Business Association of B.C, Christine Gertzen, Karina Brino, Mining Association of B.C., Frank Dobbs, Randy Gertzen, Adventure Charters, Mining Association of Canada, Dean Fulton, Daryl Anderson, Gavin C. Dirom, the Association for Mineral Exploration B.C., Amy Reid, Quesnel Community and Economic Development Corporation, Allan Roberts.
Ross said the panel hearings will not occur in either Quesnel or 100 Mile House due to restricted time, however people can attend the hearings in Williams Lake or submit a written response.
"Participants who simply wish to make an oral presentation in the hearing do not need to register as an interested party," Ross noted.
Instead they may register to make an oral presentation in the General or Community hearing sessions once dates and places have been set.
The Project consists of an open pit mine development and a 70,000 tonne per day concentrator facility with an average annual production of 108 million pounds of copper and 247 thousand ounces of gold production over a 20 year mine life.
The project mine site, which includes the open pit, concentrator facility, support infrastructure, and associated tailings and waste rock areas.The Project also includes an approximately 125 kilometre-long power transmission line corridor, an existing concentrate load-out facility at Macalister and existing access from Williams Lake with construction of 2.8 kilometres of new mine road.