Minister's Response

Date: December 12, 2019

Project:

Anaconda Mining Inc. is proposing the construction, operation, decommissioning, and abandonment of a gold mine located in Goldboro, Nova Scotia, approximately 175 kilometres northeast of Halifax. The project would entail both open pit and underground mining phases and an onsite milling facility with a proposed processing rate of 575 tonnes per day. Tailings would be stored in an onsite engineered tailings storage facility. The anticipated mine life is approximately nine years. The concentrator would run about 1.5 years longer, processing the lower grade ore accumulated during the development of the pit.

Decision:

Non-designated project.

Rationale:

The Minister of Environment and Climate Change has considered the potential for the Project to cause adverse effects within federal jurisdiction, adverse direct or incidental effects, public concern related to these effects, as well as adverse impacts on the Aboriginal and treaty rights of the Indigenous Peoples of Canada. The Minister also considered the analysis of the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada.

The Minister has reached the decision that the designation of the Project is unwarranted for the following reasons:

  • the comprehensive environmental assessment and regulatory review processes that currently apply to the Project and related consultations with Indigenous Peoples provide a robust framework to address the potential adverse aforementioned effects and concerns raised by Indigenous Peoples and members of the public. This includes the provincial environmental assessment led by Nova Scotia Environment in which several federal departments are providing expert advice (including Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Transport Canada and Health Canada); and
  • the Project must comply with relevant provisions of federal legislation, including the Metal and Diamond Mining Effluent Regulations, Fisheries Act, the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999, the Species at Risk Act, and the Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994.

Document Reference Number: 1

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