Teztan Biny, also known as Fish Lake, and the area around it remain safe from toxic tailings from a proposed open-pit copper-gold mine.
In December 2019, the Federal Court of Appeal dismissed Taseko Mines Ltd.’s challenge of a federal government decision not to approve the company’s proposed New Prosperity Mine (Taseko Mines Limited v. Canada, 2019 FCA 319). Taseko’s legal case also challenged the federal environmental review panel findings upon which the government’s decision was based.
On behalf of MiningWatch Canada, Ecojustice intervened in the case to uphold the panel’s precautionary approach.
The panel found that Taseko failed to provide enough information during the review about how it would address major environmental concerns, and that the mine project would likely have several significant environmental effects.
If built, the open-pit gold and copper mine would have been located on the traditional territory of the Tŝilhqot’in Nation, in close proximity to Teztan Biny.
A federal review panel also previously found that the mine would have harmful effects on the lake, which is sacred to the Tŝilhqot’in, including impacts on fish and fish habitat, current use of lands and resources for traditional purpose, and on Tŝilhqot’in cultural heritage.
