Ajax Mine
How to fund the city’s Ajax Mine review
KAMLOOPS – Once the environmental application for the proposed Ajax Mine is submitted later this summer the city plans on seeking an independent review of the proposal, but it is unclear just how that review will be paid for. Staff is asking council for an additional $300,000 to hire SLR Consulting, a firm not believed...
About those 150 businesses opposed to Ajax mine…
KAMLOOPS - At the beginning of June members of a group lobbying against the proposed Ajax Mine said roughly 150 letters had been sent to the government in opposition of the mine. This week we learned only 16 actually made it to the Ministry of Mines. According to a Freedom of Information release, 16 letters...
Chamber backs local business after councillor strikes out because of Ajax support
KAMLOOPS - A letter signed by local business people in support of the proposed Ajax Mine has come under fire recently, but not everyone feels the move to offer support to the mine is as premature as one councillor seems to think. The Kamloops Chamber of Commerce is challenging Coun. Denis Walsh's opinion that business...
Aboriginal title on Jacko Lake ‘larger than Ajax:’ KGHM
KAMLOOPS - Two local First Nations bands are claiming aboriginal title on the lands in and around Jacko Lake and the company behind the proposed mine planning to operate on those lands says it respects the assertion of title. This week the Stk’emlupsemc te Secwepemc Nation, made up of members of the Tk’emlúps and Skeetchestn...
Clock strikes midnight on anti-Ajax crowdfunding campaign
KAMLOOPS – The Stop Ajax Mine online fundraising campaign has officially ended and the goal was surpassed by more than $6,000. The 30-day Indiegogo campaign ended at midnight, June 19, and raised $31,350. Additional donations by cheque raised the tally to $35,358. “We are so very grateful to each of the hundreds of donors who...
Aboriginal title declared on Jacko Lake
KAMLOOPS - The Jacko Lake and surrounding area has significant spiritual and historical importance to the Stk’emlupsemc te Secwepemc Nation, and as a result, the nation has declared title over the property. The property, located within the First Nations territory and part of the site of the proposed Ajax Mine, is a ‘cultural keystone area’...
‘Help Stop the Ajax Mine’ fundraiser surpasses $25,000 goal
KAMLOOPS - The groups aiming to raise at least $25,000 to hire 'independent experts' to analyze the enviornmental application for the proposed Ajax Mine have surpassed their goal. The online fundraising campaign ‘Help Stop the Ajax Mine’ had raised more than $26,000 as of Wednesday, June 10. The goal may be met, but John Schleiermacher,...
Local businesses concerned about proposed Ajax Mine
KAMLOOPS – Local businesses are expressing opposition to the proposed Ajax Mine by sending letters to the province listing concerns with the project. So far about 150 local businesses have written letters to Bill Bennett, Minister of Energy, Mines, and Natural Gas, expressing their concerns about the proposed Ajax Mine. The Kamloops Area Preservation Association along...
Ombudsman disagrees with accusation of biased CBC Ajax coverage
KAMLOOPS – A complaint against coverage of the Ajax debate on CBC radio in Kamloops went all the way to the public broadcaster’s highest authority, but ultimately, the complaint was deemed meritless by CBC ombudsman Esther Enkin who says private citizens have the same right to their opinions as do experts. Shelley Joyce, host of...
Ajax asks local business for support
KAMLOOPS – At the request of KGHM, a collection of local business people have signed a letter in support of the proposed Ajax Mine project. The company approached a group of local business people asking to meet regarding the proposed mine. After a series of talks with KGHM, more than 40 individuals signed the letter,...
Anti-Ajax group rejects KGHM’s ‘no strings’ offer
KAMLOOPS – A campaign aimed at raising money to hire 'independent experts' to anaylze the upcoming KGHM Ajax Mine application received a donation from the proponent, but organizers have no intention of keeping that money. The Indiegogo campaign ‘Help Stop the Ajax Mine’ received the donation late last week but organizers say they are rejecting...
Groups against Ajax Mine raising funds to hire experts
KAMLOOPS – An online fundraiser started this week by groups opposing the proposed Ajax Mine aims at hiring 'independent experts' to review the application documents that are set to be submitted this summer. The application, which is expected to be thousands of pages of information in technical language, will be the document that helps decide...
Cavers’ motion to change environmental assessment timelines for Ajax Mine defeated
KAMLOOPS – There is no appetite around the council table to ask the province to change the deadlines surrounding the environmental assessment process for the proposed Ajax Mine. Coun. Donovan Cavers wanted his fellow council members to ask the province to delay the 75-day public comment period after KGHM submitted its environmental application to give...
KGHM promises information site with ‘plain language summaries’
KAMLOOPS – The company behind the proposed Ajax Mine is once again assuring council, and city residents, of its commitment to transparency with a promise to make easy to read summaries readily available to the public. In a letter to council KGHM Ajax Mine External Affairs Manager Yves Lacasse says there will be ‘plain language...
Public consultation process goes to consultation
HAVE YOUR SAY ON THE ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT PROCESS THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - A lot of people have recently expressed concerns over how the environmental assessment process works and now the provincial government is asking for input on how to improve the public consultation portion of the process. The B.C. Government's Environmental Assessment Office is asking the public...