Elevate your local knowledge
Sign up for the iNFOnews newsletter today!
Ajax Mine
$6 billion cost of Ajax is ‘intuitive’ study authors say
KAMLOOPS - A figure released earlier this week pegging the cost to taxpayers of the proposed Ajax Mine at $6 billion was a 'conservative estimate,' according the authors of a year-long study. The costs could reach as high as $20 billion, they say. Dr. Dennis Karpiak, an internal medicine and respiratory disease specialist, and Ken...
Doctors: Kamloops deserves same protection as Kitimat
KAMLOOPS - A local group of physicians say Kamloops has no more room for pollution and wants the province to provide more funding for air quality control in our city. Since the group formed in 2013, Kamloops Physicians for a Healthy Environment have been questioning the level of fine particulate matter already in the air...
Ajax could cost $40,000 per person?
KAMLOOPS - Economic impact from the proposed Ajax Mine could put the city in the red, to the tune of $6.28 billion, a report being released this week suggests. Dr. Dennis Karpiak, an internal medicine and respiratory disease specialist, and Ken Blawatt, a former university professor, looked at the ‘hidden costs’ of the mine, which...
Kamloops teachers, protesters welcome Clark and cabinet with loud rally
KAMLOOPS - The atmosphere was one of celebration as Premier Christy Clark and her cabinet sat in on a luncheon in Kamloops Wednesday, though outside teachers gathered to continue the rally for a better education system. “A lot of the issues around public education still remain,” David Komljenovic, president of the local teachers’ union and...
Mixed feelings over Cavers’ ‘incompetent’ comment
KAMLOOPS - Today is the first council meeting since Coun. Donovan Cavers was called out by his colleagues for a personal attack fuelled by the Ajax mine debate. Since then, Cavers has refused to back down while a vocal minority shared their opinions of his tactics. Cavers was upset with a response from the province's...
Cavers shoots the messenger before council takes away his gun
KAMLOOPS - Mayor and councillors may disagree with the lack of additional public input being provided for the proposed Ajax Mine but refused to endorse one councillor's personal attack over the issue. In a recent letter to council, Scott Bailey with the Environmental Assessment Office, agreed to host a public information session on the environmental...
Pitbelly for mayor campaign lacks transparency
KAMLOOPS - Mr. Open Pitbelly is the latest to announce candidacy for the November elections, but while Pitbelly is open about three of the key pillars to his election campaign, he admits much of his campaign lacks transparency. “They’re very secret, I will come (forward) with these events through the weeks,” Pitbelly said at a...
Details on Ajax environmental plan process coming soon
KAMLOOPS - If you have questions about the environmental application process for the proposed Ajax mine, you might get answers as early as this October. Scott Bailey of the Environmental Assessment Office finally agreed to an earlier meeting after initially declining a May letter from Kamloops city council. He had said the office would meet to discuss...
Mr. Open Pitbelly plans to make Ajax Mine proposal a Kamloops election issue
KAMLOOPS - The proposed Ajax Mine will definitely be an issue in the upcoming Kamloops municipal election campaign because Mr. Open Pitbelly has thrown her hat into the ring. Artist and master gardner Elaine Sedgmen will officially announce her intention to run for the mayor's chair on Monday. Sedgman will be running as the costumed character...
‘Secret’ new bike trail system creating conflicts
KAMLOOPS - The Coal Hill area linking Aberdeen and Pineview Valley has been a popular place to hike and bike for a number of years. Now a group is quietly working to establish some official trails but not everyone is happy about it. The Kamloops Performance Cycling Center, the group that runs the Bike Ranch...
Social media queries on Ajax following Mount Polley mine incident
KAMLOOPS – The announcement of Mount Polley’s mine tailings pond flood has raised concerns for residents of the Thompson-Okanagan leading to opinions from both supporters and those opposing the proposed Ajax Mine. The dam at Mount Polley Mining Corporation’s site near Likely, B.C. failed on Monday sending 10 million cubic metres of water and 4.5...
Environmental response on Ajax ‘not good enough for the city of Kamloops’
KAMLOOPS — Council united in frustration Tuesday afternoon as they approved two separate motions asking for the Environmental Assessment Office to step up and help the residents of Kamloops better understand the proposed Ajax mine. Back in May, city councillors asked the office to host a public session to provide clarity on the process for Ajax...
Ajax open houses bring pro and anti under same roof
KAMLOOPS - A series of open houses this week allowed residents to get a closer look at the new footprint of the proposed Ajax Mine. They also gave those for, against and unsure about the project an opportunity to ask questions. Hundreds of people took that opportunity, with an average of about 130 people attending...
STAHN: Doctors brought little clarity to air quality concerns
Are you confused about the fact sheet local doctors released on air quality in Kamloops last week? You're not alone. A group called Kamloops Physicians for a Healthy Environment cobbled together information and data from different sources to ring some alarm bells about air quality and it created plenty of controversy. Their point was Kamloops already...
Ajax would impact air quality, health: Doctors
KAMLOOPS - The city is already burdened by air quality issues and the addition of more particulate matter via an open pit mine would put the people of Kamloops at risk, according to local doctors opposing the mine. The Kamloops Physicians for a Healthy Environment, which formed about a year ago, said Kamloops need not...
Voters Society reveals more details from Ajax survey
KAMLOOPS — More detailed results from an online survey last fall on the proposed Ajax mine project have been released. The additional details about neighbourhoods, gender and age come just a week after KGHM announced changes to the footprint and operation of the proposed mine. More than 2,800 people took part in the survey conducted by the...
Community, not ore bodies, guided Ajax move
KAMLOOPS - The external affairs manager for KGHM Ajax Mining says they listened to community concerns over placement of the proposed Ajax Mine facilities but at least one group says the move announced earlier today does not fully address their concerns. “It alleviates the concerns somewhat, but it doesn’t come anywhere near meeting all our...
Ajax moving some facilities south, pit to remain
KAMLOOPS — The tailings facility is being moved away from the Coquihalla Highway and the waste rock facility is being moved farther away from the city but the open pit will remain about two kilometres from the closest existing property. “This new plan is an important adjustment to the Ajax Project that address community concerns...
City seeks clarity on environmental application process
KAMLOOPS - City council is asking those who understand the environmental application process and timelines around it to help ease public confusion by offering an information session for the people. Coun. Arjun Singh says he has been getting a lot of questions from residents about why council has not taken a stand for or against...
‘Significant announcement’ from Ajax coming this week
KAMLOOPS — The company has remained mostly silent since it announced it would be postponing the environmental application process to further study ore deposits in the area but KGHM, the company behind the Ajax Mine project, promises that's about to change. “There will be a significant announcement Thursday,” External Affairs Manager Yves Lacasse says. “We...
Boyce once again speaking out against Ajax
KAMLOOPS — Richard Boyce shocked people when he announced he did not support the proposed Ajax Mine and this weekend he will speak out again. At an October Rotary Club meeting Boyce, the president of the local steelworkers union, shocked the room when he said as it stood he could not endorse the project. “Personally,...
Ajax debate rages on Facebook
KAMLOOPS — The passion over the Ajax Mine debate reached an ignition point over the last week as talk of pipe bombs and blowing up the mine circulated on Facebook. One poster mentioned they were surprised pipe bombs weren't more common and that KGHM hadn't been targeted while another spoke of how environmental terrorism could...
Ajax aims for open communication
KAMLOOPS — KGHM Ajax Mining says it wants the community to talk about the project and is utilizing another online forum in the hopes of getting more local people talking. After taking the time to thank about 2,000 supporters with a party at Interior Savings Centre a couple weeks ago the company is now aiming...
VIDEO: Ajax wants more conversation
KAMLOOPS — Ajax Mining Inc. stepped out of the shadows this week with the release of a new video, a commercial that asks the community to focus on a conversation based on scientific facts and real information. The video was previewed at a private event for supporters on Saturday before being released online Monday. External...