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First Nation groups officially file title claim against portion of Ajax Mine site

KAMLOOPS - About a week after mining company KGHM submitted its provincial environmental application for the proposed Ajax Mine project, two bands have officially filed land title papers with the B.C. Supreme Court. Paperwork was filed with the courts by Stk’emlupsemc of the Secwepemc Nation, a group that represents the Skeetchestn First Nation and Tk’emlúps...

Environmental application for Ajax Mine officially submitted

KAMLOOPS - The proposed Ajax Mine has taken another step forward by officially submitting an environmental application to the province. The proposed open-pit copper and gold mine, planned for just southwest of Kamloops, has been before the Environmental Assessment Office since the pre-application was submitted in February 2011. The company announced today, Sept. 14, that...

Local First Nations hosting own review of Ajax Mine

KAMLOOPS - A group representing local First Nations will delve into the potential impacts of the proposed Ajax Mine on their traditional territory. The Stk'emlupsemc te Secwepemc Nation, a group representing the Skeetchestn and Tk’emlups Indian Bands, are presenting community information sessions aimed at helping band members formulate a decision on the proposed mine, which...

KGHM gives verbal agreement to fund the city’s independent Ajax review

KAMLOOPS – KGHM International has agreed to fund the city’s $300,000 independent review of its own Ajax project, Mayor Peter Milobar said this afternoon, Aug. 26. “They don't feel opposed to it…and we're following up with that,” Milobar said, adding KGHM asked for the request in writing before it would completely agree to terms.  The...

UPDATE: Input on information requirements for Ajax extended

KAMLOOPS - The public has been given a couple more days to comment and provide feedback on the proposed Ajax Mine and what information the company needs to submit in its application. After significant changes were made to the footprint of the proposed mine in the spring the provincial government decided there should be another...

Ajax clarifies stance on civic election support

REGISTERING WITH ELECTIONS B.C. A 'COMMITMENT TO TRANSPARENCY' KAMLOOPS - The company behind the proposed Ajax Mine is looking to clarify why they are registering as a third-party sponsor with Elections B.C. On Monday the company issued a confusing statement about a letter they had sent out to supporters. What they didn't say was why...

Ajax to officially enter the election

PLANS TO REGISTER AS THIRD-PARTY SPONSOR KAMLOOPS - After saying they would not endorse specific city council candidates KGHM Ajax now says it is registering as a third-party sponsor this week. The decision comes just over a month after the company said it would not support anyone running in the civic election. A spokesman declined...

ELECTIONS 2014: Candidates take on Ajax

AN OVERVIEW OF WHERE THEY STAND KAMLOOPS - There is a lot of information to sort through as we head into elections, so we decided to make the candidates answer a series of five questions as directly as possible, and in as few characters as possible. Our first question is about the proposed Ajax Mine....

Information event on Ajax project

KAMLOOPS - A panel of locals who have been outspoken about the proposed Ajax Mine will speak at an information sessionTuesday night. Dr. Jill Calder, Robert Schemenauer, Peter Tsigaris and Tony Brumell will make up the four-member panel discussing the proposed mine at a public forum. Calder is one of the lead physicians behind Kamloops...

Information session to run same time as Ajax comment period

KAMLOOPS - City council fought for a public information session that would help people understand the environmental assessment process, as it applies to the proposed Ajax Mine, but this week it was announced we would have to wait a bit longer for that meeting. With the Environmental Assessment Office approving a new public comment period...

STAHN: Making Ajax an election issue

Ajax will be an issue in this local election campaign whether city council candidates want it to be or not, and whether the city really has any say or not. Enough members of the voting public are asking about it and even those candidates who are not willing to take a stance are making it...

Experts in Kamloops to talk air pollution

KAMLOOPS - How to improve air quality and reduce health risks will be on the menu at an upcoming public forum on air pollution in Kamloops. Between several weeks with smoky skies because of forest fires this summer and constant concern being raised over the proposed Ajax mine and other industrial activity, air quality has been...

Public to have another chance at comment on Ajax

KAMLOOPS – Following proposed changes to the Ajax mine, members of the public will get a second chance to comment this November. Members of the public and Kamloops city council have been requesting more information since a series of open houses held by KGHM Ajax last June. In addition to public comment forums, the Environmental...

$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...

Councillor hopeful wants public referendum on Ajax if elected

KAMLOOPS - A small-business owner, vice-president of a television station and MS society chair member is hoping to secure another role in the community. Mike O’Reilly announced Monday morning he will be seeking a councillor position with the City of Kamloops. Some of O’Reilly’s key platform items include: making Kamloops business friendly, redeveloping the North...

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...

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...

New Gold air emission reports ‘significantly overestimated’

KAMLOOPS - New Afton officials say estimates of air pollution emissions from its New Gold mine near Kamloops are wrong—the victim of bad data. If emissions reported to national authorities are accurate, it would make the mine among the top air polluters in the country. Its pollution levels were seized on by the Kamloops Physicians...

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...