Diamond review will go ahead, De Beers says
Published by MAC on 2007-04-03
Diamond review will go ahead, De Beers says
by CBC News
3rd April 2007
De Beers Canada says it will hold a public environmental assessment of its proposed Gahcho Kué diamond mine project now that it has lost a Northwest Territories Supreme Court bid to have the review quashed.
Company spokeswoman Linda Dorrington said Tuesday the company will work with the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board on a work plan for the assessment.
In a 19-page decision released Monday, Northwest Territories Supreme Court Justice Louise Charbonneau upheld the board's order for the review of the proposed mining project, 280 kilometres northeast of Yellowknife and just east of De Beers's other northern diamond project at Snap Lake.
The company had challenged the order, arguing that the board made a number of mistakes in assessing whether the project warranted a review. It alleged the board, which has the job of determining if the project is environmentally safe, was not thorough in its initial environmental assessment.
But Charbonneau said that the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act, which governs the board, allows it flexibility in the way it assesses projects.
Dorrington said that all De Beers wanted was certainty that the board was doing the right thing. She said the court's judgment was necessary because each diamond mine in the Northwest Territories has undergone different review processes.
"We felt we needed this confirmation in order to provide us with assurance that our permits would not be subject to any future challenge," she said.
"We have always welcomed a full, thorough and comprehensive environmental assessment and we are very pleased that the way is now clear for us to continue with that."