Province rejects company's appeal on cleanup of Touquoy gold mine

The company behind a shuttered gold mine in Moose River, N.S., is at odds with the province about how to clean up the site.

As first reported by the Halifax Examiner, Atlantic Mining Nova Scotia — a subsidiary of Australian mining company St Barbara — wrote a three-page letter to Environment Minister Tim Halman in April appealing the criteria he laid out for reclamation of the Touquoy gold mine.

The letter, released by Nova Scotia's Environmental Registry to the Halifax Examiner and reviewed by CBC News, says the company had a "sincere desire to move forward with reclamation of the Touquoy mine."

But, it continues, the company's efforts were met by Nova Scotia's Department of Environment and Climate Change "with either arbitrarily imposed requirements or explanations that demonstrate no comprehension of the supporting studies prepared by third party experts.

"No wonder all other metalliferous mines have simply avoided this natural step for a mine site and instead sought to move into a perpetual care and maintenance coma."

The letter says the conditions set for water quality in the lakes and rivers around the mine cannot be met and therefore expose the company to "prosecution for non-compliances."

It says the province set unreasonable timelines.

"Should we be unsuccessful in this appeal, we will then proceed to further appeals," the letter continues, adding that the company will explore other legal avenues.

Appeal rejected

The environment minister rejected the appeal on July 2, leaving the company until Aug. 2 to appeal to the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia. 

In an emailed statement, St Barbara said the appeal is now "under a review process and we will not be commenting on this further until that process is concluded."

It said reclamation work at Touquoy is already underway, and the company "fully intends to return the entire site to a natural state."

Halman told reporters this week he will hold the company to that.

$38M bond outstanding

He said that St Barbara is required to pay the province a $79.9-million bond — the estimated cost of reclamation — as surety that the site will be cleaned up. 

Halman said the company has already paid $41.2 million, leaving $38.7 million that's due by Sept. 3.

"As the regulator, I expect them to meet this deadline," he said.

St Barbara's letter calls the future of mining in Nova Scotia into question and says the industry is at a critical point.

The Environment Department, it says, "is quite frankly regulating the [mining] industry out of existence."

Halman, on the other hand, said Nova Scotia encourages and supports the mining sector.

"But at the same time, we have a strong, clear regulatory process, pathways for approval, inspection and compliance for terms and conditions," he said.

"So we want to make sure all proponents, no matter what sector that they're in, if they're being regulated by the Environment Act, that they're following those rules."

St Barbara wrapped operations at Touquoy in 2023 and recently partnered with a local renewable energy company to study the feasibility of converting the mine into a renewable energy storage facility.

The company told CBC News it is still pursuing that idea, but reclamation work at the mine is happening independently of that project.