Trend - Roman Mine Third Party Review Process with the Treaty 8 First Nations during the Mines Act Permit Amendment Application Process

2015

Federico Velasquez (Anglo American ), Michael Patterson (Anglo American’s Trend-Roman Mine), Natalie Tashe (Stantec)

ABSTRACT Peace River Coal (PRC), a wholly owned subsidiary of Anglo American, received a mine permit approval in 2014 for the expansion of the metallurgical coal Trend Mine to include the Roman property. The mine is located approximately 25 kilometres south of Tumble Ridge in northeast British Columbia and approximately 700 km NE of Vancouver. The Trend-Roman Mine is within the First Nation’s Treaty 8 Territory As part of the regulatory process of the environmental assessment and permit application as a major mine under the Mines Act, PRC completed First Nations and public consultation as well as extensive environmental studies. The permit review process was coordinated through the regional multi-agency North East Mine Development Review Committee, a committee of government agencies and First Nations who guided the Terms of Reference and consultation process. As part of the consultation process PRC agreed to a third party review (TPR) process and was one of the first mines in NE BC to choose this consultation process. The TPR process was designed to allow the local First Nations to understand and ask questions directly to the proponent that they could not receive from government. PRC could then receive certainty on the application being submitted and the outcome of TPR assisted the regulatory decision on the Roman Expansion. The TPR process provided an opportunity to engage aboriginal communities and allowed them access to the technical specialists which resulted in a mutual learning. The TPR process created opportunities in the area of reclamation and regional monitoring for caribou management that addressed the Peace Northern Caribou Plan, and on selenium water quality management.

Keywords: regulatory requirement, Consultation, selenium,, reclamation, caribou, First Nations, Peace River Coal, Mine expansion