Magino Mine tailings areas authorized

Summary#

These final regulations — Regulations Amending the Metal and Diamond Mining Effluent Regulations: SOR/2020-108 — add four mapped areas to Schedule 2 of the Metal and Diamond Mining Effluent Regulations (MDMER). That change formally lets the owner of the proposed Magino Mine Project use 21 water bodies for mine waste storage, provided a fish-habitat compensation plan is carried out. The regulations were registered on May 20, 2020 and published in the Canada Gazette on June 10, 2020.

What it does#

• Lists four geographic polygons in Schedule 2 of the MDMER, designating 21 water bodies near Dubreuilville/Wawa, Ontario, as tailings impoundment areas (TIAs). This authorizes the disposal of mine tailings, waste rock and overburden in those waters.
• Allows the proposed Magino Mine Project (owner: Prodigy Gold Inc.) to proceed with tailings and waste facilities at the chosen site (called Site G in the project documents).
• Requires the mine owner to develop and implement a fish habitat compensation/offset plan to replace the habitat that will be lost. The project will destroy about 44.96 hectares of fish habitat; the proposed compensation measures aim to create about 47.25 hectares of habitat.
• Estimates the direct cost to the proponent for the compensation measures at roughly $18,100,000 (cost estimates in the regulatory analysis vary by discounting and scope; other totals in the document are higher for the full compensation package).
• Requires financial security (an irrevocable letter of credit) to ensure compensation measures are carried out.
• Comes into force on the day the regulations were registered (May 20, 2020).

Who's affected#

• Prodigy Gold Inc., the mine proponent — most directly, because it will build and operate the tailings, rock and overburden facilities and pay for the compensation plan.
• People and communities near the project area, including the towns of Wawa and Dubreuilville, who may notice construction, road use and local economic effects.
• Several Indigenous groups consulted on the project, including Batchewana First Nation, Missanabie Cree First Nation, Michipicoten First Nation, the Métis Nation of Ontario, and the Red Sky Independent Métis Nation — these groups participated in consultations and some signed impact and benefit agreements with the proponent.
• Fish and aquatic habitats in the 21 listed water bodies and nearby lakes and streams — those habitats will be removed where the facilities are built and changed by the project and by the compensation works.
• Federal departments that monitor and enforce fisheries and pollution rules, mainly Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) and Environment and Climate Change Canada, which will review and inspect compliance with the compensation plan and related Fisheries Act authorizations.

Why it matters#

• The Fisheries Act normally bans depositing harmful substances into waters frequented by fish. These regulations make a specific, limited exception by listing certain water bodies as approved impoundment areas. That lets a mine store waste in places that would otherwise be off-limits.
• In practical terms, about 44.96 hectares of fish habitat will be lost where the mine builds its tailings, rock and overburden facilities. The project commits to offset that loss by creating or restoring about 47.25 hectares of habitat through new channels, basins and lake restoration.
• The compensation work has real costs (roughly $18.1 million in the main estimate cited) and must be implemented and monitored. The government requires financial guarantees to make sure the work happens.
• For local people this means potential jobs and investment from the mine, but also permanent changes to nearby wetlands, lakes and streams used by fish and possibly by people who fish, hunt or use the land for other activities.
• The decision reflects a trade-off: it allows a major mine project to proceed in its chosen location in exchange for legally required habitat compensation and oversight.