Canada’s gold company Artemis Gold has to clear unauthorized camp of construction workers
The government of British Columbia has ordered Canadian mining company Artemis Gold to vacate a construction camp near its Blackwater project by the end of this month because of violations of environmental protection guidelines.
The BC Environmental Assessment Office (EAO) has ordered the company to demolish a workers’ camp 110 km south of Vanderhoof in western Canada by August 31.
The office found that the company did not have a permit to build or operate the camp along a power transmission corridor outside the mine site.
The order to vacate the camp at the Chu site was given to the Blackwater Gold Project, an open pit gold and silver mine owned by Artemis Gold, following an on-site inspection on May 14.
According to the inspection report, the uncertified facility housed workers building Blackwater Gold’s power transmission line starting in April. The facility had at least 48 housing units, three generators and a drinking water storage facility.
Blackwater’s environmental permit allows for a construction camp for up to 1,000 workers and an operations camp for up to 500 people on the mine site.
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The mining company announced in March 2023 that Artemis Gold had received approval to build the camp from the Mining, Competitiveness and Permitting Division of the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation.
According to the EAO, the email from the certificate holder (Artemis) specifically stated the intention to use the Chu site camp as overflow storage for mine construction workers. The email also indicated that the site camp was not included in the construction plans, suggesting that the use of the camp was not included in the environmental impact assessment for the project.
During the inspection, site representatives mentioned that the original Chu Site camp was demolished and the owner built a new camp to house Blackwater Gold workers, as mentioned in the inspection report.
Artemis pointed out that employees from the Chu site had been relocated to the main camp and that the relocation must be completed by 6 p.m. local time on August 31.
