No shortcuts on meeting Sisson Mine conditions, CEO promises

No shortcuts on meeting Sisson Mine conditions, CEO promises

Andrew Ing says higher environmental standards contribute to mine’s new $1.5 billion pricetag

The CEO of the company behind the proposed Sisson Mine says there will be no shortcuts in complying with the New Brunswick government’s environmental conditions.

Andrew Ing told CBC News that current best practices in the mining sector — and the higher cost of meeting them — are one reason the estimated cost of the mine has jumped from $579 million in 2013 to $1.5 billion today.

That figure comes from a release the company issued about the completion of a new feasibility study for the proposed mine northwest of Fredericton in the Nashwaak River watershed.

“A lot has changed from 2013 to 2026, and what we're doing is working with the regulator on this,” he said.

“We do have those EIA conditions. So we have to implement those high standards and that's where we are.”

The province attached 40 conditions to its environmental impact approval in 2015. Many current best practices in environmental compliance are more stringent than they were then.

Stricter standards drove up Sisson Mine cost, CEO says

So far, Northcliff has met only two of the 2015 conditions, according to a spokesperson for the provincial Environment Department.

But Ing said “looking at it as just the two is probably a little bit of a misnomer” because many of the conditions are “interdependent” and will be met on a “cumulative basis.”

“It is a very involved and iterative process which the regulator is upholding and we are working through our work streams,” he said. “There will be no shortcuts.”

Ing was less definitive about the implications of the $20.7 million investment the project received from the U.S. Department of Defence last year.

Canada’s trade relationship with the U.S. has deteriorated since then, with tariffs and counter-tariffs in place and the future of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement in doubt.

The release announcing the feasibility study said the primary destination for the mine’s tungsten and molybdenum will be smelters in the United States.

Ing wouldn’t say what impact the trade war might have on potential investors in the mine.

“I do understand the current universe that we live in with respect to the relations between the two countries,” Ing said.

“For me, it is more about executing what we need to do to move this project forward. I think that is a question that's being posed at higher levels — you know, at the ministerial level.”

Allyson Heustis, the executive director of the Nashwaak Watershed Association, said the U.S. link to the project is just one of many questions surrounding the proposed mine.

“We just heard a release from [Premier Susan] Holt that she’s trying to get away from U.S. partnerships and encourage others to do the same, yet government projects are still going forward with partnerships of the United States, which I don’t think is a great idea at all.”

Heustis also questions the price model Northcliff adopted to estimate financial returns.

She said it’s not clear what kind of royalties the province will get.

Ing would not say whether he’ll be looking for a break on royalties from the province.

“I think there's many avenues open for discussion,” said the CEO, who attended this week’s Canada Investment Summit in Toronto as part of the New Brunswick delegation.

Northcliff’s release includes the same job-creation estimates the company made 13 years ago: 300 people working at the mine during operations.

That’s despite a new plan to use “autonomous haul systems,” or self-driving trucks, to “reduce operating and personnel costs,” according to Northcliff’s release.

Ing said the 300-job figure “is very solid today, but it could also change. … It could go either way. But I believe 300 is a very good number. I don't anticipate it going down.”

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He said the use of self-driving trucks “potentially disperses the jobs around other functions ... so there's there's a little bit of give and take there.”

The federal government referred the mine project to its Major Projects Office last November.

Designation as a major project would mean an accelerated federal regulatory process, but 10 months later there’s been no decision from Ottawa.

“The MPO is supporting the project's advancement toward potential investment decision by co-ordinating federal departments, including regulatory processes, and facilitating engagement with relevant federal financing partners,” spokesperson Pierre Cuguen said.

Ing said he’s not concerned about how long the process is taking.

“We're not the only project on their list that they are currently helping or reviewing,” he said.

One of the two conditions Northcliff has met is to establish baseline water quality and quantity conditions by conducting water surveys in the site area, the province said.

The other required the company to comply with federal fisheries laws, including by developing a fish habitat offset and compensation plan and a fish rescue and relocation strategy.

Heustis said the association will need to closely study the full technical report to be released in October because it appears the massive design for the tailings pond “is still not the highest science.”

The release says Northcliff will make a final decision in late 2027 on whether to go ahead with the mine.

In March, federal Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson told CBC News he was working with the province and Northcliff “to see if we can move that up.”

Ing said the late 2027 timeline “is still very much a reality.”

Jacques Poitras has been CBC's provincial affairs reporter in New Brunswick since 2000. He grew up in Moncton and covered Parliament in Ottawa for the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal. He has reported on every New Brunswick election since 1995 and won awards from the Radio Television Digital News Association, the National Newspaper Awards and Amnesty International. He is also the author of five non-fiction books about New Brunswick politics and history.