The company said it had made the move to help the British Columbia and Tahltan governments advance discussions after facing the protest activity at its permitted complex.
“While all of Fortune's activities at the project site are focused on gathering necessary information that will be used in a BC environmental assessment process, and are duly authorised by permits issued by the BC government, the company has faced disruptive and damaging protests,” officials said.
The company said it remained “100% committed” to developing the project and would “voluntarily cease its summer field program activities and withdraw from the project site for several months to allow the Tahltan and BC governments to continue their talks”
Fortune president and chief executive officer Robin Goad said he hoped the “show of good faith” would help bring an end to the problems.
“While the company has made the decision to give the time and space needed for discussions, there is still a full commitment on the part of both Fortune and its partner to move forward with the environmental assessment and the project,” he said.
So far, the TSX-listed miner’s work at Arctos has included drilling to gather geochemical and geotechnical information to be used in the property’s environmental assessment process, which will examine environmental, social, heritage and economic values.
The process would also provide an opportunity for parties to express views “in a legally appropriate way”, Goad said.
“Representatives of First Nations in the proximity of a project sit as integral members of a working group that provides input and advice throughout the entire environmental assessment process,” he said.
Tahltan Central Council president Annita McPhee told the Canadian Press this week that its elders had been at Mount Klappan for six weeks requesting the mining company respect its land and rights and reconsider plans for the 40 square kilometre open-pit mine at an area it considers sacred.
BC provincial officials recently appointed a mediator to try to come to a resolution on the impasse, but that proved unsuccessful.
