Discharge permit for proposed magnesium mine near Rossland draws local opposition
Published 10:00 am Wednesday, September 9, 2026
Panoramic view of Record Ridge. (Save Record Ridge Action Committee)
As a November court hearing approaches over the Mines Act permit for the proposed magnesium mine near Rossland, a local opposition group is calling on the province to withhold a separate environmental permit for the project.
Save Record Ridge Action Committee is urging the B.C. government not to issue an Environmental Management Act permit that would authorize certain discharges to air and water from the proposed Record Ridge open-pit mine, located about seven kilometres southwest of Rossland.
The committee says outstanding concerns involving asbestos, air quality, water quality and environmental monitoring should be addressed before the permit is issued.
West High Yield Resources Ltd., the company proposing the mine, says many of those concerns have already undergone years of review by government regulators, professional experts and third-party consultants through the provincial permitting processes.
“The assertions in this release largely repeat arguments regulatory authorities have examined more than once,” said Barry Baim, West High Yield’s director and corporate secretary, in a response to the Trail Times.
Baim said the Environmental Management Act permit remains under review and described it as a standard regulatory authorization.
He said the project’s operating plans include dust suppression, water management and air monitoring measures developed using data reviewed by qualified professionals.
“We are committed to operating in full compliance with all safety and environmental thresholds set by the province,” Baim said.
In its Aug. 29 statement, the committee said it has submitted independent technical reviews to the province addressing potential health and environmental effects of the project.
The committee says testing at Record Ridge identified chrysotile and tremolite asbestos and that drilling, blasting, crushing and hauling could release asbestos fibres.
It has called for further assessment of potential air-quality effects.
The committee also says independent experts it has retained have identified concerns involving groundwater information, metal leaching and acid rock drainage assessment, water treatment and the potential movement of airborne contaminants.
The committee says those issues have not been adequately resolved and argues the province should not issue the Environmental Management Act permit until they have been addressed.
West High Yield disputes the suggestion that the issues have not received adequate scrutiny, saying health, environmental monitoring and water-quality concerns have been examined during the Mines Act and Environmental Management Act permitting processes.
The company said it remains confident in the provincial permitting process and will continue working with regulators as it seeks to advance the project toward construction.
The latest dispute comes several months after a separate court challenge involving whether the Record Ridge project should undergo an environmental assessment.
In June, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Gordon Weatherill dismissed a judicial review petition filed by the Save Record Ridge Action Committee challenging the Environmental Assessment Office’s determination that the project does not require an environmental assessment.
Following that decision, the committee announced plans to seek leave to appeal to the B.C. Court of Appeal.
The committee confirmed this week that it has filed a notice of appeal and is preparing its factum for filing.
A separate judicial review challenging the province’s decision to issue a Mines Act permit for the project is scheduled to be heard at the Nelson courthouse during the week of Nov. 16.
The committee said it is preparing for that hearing.
