While the ban is not surprising, it is confusing, says Cassiar Jade Contracting president Tony Ritter.
“The way (the government)’s going about it, it’s kind of difficult to understand. It’s very vague,” he told The Northern Miner by phone.
Cassiar has already been barred from mining the green gem since 2020. In May that year, the government began deferring jade mining permits under the Environment and Land Use Act, and kept extending the order after it expired.
Cassiar and Glenpark Enterprises in March filed a civil claim against the province seeking financial damages. Ritter said he’s unable to comment on the lawsuit.
The newly imposed ban does not impact other mining operations in the region, or affect existing or new jade tenures in other areas of the province, the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation said in a news release on Friday.
Jade is currently mined in the Dease Lake, Mount Ogden, and Cassiar…
