Using public documentation, the authors compared each mine’s forecasted timelines and economic benefits (i.e. production, employment and taxes) against their actual development status, and identified the reasons for discrepancies or delays.
Of the 27 mines, only seven were opened on time. Another seven were delayed but eventually came online. The other 13 remain non-operational to this day. Three of these mines will not operate in the near future as their environmental certificates have expired.
In BC, a certificate can expire if a mine does not substantially start its operations — a threshold set on a case-by-case basis by the provincial government — by a certain date, typically five years after issuance, or up to 10 years with a one-time, five-year extension.
Regulation was a factor in only three of the 20 delayed projects, based on publicly stated reasons given by mining companies, while…
