Hold on to Your Gold!
Nestled in the heart of B.C. lies one of Canada’s largest copper-gold mines. Worth well over $3 billion after extracted, the New Prosperity Mine led by Taseko Mines Ltd. has emerged as a hot topic in the British Columbian environmental scene.
Proposed in 2011, following suit of its predecessor, Prosperity, New Prosperity Mines promises to create jobs, stimulate the economy, and provide significant revenue towards the government, all while keeping the environment intact and without causing serious externalities to the landscape (Moore 2014). However, it seems that with all industry projects in B.C., the first nations have been overlooked and are now fighting back.
When a business model is proposed, an assessment of the company’s health can be displayed through a multitude of analyses. From a SWOT and PEST analysis perspective, the First Nations “who have long opposed the mine” (Pynn 2014) prove to be a huge threat to the development and success of the project and Taseko Mines as a whole. Especially in a province where heritage and nature is held at the highest of respects, the First Nations are and will always continue to be an external factor that can negatively impact a proposed business model. The question now lies on how a business can manoeuvre around the rulings set out by the government and First Nations, without being at the expense of their business model.
Moore, Dene. New Prosperity Mine: Taseko Asks Federal Court to Quash Rejection. The Huffington Post, Mar 26. 2014. Web. Oct 6, 2014.
Pynn, Larry. Tsilhqot’in set to declare site of New Prosperity mine a tribal park. The Vancouver Sun, Sep 11. 2014. Web. Oct 6, 2014.